The first expedition will be held from June 9 to June 14, 2024.

Volkswagen has launched its customer experience initiative called ‘Volkswagen Experiences’ in India.

Volkswagen Experiences is not just for customers. Travel enthusiasts can also attend the event. The first expedition will be held from June 9 to June 14, 2024.

‘The 1st Chapter: An Exhilarating Expedition to Ladakh’ includes a drive from Chandigarh to Leh and back. It will be conducted in two batches, both of which will be limited to 60 slots. Those interested in attending will have to pay a fee of Rs 75,000 per person. This doesn’t include flight tickets.

Volkswagen will provide cars for the event and will organize overnight stays, meals and fuel. Customers will have to bear the cost of repairs caused due to negligent driving. A doctor will accompany the group throughout the journey.

The second expedition from Leh to Chandigarh will be held from June 18 to June 23.

The Atal-Setu bridge is mind-blowing, allowing you to glide through 20 km in just 20 mins.

BHPian vivek95 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Got lucky. Drove on this brand new Sea link of Mumbai at midnight for free of cost Started from Chirle Interchange and ended up at Sewri and then drove back to Chirle. Passed through the toll plaza both times but there was no deduction. However, I honestly would not mind even if the amount from my Fastag gets deducted at any later point in time.

The Mumbai Trans-Harbour link is mind-blowing!! Buttersmooth roads, excellent lane markings, great signboards and world-class infrastructure. You just glide from Navi Mumbai to South Mumbai, just lazily like that in 20 mins without touching even 100, such is the effortless drive!!

On the new sea link though, I missed that one mind-blowing yet intimidating factor that the Bandra-Worli Sea link had amazed me in 2010 when I first travelled on it in a Kaali--Peeli taxi. It was the huge and tall cable that stayed spans in the centre which truly made one feel that you are on a Sea bridge. That apart, the Mumbai Trans-Harbour link is just - Wow - at present, it mostly benefits those driving from South Bombay and Central Bombay towards Pune/Lonavala/Alibag/Konkan/Ulwe, CBD Belapur, Seawoods, Kharghar areas in Navi Mumbai.

Vashi, Turbhe, Sanpada, Mahape, Ghansoli and the likes in Navi Mumbai do not have much business to do with MTHL. Sharing some pics here, will come up with my observations later.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

An enjoyable drive on lovely, long winding tarmac roads in a pleasant part of India, with relatively sparse traffic, in an iconic trio of cars.

BHPian shankar.balan recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Prelude:

An Informal Gathering of Mini Cooper Owners.

The Germ of a Gem of an Idea - A Mini Cooper Drive:

Around 6-7 months ago some enthusiastic Owners came up with an idea for a Mini Cooper Drive, our own little private Mini Cooper Targa-Florio, if you will. Thoughts flew fast and furious, up and down, as to where and when. We narrowed the whole thing down to December 2023, which is roughly the holiday season and somewhere in Southern India, preferably with some nice “twisties” and enjoyable driving roads.

Raison d'être:

The prime motivation was just the enjoyment of being amongst nice people and the feeling of Man and Machine being one with each other, for the duration. The low growl, pops, bangs and crackles of our cars on their exhaust overruns, were what all of us most wanted to hear while roaring up and down the hills. And of course, to take lots of photographs.

There is a deep and visceral pleasure to be had, in the deep “Growl” of the engine and “Burble” of the Cooper’s exhaust, when bowling up and down a series of twisties and switchbacks/ hairpins, while sitting within the overall speed limits.

It is NOT, repeat NOT at all necessary, to Drive Fast and Furiously, to truly enjoy finely-engineered, well-tuned machines such as these. This is not to say that we don’t enjoy a bit of spirited driving too, which we did of course indulge in, but only when it was safe to do so.

For me, it was a long-time dream come true. An enjoyable drive on lovely, long winding tarmac roads in a pleasant part of India, with relatively sparse traffic, in an iconic trio of cars. It was a lot like making our little tribute as it were, in our own India, to so many evocative icons of Motoring; The various hill climbs, endurance drives, the Targa-Florio, the Mille-Miglia, Goodwood and of course one of the most iconic “Caper” movies of all time, the Italian Job. That has always been one of my favourite films. The old 1969 version with Michael Caine and Noel Coward and Raf Vallone and all. And of course the 2003 remake with Donald Sutherland and Mark Wahlberg and Edward Norton and Charlize Theron and Jason Statham and all, which too was a very nice film. Can also take a cue from the lovely Disney film Cars, especially that long drive along the old winding Route 66, with Sally and Lightning McQueen.

