Kerala to Daman in a Single Day

[autosafari]

Want to share my experience of a road trip from Daman (Daman & Diu UT) to Kerala and then back to Daman.

It was the return journey of 1700 km which we completed in 23 hours.

(Onward journey from Daman to Kerala was 2 months ago in my new Manza and covered the same distance in 2 days with a night halt in Bangalore.)

Since it was a long trip with family and unfamiliar route, decided to take the help of a driver.

Part 1. Daman to Kerala:
Started at around 6 am from Daman. After about 10 km reached NH8 and it was a smooth journey except for the diversions due to so many fly over constructions on the way.

Mumbai Pune expressway was so nice but we saw many vehicles with tyre burst. Our driver told us that it is beacause of the concrete surface which make the tyres overheat at high speeds. Infact on his advice, we filled nitrogen instead of air in our car tyres already.

Had a quick breakfast from a roadside eatery in the Expressway.

Once on the Bangalore highway, it was a nice drive except for the toll booths where there is a total mess and big trafic jam even on a sunday.

It was a braking test for Manza when a big Mercedes Benz bus came from a side road and unexpectedly entered the 4 lane highway.

A stretch of about 80 km is double lane with out divider after Belgaum and bad roads in some places due to fly over construction. Except for this, road till Bangalore is very good.

Beware of wrong side traffic (bikes, 3 wheelers, cars) once we enter Karnataka. Also one can encounter humps without warning (its unique to Karnataka where panchayats construct a hump/speed breaker in the high way rather than on the approach road which meets the highway)

Reached Bangalore by 10 pm.

Stayed in Bangalore that night. Next day morning we visited some friends and then left Bangalore by 11 am.

Took the route via Salem and reached home in Palakkad district by 6 pm.

Part 2 - Kerala to Daman (return trip):

It was the return trip to Daman which was more exciting due to the nonstop journey.

Started at around 8 am from Palakkad and took the route via Pollachi, Palladam, Kangeyam, Perundurai and reached Salem Highway.

After Salem, it was a left turn at the round about to the Salem - Bangalore highway.

One hour lunch break near Krishnagiri.

Bye passed Bangalore traffic through NICE road paying a toll of Rs 125. Road was smooth but lack the fineness of a real highway due to bad planning and unfinished work at some places.

Passed Bangalore by 3.30 pm.

Manza is cruising at 140 km/hr and its a perfect drive.

Now our driver is pushing the pedal. Me sitting at front seat is watching the road, speedometer and the driver all at a same time.

Its crossing 160 and then 165 !!!

I can feel that that its still a solid and stable drive so never attempted to discourage the driver.

Once he tested 170 mark also.

There were two railway gates some where near Hubli (in both the places we were held up for a long wait by a passenger train). Fly overs at these two places are still under construction. Also we passed through the two line strech before its too dark and trucks dominate.

Ohh.. forgot to mention about another huge braking test in between.

This time it was a cow suddenly jumped from the divider (which was covered with grass and bush plants) to the fast lane in that four lane road.
There was a truck in the left lane. Our driver was smart and a real expert and Manza too behaved well. After the hard braking, it still went in a straight line and we went past the truck and changed lane at a safe distance to avoid hitting the cow and clearing the truck safely.
It was terrifying with smell of burned rubber sneaking inside.

Reached Belgaum by 9.30 pm

Had dinner and after 1 hour break we were heading towards Kolhapur.

Once we reached Mumbai - Pune expressway it started raining. There was a long array of trucks rushing to reach Mumbai as early as possible.

Then again in NH8 from Mumbai it was like a truck ralley in the rain. With messy jam at the diversions due to construction of several flyovers on the way..

Finally reached Daman by 7:15 am.

It was around 1700 km in just about 23 hours.

Really our driver was amazing - driving continuosly and safely at high speeds.

It was he who suggested and encouraged us to travel non stop.

Full credit to him and Manza, we have not felt any tiredness after such a long trip. Infact my family felt its better than a train journey.

 

[carfreak]

Welcome to TAI. Wow very good narration of your journey. Few pics would definitely add the spice to your travelogue. Great to know that Manza fulfilled your expectation completely

 

[jalex]

Welcome aboard and nice to hear about your Road Trip. 1700 Kms in 2 days flat is really something especially when its with family. Do use caution and do not exceed speeds in unknown territory as well.

I myself love road trips, But as of now I'm stuck between things. Do share pictures of the trip. It would be great.

 

[AppU]

Fanstastic trip autosafari,


Manza is best in all-ways,

share some pics dude......

 

[autosafari]

Thanks for the caution.
Always keep safety first. As explained I was monitoring closely.

1700 km in 2 days was for onward journey.

Return was in 23 hours non stop (only refreshment and refuelling breaks)

It was a real nice trip and Manza did help us to reach without tiring ourselves.

Trying to post some pics soon.

 

[cooldhaya]

That's a pretty nice travelogue but where are the pictures? Full credit to the driver for driving non-stop on return journey. Great to know your Manza served you well.

 

[mukeshus]

Great report autosafari, well if you would have more days to spare, you could have done all the places near by.
I usually try to cover maximum places in a single trip.

