These were bought for the inhouse toddler and are made of Plastic and Metal. I would have preferred a complete metal product though. Tonka Toys from my childhood are still around somewhere!

A compilation from all road trips so far on Picassa on a Map. Looks like the central and northern parts need to be travelled. It’s good that Picassa allows you to upload photos and assign approximate locations for them as well if some of them are not geo tagged. Works well to give a complete picture.

Screen Grab from google showing places visited so far.

Part # F5C412au140W from Belkin - Another thing for those long drives.

Belkin : AC Anywhere DC – AC Inverter.

Running out of power is a thing of the past with the AC Anywhere. Simply plug the unit into any 12-volt DC vehicle cigarette lighter socket and the AC Anywhere converts your vehicle’s battery power to 230 volts AC (common household current.) The AC Anywhere is perfect for charging batteries for your mobile phone, portable computer, electric shaver, TV/VCR, or virtually any device while travelling. The AC Anywhere inverter features a convenient On/Off switch and fuse protection along with an audible alarm that sounds if the vehicle battery voltage drops to 10.6 volts DC.

This sure would be a great product to have on long roadtrips where your camera keeps running out of battery.

This is for everyone who thinks or thought, Figo is a replacement of the Fusion. A more detailed ownership report of the Fusion is here

Looks

Barring the nose, the rest looks an awful lot similar to the Fiesta MK5, hugely popular as also what the Fusion and Fiesta Sedans in India are based on

Keeping in mind that both are based on the Fiesta MK5 platform, looks are pretty similar, except that the Fusion is about 15% larger in almost all dimensions. But that apart the Figo warms up when you step inside. The clay console is a little strange at first (tested the Titanium) but it grows fast on you specially with the matching Coral displays on the ICE and the DTE. Seating position is low and seats are a lot smaller if compared to Fusion. They are a lot firmer as well.

The usual Ford bits are expected, headlamp control, switches and knobs are borrowed from Fusion and Fiesta and that’s clearly visible. The cubby holes placed strategically are also welcome. It probably has one hole for every possible electronic gadget that you may wish to carry.

Space

The general footprint of the car from outside is small, but its not. It definitely has better space for front passengers as compared to Punto and a much larger boot only comparable to Jazz. We are not talking Fusion here, and I don’t think anyone wants to carry Futons and Cots in their Figo’s either. Headroom felt a little short for tall fellows. I am 5′7″ and it had scope for 3″ more in my opinion.

With front seats going all the way back, you can easily fit 2 and a 1/2 children at the back (Clarkson lingo)

Boot

One word sums that up. Gigantic for the price you pay to buy this car.

From the side and back, it has a strong resemblance to the Fusion and Fiesta MK5 as well

Ride

Here it completely shows its colors, compared to the Fusion (first gen 1.6 +) the ride is very soft and the engine noise is well contained within the cabin. The engine racket that comes into the Fusion cabin has been eliminated from this one and things feel a lot more quieter unless you start revving the motor. But that happens in a City as well so we are not going into that.

Handling

The plasticy steering wheel is not great to hold, but it’s direct for sure. The car turns and moves like a Ford, just with a flick of a finger. The steering weight was neither Honda – Video gamish nor Fusion – Truckish. Adequate would be the ideal word. Putting two hands on that small thing felt like a waste. Gear shift placement and operation is a breeze. There is one gripe though, the softer suspension and the Apollo Accelere standard on the Figo makes it a little too soft for enthusiastic inputs, in this department the Punto scores better with its harder suspension, but then that chap lacks  the motivation in the motor itself.

Gear Knob

The aluminum wrapped gear shift is a usual Ford. Just hard enough to assure you and soft enough not to annoy you. Shifts very well. In comparison to the Punto, it’s a delight to drive with this.

Power 1.2

Neat is best described. If you plot it on a graph it probably would be a straight line going up just like any other petrol. There are no surprises. Compared to the 1.6 in Fusion, its boringly sluggish but drop a gear and it gets moving (with AC all the time). Having driven the Punto 1.4 petrol, I would say this one is miles ahead. Press the pedal a few times and you know that you Can take that turn in second or climb that slope in 3rd. Engine noise is smooth and only gets annoying when you cross the 4000 RPM mark. Shoots well after crossing 3000 RPM just like the Fusion 1.6 but the lack of Torque is evident in low RPMs. Dances very well after that, rock and roll style. But I am pretty sure it wont do that with a full load.

Power 1.4 Diesel

This starts off much more sluggish than the petrol. Takes time to move and the car feels a lot heavier (well it is heavier by a 100 odd Kgs). The AC in the Diesel works a lot better and faster, same as the Fusion. Given a smaller volume in the Figo, it’s more efficient in cooling as well. Get moving and the usual diesel lag is evident (though not as much as other cars but compared to the petrol). You will need to change into first for the both the version to take a nice slow U turn. Punch the pedal and things slowly warm up and as soon as it crosses 2000 RPM, it’s full on Disco time. The car shoots off like a rocket only to die out of steam soon after, there was no redline on the Tacho so I refrained from pushing it like the petrol, but at 4000 things got really noisy. It still lacked the “I want more” of the Fusion 1.6 (unfair comparison, I know)

Verdict

I would take the diesel since it can dance so well after hitting the 2000 RPM mark. Though its not as fast as the 1.6 but nearly there and the lesser weight surely does help. Overall, way ahead of its competition, the car has just the right amount of power, handling and gizmo for the Indian Road.

The Ford Fusion merges well with India.

This was prevalent a few years back in and around Bangalore but not so much now. The strategy involved in more than one biker crowding around a car boxing it in and forcing it to stop. In most cases the bikers started up with a petty fight on how badly the driver was driving and how they were almost hit by the car. In truth, it’s just a delay tactic to buy time and get their associated to gather.

Once the whole team is assembled they move into action by taking money, credit and debit cards and the car itself with all belongings like laptops and bags in it.

How to avoid?

1. Well there is no set practice to avoid such a thing but it is best to avoid getting boxed in by bikers or cars on empty roads. How you do it is completely up to you.

Strategy 2

In a dark alley you may find a person lying on the road with a cycle and another asking for help claiming that they were hit. In most cases the person lying down will be moaning and shouting as if injured. If you do happen to stop, there is a chance that you would be sprung on by their accomplices and robbed of your car and another valuables.

How to avoid?

1. Do not stop, just slow down enough to judge the situation up close and then move forward. Set enough distance between yourself and the scene and then look back to confirm.

What if they are genuine?

It is possible that you land up neglecting a genuine victim in the process of saving your own skin. If you wait at a distance and look back, and the streets are empty, the fake fellows will regroup and re-strategize after you have passed them. If they are still down, then they are probably genuine.

No need to take a chance, you can be a good samaritan when you see someone in broad daylight. This time, just drive on and report to the nearest traffic constable.

If you are reversing out of a parking lot and suddenly see a paper stuck to your rear windscreen, chances are there are car jackers lurking around. You will probably notice the paper after starting the car and then looking in the mirror. In a hurry you would get out of the car to remove that paper as it’s obstructing your view. This would be the moment they car jackers would pounce and take your car away.

In all probability you would have left your wallet, purse, cellphone etc. in the car and by now they will all be with the car jackers leaving you completely stranded.

How to avoid?

1. If possible, park reversed so that you do not need to reverse out when leaving the lot. It will cost a lot of time but will help in the longer run.
2. If at all you have to reverse and there is a paper at the back obstructing your view, lock the doors and do not get out. Reverse and drive away and stop somewhere else to get rid of the paper.

Strategy 2:

People may throw eggs on your windshield when you are driving by. In a hurry you many want to use the wiper water spray to get rid of it. But, the warm water and egg white will invariably create a paste that would completely obstruct your vision and force you to stop and clean the mess. This is the time the car jackers can attack and take control of your vehicle.

How to avoid?

1. Do not use the wiper spray until you are certain that you are in a safe area to get down and clean the mess.

(Via Security in Wipro)

The problem would look like this

Cop: “Stop, come out, I have to smell you!!”

Seriously!!

The cop asks: “Where are you headed?”
Me: “Margaon, Goa”
Cop: “Where from?”
Me: “Bangalore, Karnataka”
Cop: “Ok go”

I start the car and was about to head off into the rain when he violently slaps on the car and screams “Stop, stop, stop”

Cop (pointing to the child seat): “What’s that?”
Me: “A child safety seat!” I expect these guys to know such stuff these days, my mistake.
Cop: “Aur usme kya hai? (And what’s in it?)”
Me (pointing to the already very visible child): “A child!!”

Cops: “Where are you going?”
Me: “I am traveling with my wife, driving back to bangalore from Pondichery”..
Cops (pointing at my wife): “Then who is this?”

What really can one say to that!

1. The person filling asks you about the capacity of the tank. If you intend to fill full tank (about 37-38 litres when the orange warning comes on) do not disclose how much might go in.
2. There are too many people around to distract you. People asking Cash or Card, Windscreen Cleaning, Whats’s the Mileage, etc are all distracting tactics. They will fill your tank for more than what it can take!!
3. The person filling constantly keeps tinkering with the nozzle lever. The constant release – re-release of that lever disrupts the flow of fuel. Since the pump does not react that fast, it keeps on counting.
4. You ask for fuel worth Rs 1000/-, they fill for 200/- and claim miscommunication. What they actually do is, they pretend to fill the balance without reseting the counter. Result, you get Rs 800/- worth fuel while paying Rs 1000/-.

Chances are that the vehicle is giving good mileage but you are filling less gas. Fact.

How to counter this? Simple…

Just follow the simple tactics. Or develop your own counter tactics.

1. Dont get distracted.
2. Chance on them, ask for Rs 1500/- worth of fuel or full tank and ask to stop at 1000/-, decide and change your mind suddenly. (a friend suggested recently)
3. Check the counter at all times.
4. Ask the guy filling (politely) to not touch the nozzle while filling. Clearly tell him. “Don’t touch till it reaches 36 litres” (if filling full tank).

Given all the above, many pumps do have their counters rigged, in that case, look for sudden drop in mileage as a tell tale sign of less fuel in the tank.

The start got delayed from 6 AM till 8 AM and further till 830 after the little one decided to stall us. Then we ran back and got the gifts which were for the marriage that we were headed to attend. Two cars were tricky to begin with and I had my doubts trying to maintain pace with the Indica, which came through soon enough. So I let the Indica start at 8 AM. 830 start meant that we were in the thick of Hosur road IT traffic. Senseless directions by BBMP to keep to the service lane to go till Hosur were ridiculous, simply because there was no service lane after a point of time. What’s the use of such a drastic notice I do not know.

Food stop right after Dharmapuri

Car was not tanked up so the search for IOCL Extra Premium started soon after we hit clear roads. Found one gas station and filled the car to the brim. Now we were all set to get till Thrissur on 1 tank, I knew that was easy to do. Bt traveling with mom, wife kid can be a lot of unexpected fun, things spill in the car and you have to stop every now and then for a clean up.

Had asked the Indica driver to wait near the turn off towards Chennai. He had done so. We reached that spot just 15 minutes after them. Needless to say that all FE went out of the rear window the moment we hit NH7 empty patches, all 6 inviting lanes of it towards Krishnagiri. And yes, we were in 5th and above the 3400 RPM mark for most of the time. AC on and windows rolled up. It was a hot and humid day today on top of that.

At Krishnagiri, asked the driver to stop at the nearest Dhaba possible so that the old folks could stretch and relax a bit. I took off, and despite keeping a light foot on the throttle, the Indica just lagged behind. I realized how inept I am at keeping the car permanently below 80 at all times. Gave up and went on.

Found a decent looking Dhaba but the Indica failed to spot us. Called them, and the driver said there is a good eating post right after Dharmapuri on the right hand side of the road. Got in, started off, caught up with the Indica, leaned the chair back and got into relaxed mode. Eating cake, lays etc. Stuck to the left lane and let everything pass by. Soon this place came up and we stopped for some good old Idli, Vada Sambar, Dosa, the works. Took very long to get through all that. Then there was a photo session with the grandparents and the kid. Started off after one and half hours. Going was slow as the Indica guy knew the turn off point towards Mettur.

