General Route Query Thread

A shiny new car, Fiat Linea, emotionally packed diesel with a variable geometry turbo-charger. A letter comes with a invitation . 1 week holiday approved . By now you all must calling up the mental hospital to report a case . So before you waste , precious talk time let me tie up the loose ends.

A family function was in order in my wife hometown Amravati, Maharashtra , the area popularly known as Vidarbha . And as luck would have been we got our new Linea before that. So the plan was decided to drive down to Amravati to attend the function. I got the leave approved from my manager and started dream about the ride on 1st June. My brother-in-law was to join us and so was a pile of luggage. About 2 large suitcase, one bed-matteress, a puja-stool and numerous diffrent bags of all shapes and sizes.

Firstly, to set the expectation right I do not have any photos to post. So sorry about that. Now this was the route we had ealier been on last year in my Spark, so we were pretty conversant with the road and knew where to expect bad patches and toll-booth. The route was Pune-Nagar-Aurangabad-Jalna-Sindakhed Raja-Mehkar-Karanja-Amravati. This route is called New Nagpur road. Please see the attached xls for route details.

we had planned to start off early 4.30am . A really ambitious plan .. And so by 5.45am we were out on the road. The first leg of the journey was to AhmedNagar. The road is a 4 laned highway with dividers. So our progress was quick. The last time we had been on this road . the portion near Smilestone restaurant was under construction and this time butter smooth and we reached Ahmednagar in about 2 hours a distance of about 120kms. Not bad. The second leg upto Jalna is also a well tarred and 4 laned. But yeah Aurangabad traffic is something you watch out for.We filled diesel here.We reached Jalna Bypass at about 11.30 am. Here traditionally one would go towards Deulgaon Raja and meet up with NH-6. But we took the New Nagpur road.

Boy what a road . Amazingly smooth. Absolutely no pot-holes but got messier in small town we passed. Well towns which we never had heard of like Dusarbeed, Bibi. It was getting hot now and by 12pm its was baking hot 45 degrees or so said the trip computer. Linea remained cool and composed as every taking all the roads in its stride with a wide grin . We stopped at about 1.30 somewhere after Mehkar for lunch consisting of packed sanwiches. We had frozen water in Coca-cola bottles day earlier so we had ice cold water in this hot summer. The last time in Spark we did this trick and ended up with normal water. This speaks volumes of Lineas A/C . The cabin was at 24 degrees, so literally we were oblivious to heat.

By about 3.30pm we were at a junction near Karanja bypass. Here one road takes you to Badner and then Amravati on NH6 and the second to Nagpur via wardha. The last 50 odd kms weregobbled up under 45 minutes and we were in our house in Amravati at 4pm with a piping hot tea awaiting us.

The Linea has given us 18km to a liter and cruised at a constant speed of about 90kmph for most of the time. And fatigue, well none at all . A distance of about 580kms gobbled up in 10hours including food and nature breaks and about the same for the return journey. 1200kms both ways .We went through blistering heat on empty road for miles togther and when passing through villages and towns dodging villagers , buffalos , six-seaters , two wheeler.

And this is where I smiled and patting myself on the back for getting the beauty called the Linea.....

Much has been said about long drives. would be interesting to read about city driving stories :car :hit :hit

Just yesterday, out-maneuvered two autos. One ended up screech-crashing into the other. The MJD just managed to keep me out of their reach. Will just avoid that road (Ghatkopar station east-west overpass) next time.

Planning a drive from Panvel to Hyderabad and back over the next weekend. Following google maps link shows the route I am planning (Panvel - Pune - Solapur - Hyderabad). Can anyone give me an idea of how bad / good the road conditions are? Is it possible to reach in 10 hours (My Punto is currently in its run-in period)? Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Mods: I am not sure if I am posting this in the right place - please move it to the right one, if not - Thanks!

http://maps.google.co.in/maps?f=d&sourc ... e=UTF8&z=7

Devan.

Within Maharashtra, from pune to the state border the roads should be OK with 1-2 pot holes on each stretch of road via solapur.
As you come close to the border after Solapur you will notice the road going bad to worst.
The Karnataka stretch will be bad. Andhra Pradesh I have no clue.
generally the roads on the state border go unnoticed and end up full of potholes.

i think after solapur the NH goes from dual carriage to single carriage without dividers.

10 Hrs, will be impossible considering its the rains!! you will take 2.5 - 3 just to reach pune if its raining.

I suggest you Drive in daylight AFTER pune. (or leave pune very early morning so you reach solapur with some daylight left. Plan that way if you dont want to stop)
Dusk - night you wont be able to see the potholes, or guess the depth and might end up scraping/damaging the undercarriage. Avoid driving at night. (if possible halt at solapur. you get yummy food there)
Not to mention the trucks aiming their head lights with just the high beam at the oncoming car!!

from mumbai, once you reach pune you will need to drive through the city for solapur road. After the expressway drive straight for some time, Turn left under the Hinjewadi bridge at the signal. NH4 the straight road goes to Satara & Bangalore.

Check the spare tyre pressure before leaving.
Dont rush & Drive Safe.

Must be the rains!!
Then expect the road after solapur to be worst..

Thanks Chaos and Amogh! I guess its answered... If one side travel takes more than 12 hours, a weekend trip cannot be planned. I thought google maps won't lie!

Hey devansn,

I went to my hometown in Goa from Hyd in May.I took the route Hyd->Solapur->Kolhapur->Belgaum->Goa. The road from Hyd to Solapur was quite good.Although i can't say how it's now after rains.For me the bad part was Solapur->Kolhapur .. Maharastra state highway was really bad.
@Chaos the Karnataka strech is very small and its quite good.

Thanks atulalvenkar.

My main intention for doing this trip was to somehow complete 3000 Kms before my planned trip to Kerala after a few weeks - I guess I may have to select a different destination for the weekend... Mahabaleshwar? Nasik / Triambakeshwar?

devansn, mahabaleshwar should be awesome this time of the year .. i went there about a year back in July !!