[funkykar]

Such a drive in modern cars is just another drive. To drive in Padmini that some of us love gives a small sense of achievement. This log is to highlight the experience me and Arun had in our Padmini S1. The log is more or less dedicated to our Padmini S1.

This summer has been extremely hot in Bangalore. Something that Bangalore has never been known for. So much that it broke records made 85 years ago. 2015 summer being one of the wettest in Bangalore, we all saw a very harsh summer coming up anyways. I decided to take it head on with the summer. Right from beginning of March, consciously started spending more time in the sun and also avoid AC in the cars I drove. Since beginning of this year, my Padmini S1 has been the regular commute for me, just for the love of driving it. My Linea was parked mostly in office and had to be jump started on 3 occasions in this year.

Mangalore is an awesome place to be if you love sea food and also popular for ice-creams at Pabbas. Its also about the drive that spices it up. A few weeks ago, after seeing a close friend Chethan post lot of stuff about his Mangalore visit(his home town) on WhatsApp, I got too tempted to drive up there. Also, for the yummy sea food and of course Pabbas ice-creams.

Suddenly DBhpian Parag messages me about a possible drive to Mangalore as there was a house warming ceremony of his friend Prashanth. Apparently through Parag, I too knew him a bit and was invited. With no hesitation, it was a yes. As usual, me and Parag mostly choose to drive our own cars for the driving madness in us. I had a choice to make. The yester year Linea or the yester decade Padmini. Heart said Padmini, mind said Linea. 2016 is a time where getting hold of a mechanic for Padmini is not too easy. Parts too don't come by easy. That said, more or less same for the Linea , just that its more reliable in comparison with Padmini, being modern and younger by age. Padmini it was!!

I told the plan to Arun Srinivasan. For some of his personal commitments, it was impossible for him to make it. The keywords Padmini and Mangalore made him beat all the odds and he confirmed it a hour before the drive. We had prebooked accommodation from MakeMyTrip at a hotel called Kumar's International. As it was waitlisted, they made a change to a better faring Hotel Ayush International. The discount offered was too good. We paid just 795 a night. With addition of Parag's dad and Arun, had to make a new booking at Ayush and costed close to 1500 a day. Both put together was still a steal!

Now, what's the connection with Summer, Mangalore and Padmini? Like the masses choose to go to a cooler place during summer, we chose to take summer by its horns. End of April is peak summer time, and we chose to drive to Mangalore in a Padmini. The Padmini has a bone chilling Super King AC. We deliberately chose to drive NON AC for the entire drive. Our minds were totally set and our bodies synced with our minds and the Padmini. I was worried how Arun will cope up with the summer heat in a Padmini. Learnt that he too was reasonably comfortable with the summer heat already and was up for it mentally.

The Preparation for Padmini:
1) Keep original documents in the car
2) Copy latest songs onto the pen drive (Though we mostly did not turn on stereo. May be overall 30mins of time we played music)

That's about it. Nothing else was needed. Car was in tip top condition as is.

Here are the cars of the drive - Parag's Ertiga and my Padmini!

[funkykar]

One thing to never worry about when Parag is around is routes, where to fuel, the eateries on the way. For this drive there are already in his mind as if it was the back of his hand. For me, I have the habit of forgetting routes, names of places and other geography related stuff

I started from my office, Ulsoor by around 4:50PM and drove to Arun's place at Jayamahal. Picked Arun and drove to Thindlu to pick Parag's dad by 6PM(Plan was Parag would take NICE road from his office to save the city traffic time). We were lucky to not find much traffic and chugged off till we hit NBTL. From there on it was a fine cruise in speeds between 70-75kmph(GPS).

Enjoyed the Sunset as we started off the Drive!


Seriously, I was so excited for this Classic drive!


Partner for the drive - Arun


Once we turned off to NH48, we met Parag at the first toll booth. His dad hopped on to the Ertiga. From there on, it was me and Arun in the Padmini. After the sun set, the outside temperature felt cool.