The route from Bangalore to Thrissur. Map courtesy Google.

After the turn off, the roads are a bit messy. They are no longer 4 lanes and a median, instead they are 2 lanes and things hurling at each other at breakneck speed. Stayed behind the Indica for a while but that was not helping. The ride was too jarring at such low speeds. Went off ahead and started finding my own road. Had a print of that Map with me so was confident of finding the appropriate turns. Did not have any problems, except that now the other car was way behind and out of touch. Stopped, decided to wait, take a walk, asked everyone else to do the same as well.

Saw the Indica pass by after about 10 minutes. Started another 10 minutes after that in the same direction. The roads were lovely, the scenery was pretty and there was not much of a traffic (initially). Soon it became a little crowded. The numbers were about 3 vehicles to overtake every 5 minutes, which gets a bit tiring very soon. You cannot go slow as the chap in front of you is too slow. You cannot go fast as you do not have enough time and space to pull a 4th gear overtake. Solution is to drop down and zip out. In fact, stuck behind a regular bus, it was hard to maintain 4th gear most of the times.

Got a call from my father in the Indica that they were 30 Kms from Coimbatore. They had no idea where we were. We were 40 Kms from Coimbatore at the same time. Pressed on to catch up with them. Passed Coimbatore only to realize that they were still in the process of crossing it. That’s how bad the miss-match was between the two cars.

Went straight on till I got into Kerala and stopped at a respectable tourism Dhaba. Some photos, walks, general loitering later, the Indica arrived. Everyone had their fries and tea coffee. We started off a good one and half hour after we had arrived. The sun was coming down fast, the road got even narrower, and the sun was right in the eye on the East – West straight road. Indica soon got left behind and I decided not to really keep pace with it. It was really testing my patience by this time.

The Coimbatore – Palakkad – Thrissur section is crowded with trucks headed to and from Chennai to Cochin. Its a mess, specially at dusk when the headlamps come on. By this time I had a Gray fusion ahead to keep pace with. Unladen, it soon disappeared as it looked like it was on familiar roads, not to worry, now I had a CRV to give me company right behind our tail. I was surprised at how long the car takes to shoot off after an overtake, probably an Auto Tranny.

I must admit that at this point, things were very rash, I really wanted to actually be in that Indica instead of this at it would readily go slow and not demand such finesse from the right foot prodding the pedal. At 70 and in 3rd, you are in dangerous territory as any push on the Pedal would make the car lunge forward. At 70 and in 4th, you are way out of the power-band to attempt any serious overtaking with delicate timing. I chose 3rd.

Things got really messy after this. Every single small bike, car, auto coming from the other side was shining full beams of 100+ watt lamps at us making it impossible to see what’s behind them. I passed a truck as I could spot a bike coming from the other side from its headlamps. The moment I gunned the 1.6 in 3rd, a truck right behind the bike switched on its headlamps (he never had them on). This got a bit messy with me brushing the front left nose on the truck tyre in front, light rub and no damage. Enough was enough, switched on all lamps and just drove on.

“When in Rome, do as Romans do”

Now that I was on high beams, even though 60 watts each, the Fogs and the High Beams can blind anything in the front forcing them to slow down, move away or dip beam in the hope that I would comply. Worked very well and soon after the white on green said “Thrissur, 6KM on the right”. After taking the right at some awkwardly unmarked junction and continuing on for another 6 KM, we were safe and set in the Hotel rooms. The Indica arrived about 30 minutes later, the driver looking equally hassled. Touch down, 640 PM.

Start to end time of 10 hrs with breaks (for Fusion) of about 4 hours (ridiculous). FE was not great either as I was mostly in 2nd, 3rd after Coimbatore. I think its 460 Kms and a full tank of Gas, thats 10+ with AC.

Checked in. Checked for wifi. And there was one, not belonging to the Hotel though, but some generic open network of some good soul.

On our way to Chavakkad from Thrissur (another post, later)

The Return

As always, the initial plan to start early and return back never worked. We had to attend a lunch and then start on our way back. Since it was 10 Kms out of Thrissur and on NH47, I decided to pack everyone in and check out from the hotel and continue straight on after the lunch.

By the time we started it was 230 PM, getting the cars out of narrow lanes on the outskirts was a challenge, but did not take much time. It did take a lot of reversing the car.

The Indica promptly stopped for some diesel at the next available pump. I had tanked up the Fusion 2 days back and had done about 120km so I was not in a hurry to tank up again. In fact I was pretty confident on doing the distance without having to stop for gas. Tall order as we were going to have the AC on all the time (kid and grandmom), and NH47 is not a very 5th gear friendly road. If you check the accidents thread on Team BHP, its got a lot from this particular road that connects Chennai and Cochin. Two ports and lots of trucks with barely enough space to fit two trucks.

General landscape after Coimbatore

A solitary tree next to the road

Within no time we were up to speed. Given the road condition, the amount of traffic and the Indica I was in no mood to exceed the 80 kmph mark. Assumed that it would be the speed limit as well. I was wrong, soon I was stopped by a couple of cops with a speed cam, they claimed I was doing 90 kmph, the speedo was definitely showing stuff around 80, and their claim was that in was a 70 kmph zone. Did not wish to waste my time, paid the Rs 300/- and got on my way. Maintained 80 even after that, wondering at what speeds I was actually taking the bends on NH4 on the Pune trip where the speedo showed 140 kmph.

By this time the Indica was lagging far far behind. Stopped for a tea to dilute the effects of a heavy lunch. Waited for about 10 – 15 minutes and yet the Indica never caught up. Simply headed on.

Things went by much faster after that (still at 80, occasionally hitting 90 to overtake), Coimbatore bypass came and things were looking up. The road condition improves from here till Bhavani.

Cat in the System

Just about to get off the newly constructed section of NH47 from Bhavani, halfway till Coimbatore, a cat pounced in front of the car without warning. Braking hard meant that the Sumo behind me would never stop and hit me, braked soft, dropped the speed to about 30 kmph before hitting the cat, never know what happened to that poor fellow but pretty sure it never went under our wheels. A km down some fellows on a bike flagged us down saying there were things dangling. Not surprised I went to the front fearing another major damage, found the center cladding under the bumper dangling. Ripped it off and put it in the boot and drove on for another few kms to stop for some tea.

The Indica finally caught up with us. There was a short pit stop without tea and we took off for Dharmapuri for a dinner stop.

The Route

I was not familiar with the route as SH20 from Bhavani, all the way till Thoppur through Mettur was unknown territory with signages only in Tamil. My only hope was to follow the Indica. Unfortunately started a little late and got stuck behind some tractor trailers trying to make turns. Costed us time and the pilot car for the section. Decided to just drive off and use the local GPS (the chai guy).

Stopped at Poolampatti for some coffee, and chatted up with the shop owner. Turns out he stays in Vijayanagar, and was helping out folks on his holidays at the family shop. Got detailed directions. Picked up speed after Mettur doing 80 – 90 kmph on the now empty SH 20. By 930 we landed up at the dhaba right outside Dharmapuri. Dinner followed and we stopped for about an hour.

Last leg

The last leg was fast. The lovely golden quadrilateral is hardly populated by anything in these areas and locals prefer to avoid the toll road. Result was a steady 100 – 110 without stressing the car at 2500 RPM and 5th. Truck traffic got thicker after Krishnagiri occasionally bogging us down in 2nd but overall time was good, things were looking under control to reach home by 1130.

The kid lost it soon after and got extremely cranky for reasons completely unknown. This made us stop a couple of times trying to figure out the problem while finally the Indica was ahead and we were trailing. Reached home at 1200 midnight after almost 10 hours on the road.

The Fuel

Yep, the car never needed refueling till we stopped and left the car idling outside our house. I normally do that after very long drives. Thats 460 Kms of return and 120 kms of local travel in and around Thrissur. A total of 580 kms + 6 kms in Bangalore done in 38 liters when I got it back to the Auto Cut level at a Gas Station. That’s 15.4 kmpl with AC on at all times and less than perfect roads.

Shortcoming were the lights on the less than perfect NH47 from Palakkad till Thrissur (while going) and SH20 from Bhavai till Thoppur (while coming back). I really wished that the car had a headlamp that it deserved instead of guessing where the next bump or pothole might be. In is not an issue with the wattage, but how everyone else manages to blind you without any effort. The other problem is when you have a good throw on the high-beam, your visibility up front gets highly compromised forcing you to switch on the Fog Lamps. This in turn illuminates almost everything around making the foreground (objects nearer) much brighter than the background (objects far away), a balance is somehow missing.

Overall a good outing. Heading off to Puttaparthi on 16th morning and returning the same day. That’s next.

That aside.

The idea then was to avoid all modes of public transport and head to Mumbai from Bangalore. The car was the only answer.

Onward Road Condition

(See attached Map)

Road conditions from Bangalore to Tumkur is good only after Neelamangala. We started early at about 3 AM but still managed to get bogged down by insane truck traffic on Tumkur road. I did have this half baked idea to take NICE road and get out faster, but somehow picking up a friend from Sarjapur road and then traveling half a world around Bangalore did not make sense at that time.

At 6 AM, still sitting at a Cafe Coffee Day outside Tumkur made a lot of sense of the NICE road plan. The Mytas Construction going at a less than desired pace, the section from Yeshvanthpur till Neelamangala is exceptionally bad. Anyone taking this road should try and avoid it at all costs. Taking the NICE road will save you some time, but only ‘Some’.

The Route taken from Bangalore till Mumbai.

At about 630 AM we headed out straight into Tumkur. Had read on online Forums that the condition of the Tumkur Bypass was less than ordinary. We tried to avoid that and went through the city instead. That took some more time than usually needed. The rain and mud helped as well.

After about 45 minutes and out of Tumkur, we punched the gas on the nicely laid out NH4 before us. Road conditions from Tumkur till Chitradurga is excellent. Toll gates are there to thank for the better roads. It’s definitely a welcome change after the harrowing experience through Tumkur and Neelamangala.

This does change drastically after Chitradurga. But that later.

The Diversion

A possible route to Pune and Mumbai also exists via NH13 and Solapur, which happens to intersect NH4 (and actually merge for a while) on this route. At some parts of this section, the signage does read as NH13 and that was enough to prompt us to stop and ask for directions (from probably the worst guy ever). The direction to Pune was for the Solapur route, and that meant that we were headed on NH13 instead of NH4 for the next few minutes crossing about 20 odd kilometers. Realizing the problem, we promptly stopped, turned around and headed back to find NH4, did not take long, gave dirts to the chai wala who thought otherwise and continued.

The Bad stuff

The section of road from Davangere (after Chitradurga) till Ranebennur on NH4 is exceptionally bad. It actually makes you like Swine Flu (or any other disease) better than the road travel. The construction of NH4 on this sections is stopped, half done, stalled etc. Not a single section of the road is either un-touched and left as it was old, or complete as it should be. The 60 odd kms feel like a million. You also feel like personally killing the next guy collecting toll at the next booth.

And the good stuff

Well if that toll booth comes, what comes with it are excellent roads after Ranebennur. Things start to fly. Haveri till Hubli, the roads improve further. The Hubli – Dharwad bypass is excellent, though only 2 lanes and no median. Things after Dharwad are a dream run. Although we managed to cross Dharwad at about 2 PM, Pune came up easy by 5 PM. And then there was Mumbai – Pune expressway. By 9 PM we were sipping tea in a Hotel Room and planning our next day.

The Return Path

We did not want to experiment much. There were two drivers and I had to be in Bangalore by next morning. After finishing our meeting somewhere deep inside Mumbai, we headed out. By this time it was already 4 PM, which surely meant that a complete night drive was in store. The first leg was my turn.

Got out of Mumbai in the next 2 hours and reached Pune by 8 PM, although we wanted to have dinner but the impending danger of Swine Flu made us drive all the way till outskirts of Satara in the next hour for some chicken. Swines were not on the menu.

