Beauty on the Beach-Bombay to Goa-Fiat Linea-PART-1-Aug'09

16th August, 2009

Took Linea on a Romantic date to Goa. Here is the Photologue. 1st the overview & then the details:

During entire journey of Bombay to Goa, the best thing I've experienced is Lineas Brakes. Great Brakes. They give tremendous confidence while driving & thereby increases driving pleasure immensely. Simply superb. Never ever my earlier car Ford Ikon's brakes gave me even half of this confidence.

Bombay to Goa - Distance - 620 km

FE (100% AC ON) - 13.7 kmpl (70 km in city + 550 km highway)

Avg speed - 62 kmph

Drool over the Italian beauty sunbathing at Morjim beach !!!




Return journey Goa to Mumbai

Distance : 610 kms

Avg Speed : 66 kmph

Driving Time : 9 hours

FE : 14.4 kmpl (80% of journey AC was ON)

I think my li'l grouse againt the FE of my Linea has been put to rest (with those figures of around 14 kmpl) by the beauty. She performed exceedingly well in all aspects throughout.

Meanwhile, another pic of the beauty resting & taking a look at Fort Aguada

Re: Beauty on the Beach-Bombay to Goa-Fiat Linea-PART-1-Aug'

Now, the details..

16th August, 2009

Left Home at 5.40 A.M. for Goa in my Linea. Previous evening – checked everything – Oil, Coolant etc. Somehow I always find Coolant slightly lower than Min mark. It was late evening so added some water there (Only slightly – actually do not prefer to add anything other than recommended coolant there)

The route taken was

Vashi-Panvel
Pune thro’ Expressway
Kolhapur (straight from Expressway exit)
Shankheswar (From here took a right from the highway)
Gadhhinglaj
Ajra
Amboli Ghat
Sawantwadi
Goa

Took a breakfast halt at Lonavala Toll booth at around 7.15 am. Got the Fuel tank full & set air pressure to 33 psi in all 4 tyres.

Journey thro’ Mumbai-Pune ExpressWay was a breeze. I frequently crossed 165 kmph & almost touched 170 kmph once or twice. Unlike previously, this time Linea felt planted all along ExpressWay at those high speeds.

At around 11.45 am, took another break for tea just before Kolhapur. Its here that I noticed that left side wiper nozzle is loose. Though that plastic part does not seem broken, I tried to fix it in its slot but could not. Shall ask TASS to do it.

All along the journey, I noticed 2 things:

• As mentioned earlier, Brakes are simply superb, inspiring confidence.

• The cooling reduces considerably while climbing steep ghats. This is my 2nd such experience & this time I got the AC drain pipe checked earlier – no blockage with pool of water always found underneath the car after parking her. I remember TASS saying earlier (which was confirmed by top Fiat official) that when the load increases substantially on the engine, it starts cutting off items contributing to the load. 1st item in priority seems to be the AC. This was also discussed on forums & is present in all Fiat cars & some other cars also.

The inside road after turning right from Pune-Kolhapur Highway is Single/ Double lane full of potholes. However, After crossing Gadhinglaj & Ajra, it turns very scenic. Here are a few pics:

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The next stop which is Amboli Ghat is a superb Hill Station with scenic beauty. We stopped here for Lunch. When we left the restaurant, it started raining heavily. We went to a mind-blowing point called Mahadevgadh Point. Its on the Hill & surrounded by Valley on 3 sides. Since it was drizzling, the valley was filled with Clouds but I can say that the nature was at its best. Can’t get any better than this. Savour some pics…

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Re: Beauty on the Beach-Bombay to Goa-Fiat Linea-PART-1-Aug'

Some 3-5 kms ahead of Amboli Ghat, there are several Water falls. The first one is the biggest & was crowded like a mela when we passed thro’. On our return journey in early morning, there was no one & hence able to click some clear pics.

The entire Amboli Ghat was steep, with hairpin bends & with lots of scenic spots. It felt
lovely driving through Amboli Ghat

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Amboli to Sawantwadi route is full of ghats & is very scenic.

Reached Calangute by 6 p.m. Checked in Calangute Residency in a Sea-facing room.

Sunset @ Calangute Beach (pardon for Pic quality as it was getting dark & pic was taken on mobile cam)

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Some pics from Fort Aguada..

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Fort Aguada Beach is also called Sinquerim Beach. There is a Summit point & on both sides of it there are 2 Taj properties. From this Point, one can look at the beach stretch of Sinquerim, Candolim, & Calangute

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Beauty on the Beach-Bombay to Goa-Fiat Linea-PART-1-Aug'

Sunset @ Calangute beach

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Baga Beach..

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Vagatore Beach..

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Ashvem/ Manderim Beach..

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Arambol Beach..

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Some pics of Calangute beach from the balcony of our Room..

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Clouds in Valley @ The scenic Amboli Ghat again on our return journey..

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MORE TO COME IN BEAUTY ON THE BEACH-BOMBAY TO GOA-FIAT LINEA-PART-2-FEB'10.....

Re: Beauty on the Beach-Bombay to Goa-Fiat Linea-PART-1-Aug'

Where is Part-2?

Re: Beauty on the Beach-Bombay to Goa-Fiat Linea-PART-1-Aug'

Its here--> Goa trip Part-2