And right on point, what better cars to do all of this in, than the diminutive and plucky little Gem of Graeco-British-American-Teutonic ancestry, the modern-day BMW Mini Coopers!

(Paying an Honest Tribute to Sir Alec Issigonis, the visionary designer-inventor-engineer, of the Oxford Mini Plant, Frank Stephenson the Designer of the New Mini, John Cooper and his legendary “Works’” for their wonderful tuning work through the ages and the good folks at BMW for having kept and nurtured this lovely iconic Marque and indeed taking it to greater and newer heights!)

Tenets:

The ground rules that we collectively established for our trip were very simple indeed.

1. No more than 3 days in total
2. Over a weekend preferably.
3. A hill station.
4. Not too far away and relatively untouched.
5. Great driving roads.
6. No racing, performance or endurance testing.
7. Stay together in Convoy as much as possible.

The Destination:

The destination (for me anyway) was a no-brainer. Valparai, nestled at about 4000feet above mean sea level, in the clean, green hills of the Annamalai Hills, near Coimbatore, in Tamil Nadu, with its delicious tarmac roads and 40 plus hairpin bend to enjoy, just simply leapt out of the Map and into my Head and luckily, my suggestion was met with a resoundingly positive response. Hence the thread title too…The Valparai Job, it was!

The Motor Cars and the Motorists;

There were originally supposed to be 8-9 Participants with their cars. In the actual event, we had several dropouts for various reasons. Finally, there were only 3 cars and 6 participants. Here they are. Spanning across 3 Generations.

(A HUGE THANK YOU to all of them for having made this Drive a most enjoyable and memorable one. Capt. Ajay! It was great to meet you in person after all these years of interacting on the Forum and owning and appreciating some of the same cars! Omer - Thank you for all the lovely photos. Vyshnav and Sravan thanks for your company. And Dad! Well, Thanks for being my Dad!)

Motor Car 1

Description, Colour and Year: Black Mini Cooper JCW (F56) with Red Roof (2022)

Engine and Gearbox: 2-litre Petrol BMW Twin Scroll Turbo engine with an 8-speed gearbox. (And some serious enhancements)

Tyres - Michelin Pilot Sports 4

Motorists A and B.

• Vyshnav
• Sravan

Motor Car 2.

Description, Colour and Year: Volcanic Orange Mini Cooper S (F56) with Black Roof (2016)

Engine and Gearbox: 2-litre Petrol BMW Twin Scroll Turbo engine with the 6-speed Aisin Warner gearbox. (And many other serious enhancements)

Tyres - Michelin Pilot Sports 4

Motorists C and D.

• Capt. Ajay ( ajaypjayaraj on team bhp)
• Omer Sharif (Ace Pro Photographer)

Motor Car 3

Description, Colour and Year: Chilli Red Mini Cooper S (R56) with Black Roof (2012)

Engine and Gearbox: 1.6-litre Petrol Peugeot-BMW PRINCE N18 engine with 6-speed Aisin Warner Torque Converter gearbox.

Tyres - Michelin Pilot Sports 4

Motorists E and F.

• Self
• My 80-year-old Dad a Navigator.

We were the oldest amongst the gang and were driving the oldest car amongst the gang too!

The Broad Plan.

• We did not really ‘plan’ this like an expedition. We kind of just ‘winged it’.
• Bangalore to Coimbatore on 15 Dec.
• Visit the Gedee Car Museum where Suresh the friendly GM and Curator was keen to welcome us. (I've been visiting off and on and am in regular correspondence with him. In the event of fact it was only me and my Dad who ended up going because the other two cars clocked in much later.)
• Check in to our Hotel - the Taj Vivanta where we got some very good prices from Booking.com.
• Coimbatore to Valparai via Pollachi, Aliyar, Attakatti and all on 16 Dec.
• Lunch and a bit of rest at the Stanmore Bungalows. (Again one of my good old friends and classmate from School, knows the present owners very well and had made arrangements there for a sumptuous lunch for us itinerant motorists!)
• After lunch, some photography and drove around Valparai.
• Back to Coimbatore by night.
• Coimbatore to Bangalore on 17 Dec.

Preparing the vehicles:

As I have written elsewhere on some other thread I had carried out a comprehensive servicing just a week or so ago, with all fluids changed and all before the trip. Also had installed brand new Brake Disc Rotors and Brake Pads and Wear Sensors from Brembo. Fuelled up the Car added its Green Kryptonite Jamba Juice and made it ready to make off!