Zip zap

Great roads combined with zero traffic and the occasional sleepy toll booth and patrol guy meant that we were already getting ready for the Ranebennur till Davangere battle by first signs of Sunlight. 4 AM driver change went off smoothly, I have this 4 AM and 4 PM problem when I just have to grab that 1 hour nap, after which I am ok for the next whole day (although not recommended)

By 9 AM we were about to get into Tumkur when we dogged down by a stray jumping though the median, the dog survived, the car, even though I braked, took a hit on the bumper and all the pedestrian safety stuff worked and showed the crumple zones. First hit in so many KMs of highway drives.

Worried by the crack and the delayed entry into Bangalore, we still managed to miss the NICE road and landed in extreme traffic accentuated by rain from the previous night. But no point going into details of that. After dropping my friend at Sarjapur Road, I was home by 1 PM, it had taken us longer to get into Bangalore that actually get out of Mumbai and travel till Dharwad.

Next time, take the NICE road.

Sivanasamudram Waterfall Panoramic view

How do we get there?

Very simple actually. Somehow get to Kanakpura road from Bangalore. If you are residing in South Bangalore, half the job is done. Getting to Kanakpura road from south Bangalore is a breeze. But if you are from North Bangalore or from satellite towns like Yelahanka, things are a little bit more tricky. On a weekday I would recommend the Outer Ring Road for a problem and misdirection free ride till Kanakpura road. This would be a long ride, so start early. You can also take the shorter route through the city but that will be plagued by extensive one-ways and too many traffic signals.

Once on Kanakpura road

Once you are on Kanakpura road, just head out. The road is also known as NH 209 and can take you all the way to Coimbatore. But then we are not going all the way there. The road has been recently redone from its earlier painful self. It’s a beautiful 2 lane road sans a lane divider and very minimal traffic. It also has excellent twists and turns, and a good surface to test your driving skills if you want to.

Kanakpura Road, the good sections. Some sections are still getting done and may be painful.

Lone standing rock / hill on Kanakpura Road, looks like a good place to try some rock climbing.

Once officially outside Bangalore, the road takes you through mini forests, orchards, grape farms, various other farms, flower fields, picturesque hill tops and what not. Overall, a beautiful drive. The distance to Sivanasamudram is about 120 Km. You will pass through Harohalli and reach Kanakpura Town, where some tricky one way through the town bus stop has to be navigated through. The details are there in the adjoining map (thanks to Google).

Right after the small detour, you will be faced with a Y junction with a dubious tourism board pointing nowhere in particular (they might have changed that). Keep to the right at the Y junction and continue on NH209.

Navigating through Kanakpura

Pass through small place called Halagur and reach Malavalli. On reaching Malavalli, the NH209 bends sharp to right at 90° and continues on. Do not turn left or you will head towards Mysore. After this things get a little bit more extensive and detailed. A few kilometers down (about 5km) after the turn you will see a board on your left pointing to the waterfalls. Get into the road and continue straight till you reach a toll gate kind of place where someone may ask you for money. Why I say ‘may’ is because I have been there a few times and only sometimes they have asked for some fees. Once inside, you would have reached the power station.

Asia’s second hydro-electric power station after shimshapura, is located at the waterfall and is still functional. This station was commissioned by theDiwan of Mysore, Sir K. Seshadri Iyer. The electricity produced here was initially used in the Kolar Gold Fields. Thus, Kolar Gold Fields became the first town in Asia to get hydro electricity.

- Wikipedia

If you are interested in the power station, you can dig up more information by just following the various links in the quote. But, if you are not, then drive straight till the power station, turn right (you may need to ask for this direction, else look for signage) pointing to Gaganachukki and Barahchukki, thats the name of the two falls.

Rest is easy, you will reach the place. A simpler method is to follow the mad rush of tourist taxis headed in the same direction.

Getting to the viewing gallery through the power station. Route is approximation from satellite imagery.

The place is a dead end. Your car, bike, SUV wont go any further and sit in the parking lot (open space under nature’s umbrella). You will have to take the staircase from here on to get to the viewing gallery. On a good day, right after the rains, you can feel the water spray till here. Note that the viewing gallery is almost half a kilometer away from the actual waterfall if not more. The view is worth the drive in almost any weather.

This place earlier used to have small vendors selling inane stuff and fool items. In recent years they have been removed in favor of a Karnataka Tourism run restaurant, managed by Bengalis and serving North Indian Food. Needless to say, the results are not that good. I would suggest carrying your own food.

If you do carry your own food, please do not dump the plastic bags there itself, as 90% of the educated population do. Do the place a favor, preserve it by carrying all that junk back.

Once you are done with this place, there is more. When you are at the viewing gallery, you will realize that there is a way to get even closer to the foot of the waterfall by getting to the other side of the river. Get back out on NH209 and continue further out. You will cross a bridge eventually and then come to a T junction, turn left and continue straight on. If lost, ask for the Durgah. Yep, it’s a religious place and this however has more options in terms of junk food than the other side. Get there, there is ample amount of place to park the vehicle. Get on your feet and explore the waterfall up close. From the word go, you will be stunned by the deafening road of water gushing down hundreds of feet so close.

While returning, chances are you will be tired, not from the drive, but from climbing up and down so many stairs which you probably are not used to. It will also probably be dark by the time you start back. The best way to handle Kanakpura road in the night is by not getting on it.

Getting to the other side

The Picnic Spot

Come to the junction on NH209 where you took a hard left while going, this time don’t turn and continue straight through Malavalli town. Maintain absolutely straight direction and soon you will reach Bangalore – Mysore Expressway touching it a little before Mandya Town. Turn right and head towards Bangalore. If you want a coffee break, there is one right there on your left on the expressway right after you get on it.

Enjoy and drive safe. More info on Wikipedia

A simple illustration showing the effects of ABS and ESP

ABS or Antilock Braking System allows you to stop the car without having to lock the wheels. Which means, you retain steering control while the car is under hard breaking. Needless to say, it will increase breaking distance under normal circumstances but an important safety feature to have.

Traction Control has a different purpose, the idea is to stop the drive wheels from loosing traction on slippery surfaces thus giving you better control over the car. It works by distributing adequate amounts of power to each wheel to retain traction at most times.

ESP or ELectronic Stability Program is something that actually saves your life in case of emergencies. Working with ABS and Traction Control, ESP allows fractional braking on each wheel to reduce the chances of spin and slide. It works by detecting a loss of control of the car, which is then compensated by applying brakes to individual wheels to steer out and regain control. Similarly, it also compensates by increasing power to a wheel if needed.

The link is to a video which illustrates the importance of each, and in fact shows how it’s no use to have ABS and Traction Control without ESP.

Enjoy this. And, it’s on Ice.

The Ford Fusion merges well with India.

In 2005 ford India started marketing the same here, in an almost un-changed avatar to what was available in Europe. The car suffered from terrible marketing from Ford’s side in India hitting way off the mark for the Target Audience. They tried their “Hum to anything karega” and “The No-Nonsense Car” campaigns, with the later gaining some ground.

The Car is at its best on the Highways

The price and positioning of the car put it directly in the league of mid-weight sedans like the City and Ford’s own Fiesta and the lack of perceived value buried the vehicle and only a select few landed up buying it.

Looks good next to the sea as well

The Pros

1. The car is not small, in fact the inside dimensions are huge with ample leg and head-space for everyone. The car looks like a hatch but it’s more like a Mini-Estate. Once you open the rear hatch, you realize how much space this fellow packs in. With rear seats completely folding in to create a flat bed, storage options are endless.
2. The car comes with all the goodies that are expected in a car. It comes with reading lamp for all 4 passengers, things that are unheard of in the Japanese and Korean makes. Seat heigh adjustment for the driver. Coin holders at the right places, fog lamps for front and rear built in even on base version.
3. Comes with a stereo with 4 large speakers in its ‘+’ version. The dash has the provision to put in a dual-din as well. If you want to amp it up, there is plenty of space under the front seats to put amplifiers of your choice.
4. The ‘+’ version also came with 15″ Alloy Wheels, Tubeless Radials, and ABS + EBD if you opted for it. Sadly though, the airbags never made it to India.
5. Even the petrol version is economical. The car gives anywhere from 10 – 12 Km/L in the city and 16 – 18 Km/L on the highway. For a motor that produces 100+ PS power, and a car that can hit the 100 mark in just over 11 seconds, it’s quite an achievement. Not to mention, it has enough space to carry a cow as well.
6. Handling is the other best part of this car. It handles just like a hatch should, has an incredibly small turning radius for its size, does not roll much for it’s height. And when thrown into corners, it does not threaten to roll over either. In fact, it is possible to do some drifting with this one (see video), although not really recommended for the weak hearted. The 198 mm (3mm more than a Safari) ground clearance ensures that you don’t rub your belly anywhere.
7. At higher speeds, the car is still at peace. The 100 Kmph comes up quickly, so does the 150 kmph mark. Ford claims a top knock of 158 Kmph in the manual, but it has been proven otherwise on many occasions. The car comfortably sails past the 165 mark even with a full load. Now these are not numbers from proper equipments, and external factors are at play on such claims. Nevertheless, the car has enough muscle to master the highway and that too with style and stability.

And here are some bad bits that may need some patience to live with, specially if you are looking for a car that’s Not This.

The Cons

1. Not many people buy this car, and as a result, not many mechanics know what’s inside. This directly results in shoddy service even at Ford’s own centers. There are very little or no accessories available for this car as well. Not that you would need any, most things come pre-fitted in the ‘+’ version.
2. The engine is loud. If you like a snarly noise from your car, something like a sports exhaust would make, you will be happy. Or else, you will be wondering if anything has gone wrong with it. The rev happy Duratec Engine happily snarls away when given the leash.
3. The ride quality at low speeds are appalling. This is the direct result of having harder suspension to compensate body roll in the car. Once you cross the 40 Kmph mark, things suddenly become a lot – lot smoother. The low profile 195/60 R15 tires are also to blame partly for this.
4. The looks are not to the liking of many. It’s not a sedan, or a regular family car, and it really does not make effort in that direction. The looks are butch is a more “run things down” manner.
5. The plastic and general quality of interiors were not that good in the first version. It has improved with the second version, but still far behind competition. Things generally tend to fall apart after a few years in a typical Ford Truck kind of fashion.

With the vehicle, what you get is the confidence to carry 5+ people from point A to B with luggage in probably the most un-cramped manner. The car also has enough steam to beat the rest from the start line, when you are not carrying humongous loads. Drive it sedate, and you will get highway mileage that can put an Alto to shame (in Petrol). The Diesel is ultra economical and we are not even talking about that. And you can carry your pet Cow to the Vet as well without breaking a sweat.

In Total, if you plan to have just one car to run around in the city and take the village roads to that camp ever so often, this is India’s official Compact Bad-Roader.

The Fusion TVC from Europe

Doing the Drift

The Fusion Crash Test (Note: This is with Airbags)

Relevant Links

• Ford Fusion UK Website
• Ford Fusion India Website
• Ford Fusion on Yahoo Groups

10 ways to connect your iPod

What are the ways you can do this?

1. Using an FM Transmitter adapter on the iPod.

There are quite a few of these available in the market. Most of these have a fairly good audio quality, although they may be patchy as compared to a direct input. The adapter connects to the headphone jack of the iPod and needs a battery of its own. The downside is, you have to worry about loosing charge on the iPod as well as the adapter that is powered by a separate battery.

FM Transmitter for headphone socket.

2. An FM Transmitter plus Charger.

Manufactured to suit a car’s cigarette lighter socket, or the DC 12V socket, these connect through the iPod connector port at the bottom of the iPod. These do not need any batteries, and also keep the iPod charged at all times. Since they are powered, the audio quality is marginally better than the ones that are powered by a battery. Both the options (1 and 2) use the car stereos FM receiver to receive and play the audio signals.

FM Transmitter + Charger for iPod

3. Auxiliary Input on Head Unit.

Many head-units that are available in the market today support the connection of an Auxiliary input on their front panel. An EP to EP stereo cable can be used to connect the headphone output directly to the head-unit. The process is simple, the audio quality is good. However one still needs to select and play music from the iPod directly.

1/8" Stereo Jack for iPod and Head-Unit Auxiliary link.

