3240 km road trip in my 6-year-old Maruti Baleno

The Baleno with the rev-happy K12 engine was fun to drive, while also offering fuel efficiency figures upwards of 14 km/l.

BHPian Dr.Naren recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

6 years / 42,000 km done!!

It's been 6 years and I still enjoy revving this sweet K12 engine. The engine can deliver amazing FE (24+ km/l) if cruised below 100 km/h on highways. The good part is I get a minimum of 14-15 even if driven hard.

3200+ km road trip: Manipal -> Bangalore -> Hogenakkal -> Bangalore -> Kolhapur -> Mumbai -> Manipal

The trip was actually planned only for Bangalore. Mumbai was a last-minute decision.

Manipal -> Bangalore -> Hogenakkal -> Bangalore

I took the scenic Charmadi ghats. Roads are in better condition compared to the Shiradi route. I had put back stock springs and the handling wasn't that sharp on ghats compared to lowering springs but nothing to worry about.

Charmadi

It took around 6 hours to reach my destination in Bangalore and picked up a friend for the drive to Hogenekkal. We took the shorter route as suggested by Google Maps. Roads were ok, couldn't do higher speeds as I was passing through a couple of small towns in Tamilnadu and reached the falls in 2.5 hours.

The beautiful Hogenakkal falls

It was a weekday and there wasn't much crowd. Time well spent at these scenic waterfalls.

We took a longer route (50 km more) on the way back to Bangalore, but it was NH 44 for most of the journey and it took us a similar time as the shorter route.

I was supposed to drive back to Manipal the next day. But I ended up driving all the way to Mumbai (unexpected drive).

Bangalore to Panhala

I drove at night and covered 600+ km in 7 hours. Roads were good with minimal traffic after Tumkur and it was the same all the way till Kolhapur. Enjoyed the night drive. I was tired to continue driving to Mumbai, so decided to relax at Panhala / Kolhapur for a day.

Stay at Panhala

Panhala to Mumbai

I left for Mumbai the next day morning and it took me around 5.5 hours to reach Mumbai. I was excited to drive on Pune Mumbai E-way for the first time. Frankly, I didn't enjoy the stretch much. I liked Tumkur to Kolhapur drive better.

Spent almost a week in Mumbai catching up with friends, BHPians, and S-Cross 1.6 owners. I also got the lights upgraded in Mumbai. It's a crime not to do anything to my car after driving all the way to Mumbai haha.

Marine drive

Caught up with fellow enthusiasts

Mumbai to Manipal

It took me around 12 hours of driving time. I had taken only 30 minutes break. I did encounter a few bad stretches. Google map had even taken me on a 15 km stretch where I had to literally hunt for roads. Anyways it was an adventure.

Expressway

Entered Karnataka after a week in Mumbai

Trip Statistics

1. KM Driven: 3240 km
2. Driver: Dr. Naren
3. Fuel Economy: 14.7 km/l
4. Fuel cost: Rs. 25,500 (Oh Yes, it was before the Diwali discount)
5. Tolls: Rs. ~2500

This is the first time I went on such a long trip to Baleno. I did miss my 200+ HP S-Cross 1.6 on empty highways. The Baleno was fun too with an audio upgrade and the rev-happy K12 engine.

Additional points

• Thanks to Parag Bhai for the guidance on the status of roads.
• I got to test the new wolf map extensively. No issues whatsoever.
• There was no checking at KA and TN border. No checking while I entered MH too. KA cops did ask me for RT-PCR when I entered from MH, but they let me go after showing doctor ID. This was on November 1.
• Lights upgrade made a huge difference and the night drives are effortless now.

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