On the 4 lane highway, we were comfortable cruising around triple digit speeds. No fuss. Engine tone was just sweet. By the time we came nearby to Hassan, it became very cool outside, welcome change compared to Bangalore. We refueled at a pump after a toll booth much before Hassan. The attender was full of smiles to see a classic. He dint know what car it was though and asked the standard questions of how old is car, how much mileage it gives. We stopped at Jaladhi for dinner. Our entry into the hotel was bit of rockstar like. A quick entry kicking up lot of mud got the watchman scared as if our car did not have brakes. All 3 laughed for a while and witty Arun tells him to keep an eye on car always(as if we parked a Ferrari). Though the service was slow, the food was tasty. Thanks to Parag here again, he has taken me many times to this place in past and food is very good.







As we cruised along, the weather became cooler and cooler by time we reached Sakleshpur. The Padmini did the ghats with real ease. The Punto rims(direct fit) and tubeless tyres 165/80R14(again of a Punto) did fantastic. It gripped like hell. Even though on some hairpins I turned hard and reasonably fast, not even the tyre squeal. On just 1-2 occasions we managed it . We had the stereo off all the time and it was just lot of conversations laced with the exhaust note of the Padmini. How we met, how love for Fiats started, how mental fanatics we were of Fiat on team-bhp many years ago, how immature some of us were, how many friends got banned with all the nonsense were all revisited in the conversations. At one point of time, we asked Parag to carry on and reach the hotel as we didn't want to slow him down. The roads were fantastic throughout. We later reached the hotel in the dead of the night. We could just start to feel the humidity at Mangalore, wasn't too much though and was reasonably comfortable. We checked in to the hotel and I check my office mails and suddenly find that I got some work to do. I was carrying my laptop anyways. Sat down till about 4AM and finished all the work. We deliberately set the AC to a higher temperature. We started from 26 and increased all the way to 28 till morning. As soon as we woke up, we set the AC to 32 (that's the max it allows LOL). Arun and me both were thinking we should have booked a non AC room. Anyways, it was already done.

[funkykar]

The next morning, we wake up by 9ish, get ready to go to the house warming ceremony. We visited hotel Tajmahal and had a sumptuous yummy breakfast. It was so tasty that we all over ate.





We drove down to the new house located near Sri Gopalakrishna Devasthanam. Most roads leading up there were concrete. The location and the drive up there was awesome. So awesome that it can make one feel, why not settle here. It was spacious and airy and felt real fresh. We were at the ceremony for about a hour.







Puja time at the house warming ceremony. Arun takes this selfie while Parag and me were busy with our Mobiles, as we got some time off our cars.


While the house warming ceremony was on, as we had some free time, we realized that we had some sticker work pending on the Padmini. Only the Team-Bhp stickers were present. The new stickers made by Fiat 1100 Club Bangalore were to be stuck. Arun does all the stickering, including taking pics of it.
















By the time we finished, it was really sunny outside. We decided to roam around the city for a while. Arun showed me lot of his nostalgic places and we did a good round of Mangalore. Since Parag and his dad were still at the ceremony, we needed to kill some more time. After the city drive, we settled down at Pabbas. One of the finest and best ice-creams I should say. Knowing to the popularity and demand, if one compares with Bangalore's popular ice-cream joints, the Pabbas ice-creams feels as if it is free. A good number of icecreams are available in prices of 70-90Rs. Me and Arun ordered Chocolate Dad and Tiramisu. Both were simply awesome. Chocolate dad was simply out of the world. By the time we finished it, a friend calls me after she saw my check-in of Pabbas on Facebook. She happened to be at her parents place in Mangalore and she showed up at Pabbas. We happily ordered an icecream for her and also 2 more for us. It literally was our lunch and thoroughly enjoyed it.









Done with our IceCreams!