4. USB Connector.

Most new head-units come with a USB connector. Any data device like a USB pen drive, a MP3 player or an iPod can be connected directly through this cable. The cable supplied with the iPod to connect to a PC is sufficient for this purpose. Audio quality in most cases is great. In most cases the iPod can be controlled directly from the head-unit, which makes life while driving a lot simpler.

iPod USB connector cable.

5. USB Connector + Adapter.

Many head-units in the market do have a USB connector but some older types may not be able to directly interface with an iPod. In such cases, manufacturers of the USB head-unit will have an adapter available in the market to control and use an iPod. Third party compatible adapters can also be used.

6. Connecting through the CD Changer.

Most older vehicles came fitted with head-units that were capable of playing music from multiple CDs stored in a CD changer. There are many iPod adapters available in the market that connect directly through this port of the head-unit and give limited control of the iPod. However, being older technology, the adapters may or may not be compatible to newer models of iPod.

7. Using RCA inputs.

Some head-units come with RCA inputs at the back of the unit. An EP to 2RCA stereo cable can be used to connect the iPod to these types of head-units. These head-units are very rare in the market. The audio quality is good and the iPod needs to be controlled directly.

Stereo to 2 RCA - Monster Cables

8. The Tape Adapter.

Back in the 90’s when car stereos did not have CD players and did play a cassette tape, an adapter that is shaped like a cassette was used to transmit the audio from the headphones of the hand held CD player to the head-unit. The same contraption can be used for an iPod as well. Attached photo of Griffin Technology’s SmartDeck.

Smartdeck. A truly well styled cassette adapter for the iPod. By

9. The Bluetooth Audio Adapter.

Not too many of this type are available. The adapter sends FM signals to the car stereo to play the music. The adapter is also fitted with bluetooth display and controls (that mount of steering wheels) so view playlists and control the iPod. These adaptors are very useful but very complicated and cumbersome to install and contain within a car. Attached photo of Harman Kardon Drive + Play.

Harman Kardon - Drive Play for iPod. Again, a very well styled, must have iPod adapter.

10. The Separate Player.

A very radical and effective way to use your iPod in the car will be to carry a sound dock made for an iPod along with you in the car. Many sound docks give very clear music, some actually come with charging capabilities through the 12v socket. The advantage is, you can take your music even when you are not in your car.

Obviously, one could also directly use the headphones supplied with the iPod in the car, but that would be downright dangerous and ridiculous.

The city traffic actually sees more braking and acceleration in a car than highways. Its when the car accelerates or decelerates, the G- Forces put pressure on the infants neck which is vulnerable under the age of 1 year. A rear facing child seat helps negating any effects of sudden braking on the child’s neck.

A rear facing child seat fitted on a car seat adapter.

If the child were to face front and sit, while braking, the child’s head will be thrown forward putting enormous pressure on their neck and can injure them fatally. In a rear facing seat, every time the car stops, the child is pressed against the seat instead of going forward, this way the chances of injuring their neck is minimized.

Note: A child’s head weighs a lot more in comparison to their body than an adult’s head.

Choosing a child seat for your car.

Some manufacturers sell their own brand of car seats to fit into their vehicle. There are other third party manufacturers that specialize in manufacturing of these seats and often supply to car companies as well.

The seat you choose should have the following.

1. It should be rear facing for any child below the age of 18 months.
2. The seat should be adaptable to multiple cars, get one with a car seat adapter, this way either the adapter or the seat itself will fit in your car.
3. The seat should have at least 3 point seat belts. Babies are ingenious and observant, they can get out of almost any tied up situation.
4. Get side restraints to stop the head from moving side to side when the baby is sleeping and the car is turning.
5. Un-buckling the child from the seat should not take more than a few seconds. Imagine yourself in emergencies, where every second may count.
6. Get a seat that is washable in a washing machine, these tend to get very very dirty. The child will throw up, defecate, eat, drink, spill, do everything in this seat.
7. Get danglers to hang from the seat, this keeps the child’s attention focused away from the seat belts.
8. In warmer climate, a towel or cloth is needed over the seat to minimize sweating.

Where you can buy these? In Bangalore?

If you want to buy one off-the-shelf in Bangalore, you can head to Shopper Stop on Banerghata Road, or Lifestyle in Oasis, Inner Ring Road, Koramangala. You can also get them at Mothercare, 12th Main, Indiranagar.

If you are ok with buying them online, then there are more options available.

How long a child can sit in a child seat?

A child can travel sitting in a child seat at a stretch for 3 hours. It is always better to give them breaks every 100 km or so. The seats can get very binding and hot for a moving child.

A front and rear facing child seat which can be used even after 18 months.

Booster Seats

When the child is above the age of 18 months, he or she can then use a booster seat to sit on. By this age, the kid’s neck is strong enough and can tolerate more forces on them. A booster seat faces the right direction and lets the kid watch out of window while traveling. The main purpose of the booster seat is to assure that the kid is snugly held by the seat belts. Using a booster seat to just increase the kid’s ride height is not a good idea.

Booster seats are available in many form and sizes and can be used by a kid for the next 4 years.

A booster seat for older children.

Do not place a child of under 18 months on a booster seat unless directed so by it’s user manual. Most children under the age of 18 months should be placed in rear facing child seats.

Child seats and airbags

Most modern cars have airbags for both the front seats. Child seats are to placed only on rear seats unless the child needs attention or the parent is traveling alone. In such cases, switch off the passenger side airbags for the safety of the child. In a rear facing seat, an airbag will do more harm than good in the the event of an accident.

If your car does not have a airbag override control, place the child seat only on the rear seats.

Addresses in Bangalore

Shoppers Stop

Commerce@Mantri, N.S.Palya, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore, KA. 560076. Phone:080 – 5121 5681-4. Store timings:Weekdays: 11:00 – 8:30 Weekends: 11:00 – 9:00

Lifestyle

Adarsh Opus, W – 76,  Door No. 1, Campbell Road, Austin Town, Bangalore – 560 047. Tel: 080 – 2556 4555

Lifestyle Koramangala

Oasis Centre. #30, Salarpuria Tech Point, Inner Ring Road, Koramangala. Bangalore – 560 095. Tel: 080 – 4027 6400

Mother Care

Icon-Mall, 12th Main, 5th Cross, Indira Nagar, Bangalore. Tel: 080 - 25213009

Some illustrations that may help you decide on a car seat.

Source - http://stokes.chop.edu/programs/injury/

Source - http://stokes.chop.edu/programs/injury/

Source - http://stokes.chop.edu/programs/injury/

Visit here for more information and detail.

Fast and Furious - Poster

The much eagerly awaited 4th installment of Fast and Furious is out, and this time it has Vin Diesel in it. Has more punch, more style, more action, and from the clips available on Apple, looks like it has more open road stunts as well.

Probably a good movie to target this summer.

For those of you wondering what is this? (Zzzzz!!?)

Well, Fast and the Furious series of films have been hitting the theaters since 2001. There selling point, cars, speed, engine modifications and everything automobile, a little over the top Hollywood style, but who cares. They are just fun.

When you go and watch this, just don’t think of the story-line, there’s probably not much in it anyway, just go for the alloys rims, go for the handbrake turns, go for all those other things which are not recommended and legal on streets.

Have fun. Trivia and Nostalgia is here at IMDB

Not that anyone is complaining, if it gets here in its complete 4×4 form, it will probably be the only 4×4 in India to actually fit in the city and be in the wild. Let’s see if Skoda moves faster this time than what they did for Fabia, which was a horribly long wait.

Not too bad a looker one may say.

Some articles related to this are here. This one is from Merinews.

• Other links.
• Autoindia.com.
• Indiatimes.com
• Techwhack

The Skoda Auto page that describes the Yeti. Not much technical information is available though. But the page has lots of great pictures and desktop items.

Likely Plusses and Minuses to be expected!

• Good engine.
• Great cabin and interiors.
• Good pedigree from WRC
• Sales & service, not so good in India

They may change. Hoping for the best.

Decided to put this up as there is simply no documentation available on the web of this apart from some signage jokes and some crude scanned versions that have blurry texts. This is Version 1.0, there are more signs that are not included in this post.

The entry restriction signs.

No Entry. Or entry restricted for oncoming traffic only.

One way. Entry restricted for oncoming traffic.

One way. Entry permitted for oncoming traffic only. In other words, no-entry.

These are the top three suspects. The first one says no entry for whatsoever reason, the second and third permit vehicle movement in only one direction at a time. There are advanced versions of these that

The turn restrictions.

No U-Turn allowed.

No Right Turn

No Left Turn

U Turn is allowed. This is normally accompanies by a No Right Turn sign.

These are essentially turn signals. No left turn, no right turn, no U-Turn, and U-Turn allowed normally accompanied by some other restriction like no right turn.

Stop restrictions

No Parking

No Standing. No Stopping.

Then there is No Parking and No stopping- No standing. Parking is when you stop the car, lock it and go away, where as Stopping can be for any reason, like picking up someone, getting down and checking the tyre pressure etc etc.

Speed restrictions, as shown below or variations of the same.

Speed Limit. (In KM per Hour). This one says 80 kmph.

The dimension restrictions.

Vehicle width restrictions. This one specifies 2 meters.

Vehicle Height Restrictions. This one says 3.5 meters

The load restriction signs.

Weight Restriction 5 Tons

Axle weight restriction. 4 Tons. Normally found on old bridges.

The ones above are various types of restrictions. Essentially these are a number printed within a red circle, specifying the restriction amount. The speed limit is denoted always in Km/h (Kilometers per hour) and not mph (miles per hour) in India. The width restriction comes into play on starting of roads that may have a narrow bridge as a bottleneck somewhere. Same goes for the height restriction as well. When traveling on national and state highways, it is best to watch out for these and take evasive action, it may not be possible or feasible to take a U-Turn later.

The weight restriction applies to the whole vehicle weight, whereas the Axle Load restriction applies to load distribution per axle. Really doubt how many of us actually know whats the Axle load while driving a heavy vehicle though, but these are mostly intended for Truckers.

Stop

This one is a universal one. It simply means Stop, for whatever reason maybe. These are mostly found at unmanned or manned railway crossings and intersections.

Give Way

Give way. This is not a very common sight on flat roads, but it essentially means to give passage to oncoming heavy traffic. (Other’s who know more about this may comment on this)

No Overtaking

This is very simple, no overtaking. For whatever reason maybe, do not attempt to pass the vehicle in front of you. Rarely followed though.

No traffic allowed. Also, No Entry from both directions

A very dubious sign which specifies that traffic is not allowed in either direction. Wonder what the purpose of that can be!! A simple no-entry sometimes is more that sufficient than complicating matters. Unless, one is the smart one that thinks of reversing into a no-entry may be legal. Well it’s not.

End of Restrictions (as specified in the earlier sign)

This is the Happy sign. It means, end of all restrictions that were applied in earlier signs. A very very rare sign. But when you do see one, feel free to step on the gas.

White petrol fumes and black diesel fumes are common sights in our cities. Diesel being more prevalent.

Many will simply say, Diesel obviously, since it emits much lesser CO2 and goes more kilometers to the liter of fuel. Other’s will say Petrol, it does not give out that black smoke which to many is perceived as direct pollution.

Here are some bare facts.

First about petrol. The white or no fume from a petrol vehicle contains twice as much CO2 in it than the black one that comes out of a Diesel vehicle. In return, you get a vehicle which is low on Torque (needed to move from inertia) and high on Horse Power (needed to move faster). Different gearing helps a petrol vehicle overcome the Torque shortcomings. Apart from this the petrol motor is less noisy, has very little moving components requiring lesser maintenance, lighter, and technologically old and settled.

• Cons

1. More CO2 emissions, hence bigger hole in the ozone.
2. Lesser torque.
3. Mostly older technology, as very little is wrong with it and it can’t get any better.
4. Higher taxes in India and Europe over Diesel.

• Pros

1. More horse power, so you have a much faster mark to the mile.
2. Less noisy, it can be very very silent.
3. Has very little moving components inside, requiring very minimal service, hence more reliable.
4. Less components translate to lighter engines, and lesser weight overall for the car.