The other two cars had a much later start since it was one of the Boys’ birthdays and they had been out with friends the previous evening. Anyway, Dad and I reached Coimbatore after an enjoyable drive and checked in. All the while we were exchanging messages with Ajay, who had hung back to “shepherd” the other car along. The Black Car went to its home in Palakkad to spend the night while Ajay checked in to the Hotel in Coimbatore. His friend Omer joined us in Coimbatore. He is an Ace Photographer whose work on Automobile Photography has appeared over the years in EVO Autocar and other magazines. A real talent. And because he is Ajay’s friend, and loves cars, he came along with us for the ride and gave us his photographs as a gift.

Dad and I visited the Gedee Car Museum which is now completely re-designed with a classy new facade and comprises a world-class collection of cars. And they have even opened a whole new section upstairs, on the Automobile in India! That is truly lovely. Some real classic gems are sitting there and thankfully they are carefully preserved and cared for. And of course, no visit to Coimbatore is complete without at least one meal each at Annalakshmi and Annapoorna, which my Dad and I enjoyed. (Saw some eye candy too, in the form of an Aston DBX)

The Heart and Soul of the Trip!

On the 16th, it was time to DRIVE!

That was a nice quick drive on good roads which were pretty empty (surprising because it was a Saturday after all).

We stopped at Pollachi to rendezvous with the Black Car and then we were all together, ready to roar up the hills and enjoy the trip.

As can be seen, we took plenty of rest and photo stops. Reaching Valparai at about 1230 we took some more time to take photos and then made our way to Injiparai Bungalow - Stanmore Gardens for our lunch and more photos. The Stanmore Staff deserve a special mention here - Abhishek the Manager, Ramakrishnan the Chef and Prabhu the Catering Supervisor. They looked after us very well. And they loved it when Dad talked to them about his days in Valparai.

My 80-year-old Dad is a retired Tea Planter who spent his entire career from the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s and 90’s to the year 2000, planting Tea, Coffee, Cardamom and Pepper and managing various Company Estates, in various Plantation districts around Southern India. Munnar, Valparai, Nilgiris, Coorg, Chikmagalur and all. A good portion of the 1970’s and 1980s were spent in Valparai and even my own earliest memories are of Valparai since I arrived on the scene when the folks were based there. So there are a lot of old nostalgic memories involved here as well. Indeed, we visited the Old Valparai/ Varattuparai Bungalow, in which they lived, when I appeared for the first time in the early 1970s. And that Bungalow has a circular driveway all around it. Even the Garage and its Green Gate have remained the same. Dad used to park his Battleship Grey Fiat 1100D there and his Black Royal Enfield Bullet too. I remember all that quite clearly. The parents had gifted me a little Red Pedal + Electric Car which came from India’s Hobby Centre or Paragon Toys in Calcutta (a British Import), when we were in that Bungalow and I vividly remember careening around and around the driveway, pedalling furiously, at what seemed to me at the time, to be a rather high speed, in that little red car. It had lovely rubber white wall tyres and working headlamps and a little “paarp paarp” horn like Noddy’s car. I LOVED it and cared for it until I outgrew it. My lifelong love for all things related to Automobilia must have been born right then.

An uneventful drive back, a brief stop at Pollachi to bid goodbye to our friends from Palakkad in their Black Cooper and the rest of us in our Orange and Red Cars drove back to Coimbatore to rest before going our separate ways the next morning.

The EndGame.

December 17th, Dad and I left for Bangalore and there was sparse traffic which was pretty disciplined so we made good time back to Bangalore. Later, exchanging messages and photos with the others, I decided that I would pen down this experience, as one of those records of “Life’s Happy Memories.”

Farewell, but Not Goodbye.

I have received several Photos of our trip from Ajay - all taken by Omer. And while I am certainly no “Cartier-Bresson”, I have added some of my own too. I shall also invite Ajay to add his contribution and comments as well to this thread.

I have tried to curate the small stack of Photos topically: Hope you Enjoy them and Thank you for reading this.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

The fuel efficiency of my large hybrid MPV is the same as that of my small i20 diesel.

BHPian Cresterk recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Since everyone is sharing their fuel efficiency figures, here's mine for the past week with the full tank - full tank method.