We then went back to our hotel and visited the Olive restaurant there for some beverages and silver fish. It was expensive and not at all tasty. Better forgotten.

[funkykar]

We returned to our rooms. Me and Arun couldn't sleep(I generally don't have habit of sleeping during day time even in weekends) and were feeling restless to stay in the room. We then decided to go to a beach and chose Tannirbhavi beach as it was nearby. We just headed to the beach after messaging Parag. We dint even wait for them to get ready. Hope they dint feel bad . Later on they too come to the beach. It was a real nice evening at the beach to witness the sun set and the cool breeze.

Road to the Tannirbhavi Beach.












Parking lot at the beach.


Summer vacation time for me!




Sunset


Parag, me and Arun!




From the beach, Parag headed to a mall for some shopping. We headed to the city for some eateries shopping. Arun wanted some eatables and we couldn't find at couple of shops. Then we simply started roaming in Sai bean complex and surroundings. Later, once Parag was done, we caught up a Hotel Kumars International we frequented in earlier Mangalore visits. We had some very good fish and finished our dinner and headed back to our room.

While we head back to the room along with Parag.

[funkykar]

Around a month ago, on some social media site I saw a pic of Maravanthe. A beautiful beach along the highway and very picturistic. It reminded me of couple of drives I did here some 10-11 years ago in my M800. While planning for the drive, when I mentioned it to Parag, as usual agreed to it with excitement without a thought.

On Saturday morning, we leisurely woke up and had breakfast in the hotel itself. Rough plan was to drive up to Maravanthe, then to Agumbe-Chikmagalur-Bangalore. Parag had been raving about hotel Shetty Lunch home at Kundapura (en-route to Maravanthe) from long time. To time our lunch at that place, we had a delayed start. We did reasonable speeds till Kundapura and reached the hotel very early. Me and Parag strolled through Kundapura and shopped some savories. They were really yummy and I surely will visit if I happen to pass Kundapura again in future. By the time we were done with shopping, the hotel was open. Parag had preordered the most famous Chicken Ghee Roast. Even though my liking towards chicken has reduced in recent past, I still enjoyed it. We also had some fish and that filled our tummies. Just meat!

Packed our luggage and all set to drive to Kundapur.


When old meets the new.


Dressed in Black, to feel the most possible heat!


Classics!


Parag, his Ertiga and me n my Padmini


Arun, Parag and me!




Fueling up


Parag and his Dad.


A beautiful view of the Padmini along the classic homes of Kundapur.


Pic by Parag of The yummy Chicken Ghee Roast!!!


Here are some pics of the beautiful Maravanthe Beach and our cars. Sadly the road is being widened and hence lot of dust around.

[funkykar]

This plan meant, a very long route back home for a classic car. We never had any second thoughts and were very very eager and excited to do this. We also ensured we go through Agumbe as in general, we don't frequent those ghats either. Mind was totally set for a very long drive. This day was the moment of truth for us as we would be spending maximum time in our Padmini in the blazing sun and reasonable humidity. On various checks I did with a IR Temperature gauge, the cabin temperature varied between 43-47 degrees. We drank a hell lot of water. Easily 5-6 liters each. The excitement and mental preparedness meant no discomfort at all and we actually started enjoying it.

So out route plan was this (Parag took care of it entirely and we were following it blind) - Bangalore – Hassan – Shiradi – Mangalore – Udupi – Kundapura – Maravanthe – Baindoor – Kollur – Vandse – Halady – Someshwara – Agumbe – Sringeri – Jayapura – Balehonnur – Aldur – Chikmagalur – Belur – Hassan – Bangalore

We start our journey from Maravanthe.













My car has 2 electric fans for the radiator. This customization was done by my car electrician when I wanted to get rid of the mechanical fan. Me and him had to hunt and try several fans before we zeroed in on 2 thinner fans. We had to choose thinner fan as gap between water pump and radiator is very less. The 2 fans have manual switches beneath the speedometer. I turn on and off as per engine temperature.