Now the Diesel, the motor our green brigade loves so much to entertain as the fuel of the future, after biogas, ethanol, biodiesel, hydrogen etc. Petrol comes a dirty last before paraffin maybe on their lists. A Diesel motor is built for the pulling power, the technology is compression based and not ‘fire in the hole’ what’s prevalent in Petrol. The Diesel motor has more Torque and hence its easier to pull larger loads with it, it has less horsepower so you really won’t be beating anyone to the finish line. It has much lesser CO2 emissions and much more particulate matter in its emission (which no one really bothers about as yet), the technology is developing and almost every other day you get a new version out. Diesels are much noisier than their Petrol counterparts and the Fuel enjoys tax benefits in most countries including India.

• Cons

1. Lesser horse power, means lesser speeds as compared to petrol of similar capacity.
2. Very noisy, again when compared to Petrol.
3. The engine has a lot of moving parts and that generally translates into noise and maintenance in the long run (newer ones are getting better by the day).
4. Still developing technology, what you buy today is outdated in the next one year.

• Pros

1. Humongous amounts of Torque, to pull elephantine  loads.
2. Usually cheap as it gives 30% more kilometers to a liter.
3. Fuel is cheaper and enjoys tax benefits, as most load carrying vehicles run on Diesel.
4. Less CO2 emissions.

Now some hidden facts.

1. Diesel needs 25% more oil to manufacture than Petrol. So, even though the end user runs lesser to the gas station, he is getting almost same mileage to a liter of Oil as Petrol.
2. Diesels produce more particulate matter in their exhaust. Only high end expensive vehicles have particulate filters that contain most of these inside, the average road going sedan and hatch do not. These particulate matter are what we see as Smog and Dust in highly populated cities.

Quoting a more detailed website here (I am no scientist or researcher anyway):

There are three size categories of soot particles: Source: http://www.grinningplanet.com/ and http://www.ucsusa.org/

• Large soot particles (>10 microns) deposit from the air into your nose, throat, and lungs, causing coughing and irritating your throat, and are ejected from your body through sneezing, coughing, and nose blowing.
• Coarse soot particles (~10 microns) are inhaled into your windpipe and settle there, causing more irritation and more coughing.
• Fine and ultra-fine soot particles (less than 2.5 microns) are the most successful at invading your body—they’re small enough to travel deep into your lungs. Once there, these soot particles can irritate and mutate the most sensitive tissues in your lungs, your alveoli. These air sacs exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide from the air you breathe with blood in your capillaries, thus allowing your circulatory system to carry oxygen to the rest of your body. Soot particles, however, make this task more difficult because they cause inflammation and scarring of the alveoli. This also strains your heart because it must work harder to compensate for oxygen loss.

There is more.

Soot also finds other ways to harm your body, including:

• Chronic Bronchitis,
• Asthma,
• Reduced ability of respiratory system to fight infections and remove foreign particles, and
• Cancer.

Petrol engines give out particulate matter too, except that the amounts are negligible as compared to Diesels.

Originally designed to pull loads and get more miles to a full tank, Diesels are best suited for trucks, buses, long haul trains, and the highway cruiser and SUVs. In a city, it’s not as much of a Saint as it’s made out to be. In the end, you just pay higher to deplete the same amount of Natural Oil, create more particulate pollution and enjoy lesser fuel prices.

Particulate matter are not permanent pollutants like CO2, they do settle down, they just need time. But when you use a diesel in the city, you simply do not give it enough time to be ecologically viable.

Moral of the story, use it where it makes more sense, for the long haul.

Polluted Cities

Trucks on a highway, diesel delights.

Most cities now look like this.

On any given day in Bangalore, or for that matter, any city, you will see a lot of drivers using their high beams to drive in traffic. Legally, this is not allowed by traffic regulations. But if one sees closely, many use it more out of compulsion or need rather than intension.

A factory fitted High Beam Throw

Using High Beams to avoid eminent danger

Here’s a list of situations where it is legal to use the high beams or brights.

1. When there is little or no illumination on the road. Like an empty stretch of highway with no illumination and higher speed limits. Use of High Beams are necessary here to ensure safe driving. Lower your beams to let oncoming traffic pass without blinding them.
2. To alert oncoming traffic to lower their beams, only once or twice. This is a nuisance that we face almost on a regular basis. Most under maintained vehicles like Cabs, Buses have inadequate Low Beams compelling their driver to use the High Beams to view the road ahead. You can blink at them with your high beams to ask them to lower theirs.
3. Signaling a slow moving vehicle in front of you to give you way so that you can overtake. This can be done only once or twice and not repeatedly. If the vehicle still does not move, you can conclude that the driver of the vehicle is not alert and can use the Horn to alert them. Large and heavy vehicles, with well sealed cabins can only be alerted by the use of high beams to blink once or twice.
4. When traveling on a high speed limit highway with clearly divided lanes for oncoming traffic. Higher speeds translates to crossing longer distances in lesser time. You need longer reaching lamps to see the road ahead and ensure safety.

Newer technology has brighter lamps that does not blind the oncoming traffic.

Many modern cars are fitted with HID (High Intensity Discharge) lamps and lenses to ensure that the driver gets to see the road without blinding the oncoming traffic. However, use of HID lamps without lenses results in lesser illumination than their Halogen counterparts and just provides white light with very bad throw. Car headlamps are designed to be used with a specific type of bulb, and changing that to a higher wattage, brighter bulb does not always result in better illumination. Such modifications should be avoided or carried out under expert supervision.

A set of projector headlamps

HID high + lo beam in action

In India, the wattage allowed for headlamps are a standard 55 W (known as a 55/60 in open market).

Anything higher that this is subject to scrutiny by traffic police. Though many people upgrade their headlamps to 90/100 or 130/100, these are not legal to be used on paved roads. These lamps are specifically created for extreme condition use only, like forests, muddy terrains, etc. (although many of our Highways qualify in these categories). Use of higher wattage lamps blind the oncoming traffic, and increases chances of traffic accidents.

More details are here if one is interested.

The Ferrari F1 machine

Contrary to popular belief, F1 cars are actually very Fuel Efficient for the amount of speed and performance they have. At one point of time, a few years back, Honda actually Won races back to back just because they had to carry lesser fuel in their energy efficient cars to complete the races. Less fuel translates to lesser weight, and lesser weight translates to better efficiency and speed. We can all see how that learning has translated into much efficient street cars from Honda.

The Honda F1 car, one of the most fuel efficient in the game

Rear of a Renault F1 car

Top view of a Renault F1 car

Some F1 numbers.

Race fuel consumption rate is normally around 75 liters per 100 kilometers traveled (3.1 US mpg – 3.8 UK mpg – 1.3 km/l). Nonetheless a Formula One engine is over 20% more efficient at turning fuel into power than most small commuter cars, considering their craftsmanship.

Source: Wikipedia

Many argue about the Carbon Footprint of each race, but they fail to imagine the reduction in Carbon Footprint of all vehicles benefitting from these races. Yes F1 is a testing ground for engineers (the best of them) from around the world.

It’s not quite the same type of hybrid drive-train you’d see in street vehicles, but in an exciting announcement, Max Mosely of F1 has announced that all cars will become hybrid by 2013, along with other changes to the vehicles.

Source: gas2.org

It’s not all that bad, but having them not to consume any fuel will be a real challenge.

No we are not here to argue weather the Nano is a good, bad or ugly idea. We are going to think slightly larger, as to why we are so deprived of Hybrids in India where the world seems to be heading everywhere with them.

Case in Point, the Honda Civic Hybrid. The car is a gem, the Hybrid is a darling, yes it does not have the power and torque to match its complete gas burning twin, but sure does a lot for the environment. And because of that, one would think that the authorities should actually stand up and promote such an effort, but we don’t really see that happening. The car costs a whopping 75% + over it’s gas burning counterpart.

The Honda Civic Hybrid, Green.. but at a price.

Why this double standard? Why ask people to get PUC certificates, Bharath III and Euro III and at the same time sell something that is 10 years ahead in terms of emission standards at astronomical prices?

I don’t have the answer for that. Probably our babus sitting in the Parliament do, or probably they are too busy to just sit around and fight elections on grounds of “Communal Harmony” to even sit up and notice. Or probably they are governed by larger money burning oil and gas giants who think it’s completely against their gains. You and I are smart, and we all know which option is True. Electric and Hybrid vehicles came about a long while back on this earth, but they never took off largely because the economy was run by giants pumping out tons and tons of oil and natural gas everyday. Our government depends on it, governments all over the world depend on this as well. Wars are fought over this, dictators are overthrown, cold wars are dissolved to give rise to new ones, etc etc.

The Electric and Hybrid Automobile scenario in India

The Reva. A lovely cute car which is a good effort. It's in need of dire transformation to actually survive as an Automobile.

We just have an excuse of an electric car in the form of Reva. The idea to replace personal transport over short distance with an electric vehicle is good, but severely lacks in Styling, Power, Personality and everything else a Car stands for. We have been harping around over it for almost 10 years now. People abroad have loved it, hated it, destroyed it pitted against an office table on TV shows, placed it as props in Hollywood movies and many things but drive it.

A Car is a mode of transport to carry more than one person, in an environment of his choice from Point A to Point B, regardless of the distance between these points.

The Reva, the only available electric car in India, does not fulfill that equation completely. It runs out of steam in about 60 Kms. And then you have to wait an agonizing 4 hours before it can get you back. You may say that its meant for zipping in the city, that’s true, but with ever-expanding limits of our large cities, taking a Reva from south Bangalore to the Airport can be impossible. Needless to say, the vehicle does not have a potent AC, any safety, no luggage space and barely enough space for 2 grown ups. The lesser we dwell in this area, the better it is, after all, it’s a good effort and it’s just that. A start.

That’s also the problem, it’s a start that we got stuck with. It’s same Ambassador which was a start that we got stuck with for generations. And for a long time we were stuck with Mahindra’s version of the Jeep as well, while the world went on galavanting in gas guzzling technological marvels.

The situation has not improved even today. We do have the latest (and not so latest) vehicles being ported to India, but we still shy away from the cutting edge. Somehow it is too sharp for our own good.

A Tesla Roadster does the same in style, but then it costs prohibitive. Not for the technology, but for it’s design, presence and performance all put together. The problem is, it’s no style factor and it does not enjoy any rebate in taxes being an electric, hence no one gets it here. But this does mean that the technology exists out there no push a car to the stratosphere just on electric power, and surprisingly, no one is willing to tap that in this country.

A non gas guzzling electric wonder which can put many petrol and even nitrous counterparts to shame.

Probably the Tesla Roadster is a bad example, after all, over the Reva, it scores only in the area of a larger range and a better personalized environment. Does not make much of a case.

So we focus out efforts on the “we love you so much” SUV sector. The vehicle in question is the Ford Escape, a version or variant of which is available to us in its diesel avatar. Not many of us know this, but Ford Escape was the world’s first Hybrid SUV back in 2005 (source) and till date they have sold more than 100,000 of these worldwide making a sizable dent in that CO² chart. Yep, and we have been encouraging the sale of Sumos, Taveras and Innovas to our IT companies to card their people around in hysterical quantities where a perfectly eco-friendly solution waits to be invited in the sidelines.

The Ford Escape Hybrid, although a Hybrid and it still relies on fossil fuel, it's a correct step at attaining a balance between the feasible and the dream.

Its time our so called “Green Brigades” woke up and promoted the right approach to alternative fuel. Probably Pro-Active Change is the approach to be taken instead of Active Protest.

Note: All interested in the debate of why Electric Cars never became popular, you can watch the Film Who Killed the Electric Car.

The rest of us, lets get together and get “The Technology” here.

As usual, I walk down till Cafe Coffee Day under the Bombay Store, get me a Cappuccino and walk around. I spot two women who come out of Bombay Store and confidently walk towards a car, a Black Suzuki Alto, and try to open in. They try for sometime and give up.

Suzuki Alto (or Maruti Alto, 4 door version of the same)

Hyundai Santro, they are close, but not really that close when put on the road.