Fueled up to full tank at 7660 km

Fueled up to full tank again at 8350 km. Ignore the trip meter as it only shows the mileage since the car was currently started.

It took 38.53L to fill it up the second time which gives us the amount of fuel used in between. Refueled both times at the same pump.

• Distance travelled: 690 km
• Fuel consumed: 690/38.53 = 17.9 km/l

This was mostly over hilly roads as I drove from Angamaly to Pathanamthitta and back through Pala. The road was pretty decent and my dad and I had a hoot on the hairpins in sport mode. Very happy with the mileage since it is around the same as what I get on my diesel i20 which is way smaller and lighter.

One thing to note is that the mileage of the Hycross drops rather fast if the car needs to recharge the hybrid battery while it is staying still or crawling in traffic. The engine never idles in the Hycross, it either revs up high to charge or it will just turn off. It doesn't seem to be as efficient at charging the car while staying still as when a percentage of engine power also goes to turn the wheels. You can give a slight kick on the accelerator to force the engine to turn on during normal driving to recharge the battery if you know that you will be stopped for a significant time later on. I do this when I know I will be approaching a railway crossing gate or signal to ensure the car doesn't turn on to power the AC while I'm stopped.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

A 200km Sunday morning drive with a mix of rural roads and small hilly roads on the onward journey and fast six-lane highways on the return journey.

BHPian Dr.AD recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Service Update and a Sunday Drive with Friends!

After the monsoon drive through Chikmagalur (described in earlier posts in this thread), the oil change requirement in CBS dropped to 800 km. I had one more drive planned after that, to Thanjavur, and given the nice fast roads on that drive, I wanted to take my 320d there. That was another 800 km to 900 km drive, and unfortunately, it was way too close to the remaining oil life of 800 km. CBS had created a similar dilemma for me in the past too, and every single time in the past, I decided to play it safe and let the servicing take priority over driving plans. I have never exceeded any CBS requirement. The car is always serviced well in time.

This time, after some deliberation, I decided to play it safe and let service requirements take priority over my driving plans. Thus, I ended up driving my Thar to Thanjavur instead of the BMW.

Anyway, that decision turned out to be wise because the 800km oil life immediately dropped to 700km the next time I started the 320d. The Thanjavur drive ended up being 850km, which would have meant I would have most certainly returned with an oil change overdue and CBS throwing warnings on the dashboard. I was happy I avoided that.

The CBS told me that I needed to change the engine oil at 700 km:

EGR Cooler Recall: Just about 2 weeks ago, I received a recall letter from BMW (by speed-post! - very surprised to see this old-fashioned mail and not an email notice) related to EGR Cooler checks/replacement to avoid a potential fire hazard. This is a global recall and happening since 2019 or so. I received a similar recall in 2019 (in the first round of global recalls), and at that time, they had actually changed the EGR Cooler in my car. I was surprised to see another recall on exactly the same issue now, and was keen to get this checked by BMW at the earliest!

I made an appointment at Navnit BMW and asked them to take care of the oil change as well as this EGR Cooler recall.

My car the BMW Navnit BMW for servicing:

Advantages of NOT having BSI: From my experiences, I have started preferring not opting in for BSI and rather using the "pay as you service" model. Below is the latest example of what I mean.

CBS was showing "Brake Fluid Change" as the next service requirement (this is typically done every 2 years) due in October 2023. Thus, if I had the BSI, they would have done only the oil change now (which was due now) and asked me to come back in 2 months for the brake fluid change. During my BSI period, I had plenty of occasions when I had to visit the service centre multiple times for such CBS requirements. However, now that I was paying for the service and there was no BSI, I asked them if they could change the brake fluid along with the engine oil. The service centre happily agreed and I changed the brake fluid too now (2 months in advance of the CBS requirement), and saved myself another visit to the service centre in just 2 months' time.

Thus, in the end, that day I ended up doing a comprehensive service and check-up! They changed the engine oil, oil filter (this is not changed in every service, and only changed when it is really required to change based on some measurements), air filter, AC filter and brake fluid. They also did the endoscopy check of the EGR Cooler (as per the recall campaign) and certified that the EGR Cooler is fine. They also did complete underbody checks, checks of all the suspensions, and other checks (battery etc.). My car passed all the tests and was certified to be in fine condition. The total bill for all of this was about Rs. 30k. The service bill is slightly higher than what one would expect from such a routine service, but at least the service experience was great and the car feels perfect again!

Overall, I had a great service experience at Navnit BMW. I am very happy with my service advisor and the overall service experience there.