Before we climbed the Agumbe ghat, I casually turned on the Fog lamps on the Padmini. This switch appears next to Fan #2's switch. Then decided to turn it off. I accidentally turned off Fan #2 and just entered the ghat section. For some time my eye did not query the temp gauge as traffic was very high and had a lot of overtaking to do. By the time I noticed the temp gauge, it had shot up to 80%. I then checked all switches status by feeling them while driving and found out the blunder. I immediately turned the fan back on. It was too late. Furthermore, it took at least a kilometer of further driving in the hairpin bends before pulling over at a safe place. The engine note was very coarse. We popped the bonnet and knew it would have lost all radiator fluid. We opened the radiator cap and it was just steam. I had about 3.5 ltr of water in a can. Poured it, though it wasn't full we continued the upward climb. It comfortably continued. At the view point, there was a hotel and pond. Me and Arun like in the movies, went to the pond and filled water into the can and topped up the radiator by another 2 liters. We were too early for the sun set and we chugged on from there towards Bangalore. At Chikmagalur, we got confused a bit with the GMaps and entered the town and spent some time getting back on to the highway.

Pic by Parag, while he was waiting for us near the Agumbe view point.


While we had stopped here, we all ate the puffed rice masala aka churmuri. Super yummy it was!


















We tried very hard to make it to Swathi Delicacy for Dinner. 10PM is their closing time. When we did the math, we knew we cant get there before 1030PM even for a best case. We dropped the idea and had dinner at Kamat Channarayapatna. Parag and dad had been to a relatives house in Chikmagalur. They later caught up with us at Polar Bear.

Closing off with a dessert at the Polar Bear just after Hassan! Somehow I love this pizza ice cream here. I think Parag also started to like it.

[funkykar]

The odo meter of the Padmini is bust. After the entire drive, the number I had in mind of total trip was like we did some 800-850kms. Later, when I plotted the routes in google maps, was astonished to see we have actually exceeded 1000kms. I am yet to believe it. Must say the roads were excellent!!


Mangalore Local: 43kms (It would definitely be much more as we were directionless roaming for quite a while and were also lost on one occasion. Taking the least possible number)

365+43+597= A whopping 1005!!! I am sure it would be at least 1025 in reality.

1. Onward journey - Bangalore to Mangalore: 365kms


2. Within Mangalore - Mangalore Local: 43kms (It would definitely be much more as we were directionless roaming for quite a while and were also lost on one occasion. Taking the least possible number)


3. Return journey - Mangalore->Maravanthe->Agumbe->Bangalore: 597kms


Now, the most surprising part. The National automobile question of India!! Kitna deti hai?? It totally consumed 3600 Rs worth of fuel (may be lesser, but not more for sure). Assuming petrol price to be 66/- a liter, it would have consumed 54.5 liters. That turns out to be 1005/54.5=18.44kmpl. If in deed we traveled 1025, mileage would be 18.8kmpl!!

After the Nashik - Bangalore drive (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post3602206, this drive to Mangalore was the longest one. Later this month, we plan to drive to Dharwad in our Padmini to meet Mr. Behram Dhabhar who would be driving from Pune. And in Monsoon, I am planning for a week long drive to explore newer places in my Padmini.

Hope you guys enjoyed reading the travelogue and hope you liked the pics too! Till the next Padmini travelogue, cya!

Here's a lovely video captured from Parag's Ertiga's DVR.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFAJlJmdK58

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to Travelogues. Thanks for sharing!

[YoungSaint]

Wow! Padmini is one of my favorite cars as I had learnt driving on it. Just loved the travelogue and specially the photos. I just ogled the photos, revisiting them again and again.

One thing I was not able to find out was - if the car a petrol or a diesel one? If you got 18.44 kmpl on the petrol then, it would put many of the modern day cars to shame. Hell, if you got 18.44 kmpl on the diesel Padmini, it would be pretty competitive with the modern day cars.