One of them spots something down the road and they have a small discussion. Post this they start walking towards a Black Hyundai Santro parked about 40 meters down the road, facing the other way. She tries the key, and this time the door opens.

Quick question?

How different is a Santro from an Alto? Well, a lot, its larger, higher, and looks completely different. And in this case it was even facing the other way.

I was amazed at how someone can mixup their own car for some other car, of some other make and model, and parked facing some other way. And at 11 AM in the morning, it’s unpardonable.

So.. here we are following a white corolla on the Airport Road and nearing Manipal Hospital Junction. Now, we all know that it’s a notorious place even with the Airport now shifted out, and in those days.. it was pure chaos. One would actually calculate the approximate time and add 20 minutes for the junction while heading to the airport.

Banerughatta Road, on a rainy night.

So.. where were we.. ah yes, following the white corolla, in the center lane and more towards the left. There are 2 rows of vehicle on our right waiting for.. well to turn right or to take a U-Turn, or whatever. The left side traffic is free to go straight or turn left.  Here’s when this corolla chap does the unthinkable, he spots a gap between two cars on the right and tries to get in.

The corolla being huge, heavy and largely un-maneuverable stops with its bum sticking out. This effectively blocks the 3rd lane with vehicles piling up behind us by the second. I wait, the patient me thinks that the corolla has other plans, probably he will reverse a little and give it another try as I can see that it’s possible for him to move out by at least 2 more feet. He does not.

I honk.

People behind us Honk. And the whole line of vehicles honk.

The corolla meanwhile has all it’s windows up. Has the stereo on loud so that we are largely benefitted from it. And the driver is oblivious to the whole Tamasha he has created behind him. We go for the next option, lets get out and ask him to move. But the vehicles are so close together it’s not possible to open the doors. We roll down the windows and scream, no use.

With about 10 minutes left for boarding to start, I do the only thing left to do. I move our car and ever so slowly bump the toyota.

“Dhunk”

This gets his attention, he rolls his window and stereo down to give us an earful. The moment his head came out, an onslaught of abuses were hurled towards him from almost 15 cars behind him. It was needed, suddenly the abuses made the toyota much lighter, more maneuverable and he neatly tucked himself into the center lane. We passed giving him the stares, in my ORVM I could see that others were not so polite, they spoke a lot with their hands outside the window.

We reached the airport with about a minute to spare.

Just another day in the traffic. And kindly maintain lane discipline, it makes life a lot easier.

A fender bender

Road incidents result in the deaths of an estimated 1.2 million people worldwide each year, and injure about forty times this number

A 1985 study by K. Rumar, using British and American crash reports as data, found that 57% of crashes were due solely to driver factors, 27% to combined roadway and driver factors, 6% to combined vehicle and driver factors, 3% solely to roadway factors, 3% to combined roadway, driver, and vehicle factors, 2% solely to vehicle factors and 1% to combined roadway and vehicle factors.

Drive safe.

The Hoysaleshwara Temple at Halebidu

That’s when you get on your horse and get out, in our case, “Horse Power”

Halebidu is located in Hassan District, Karnataka, India. Halebidu (which was previously called Dorasamudra or Dwarasamudra) was the regal capital of the Hoysala Empire in the 12th century. It is home to one of the best examples of Hoysala architecture in the ornate Hoysaleswara and Kedareswara temples.

Well that’s what Wikipedia or Wiki Travel has to say about it, and they are not much off the mark when they say “best example”. It is probably The Best if not, at least one of the Top 5 Architecture pieces of India (that includes The Taj as well, mind it).

Getting to Halebidu (or Halebid, as known in english)

Its fairly simple. Get to the North of Bangalore and get on NH4 headed towards Tumkur. For this you definitely need to start really early as the road can be a pain after 7AM. Our plans to start early did not materialize with a baby in tow. Nevertheless, we were off and out passing Yashvanthpura Railway station and Metro Cash and Carry on NH4 by about 7AM. The road has a major bottle neck at the Outer Ring Road crossing near Peenya. Crossing this bottle neck takes a while even when there is no traffic on road. You an blame it on Bangalore’s town planners who managed to create a “Staggered” junction for the ORR and NH4, so that vehicles that want to continue on the ORR will have to turn right, get on to NH4 and then turn left after a 100 meters, pain.

Be careful of the ORR crossing marked in a circle, and remember to take a Left at Neelamangala

Leave that behind and you are technically out of Bangalore and headed straight towards Tumkur. But then that’s where you are not going, you are headed to Hassan on NH48, the same road that snakes through the infamous Shiradi Ghats and gets into Mangalore. To get on this road you will have to turn left at a non desrcript junction on NH4 at Neelamangala. Yes, its easy to miss, and if you do not watch out, you will hit the Toll Road to Tumkur and forget that you ever had to take a turn. Why? well the Toll Road is a picturesque one and you will love every minute that you spend on it.

We missed the junction and got on to the Toll Road.

The Toll Gate after Neelamangala, if you have reached this spot, then you have already missed the turn.

Once on this road, we were ecstatic and went on driving the next 15 Km to reach a Cafe Coffee Day. Finished with the staple dose of Cilantro Sandwich and Cappuccino, we headed off and reached Tumkur, only to realize that “Opps! We were to take a left turn somewhere!!”

The view from Cafe Coffee Day on the Tumkur Toll Road. Easily one of the best maintained roads.

Headed back, and as luck would have it, Neelamangala is about 500 meters from the start of the toll road and we got to the much awaited Left. After the left, NH48 is not as bad it  is made out to be, its a perfect two way road with near perfect surface and guard rails on both sides. The road is also marked clearly for lanes and shoulder, we knew it then that even if we got delayed, driving back in the night will not be a major issue.

(Our return Path is not described in this post. Its easy to get back to Bangalore from Hassan as long as you hit the right road. Traffic is more after sunset on NH48)

Word of advice: If you are headed to Halebidu via Hassan, take a left turn at Neelamangala. If you miss that turn, wait for the Toll Gate, turn back and take the right. You can ask the chaps at the Toll Gate for direction as well.

NH48 to Hassan and Mangalore snakes though central Karnataka

After Neelamangala

NH48 is a paradise to drive on till Hassan. The road is well laid, has clear markers and turns very gently every now and then. Most parts are lined with trees and green fields. maintaining speeds north of a ton is not difficult. Although you need to be careful at places where the road climbs and then dips down. Visibility of oncoming traffic is zero at these places and any amount of Honking or Blinking will go unnoticed by even the best.

NH48 to Hassan after the left turn at Neelamangala

Green, green, green

Very soon you will pass Solur, Kunigal, Yadiyur, Hirisave (important if you want to visit Shravan Belgola), Channaraypatna, and you are in Hassan. The road rarely looses composure, except for parts where it is being constructed or widenend. But that’s minimal damage.

In Hassan

Once you are in Hassan, or little before Hassan, you have to turn right to get on the state highway to get to Halebid. This again is a nondescript turn and very easy to miss. Not to worry though as you can do the same through Hassan town as well. You won’t lose much time here. Plus, there will be a lot of tourist taxis and buses that are headed in the same direction and it’s easy to just follow them. Make sure they are approximately headed in the same direction though, chances are 90% tourist vehicles will be headed to Halebidu.

You need to be on SH57 to head to Halebidu. The roads are clearly marked on milestones, finding the right one should not be a challenge.

The road is narrow will very little scope to overtake. Take SH57 from Hassan and then SH58 from Bellur

State Highway 57

SH57 from Hassan till Bellur

A large lake / reservoir lined with Windmills

You can either take a little offroad route via village roads as shown in the Map or go a little bit around via Bellur and on NH58 till Halebidu. Both ways its fine, the road quality is nothing great but the scenery around it is. Each spot is like a Picture Postcard. The road twists and turns through villages and fields over small rivers and next to large lakes. The road is very narrow and overtaking something can become a challenge here.

If you are stuck behind a bus or a slow moving Sumo, stop and wait for sometime. Let the view clear and then continue on. This way you will have enough field of vision to enjoy the surrounding. You can also use some spare horse power and offroading capabilities of your ride to overtake the slow one, but its not recommended.

Once you reach Halebidu, its easy to find the temple. It’s just about the only thing there and finding a parking nearby is a breeze. Park the car, avoid the local salesmen and women trying to sell various replicas of the statues and get into the temple compound.

Another closeup of the Temple

More about the temple is here

Photographs: Aparajita Ghosh, Shubhodeep Das. Maps: Courtesy Google.

Smartbots Direct Webpage. The website was designed by us, e-commerce is yet to be enabled for direct online ordering.

This is not related to roads or road travel at all. Smartbots Direct will be selling WowWee manufactured Rovio in India in collaboration with Reliance Digital.

The Smartbots Direct website is designed by us basing it on a very white, empty and clean look. Feedback is welcome.

Don’t.

I know this sounds funny, but for the person who is new to Indian Highways, this is one suggestion he should follow. This would help is conserving fuel and energy for the trip.

Put down your foot on the gas only when you know that you don’t have to take it off.

This is a normal (also nominal) distribution of traffic on Indian Highways. Cars on the right. Trucks on the left. Two wheelers that are not too fast on the extreme left shoulder. But it's equally possible to have someone come right at you on the wrong side of the road in a Tractor.

What about trucks and buses?

Overtake them, in all likelihood, they will be on the outer lane and the inner lane will be free for you. If its not free, just signal with your high beams and you will be given way. It’s the other variety, the private cars and cabs that you do not overtake.

Why?

Simple. A cab runs these routes more often than you or I would. As a result, they will be more accustomed to the twists and turns and hidden speed-breakers and bad patches. Get tucked in behind such a vehicle doing speeds that you probably would like to maintain. Follow this fellow from a safe distance and you will suddenly see that you are more relaxed, and you are doing better time. The brunt of road traffic get sliced through this ‘Pilot Car’ which you are following, including people and animal traffic. If you are traveling at night, only follow the vehicle if it has all its tail lamps and braking lights in place.

This is an innovative solution for a city where having Maps can be as confusing as Not Having them. The same may hold true for many other cities in India as well.

Screenshot of the VidTeq website.

Here’s what this does.

You input the start and destination, which is assisted with intuitive spelling guesses. The result that pops up (see attached link) gives you a Map, a turn by turn guide to the route, and.. this is new.. an actual video footage of the turn by turn route as well.

Helpful!! Maybe..

However, the video may get confusing depending on the time of the day, and the constantly changing shape, size and image of each road. But overall, a very helpful and innovative approach to route mapping. Improvements an be made in the quality of video and usability though.

Airbags are set to deploy based on sudden vibrations caused within a car as compared to their weight. The smaller the car, the larger the vibration, and the more likely its is that the Airbag will go off to loud music, well very Loud Music.

The process is simple and illustrated step by step. The Tools Required for this whole exercise is fairly basic. Any market available screw driver set would do the job properly. Having a sturdy one would help.

This lineup should be enough to finish the Job.

The first step is locating and checking how everything is at the beginning of the operation.

The front driver side switch on the Ford Fusion and some models of Fiesta. This particular object has a very high failure rate, and if you are stuck with the driver side window 'Up', it can be very irritating.

To get started with the DIY process, you need to get the things mentioned in step one. Using the nail puller, gently get the Switch Console out of the door panel. The Switch Console is fastened with two spring steel clips on either side.

Take note to pull it out evenly from all side. This is necessary to retain the cables inside in their original position.

When the console is fully out, gently tilt it over away from the panel to have access to all wires

You will notice that the unit is attached using two wire clusters fastened with a Snap Fit. One should be White in color and the other one Black. The White one carries the wires for the window and the black one carries the wires for the rear window lock.

Take out the white wire cluster followed by the other one. Notice that the Snaps will be positioned on the side, for the Black one it will be on the front (in reference to the car).

Locate the second snap fit, and get it loose by gently pushing it down with a Screw Driver.

Slide the wire cluster out of the switch console.

Locate the Snap Fits that are holding the top and the bottom portions of the Switch Console.

Push the snaps out gently with a very thin screw driver. This may take some patience as they have a habit of snapping back promptly.

Separate the top and bottom parts pulling them outwards, away from each other. Take care to not tilt as it may damage the small LEDs that are used to light up the switches. A few may get bent a little, but that's not much of a worry.