All OK after the service and a comprehensive check-up:

After the service, my routine there is a test drive by my trusted test drive expert at Navnit BMW. This expert person drives my car every time after any work on the car, and he knows my car well. He took a test drive and confirmed that the car was absolutely fine and in ship shape.

The car is now at 87,400 km and still runs absolutely fine and is in ship shape! I love this car for both the driving experience and the reliability! While service costs can be a bit high, what compensates for that is the great driving experience and the great service experience too. Timely and proper maintenance is the key here, and I feel that with timely maintenance, the car can still run much longer.

Sunday Drive with Friends:

I was itching to go for a nice drive after servicing the car. Thankfully, on Sunday morning, such an opportunity came. We did a nice Sunday morning drive with my close friend @robimahanta (driving his BMW M340i) and another friend (who is not a forum member yet) who was driving his BMW 330i M sports (G20).

We drove on some local roads and some small rural roads and reached a point known as "Tri-State Point", a location where the borders of three states (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh) meet. There are some nice small hills and some hill drives around this Tri-State area, and we enjoyed driving around there and taking photos of the car. This turned out to be about a 200km Sunday morning drive with a mix of rural roads and small hilly roads on the onward journey, and fast six-lane highways on the return journey.

The three 3-ers on a Sunday morning drive:

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

The events are open to all 4x4 owners irrespective of the brand of vehicle.

Toyota has announced its first-ever 'Great 4x4 X-Pedition' – an off-road experiential drive for motoring enthusiasts in India.

The Great 4x4 X-Pedition will be held across India in four zones: North, South, East and West, with a 'Grand National 4x4 X-Pedition' planned for later this year. The event will not only feature owners of the Hilux, Fortuner 4x4, LC 300 and Hyryder AWD, but also SUVs from other brands.

The event aims to offer enthusiasts an extreme off-roading experience through purpose-built 4WD tracks with challenging obstacles, covering articulation, side inclines, rambler, deep ditch, slush, rocky bed and others will be created. The company hopes to create an exclusive group of a 4x4 enthusiast fan club in India.

The first regional event is scheduled to be held in the Southern part of India between May 26-28, 2023. The drive will be flagged off from Bangalore, and the convoy will drive to Hassan and Sakleshpur.

This was truly a beautiful, heartwarming way to spend a Sunday morning.

BHPian Omkar recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

What a way to spend a Sunday! Thanks to everyone who made it and to those who showed support on the forum.

At the first meeting point after the Kanjurmarg flyover:

More people joined in at the second meet point:

Shreem Hyundai security guard was sure confused as to why so many cars were parked outside a Hyundai stockyard:

Parked up just before the school so that we could all enter together:

Entering the school through some very rough roads:

The founder of the school Mr Sitaram Gaikwad welcomed everyone. He went on to give a brief history of the school and his struggles during the initial days:

This is where it all started. Teaching a bunch of tribal kids in a hut:

A look at the classroom. The school was built during the Covid lockdown and recently received these benches as a part of a donation:

There’s also a computer lab:

The school also has a solar power unit. This was a contribution from HDFC. There are frequent power cuts in the area and sometimes even the transformer of the village conks off. This is the only power source during those times:

Big batteries that store power:

A look at the residential part of the school:

The school authorities were expecting 5 cars and were elated to see 14 cars parked in front of the school:

The school authorities were sweet enough to arrange breakfast, tea, and water bottles for everyone:

There’s a water filtration system in place:

Kids wash their own clothes and dry them:

A look at how clean and organized the kitchen is. The machines can make idlis or rice for over 300 kids in under an hour:

The equipment was contributed by ONGC:

A look at the massive roti maker. This machine can make over 700-800 rotis in an hour:

Female students have sewing classes on the weekends:

A look at the room for female students. About 10-15 students stay in this room. Notice how everything is neat:

Daily essentials including toothbrush, paste, and brush for washing clothes kept neatly:

Comparatively the male room was a little messy:

Next up we got a tour of the science lab. Everyone was trying to remember all the concepts they studied back in school:

A few kids also had some projects to showcase:

Continue checking out BHPian Omkar's pics from the drive for more insights and information.

Spare a Sunday morning for the underprivileged, and spare a Sunday morning for a lovely drive with fellow BHPians.

GTO recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

We've stepped into 2023 quite comfortably. Let's add some joy to the lives of underprivileged children at the start of this year.

