[fuzail]

I will be undertaking a Mumbai Bangalore trip in the first week of May. Request all the regulars on this route to provide first hand information on the road conditions.
I will be starting at 6 am from Kurla,Mumbai and I intend to reach Kalyan Nagar HRBR layout in Bangalore by 9 pm. Is my estimate correct ?
Guys your input will make my journey easy. Please advice

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by fuzail

I will be undertaking a Mumbai Bangalore trip in the first week of May. Request all the regulars on this route to provide first hand information on the road conditions.
I will be starting at 6 am from Kurla,Mumbai and I intend to reach Kalyan Nagar HRBR layout in Bangalore by 9 pm. Is my estimate correct ?
Guys your input will make my journey easy. Please advice

6am start is LATE!
With this you will cross Pune around 8:30am and this is when the bypass starts getting busy in both directions. Secondly, you will have good (thick) traffic already outwards of Pune right from the first toll after Pune (Khedshivpur) all the way till Kolhapur. It means you will do Pune Kolhapur when traffic is higher.

If you start at say 4:30, you cross Pune before 7:00, cross Kolhapur by 10:00/10:30 with a break at Sai International for Breakfast around 09:30 or McDs after Pune at 7:30.

Break for lunch at Kamat before Dharwad arpund 13:30, for Snacks at Kamat, Sira around 17:30/18:00 and enter Bangalore around 20:30 and be there at HRBR Layout by 21:30.

This plan works best for you. If you can start at 04:00, its perfect. 06:00 is LATE again.

Refer the first post of this thread for all the Break Points and their locations.

[fuzail]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

6am start is LATE!
With this you will cross Pune around 8:30am and this is when the bypass starts getting busy in both directions. Secondly, you will have good (thick) traffic already outwards of Pune right from the first toll after Pune (Khedshivpur) all the way till Kolhapur. It means you will do Pune Kolhapur when traffic is higher.

If you start at say 4:30, you cross Pune before 7:00, cross Kolhapur by 10:00/10:30 with a break at Sai International for Breakfast around 09:30 or McDs after Pune at 7:30.

Break for lunch at Kamat before Dharwad arpund 13:30, for Snacks at Kamat, Sira around 17:30/18:00 and enter Bangalore around 20:30 and be there at HRBR Layout by 21:30.

This plan works best for you. If you can start at 04:00, its perfect. 06:00 is LATE again.

Refer the first post of this thread for all the Break Points and their locations.

What about the road conditions like diversions etc.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by fuzail

What about the road conditions like diversions etc.

Pune Bypass is almost complete.

Pune - Satara is where 6 lane work is under progress with at least 8-10 Diversions on 110 kms stretch. But, each of these are marked well and the diversion itself is clean. If this was a worry, I would have made a mention of this in the first place.

After this, its usual GQ Roads all the way to destination.

Dharwad - Hubli bypass is single carriageway for 30 kms.

When you are nearing Harihar, the road forks out into 2. You need to stick left (right not allowed) and pass through the town (from far away) and join the highway again after crossing the Bridge.

This is exactly the section I am referring to.

[fuzail]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Pune Bypass is almost complete.

Pune - Satara is where 6 lane work is under progress with at least 8-10 Diversions on 110 kms stretch. But, each of these are marked well and the diversion itself is clean. If this was a worry, I would have made a mention of this in the first page.

After this, its usual GQ Roads all the way to destination.

Dharwad - Hubli bypass is single carriageway for 30 kms.

When you are nearing Harihar, the road forks out into 2. You need to stick left (right not allowed) and pass through the town (from far away) and join the highway again after crossing the Bridge.

This is exactly the section I am referring to.

Parag,I have made a geo coordinate file of all the hotels and petrol pumps as per your list on the first page.
This will help users of the Suzuki Smartplay System SLDA like me. you just have to load the coordinates file in the system and whenever the POI is approaching you get a beep as well as display on the map.

Procedure to load the file:

Make a Folder "myPOIs" in the root directory of a USB
Then copy, the 2 files of the RAR attached, in the folder myPOIs
Insert the USB in the device. The device detects the file automatically.
Tap Download to confirm that you want to load the file.
The progress and completion of the loading operation are indicated.

I have loaded it in my Ertiga's SLDA succesfully. Will test it on my journey to Bangalore this week.

Mods if you find this useful please post it on the first Page.

[maker_of_things]

Hi guys,

I'm doing a solo motorcycle trip on my Classic 500 from Mumbai - Bangalore tomorrow morning 4 AM. I have planned out everything including stops/fuel breaks at every 200 odd km.