This image clearly shows the position of each LED and the two springs that push the 'Rear Window Override' switch.

Marked in red are the contact points for the Driver Side window switch. Clean these as they may have Carbon, Grease, Oxidation and other residues on them which hampers the connection. While you are at it, may as well clean the others too.

We can pretty much forget about the top part after cleaning the contacts. They can be cleaned with nail Polish Remover, if you are traveling with your wife or girlfriend, chances are they will have one in their purse.

You can also see three springs that are sticking out from the top part. They are to hold the switch console within the door panel. Do not move them much from their position.

The bottom part of the Switch Console will have an array of springs. Marked in red are the ones that are responsible for the Driver's Window.

A close up of the springs. Note that they are a little curved. The spring is supposed to make contact with the point at all times. Breaking the contact moves the window up or down. Also, remember the springs.

Note: The springs are very integral to the switch operation and loosing them can spell complete disaster.

It is possible to find matching springs from a Ball Point pen if desperation calls. Try and not loose them to begin with.

Another close up of the spring and the LEDs

Gently push the springs up to see if there is any loose fit. Although that is very unlikely.

This part of the process will need a lot of concentration. Would suggest a good cup of coffee before getting on with this. At first, all the springs inside will look alike. It’s only on close observation you will notice that the one’s for the Driver’s Window do not touch their respective contacts on top.

Gently push up the curved part of the sprint to build back the lost tension due to repeated use of the switch. Yes, that is the main cause for this regular malfunction.

Check the alignment of the springs by holding the whole thing parallel to the ground lined up straight. They should all line up like Guards at a Parade.

You are done cooking. Take care of the LEDs, and the Springs. And start assembling the whole thing together. This will be a lot faster, but take care to not leave anything abandoned outside.

Align the springs properly. If they do not align, they will come loose and eventually may cause a Shirt Circuit.

Snap the whole thing shut and reverse the process earlier to put it back into the door. Put the wire clusters to where they belong, and you are ready to go.

Also note that this process will surely violate any Warranty available on the vehicle unless you manage to finish the Job very clean. The ford parts that fit inside are not that well finished and it might be easy to get away without being noticed. Chances are that the switch won’t trouble you for another year or more. It’s way easier and cheaper if you think of the Rs 3500/- (approx) that will pay for a new console and the time that you might have to wait due to permanent non availability of parts. This process is more useful if you are stuck without an open window in the middle of a highway to nowhere and the nearest Ford Service many hours away.

This is a nightmare for for people with longer cars which have very little Ground Clearance. What is exactly “Ground Clearance”?

No, its not the available ground in front of your car to cruise on. It’s much more complicated, and I must say important than that.An average road car has the wheels, which touch the ground, and then the rest of the stuff that do not touch the ground. Its the minimum difference between this ‘rest of the stuff’ and the ground is what is called “Ground Clearance”.

As illustrated in the diagram.

The actual ground clearance that is available to a vehicle.

The perceived ground clearance. Although it's not the actual GC, it is the part that is important in crossing over a Bump. The higher the height, the better are your chances

The first figure shows the actual distance between the things hanging from under the car and the road that it is on. The lowest point of any car is always between the wheels. This is the part where a numerous protruding components jut out (called suspension arms) to give you a comfortable ride.

The second figure is an illustration of the perceived idea of ground clearance that we get when we see a car. This is not very important while going over large objects but it is very important while going over speed breakers. If the height available to your car is less than the height of the speed breaker, chances are you will scrape the bottom of your car, and that’s not good.

So what do you do?

Simple. You avoid this by minimizing the chances of this happening.

Approaching the speed bump head on increases the distance that your car's suspended body travels over the bump

The angular approach to a speed bump reduces the distance that your car's body actually travels over the bump.

The two figures above do the explaining themselves. In the first, you approach the speed breaker head on and hence increase the distance your car travels suspended over the Bump increasing the chances of a scrape happening.

In the second figure, given traffic situation, you can approach the bump at an angle so that the distance your car travels suspended over the Bump is reduced to a bare minimum. In fact, if you have a shorter car, you can manage to have one wheel on the bump at all times negating any chances of a scrape.

Speed breakers on Indian highways are mostly unmarked and appear suddenly. Caution is needed while driving at night and even in daytime. It is tough to spot a moderately high speed breaker if the road is partially shaded with trees. These speed breakers (or Humps as the locals would call it) are made for truck traffic and sometimes can be as high as 30 cm.

Going over them at high speeds can be catastrophic.

Carry your own food

The answer is not that simple. If you are blessed with a weak stomach, it is best to avoid roadside food and carry your own. But what can you carry?

Do note the fact that you will be driving and eating even though you would like to avoid that. Do also note that anything you carry should require minimal water usage to wash your hands after the meal. This brings us to easy consumables like Cake, Potato Wafers, Samosas, Kachodi etc.. these are food items that are primarily dry, devoid of any greasy watery content and easy to wash off after a meal. The next set would consist of Frankies, Patties, and other such fried stuff with stuffing in them. They also require minimal water usage to wash your hands.

A road side shop serving Aloo Bhajji and Mirchi Bhajji few Kilometers outside Vishakhapatnam

Duration of travel

The food you carry should last you the complete duration of travel without requiring refrigeration (unless you are fitted with a small fridge in your car). Avoid anything too oily as they tend to go stale very fast, very soon. Apart from going stale, they also emanate smell and in closed quarters of a vehicle that can get very annoying. So divide your food in parts that will last longer and those that will last shorter. Start with the ones that are more likely to go stale, and remainder to consume later.

Making a sandwitch

This requires time, and patience while traveling. Not to mention the ‘good parking space’ without any disturbance or danger from other traffic. Carrying Tuna, Cucumber, and other such ‘Sandwitchy’ ingredients is a good idea for the first day. Boiled eggs are great as well. They can last upto 2 days complete if left undisturbed in a cool dark place. Once you stop, chop some, fill in the bread slices and munch on. You can carry mustard and mayonnaise but they have the spill risk.

The roadside guy

If you do not have a weak stomach, then the roadside guy is ideal. Most arterial roads will have the regular supply of Aloo Bhajji (A fry made with stuffed potato), Mirchi Bhajji (same with mirchi or chilli), Aloo Puri (A curry made out of potato with Puri) and in Southern India you get ample supply of Idli and Vada Sambar. Not all are going to be tasty, but chances are 70% of them will be worth it, you will have to try your luck. Keep a bottled mineral water handy after the meal as it is likely to be spicy as well. In case you experience an unrest in your stomach after the food, have lots of water.. chances are, you will be ok.

The Punjabi Dhaba

A Dhaba is a roadside shack that serves food. A Punjabi Dhaba is one that serves North Indian food, like Butter Chicken and Roti with Dal. 90% of these are good targets for affordable food. If you happen to spot one, turn around and go back, it will be worth a shot. In extreme situations where bottled water is not available, go for a Cola or a Lime drink. It will help tone down the spicy nature of the food. The food will be served with a healthy helping of Onions, don’t worry about bad breath, have them.. they will help ward of the heat in summer (which we have 3 seasons of).

Eat well, drink lots of water!!

The results are as expected. Most people walk on the road, probably thats why.. even when there is a perfectly Ok footpath available, people prefer to walk on the road. Needless to say, there is always this nagging danger of falling into a ‘Hole’, open drain, garbage dump etc.

Having a proper footpath can actually help decongest this city.

For example: Banerugutta Road

From the beginning of the road near Ayappa Garden till about Dairy Circle, there is no consistent footpath on either side of the road. Coupled with the fact that the road varies in width (which we will get to later), it becomes a tricky situation for anyone to actually walk anywhere.

From Dairy Circle till Jayadeva Hospital, the road is fairly consistent with some sort of walking space available on each side. But, these are mostly utilized for parking, having shop decors, hoardings, electrical installs etc. The road still varies in width which is annoying. At some places the road extends beyond trees that are right on the road (a phenomenon also noticed on Koramangala Ring Road).

From Jayadeva Hopital till IIMB the road sees many avatars. The part next to shopper stop is very well finished with proper footpaths on both sides and even a service road on one side. The road again becomes narrow right after this till the beginning of IIM campus, it gets extra wide from here on till HSBC and then gets extra narrow till you pass Arekere gate. The road is fairly consistent here after.

Why the ‘Mayhem’

A s a result of this size, width, footpath, no-path mayhem, the road sees a regular chaos.

Traffic is like fluid flow. Most developed and developing nations have understood this long back. It works in the same manner as liquids or gas (not the bad food one). Its that one bottleneck that controls the flow and not the rest of the road, that’s basically a Tap. You open the Tap fully and you will still get as much water as the Pipe carrying it would allow.

Similarly, having wider roads in sections of 500 meters to 1 Km do not serve any purpose. Vehicles just speed up only to get stuck where the narrow section begins. It is actually preferable to have a consistent width road for better and more efficient way of transit.

Following this simple logic one can pinpoint where all the traffic will accumulate.

Ideal road Cross Section for wider sections of the road. Maintain footpath and use available 3rd lane for parking. This would encourage people to park at a distance instead of right at the doorstep.

Suggestion.

• Have footpaths so that people can park / get down from a bus at a distance and enjoy the walk.
• Have a more or less consistent road width, it helps maintain a consistent traffic flow. A two plus two lane is ideal.
• Use extra width wherever available for specified parking and busbays.
• Provide the option for parking, before putting a No-Parking sign.
• Provide legitimate and safe options for people to cross roads.

May help.

1. A Compass. This is absolute necessity on highways as detours are almost always un-expected and are always through narrow winding village roads. A compass will help you in these situations to maintain bearings. A GPS may or maynot help, as most of these by-lanes on the highway are uncharted, and mostly un-paved.
2. A Windscreen Wash and Shine. These are available at almost any local auto dealer. And they are helpful. A lot of mud will be thrown on your windscreen from Trucks in front of you and Passing Vehicles. If you have a washer fitted in your car, chances are that will run dry in 200 Kms. Carry extra and refill, specially if you are driving through Dusk or Dawn.
3. One small set of folding table and chairs. Not an absolute must, but if you do want to experience the occasional Alu Puri from a nearby dhaba. This is the best option to have along. Just unfold and you have your own private eatery right next to the highway.
4. Tubeless tires and a puncture repair kit. This is just a matter of choice and peace of mind. Tubeless tires are more resistant to the occasional rogue nail and thorn than the regular Tube Tires. A puncture repair kit allows you to fix that nail easily without running to a repair shop.
5. Water. Carry lots of water when you travel. Either filtered or mineral. Ideal way to carry is in a Plastic Jerrican. A 20 Liter or 2 x 10 Liter is enough for a 1000 Km trip. Water available locally may or may not suit everyone’s city stomachs easily.
6. Get a Local Newspaper. If you are venturing out from one state to the other, get a Local Newspaper of that area as soon as you enter. It gives a good idea of any Political disturbance or Bandh that may foil your plans for the day.
7. Cash and Change for Toll. Any major highway in India is Toll Operated. You will pass at least one Toll Booth in 100 Kms. The Toll value ranges from Rs 30 to Rs 70 one way for a four wheeler. Having change speeds up the process, having cash is mandatory. Calculate about Rs 50 for every 100 Km you travel. Also be prepared to surprise RTO tax collection booths on the highway. This is not necessary for vehicles passing through a state, but it never hurts to be prepared. Tax Value is based on the weight of the vehicle and can vary from Rs 600 – Rs 1200 for a four wheeler.
8. A Map with Highway Numbers clearly marked. It is not necessary that the Map has to be accurate. But it is necessary to have a map with all the road names and numbers marked clearly. Indian Highways are named in Single digits for main roads and three digits for its Bypass or tertiary roads. (Like NH7 and NH207 here). TTK Roadmaps are good to navigate around cities.
9. A Torch. Absolute necessity if you are traveling in the night. The highways do not have any illumination what-so-ever. If anything does go wrong with the vehicle, you will definitely need one to get to the bottom of the problem. Its also a good tool to attract attention in case of trouble.
10. Cash for Gas. Although ATMs and Gas Stations that take credit cards are common in city limits, on highways they are very rare. Maintaining the same brand of fuel is necessary to maintain a better mileage and overall sanity of the engine. Carry some cash extra for those emergency fills. Do not carry too much extra. The chances of theft are very real as well.