I have one question - there was one photo where the glove-box was visible and I found some corrosion near it but on the outside, the car looks impeccable. How is the condition of Padmini from inside?

I was so much in awe of this car that I have started to regret my Father's decision to sell our petrol Padmini in 2003. It was a gem of a car and had done close to 1.3L Kms before it was sold in 25,000 Rs.

Hope to hear soon from you with the trips planned in the future. Happy and safe driving.

[paragsachania]

Well Driven Padmini S1 through the roads we took requires a well written & crisp Travelogue and you just did that!

One thing that I will remember from this trip is the way you managed to maintain the average speeds that was almost at par with any modern day car. Damn, during return, It took a while for me to catch up with you at Kunigal. While we spoke, you were only 25 kms away and after an hour, we were still 5 kms apart even when I was really doing some good speeds.

In the ghats, it was all the more fun watching the S1 with the right set of Tires vanishing through those curves like a real fast car. Reminded me of those days when Padminis were the sole race cars in our country then.

Kudos to you for having the faith in this machine to take it on a drive that was actually demanding for its standards. The summer heat and the ghats to climb is not an easy combination after all.

In the end, our Solo drives are always wonderful to say the least. Apart from the Ladakh drive way back in 2014, I don't recollect that we shared our cars anyway.

Before I forget, your companion Arun is equally responsible as you for making this trip a simple success.

[GrammarNazi]

Whoa! What a drive Karthik anna! A beautiful car maintained passionately makes it a journey worth the effort!

Really wish more owners were like you. Man & machine, both look fit!

Hope to read more such escapades from you! Happy driving

[DHABHAR.BEHRAM]

Originally Posted by funkykar

My car has 2 electric fans for the radiator. This customization was done by my car electrician when I wanted to get rid of the mechanical fan. Me and him had to hunt and try several fans before we zeroed in on 2 thinner fans. We had to choose thinner fan as gap between water pump and radiator is very less. The 2 fans have manual switches beneath the speedometer. I turn on and off as per engine temperature.

Dear Karthik - fantastic travelogue! Please post photographs of the two electric fans installation. I want to analyse it. I integrated and tested the AVL S1 cross flow radiator cooling system, so I know the impiricals. Also let me know what is the total coolant capacity in your car.

Best regards,

Behram Dhabhar

[freakmuzik]

Wow! That was such an awesome drive by any means! So happy to see your Padmini going all strong and kudos for maintaining it so well. And its really a rare phenomenon to see someone drive a Padmini in those four lane highways and that excites me a lot!

How i wish I could still maintain and drive our Premier Padmini. Talk about bad luck or fate, all the three workshops that we had to transfer our Padmini to get the works done have shut down while our cars were in for work! Our car is locked in one such workshop for almost one year now and I get a sad feeling about it.

Hope to experience something like this and thanks a ton for posting this travelogue.

Cheers!

[rahulskumar]

Wow , your write up revisited my thoughts of those Mumbai-Pune drives with my Dad, who used to take me in his Padmini S1 ( before express was even constructed ).

Padmini S1 used to give us good mileage. This model had coolant and the engine was designed in Austria . I know even the gearbox was sourced from NE118 which made it super soft compared to previous generations. I still have the PAL advertisement cut out published in Times of India during 1997. I will attach the image to this thread the moment I reach Mumbai. Padmini S1 was the last variant from PAL before it filed for bankruptcy

[vdm295]

Just couldn't believe a long trip in padmini that to without the a/c. Wow a very well maintained car. You just reminded me the olden days when we use to go for long trips in our ambassador, where in the preparations for it would begin days before by getting the car serviced getting the roof carrier fixed, fixing the fog lamps etc. It use to be fun & guess there use to be no a/c in the car's.
Just loved reading every bit of it.