[kousik]

Originally Posted by pmvelu

After Mysore, I have seen one or 2 Essar Gas stations and hmmm No, I don't remember Seeing Shell / Reliance on the way !

There is an Essar fuel station in Masinagudi town. There are a few in Gundlepet, but none of them are Shell/Reliance.

Kousik

[pmvelu]

@anainar,

I am Planning the trip for Good Friday Week-end. Ya sure.. From all your expert advices , I understood I need to be in 1st Or atleast 2nd gear to climb up... waiting for the thrill & thanks for your advice !

@Koushik,

I answered for Mysore to M.M Hills route. You responded for Mysore- Ooty route I suppose .. No harm but thought of making clear..

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by kousik

There is an Essar fuel station in Masinagudi town.

I did a tankful at this bunk and paid for it. I was forced to stay in 1st gear for major part of uphill as my car refused to pull in 2nd gear even with enough momentum

Stay away from this bunk

[svsantosh]

All you Ooty riders...please remember while inside Masinagudi forest reserve...dont Blare your way thru turns... stay slow and watch out left and right continously for the 20-30 min ride across... Elephants... very very reckless and wild type...!! dont flash ur headlights... dont honk @ them..they arent ur galli ka ghai... (street cow)... and please try some serious fast reversing at a nice khali (empty) strech near your home before starting the trip... sounds filmy style isnt it ...


no... ... we had to do this in a scorpio for at least half a kilometre..!! thnk god it got bored and ran away..!!

[prashanthyr]

Just finished the trip to Ooty over the weekend. As Abhi rightly pointed out, about 10 km of road after Gundlupet town is very bad, forcing you to stay in 2nd gear. This alone takes 20-30 mins. The road up to Ooty from Masinagudi is pretty ok, with some broken patches. We took 2 cars - a Santro and a Getz 1.1. Of the 36 curves, the Santro managed 33 in 2nd/3d gear and had to be brought to 1st in 3 curves. For the Getz, the figures are 30 in 2nd/3d gear and 6 in 1st gear. I'll write a detailed travelogue once i finish catching up with work!

@Svsantosh : Sadly, we didnt encounter anything apart from deer and monkeys :(

[anainar]

Originally Posted by Surprise

Ohh.. I only did uphill in this section. Thought it would be easy to downhill and left it to my friend. If known before about this thrill, would have definitely got behind the wheels.

Oh yeah! It is when looking down, you realize how steep the ascent is. Especially the long straight stretches which are scary. But stay in 2nd or 1st use the engine the slow down and it will be ok. Forget about 3rd gear. No way at all while coming down.

BTW, the thought did occur to me! What if it snows in Ooty and one has to take the ghat section?? Having driven in icy roads of Iowa, and felt how difficult it is to get traction in a normal plain road itself, cannot image snow in Ooty. The ecology does make sure that things are in proper balance..

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by prashanthyr

@Svsantosh : Sadly, we didnt encounter anything apart from deer and monkeys :(

thank the heavens you did not

[Poseidon]

Am planning Coimbatore-Masinagudi this Good Friday weekend via Mettupalayam, Ooty.
Query: I drive a NHC. Is this 36 hairpin bend route recommended at all on this car?

[csentil]

Would you like a ship, Poseidon. :0) Hey just kidding with the Poisedon theme...

Well, my friend did it with a Maruti 800 fully loaded. If an NHC cannot do it I wonder what will. Just be cautious and honk well when you take the hairpin bends.

Oh, you mean the size of the car would be too big for the road. Nope, thats not a problem. See, lorries and buses don't use that road, rather can't use it.

Also use the Kotagiri route to Ooty. The route via Conoor is not so great and I heard there was road work going on between the Highest Point and Charing Cross. Kotagiri road is really great it seems.

[Poseidon]

Thanks, csentil - will take your advice on the Kotagiri route to Ooty. Anxious virgin that I am on the Ooty-Kalhatty-Masinagudi route (and also eager to lose it), I should have been more specific - low ground clearance of the NHC is on my mind, given the gradient, hairpin bends and steep edge of road-gravel interface. Ghats per se are not new to this car, though.

[prashanthyr]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

Thanks, csentil - will take your advice on the Kotagiri route to Ooty. Anxious virgin that I am on the Ooty-Kalhatty-Masinagudi route (and also eager to lose it), I should have been more specific - low ground clearance of the NHC is on my mind, given the gradient, hairpin bends and steep edge of road-gravel interface. Ghats per se are not new to this car, though.

We saw lots of fully loaded Civics going up the hill. If the Civic can do it, i guess your City should also be able to, considering that its a smaller car and the ground clearance is similar.

[Rotorhead]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

Am planning Coimbatore-Masinagudi this Good Friday weekend via Mettupalayam, Ooty.
Query: I drive a NHC. Is this 36 hairpin bend route recommended at all on this car?

The current road between mettupalayam and ooty is being converted into a NH so you will find that this road is pretty good compared to the state it was few months back. You could also take the kotagiri route which is less traffic prone and more scenic..eventhough the kallar, burliar route is also pretty much scenic. The only thing frustrating though is after all that ride as you enter ooty you will enconter really pathetic stretch of road above charing cross and since the traffic is regulated to one way , you might probably end up waiting for half-hour or more for your turn to get into ooty.

Comming to the other route from ooty to masinagudi thru kalhatti ghats, dont worry about your car, eventhough it is steep but it has a very even gradient, so there is no way u will end up scraping your car belly. The only issue being that since most of the strech allows only one vehicle at a time, you might have to get off the road at times to allow other vehicles pass. This is when you need to be carefull coz in most places the road shoulders are in pretty bad shape.

And for all the others taking this route..accepted for first timers and people not used to hill driving it tends to look pretty scary..but its not that big a deal..never turn of ur engine while going downhill..always have ur car at lower gear..and when driving uphill u need to be very carefull with your clutching and gear shifts..and all cars should be easily be able to make it between the 2nd and 3rd gears and 1st while taking those few streches that are really steep. People driving diesels need to be carefull to ensure that the cars are always at the turbo range during gear shifts coz it feels pretty scary when u are shifting your gears in steep gradient and the turbo goes off. Better always to use the car momentum to take most of the corners..but be wary of oncomming traffic. One good thing thought is u will hardly find any heavy vehicles except for the occasional village buses and trucks that carry local produce.....give priority to uphill traffic..and finally dont fail to stop and enjoy the scenaries that this route has to offerits just amazing especially during the early morning or sunset time..

[gypsyFreak]

and remember that kalhatti ghat road is closed after 6 PM.

On the GC... I drove down a fully loaded Esteem through Kalhatti. It is never a problem in the ghat, but take care after Masinagudi as the shoulders are steep. Not a problem it is manageable.

Have a safe trip... and have fun

[csentil]

Agree with Rotorhead on all points. Between Kalhatti & Masinagudi I was forced off road by some nut cases driving like F1. I was in my Civic with 4 people. Except once when I had to go offroad on a pretty bad stretch, there was no other problem.

Given the Charing Cross road condition and the heavy traffic its better to take Kotagiri. Less hairpins, less traffic and better roads. Its just a few kms extra.

[Rotorhead]

Originally Posted by gypsyFreak

and remember that kalhatti ghat road is closed after 6 PM.

I believe u can get thru by paying up something to the guards there and its not much ..pbbly 50 or 100bucks..or u just have to mention some big shots name...