The plan is to visit a residential school just ahead of Bhiwandi. Some quick data points:

• This is a school for kids from tribal castes whose families cannot afford an education. There are 362 students at the school from standards 1st to 10th.
• The school provides free of cost education and living with basic amenities to all its students.
• The school receives a grant every year. On average, it is Rs. 900 per student per month. This has to include everything - food, clothing, books, hygiene products, etc.
• Here's a small pdf that the school has shared, giving some additional info - ATaGlance

Here's the plan!

• DRIVE your favourite car on Sunday, 5th February. Let's do what we do best, let's do what we love the most.
• Fill our boots up with supplies for these kids. Here's an apt time to show off your boot capacity!
• Reach the school in the morning and distribute everything that we have gotten for the kids / school.
• Be grateful for how blessed we are & share some love + care.
• The school is close to Shirole (Google Maps location) ~1 hour from Thane and approx 2 hours from central Mumbai.
• Post that, we'll get a nice brunch at some restaurant with fellow petrolheads, talk cars, and then an enjoyable drive back home. Mini Punjab Grill seemed decent on Google (Link). If you have any better suggestions, please do mention them when we meet.
• You should be back home by early afternoon, so it's only half-a-Sunday. You have the rest of the day for family / social activities / Netflix / snoozing.
• Family / friends / spouses are most welcome, please bring them along.

What you can carry along to donate:

• No pressure, whatever you are comfortable with. Every little bit counts. Whether it's 1000 bucks worth of stuff, or 5000 (or more).
• The school recently lost a donor who used to supply them with sanitary pads for girls and that is a priority for them. The annual requirement is around 20,000 sanitary pads / napkins. So if you can pick something up in bulk, that'd be great.
• Kids also don't have a lot of sporting equipment, the school has a list that they wish to procure - sports list shirole final. If you have any sporting equipment that you're not using or think you can get from a store closeby, surely something to consider (football, cricket bat, badminton racket + shuttlecocks and related stuff).
• You can always carry some children's clothing or blankets that you don't use anymore. Winters can get chilly, so these items sure make a difference.
• Biscuits & chocolates: They're kids after all! Will surely bring a smile to their faces.
• Colouring books, stationery, crayon sets, school-related supplies, etc.
• School bags.
• Anything else that you want to give from your heart.
• Budget = Again, could be anything small or big. If you are comfortable with 1000 bucks worth of stuff, that's perfectly fine. 10000 bucks? That's alright too. There is no minimum or maximum here = your being there for the drive is what really counts. Remember, this is a school that provides free education, food and stay for hundreds of kids. Any help that you can provide directly will be more than appreciated.
• Please bring your own vehicle along (car or bike), instead of asking on this thread if you can ride as a passenger in someone else's car.
• Come on, join in on the fun. Will be a fun drive and more importantly, it will be a heartwarming experience. Spare a Sunday morning for the underprivileged, and spare a Sunday morning for a lovely drive with fellow BHPians.

Some pictures of the school kids:

Meeting details on Sunday, 5th February:

• 0700 hours on the service road just after Kanjurmarg flyover (Location). Easier for people coming from the Western side.

Or

• Approx 0800 hours, we meet outside Shreem Motors Stockyard. Easier for people coming from Thane and Navi Mumbai.
• It's approximately an hour-long drive to the school from Shreem Stockyard (School location).
• Please come on time as we will say hi's & hello's for a max of 10 - 15 minutes at each meeting point. If you are late, catch up with the group (we will be driving in a calm manner).

Confirmations:

1. GTO - Thar
2. Omkar - Swift

Some of the earlier drives - Team-BHP Meet & Food Donation Drive, Charitable drive to villages in Maharashtra, Mokhada Trip (Dist Thane) for a Cause, Back to Jawhar & Mokhada - again, for a Good Cause! Here are some pics from our last drive with BHPians:

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Had to go from Bangalore to Aurangabad, but took a deviation via Nagpur for the sole purpose of driving on the new expressway.

BHPian Dr.AD recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I had to go to Aurangabad for work last week. Normally, one would drive straight from Bangalore to Aurangabad, which is a very good and fast road now (all six-lane and four-lane highways throughout!). However, I made a plan that only a TeamBHPian with a "Live to Drive" attitude will understand. I decided to drive from Bangalore to Nagpur, and then from Nagpur to Aurangabad so that I get to drive on this Samruddhi Mahamarg!

