Hello all,
Had taken my Jazz V MT (petrol) for a short spin last week - a 1400 km spin from Mumbai - Goa - GanapatiPule - Mumbai. Had taken the Kolhapur-Belgavi-Chorla route to Goa and then the coastal route on the way back. Here's how the car fared on both.
Mumbai to Goa via breezy 4-6 lane roads
This is something that goes without saying, but the Jazz was perhaps the best hatchback I've ever driven on a good highway. Overtakes were clean, acceleration was linear and simple. I tried to maintain the speed between 75-105 kmph at all times, with a light foot on the accelerator. At no time did I need to floor the car for speed because there was always enough to work with. The end result -
18 kmpl on the 660 km stretch, with the AC on at all times except the first 2 hours since I left home at 3:30 am. This included some high-revving 3rd gear overtakes in the ghats towards the end and a disastrous wrong turn near Belgavi where I lost 30 minutes to bad city roads and traffic. (P.S. The mileage was
18.3 kmpl from Andheri in Mumbai to Hinjewadi in Pune, a distance of 144 km).
The engine did surprisingly well even with the infamous 3rd gear pickup, which I think is not really an issue if you change into 3rd anytime after 1600 rpm. All in all, an absolutely SMASHING drive experience.
Goa to Ganapatipule to Mumbai
Before I begin, a side note to anybody looking to do the trip back from Goa - ALWAYS come back via Kolhapur-Pune. It's a much better road since there is a lot of 4-laning work ongoing on the old route. Yes, it's a few km more, but the end result and drive is totally worth it. My Jazz is now sitting in the car park with a deflated rear tire, coz I believe it got punctured somewhere along the end of the highway at Panvel owing to TERRIBLE roads and construction paraphernalia strewn around carelessly. I also suffered a few minor scratches from bushes and brambles at the place we stayed in South Goa, since it was a bit into the wilderness. Pains my heart now, but this shall be dealt with too.
I'd give about 80 km to touristy drives within Goa and Ganaptipule, low-speed, low-gear, easy going drives on interior roads and hills. Then comes the
600 km-odd trip on the way back. The 2-laned, 2-way roads led to the need of a LOT of overtakes (truck and ST bus drives have terrible ego issues, which means some of these weren't quick since you have to keep waiting for the lane to be clear).
The road is bad in sections, but the car handled well again - on ghats as well as straight stretches. Ground clearance helps tremendously and I noticed a few sedans grinding their underbodies on the good ol' village speedbreakers that are probably meant for this very purpose. But for the Jazz, this was an absolute cinch. The 2 drives (Goa to Ganapatipule, and then Ganapatipule-Mumbai) were 7 am to 3 pm drives, with moderate traffic in parts, ghats AND the temperature control set to 22 degrees. Here, the Jazz still managed to give
16+ kmpl!
Total trip summary
- Awesome drive. Yes, the car has some inherent flaws but I probably cannot take ANYTHING from the driving experience.
- Handled like a cute, lil' Labrador pup that loves you back all the time, always comforting and cozy, and all you end up doing is
aww everytime it roars
- Just enough power, just enough jazz
- Amazing mileage
The Jazz has been washed by our regular car-washing guy in the apartment, but I will be giving it some personal care and a good, thorough cleaning this week. After all, it's been a fabulous machine that continues to bring so much joy with every drive! The tire will be checked too, and hopefully I won't have anything major to deal with.
And to end this long-drawn post, some photos. Hope you enjoyed the long read!
Sitting pretty, a 100 km from Panaji
Mumbai to Pune @ 18.3 kmpl
Mumbai to Goa @ 18 kmpl
Against the sunset, resting after a long day
Enjoying the view
Trip done - 1400+ km at an average of 17 kmpl. That's good for me! 