Yeah the humps on the stretch near Davangere has lots of devaiations.
And even one has to go on wrong roads.
And as you said the villagers make these abrupt humps, which if we go unnoticed may damage suspension of the car.
Hope Manza is equipped with ABS, so no tyre screeching or rubber mark will be there.

Good to know a fellow member using nitrogen.

For the same reason i fill it with none other than Nitrogen, keeps the tyre pressure under prescribed limits.

What was FE and expenditure of fuel?

 

[autosafari]

Great report autosafari, well if you would have more days to spare, you could have done all the places near by.
I usually try to cover maximum places in a single trip.

Yeah the humps on the stretch near Davangere has lots of devaiations.
And even one has to go on wrong roads.
And as you said the villagers make these abrupt humps, which if we go unnoticed may damage suspension of the car.
Hope Manza is equipped with ABS, so no tyre screeching or rubber mark will be there.

Good to know a fellow member using nitrogen.

For the same reason i fill it with none other than Nitrogen, keeps the tyre pressure under prescribed limits.

What was FE and expenditure of fuel?

Thanks Mukesh,

You are right. we could have visited nearby places - beautiful places - time contraint prevented us.

My Manza is without ABS - but there was no issue in the entire long trip and sudden breaking.

Fuel efficiency was around 18 km with AC on. (second service was not done during this trip) Total fuel expenditure for the whole trip of 3400 km was approx. Rs 9000 with diesel prices high in Karnataka followed by Maharashtra.

 

[carabiker]

I find this travelogue excellent. Adding pics would have made it more gripping for all readers. A well planned long distance drive is always fun when in group and with neccessary precautions. You just inspired me to post my recent trip to the hills here soon ,besides igniting next long distance tour in near future.

Request you to upload a few pics of the whole trip as you have done in ajanta ellora thread.

 

[Umang]

wow man!! i think you should have set a record for covering so long distance under 24 hrs!! kudos to you and driver..and post some pics also!!

 

[shailinder]

How about some pictures autosafari. Add some masala in Kerala curry with pictures

 

[drivetech4]

@ autosafari It was a great Trip, Dont mind but IMHO you should not run your car in such long intervals with High speed, It will have long term effects on the performance of the car due to Over heating . First thing you msut do it change the Engine oil and transaxle oil after such an exhaustive trip. Take care of your Manza she is so beautiful, dont overburden her.

 

[autosafari]

@ autosafari It was a great Trip, Dont mind but IMHO you should not run your car in such long intervals with High speed, It will have long term effects on the performance of the car due to Over heating . First thing you msut do it change the Engine oil and transaxle oil after such an exhaustive trip. Take care of your Manza she is so beautiful, dont overburden her.

Thanks for the input drivetech.

During the entire journey it was my major concern. But our driver kept repeating that there is no heating at all.

Immediately after the trip, we went to Tata authorised sevice center in VAPI for the second service. It was 6200 Km by that time (second sevice was supposed to be between 5000 to 5500 km).

The Lady at the reception was little bit hesistant. She checked with a supervisor and he inturn consulted the Manager. Finally, Manager came to me and told that he is accepting for second service but should not exceed the limits for 3rd service.

To be fare to the TATA service center people, I have not even booked for a service that day. It was just a drive in and still they did it and returned the car within 3 hours.

Whenever I read about poor after sales service from TATA, this incident make me think that either I am lucky or some people are just exagerrating.

During check up, they topped up oil (1/2 litre) and confirmed that no changing required at that time.

 

[drivetech4]

Thanks for the input drivetech.

During the entire journey it was my major concern. But our driver kept repeating that there is no heating at all.

Immediately after the trip, we went to Tata authorised sevice center in VAPI for the second service. It was 6200 Km by that time (second sevice was supposed to be between 5000 to 5500 km).

The Lady at the reception was little bit hesistant. She checked with a supervisor and he inturn consulted the Manager. Finally, Manager came to me and told that he is accepting for second service but should not exceed the limits for 3rd service.

To be fare to the TATA service center people, I have not even booked for a service that day. It was just a drive in and still they did it and returned the car within 3 hours.

Whenever I read about poor after sales service from TATA, this incident make me think that either I am lucky or some people are just exagerrating.

During check up, they topped up oil (1/2 litre) and confirmed that no changing required at that time.

Well I am not an auto expert but being an Automobile + Mechnical engineer I feel that, You should have changed the oil instead of topping up, Please note -1/2 ltr oil topped up menas that amount of oil is burnt due to Overheating. Never listen to drivers advice on technical thing, limit it to driving skills.

 

[autosafari]

Yes drivetech you are right.

After this trip, I have decided that next time we won't call a driver and break the journey into 3 sections so that I can drive comfortably.

Will try to drive at a constant speed of 80 km so that milage is maximum.
Also I found out that driving at a constant speed of 80 can help us to cover maximum distance with less wear to the vehicle, tyre and strain to driver and at the same time consuming less fuel.

Accelerating to top speed and frequent braking (which cannot be avoided in Indian highways) has its toll on the vehicle as well as passenger and driver.

Further, we will be in control and safe and can better manage situations like those mentioned earlier - A cow jumbing into the road from the divider.