This was a solo drive (since I was primarily driving to attend some work meetings). On the previous day, I did the long solo drive from Bangalore to Nagpur. It was exactly 1100 km from my home in Bangalore to my hotel in Nagpur. It was a nice and fun drive. However, I was eagerly waiting for the next day, when I would drive on the Samruddhi Mahamarg.

The next morning, I had a nice breakfast at my hotel, refuelled the car to make sure I do not need fuel soon, and then started this much-awaited drive at 9 am.

Refuelling at Nagpur before entering Samruddhi Mahamarg (on such long highway drives, my 320d was giving a range of about 1000 km, so this was not really a worry as such):

Once I entered the Samruddhi Mahamarg, the first 50 km or so the road surface was quite rough. The road noise was a bit annoying, but nevertheless, I did enjoy driving on such a beautifully designed road. Luckily, after about 50km or so from Nagpur, the road surface improved a lot (or maybe I just got used to it) and I absolutely enjoyed my drive on this beautiful road.

The speed limit of 120km/h was great to have, and at that speed, I was covering the distance in no time. The road is really very well built. I did not want to stop on the side of the road (which is not recommended anyways) to take pictures but managed a few shots from the phone attached to my windscreen. Here are some windscreen shots.

Beautiful road:

You have visibility of up to a mile (so to speak), and with nice smooth tarmac, and a speed limit of 120 km/h, progress is fast:

I continued enjoying this drive, although it quickly gets repetitive and might be a bit boring too:

Although stopping on the side of the road is not recommended, I found a significantly wide shoulder at one point, and could safely park the car away from the driving lanes for a quick photo. There was hardly any traffic, and I parked there barely for a minute for a couple of quick photos. But otherwise, I would not recommend stopping on this road at all as a safety measure, unless it is an emergency.

My car on the latest and the greatest road in India:

I thoroughly enjoyed the drive and reached Aurangabad from Nagpur in a time that would have been unthinkable just a year ago!

A short summary of my experience and observations:

1. The road is fast, but one must follow all precautions and safety. It is critical to make sure your tyres are in the right condition, of the right speed rating, and properly inflated.
2. Although it is best to start with full fuel, there are fuel stations along the way, so it is not a big deal. However, exiting the highway and breaking the driving rhythm for fuel would still be annoying.
3. For the above reason, best to do this drive non-stop without any fueling on the way or any other stops. One can cover this distance in a ridiculously quick time and the driving rhythm is something you can never experience on any other road in India. Best to enjoy that!
4. The road is as good as any I have seen in the western world! The exit signs, the exits roads and interchanges, the lane markings, everything is absolutely state of the art as good as the best in the world!
5. The road surface itself is not that great. Being a cement road, and that too not necessarily very well finished at some sections, it does feel a bit bumpy and noisy. The first 50km or so from Nagpur are quite rough. My ride reminded me of a bumpy aircraft ride during turbulence.
6. Thankfully, there was no traffic. I passed around one vehicle approximately every km or so. Thankfully, the slow trucks were sticking to the slow lane (leftmost lane) and passing them while driving on the middle lane was a breeze.
7. I had heard a lot about animals on this road and was extremely watchful for animals. Luckily for me, I did not face any problems at all. I did see a couple of dogs and a couple of monkeys here and there, but that is nothing worrisome or unique to this road. In fact, there are many more dogs in the Bangalore-Hyderabad road, and I know of many accidents that happened there due to dog hits. The same is the case with the Bangalore-Chennai road, where not just the dogs but even cows pose a much more serious threat. In comparison, I did not think Samruddhi Mahamarg is any worse at all.
8. Although everything is nice, such a long, straight drive without traffic can be a bit boring and even can cause what is known as "Highway hypnosis", and it can be dangerous. I made sure I listened to my favourite music at a relatively louder level than my usual preference just to make sure I do not get zoned out. In the end, I enjoyed both the music and the drive.

I am sure to go back there soon and do more drives in that part of the country now!

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The city has changed so much. Credit where it is due, no one touched my car, but I was certain someone or the other would definitely scrape by.

BHPian pareekvirendra recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I have lived in Pune for about 8 years and even learned to drive a car there, however, I had to move out to Aurangabad due to a transfer and have been living here for the last 4 years.