I had a question, this will be my third time in Bangalore, but I'm not really aware of the city roads much. I need to get to Kaverappa Layout in Kadubeesanahalli. What would be the best route to get there once I enter the city, the NICE road or the outer ring road via Lumbini Gardens, considering the fact that I might enter Bangalore during peak traffic hours?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by maker_of_things

I need to get to Kaverappa Layout in Kadubeesanahalli. What would be the best route to get there once I enter the city, the NICE road or the outer ring road via Lumbini Gardens, considering the fact that I might enter Bangalore during peak traffic hours?

Bottlenecks if you come via Outer Ring Road:

1. The Railway crossing at Goreguntepalya once you exit Tumkur Road
2. Manyatha Infotech Park
3. KR Puram
4. Doddanekundi
5. Marathalli


Bottlenecks if you approach via NICE Road:

1. Hosa Road Junction
2. Bommanahalli Junction
3. Silkboard Signal
4. Section right from Agara till the Kadubesanahalli underpass where you head towards Kaverappa Layout (Slow moving or at times fast)

Both the choices have their own pros and cons. However, between the 2 and considering that you are riding, I will pick the NICE Road option mainly because after Silkboard, towards Kadubesanahalli the traffic is not as thick since you are mostly moving in the opposite direction whereas all traffic is reaching Silkboard Junction.

There is a nice alternate to avoid the Railway gate mess if you take the ORR but then, not very easy for a first timer.

Stick to NICE road. That's the best during Peak time.

[mkbksc]

Dear friends, I am planning a Gandhidham to Bangalore trip in the next 30 days. My car is XUV 500 and fellow passengers are my mother, wife and daughter. Your experiences written down in this forum are priceless information.

Would take the first break at Mumbai. Feeling excited and stirred up. But slight trepidation also. Have never been to this part of the country via roads.

looking forward to your valuable advice - where to stay on highway after Mumbai, places of interest that can be seen with slight detour, food joints, etc.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by mkbksc

looking forward to your valuable advice - where to stay on highway after Mumbai, places of interest that can be seen with slight detour, food joints, etc.

Slight detour and Food Joints? Some lovely beaches at Daman & Diu is all I can think off.

Detour anywhere beyond and anywhere else is not worth it.

Overall, stretch from Mumbai to Ahmedabad would never disappoint you in terms of food courts anyway.

Have a look at some threads on Ahmedabad Mumbai Route queries for more details. I am on mobile and hence cannot search it.

[mkbksc]

Thanks @paragsachania.

Is it true that NH 8 at Bharuch is always clogged?

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Slight detour and Food Joints? Some lovely beaches at Daman & Diu is all I can think off.

Detour anywhere beyond and anywhere else is not worth it.

Overall, stretch from Mumbai to Ahmedabad would never disappoint you in terms of food courts anyway.

Have a look at some threads on Ahmedabad Mumbai Route queries for more details. I am on mobile and hence cannot search it.

Thanks. I get your point. I have done Gandhidham -Ahmedabad numerous times in my XUV. It is smooth sailing of 3.5 hours except for the toll at Samakhayali(under renovation,53 kms from Gandhidham) which can extend the trip duration.

Beyond Ahmedabad, I reckon the expressway to Vadodara would be smooth. After Vadodara, except for Bharuch, I think one can drive down to Pune and take first halt there.

Any tips on Thane -Pune drive?

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by mkbksc

Is it true that NH 8 at Bharuch is always clogged?

Avoid peak hours in the morning and evening. Also, southbound is faster than Northbound even when its clogged.

To answer your question - The Bridge is not always clogged. Best thing to do is check traffic on Googlemaps and decide whether you take the Golden Bridge route through the city or the main Bridge.

Beyond Ahmedabad, I reckon the expressway to Vadodara would be smooth. After Vadodara, except for Bharuch, I think one can drive down to Pune and take first halt there.

You simply knock off your worries on Bharuch mate. This is not a roadblock at all if planned well. Just ensure you avoid peak hours that's all.

And like I said, keep tab on traffic on Googlemaps and then decide if you take the usual bridge or through the city.

For North bound traffic, cops stationed here allow Private cars to drive on the wrong side and then take the old bridge on the right where only cars are allowed. So its well managed in general.

Ahmedabad to Thane will be at least 7-8 hours (500 kms). From here add another 3 hours for your destination in Pune. Overall, budget 11-12 hours for this anyway. But then, you need to make sure that you don't start at a wrong time from Ahmedabad and get stuck crossing Mumbai.

