First Road Trip.

The Car

The plan to buy a car was in the mind for nearly two years. You know, certain things do not materialize no matter how long you keep mulling over it. Buying a car is one such thing for me. In contrast, marriage took less than 4 months

I was so close to buying a car when marriage happened along with a job change. Things got re-prioritized and car was put in the back burner. Somewhere around September 2011, the thought came back. Then things fell into place one after another and I have my car now.

Das Auto comes home!

 The Plan

As soon as we decided to buy a car, the plan to make a road trip started. This was inspired in no small measure by the innumerable travelogues on Team-BHP. I started gazing the maps, chalking routes, planning places to visit etc. Few things were decided about the trip.

1. Comfort first, Cost Second.
2. Do not drive more than 500 KMS per day.
3. Do not drive from 6 PM to 6 AM.
4. Average speed for planning should be less than 60 KMPH on tolled highways and 40 KMPH on other roads.
5. Prefer longer, better roads than shorter unknown roads.

We also thought of roping in someone experienced in doing road trips to join us, but that did not happen. So it was left to me alone to do the driving. Exciting and scary!

The Team

Me and my wife. I am so happy that my wifey took to the roads spiritedly without any qualms. Looking back, the trip was more of drive than sightseeing. I should also add here that except for my wife no one else was giving encouraging comments about the trip.

The Trip

The Actual plan was like this:

Day 1 : Madras – Tirukoyilur – Thiruvarangam – Srirangam

Day 2 : Srirangam – Tiruthangal – Srivilliputhur – Courtallam – Banatheertham – Tirunelveli.

Day 3 : Tirunelveli – Nanguneri – Padmanabapuram – Kanyakumari.

Day 4: Kanyakumari- Rameshwaram.

Day 5: Rameshwaram-Madras.

As the dates to do the journey started nearing my planning ability started blurring between excitement and fear. It was hence decided that we will do the trip day by day planning for the next day only the day before. Nothing is for sure except that it should be possible to reach a safe place for rest when things go wrong. This is a decision we took considering that the driver is a newbie and there is no one to help along.

Finally the executed plan ended up like this: (Click on the days to see detailed travelogues).

Day 1 : Madras- Tirukoyilur- Thiruvarangam- Srirangam

Day 2 : Srirangam-Sivakasi (Tiruthangal)-Srivilliputhur-Tenkasi (Courtallam)-Melaseval-Tirunelveli.

Day 3 : Tirunelveli-Nanguneri-Thirupathisaram- Kanyakumari.

Day 4: Kanyakumari- Vattakottai- Srirangam.

Day 5: Srirangam-Madras.

Over all the trip was satisfying in two aspects. One we were happy at end of the trip, not tired. Second it helped us to understand the car better.

Few words about the car:

• Mine is Volkswagen Polo 1.6L Petrol Highline.
• The car has Über excellent highway manners.
• Top whack was 161 KMPH which I did for a span of 4 Minutes on NH45 near Villupuram. A better driver could actually do more.
• 100 KMPH is achieved even before you notice it. Once you slot it in 5th gear 120 is the minimum you do. This however eats into the mileage.
• It doesn’t drop a sweat when it climbs from say 40 or 50 KMPH to 120 KMPH. You will not feel that unless you see the reading.
• Braking inspires confidence like no other. High speed braking even without involving engine braking was a pleasure.
• If you do a constant 80-100 KMPH mileage is north of 16 KMPL. However in most of the stretches I did, the roads were empty and I could not achieve better mileage as I was pushing the car at 120.
• My average mileage was 16KMPL excluding the last day. Including it the mileage dropped to 15 KMPL.

Summary

Days Travelled: 5 days (24/Dec/2011 to 28/Dec/2011)

Distance: 1630 KMS.

Fuel Consumed: 109 liters.

Total Toll Damages:  INR 894.

Sweet Memories.

 

I would like to thank all the members of Team-BHP, HV Kumar Sir, the HV Kumar Facebook group and my wife for making my maiden trip a success. The plans for next long trips have already started