Last week, an opportunity presented itself to go to Pune for about 3 days. I thought it will be a good opportunity for a long drive and hence made plans accordingly. This was my first visit to Pune in three years and little did I know what I was getting into. The usual time taken to go from Aurangabad to Pune is about 5.5 to 6 hours, whereas I took 8. As soon as I reached Pune city limits, it was as if I had forgotten how to drive. People around me were zooming past me, going so close to my car that I was scared for my car and my life. I still remember the drive from Wagholi to Deccan in Pune. It was really terrifying. It's not as if I have not driven in Pune before. But this trip was entirely different. I was completely scared of the traffic.

In the end, I did manage to complete my trip and drove around the city for the entire 3 days, but it was a terrifying experience. The traffic there was completely different to what I am used to here in Aurangabad. People squeezing past you where you can’t see any space, oncoming traffic hurtling towards you at a very high pace and stopping just short of your bonnet.

Pune city has changed so much. The entire flyover on the university road was gone as if it never existed. There is so much construction work going on everywhere. Credit where it is due, no one touched my car, but I was certain someone or the other would definitely scrape by.

What is this feeling called, where you go to a big city and are suddenly gripped by panic? I have driven across several highways and several cities and never faced this before (I usually go to Rajasthan through MP or Gujarat by car)

Is this usual? Or do I need to do something about it?

Here's what BHPian SS-Traveller had to say on the matter:

If I understand your driving style correctly, you are a slow and overtly careful driver, and you are not mindful about keeping up your rate of progress with the general traffic flow, whether on the highways or in the city. Your problem is not about driving in a big city, but about being surrounded by dense, fast-moving traffic, mistrusting the skill level of the faster driver, and being frightened about keeping pace while maintaining space.

Affirming my assumption, I've found many drivers who have driven all their lives in one big city (Kolkata) initially finding it difficult to drive and feeling intimidated in another big city (Delhi-NCR). Or Indian drivers feel intimidated when driving in disciplined high-speed traffic on an undivided 2-lane highway with an 80-km/h speed limit in another country (Australia) (watch the video below).

Here's what BHPian Kosfactor had to say on the matter:

It can happen in reverse too.

If you are driving like a champ in crowded cities and then you reach places where the roads are barely wide enough for two auto rickshaws to pass and has no median, no visibility around the bends either.

The locals will be coming at you in a tearing hurry that too in vehicles that aren't meant to go fast. Soon you'd be looking for an eject button next to your seat.

It is called driving, enjoy it.

Here's what BHPian DicKy had to say on the matter:

As weird as it may seem like, each Indian city may have a different driving style that would have been moulded by various factors. When did motor vehicles first appear, when did ordinary people start using motor vehicles, the infrastructure, whether it was a former kingdom or colonial city, whether the cops are strict or not, what is the migrant: native population ratio, does it have more of a floating population, how is the 2 wheeler: 3 wheeler: 4 wheeler: 4+ wheeler ratios, et al.

Also, the native population may know the places more than the outsider, they may have a tighter time schedule than the visitor and they may be more verse with the particular nuances of a junction (given that the only standard we follow in India is to drive on the left)

Just take your time slowly and make defensive driving your best buddy.

Offtopic. Reminds me of the time when I had an outing with my buddy and his classmate. The classmate was not an enthusiast per se, but comes from a well-to-do family. (read good vehicles at his disposal). He had a Q3 that day and the way he drove inside the city made us go He was darting through traffic with little margin to spare, the push accelerator, push brake, push accelerator...driving style. In Jeremy Clarskon's words, "a Maniac!!!". We went to a go-karting facility nearby. Me and my buddy were chasing each other around the track and having fun, while the classmate was crawling along with us passing him a couple of times. On asking he said, "I felt so vulnerable and low to the ground. How did you guys drive so fast?" Needless to say he was not amused with the whole go-karty thing but was more than eager to pose for racer poses for social media. If you are reading this, Sorry dude.

Here's what BHPian MaheshY1 had to say on the matter:

It's normal. We need time to recalibrate our senses, reactions, and distance around the vehicle. Some adjust to this in less than an hour while some take a few days. I witness this all the time when people on the highways are driving at 50-60kmph as if they are in the city. I sometimes forget that they aren't as familiar with highway driving. The same people are much more agile when we run into a traffic situation on the highways since they are in the 'city driving' mode.

On the flip side, I need half an hour to recalibrate myself when entering Delhi. On the highways, the cars maintain a bigger cushion around but in Delhi, everything is so jam-packed. Thankfully, Gurgaon helps me gradually get into that rhythm and also eases me out of it when exiting Delhi and jumping onto the highway. If I have to enter Mumbai, then it might take me a few days as it's a completely new territory.

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