A good time always is 4-5am start from Ahmedabad so that you reach Mumbai around lunch time.

This was in May last year when I drove solo from Rajkot to Bangalore and I never exceeded 100 KMPH between Rajkot and Thane. Still managed this with a little less than 10 Hours but then I was all alone with not even a co-passenger. So my breaks were very less except one for breakfast after Bharuch.



The recent one was in January when we left Ahmedabad at 3PM and entered Mumbai at 10:30PM which was a very wrong time to do Mumbai-Pune.

Any tips on Thane -Pune drive?

3 Hours max. Take the usual Thane - Eastern Expressway - Airoli Bridge - Belapur Road - Khargar - Panvel - Expressway route for Pune.

Again, avoid Peak hours when leaving Mumbai and late nights when passing Lonavala. Best time is leaving Thane at 5:00 or after 11:00 (This will helpa void Mumbai Traffic) . For evenings, best time to leave would be after 20:00 but before 22:00 so that you dont drive along with thousands of Trucks and Private Buses in the ghats on expressway at night. These make you crawl in 1st gear almost the entire length of the Ghats.

[mkbksc]

Thank u so much Parag. Very useful info for me .

[hangover]

Originally Posted by Aragorn

Special mention to my 14 year Honda City! What an absolutely amazing car. Despite the age, despite the 100000 kms on the ODO, despite the abuse of so many years in Mumbai, the car performs absolutely beautifully! Will be very difficult to part with her when she comes up for FC next year.

Cheers and safe driving!

Why must you part with the car? I did my FC in bangalore in March 2015. It's valid for 5 years. Are rules different in MH state?

And speaking of FC's, my 2001 OHC car emissions are lower than my 1 year old i20 emissions and my brothers 4 year old ford classic. Those are also petrol. My O2 sensor is not working either.

So really, all the general talk of banning old cars is simply car-illiterate people emitting hot air.

There's a company in a village in SriLanka that makes Morris Minors. They hammer out body panels with rustic labor. Last I heard, Morris enthusiasts were sourcing parts from them. Just saying.

With regular maintenance any car can last upto 30 years. It doesn't have to be a made in Germany Merc. or a Volvo. Our humble OHC's are equally good. And faster and sexier. James Dean and Steve McQueen would have driven an OHC if it was available then.

I'm beating my own drum here. Recently I was in mangalore near a temple. I'd just driven through slush and rain and the car was filthy inside out. Some bloke with his family came across, looked at the car and asked if its for sale?

Last year some Hyderabad guy was at my servicing center. He offered 3 lakhs. I refused both. Even 3 crores is too less.

[Aragorn]

Originally Posted by hangover

Why must you part with the car? I did my FC in bangalore in March 2015. It's valid for 5 years. Are rules different in MH state?

And speaking of FC's, my 2001 OHC car emissions are lower than my 1 year old i20 emissions and my brothers 4 year old ford classic. Those are also petrol. My O2 sensor is not working either.

So really, all the general talk of banning old cars is simply car-illiterate people emitting hot air.

There's a company in a village in SriLanka that makes Morris Minors. They hammer out body panels with rustic labor. Last I heard, Morris enthusiasts were sourcing parts from them. Just saying.

With regular maintenance any car can last upto 30 years. It doesn't have to be a made in Germany Merc. or a Volvo. Our humble OHC's are equally good. And faster and sexier. James Dean and Steve McQueen would have driven an OHC if it was available then.

I'm beating my own drum here. Recently I was in mangalore near a temple. I'd just driven through slush and rain and the car was filthy inside out. Some bloke with his family came across, looked at the car and asked if its for sale?

Last year some Hyderabad guy was at my servicing center. He offered 3 lakhs. I refused both. Even 3 crores is too less.

Those are words only an OHC owner will speak

Rules in Mumbai mandate a yearly inspection I think. I am just keeping the FC timeline as a reference point to change cars.

While I love the low seating and stance, my family is finding it increasingly difficult to get in and out.

Mechanically, the car is fine in all aspects.

@Mods: Sorry for the OT discussion.

[rish27]

Hi All

I am travelling to Bangalore-Kolhapur-Bangalore next weekend. I have 3 questions, I would appreciate it if I can get opinions.

~ Best Fuel Pump/Bunk whilst returning. While going I am filling up diesel thru the Shell Bunk in Bellandur.
~ Are Reliance Fuel Bunks worth a try?
~ Last time while returning from Goa I completely missed the NICE road entry due to heavy traffic and rains. GPS ditched at the last moment. Any landmark I need to bear in mind before entering NICE.

Thanks in advance.