Carry a Camera to capture all the moments. Most highways have 80% picture postcard value during ideal weather like Monsoon. Enjoy the drive!

Here’s how you can minimize the damage to your time from the Notorious Bangalore Traffic during the daytime.

Approach from NH7

A little outside of Bangalore is Chikka Ballapur, leave NH7 at this junction and get on to the regular (non 4 lane) NH207. Created as a bypass long back, the NH207 runs alongside Bangalore touching NH4 at Hoskote and through Sarjapur finally touching NH7 again at Attibele after Electronic City. The road is fairly well maintained and has very little traffic during the daytime.

Turn into NH207, at Chikka Ballapur and continue till Attibele to get back on NH7 avoiding Bangalore completely

Approaching from North – West on NH4

If you are approaching from NH4 in the North, chances of avoiding traffic completely is minimal. However you can minimize the damage by getting on to the Ring Road right after crossing Peenya Industrial Area. Continue on the Ring Road till Marathalli Junction. Take a left here and get onto NH207 to avoid the Hosur road construction zone completely and get back on NH7 at Attibele.

Turn on to Ring Road after Peenya Industrial Area and continue straight till Marathalli Junction. Take a left to get on to NH207 near Varthur lake. Areas marked in dark circles are heavy traffic zones.

If you do have to get into the city. The recommended time will be before 7 AM and after 11 PM. Anything in between can cause a lot of time, specially if the roads are unknown to you.

Any other tips on avoiding and bypassing Bangalore are welcome.

Round One

Not long ago I used to be a Hyderabadi, or a person who stays in Hyderabad, India and behaves in a certain way. Going to Pondicherry was something I attempted first from Hyderabad, and that too with success and ‘on road’. Hopped in a Volvo from Hyderabad and landed up at Kalasipalayam bus station near Majestic in Bangalore. Did I mention that I really did not plan the trip through? I guess I did not. So here I was, at Kalasipalayam, wondering what or how to get till Pondicherry from here. The only people I knew in Bangalore at that point of time, were In Pondicherry waiting for me. Kind of futile to go looking for a place to stay in this expensive place after that. I also had the option of going straight to Chennai from Hyderabad and then get to Pondicherry. Wonder why I did not do that!

Kalasipalayam is a place where you get things easily. First thing I needed after the overnight travel was to freshen up, visit the loo, take a shower etc. Even before that I needed to sort out the whole travel plan which at this point was kind of haywire. Went from ticket shop to ticket shop, and nothing was available before late evening. At this point I realized that the bast bet for me was Karnataka State Transport. Got myself a ticket, which was not easy, had to get an agent who could then go and get the ticket. Now that the agent was off to get My Ticket, I had time to do the rest, freshen up, loo, bath etc. Finding a loo was the next challenge, finding one large enough to park my bag and take a bath was bigger challenge, finding one that was clean was impossible.

Did what I had to do, did a few rounds of the shopping / office complexes nearby and located a toilet large enough to park my bags and take a shower. Got hold of a guy to get it cleaned, once done I sent him off to get the State Transport Bus Ticket. He is a local to that area and will not have to face harassment from the agents as well. Plus he gets to make a harmless extra buck. In one hours time I was all set with a ticket, bathed, shaved to hit the road. This was summer so a RayBan was mandatory. Once in the bus I parked myself firmly on a central driver side seat next to a window and just tried to merge with the people around. Although no one understood a word that I could speak (Hindi, Bengali and Little Gujarati) still they tried and so did I. Found a lot of fellows that were making the Journey all the way. The present NH7 (Hosur to Krishnagiri) was getting constructed in those days and the ride was bumpy with one diversion after the other. State transport buses stop generously and for longer duration and getting a Tea every now and then with Wada Sambar was great. Starting at 8 AM, the bus took a staggering 12 hours to reach Pondicherry. The route map is on the attached image.

The road from Bangalore to Krishnagiri

Round Two

This was a year after that. And this time I took the most non-interactive option of Road Travel from Bangalore. I got into a Volvo from Sharma Travels and I travelled cocooned in Air Conditioned Luxury till Pondicherry without even realizing when or where the Bus made a stop. This was a very boring ride from a Road Trip point of view. From comfort point of view it was great. Given the circumstances, don’t remember much apart from getting into the bus and getting off the bus early next morning. But who wants to travel this way!

The main difference from Round One was, people knew how to communicate with me, but somehow no one (including me) made any effort.

From Bangalore, the tricky turn off to Pondicherry on NH66 is after Krishnagiri

While coming back, there is a confusing left at Tandivanam. Best is to ask for Tandivanam and be prepared.

Round Three (Holi, 2008)

What I did not mention in the first two rounds is that in the first one I was going to meet my Girlfriend, in the second I was going to meet her parents. In the third one, we were married and were going to the Bank on a Saturday. On reaching the bank we realized that it was a holiday and well, it was shut. I work from home and have little or no clue about public holidays, most of my clients work from home as well.

While coming back, there is a confusing left at Tandivanam. Best is to ask for Tandivanam and be prepared. So here we were, a perfect saturday morning, around 10 AM and the only thing we had planned for was not possible. Got back home and decided to head for Pondicherry. Grabbed the Map Book, and the Copy of 52 Weekend Getaways and headed off after filling the tank. Bang, and 11 30 AM we were crossing Silk Board Junction and were on a crowded Hosur Road. Once you cross Attibeli on this road, things ease out a lot, and speeds become a lot faster. There are two reasons for this, One: it was a holiday and there were very few vehicles on the road. Two: The going is mostly downhill and the car just glides on. Before we knew it, we were at the Toll Gate and asking for directions. The chap at the collection booth was very helpful, somehow they all are, he clearly said go over the first Flyover and under the second. Turn left and immediately take the First Right. Did exactly that and was on the Krishnagiri Chennai road. Although the road looked very inviting, we had to take a right almost immediately onto NH66.

A tanker in front of us. I somehow have a talent to stop right behind them at toll gates.

Leaving the toll gate behind

NH66

NH66 is not one of those swanky Golden Quadrilateral roads. Its just a simple basic National Highway. It does not have a lane divider, does not have the white markings at most places, and has very little population around it as well. What it is though is a gem of the track to drive on. The road was perfect for an unladen heavy hatch doing 3 digit speeds. Also for the fact that there was hardly any traffic from either direction on the road. At around 2 PM, Tiruvannamali came up, we stopped at the first available road side shop and sampled Fish Curry and Rice. All charged and slightly heavy, we headed on and reached Pondicherry at around 4 30 PM.

On NH66. Gives an idea of the road.

Pondicherry

After battling the minor city traffic we headed off to Sri Aurobindo Ashram, parked the vehicle nearby and continued on foot. Thats the best way to roam about within Pondicherry. If you have to go a little outside, you can always hire a Kinetic or a Scooty of take your own vehicle. After a darshan at the Ashram, we headed to the beach, had some Gol Guppas, some Chat, and did all the Beach Things that we don’t get to do in Bangalore. At 7 30 we called it a day and started heading back.

Looking for a parking spot in Pondicherry

Pondicherry has a lot of Good (bordering on very good) places to stay near the Beach road. These are mostly 3 – 4 Floors of small hotels with ample amount of amenities to let you live and enjoy the city. Not very expensive either. You can also opt for staying at the Ashram Guest house, but that would surely need advance booking and known contacts within the Ashram.

Heading Back

We had our doubts weather we will find our way back in the dark or not. Weather we will be tired to drive back and may have to stay over and head off only the next day. We had many questions. Decided that after a few Kilometers we will have the answer anyway. heading back we were not alone. There was a Hyundai Accent before us who clearly was local (number plate) and I decided to follow him happily shielded from the task of navigating hard. There was a problem though, the fellow in the Accent would brake at almost any light that he saw on the horizon and so did we. After about 50 times of such false alarm, I decided to get ahead and make my own track. Overtaking the Accent was a breeze, just went behind him (not too close as he could brake again) and blinked. As expected, he did not move out of the way but braked, I took this opportunity to pass him from the Right and say goodbye. The next 70 Km was calm. It was us, the Music from the iPod playing though an irritating FM transmitter, still it was good. And there was moonlight, from a Full Moon. The drive was getting better but we were loosing time trying to travel on unknown roads. Though we were faster than when sitting behind the Accent, we were not as fast as we had hoped to be.

A blink on the rear view gave me the shudders. Have I been traveling so slow that the Accent actually caught up with us?

Nope, this was a Maroon Innova with a Yellow Number Plate. Yesss!!! This was our answer to make up on lost time. I let the Innova pass and quietly tucked in behind him. He was fast and doing healthy 100 + speeds on roads that were obviously well known to him. We dod not follow too close, but maintained enough distance to just have his tail lamps visible to us. A lot of fast Mile Crunching went on and we were back in Tiruvannamali, this time for Dinner.
After having a basic dinner and tea, we were back on the road. The Innova was no where to be found, but we kept up the momentum never the less. The sparsely populated roads were now deserted and absolutely dark. Nature paid us a visit soon after. To my horror the car was filled with Large Ants near the driver area and we had to get them cleaned out. We stopped and soon were questioned by Police Patrol. They asked us not to stop on the deserted section and only stop after reaching Krishnagiri, which was a few Kilometers away. We cleaned up good at Krishnagiri and topped up Tea and Coffee, and headed straight out.

Barring minimal truck traffic, the road was empty till about Attibeli where a lot of Large Trucks carrying windmill components were blocking most of the road. This delayed us a bit but not much. At around 1245 we were at our doorstep.

• Cost
• Wattage / PMPO
• Playing multiple media types
• Phone integration
• What fits in the car? Single or Dual DIN?

To name a few.

A dual DIN head-unit from Kenwood

A single DIN head-unit (Kenwood iPod Series)

Cost

This is of prime importance and one should limit the cost of the product else one can land up with a vehicle which has a more expensive than itself stereo system. Think about it this way, if you just want a good stereo, get it for your home. A reasonably good car stereo is much more expensive than a very good home audio product. If you have the cash, get a larger car, probably a great stereo will come with it. In case it did not, we move to the next point..

Wattage / PMPO

Wattage of a stereo amplifier is the measure of energy it is generating in the form of sound / music / audio / noise. PMPO is a measure of nothing and is used by marketing gurus to empty pockets of the unsuspecting consumer. Picture this, a 10,000 W PMPO Amplifier in your car. Question the fact that where is all that power coming from, since its way past a commercial establishment’s requirement. The PMPO is a tentative measure of how loud the stereo amplifier can get. (Will leave out Monaural / Mono audio as we have gone past that barrier about 80 years back, successfully.)

Advice is: Do not go by any PMPO value advertised.

Ask for the RMS value for the same. That’s pretty much the actual measure of how much audio will be produced. For a car, 50W to 100W total is good enough.

Playing multiple media types

So what would you finally play on this gadget you purchase. Any of the following:

• CDs
• Audio Tapes
• MP3 Files from Data storage
• MP3 Files from CDs / DVDs
• DVDs (Video and Games)
• VCDs (Chinese version of a video disc)
• Connect your MP3 player like iPod etc.
• Connect your phone with Audio in it
• Navigation System

Chances are, you will want all of it. Once you get all of it, here’s what you will finally use. The FM Radio, the MP3 Player / Data connection and the occasional CD. Lets face it, it’s outright dangerous to watch a video while driving, so the DVD will be used when you are in the car and have got nothing else to do. Chances are unlikely unless you moonlight as a Chauffeur. The same goes for VCDs no matter how cheap they are, you still need your eyes (off the road) to watch them. As far as audio tapes are concerned, well they are in the past. Some old tapes you may have, which I would suggest you listen and cherish them carefully on a proper Tape Deck at home. Anything new is all MP3 and CD.

A dual DIN DVD player with an in-dash screen from JVC (http://mobile.jvc.com/)

Phone Integration

Phone connection may be an advantage for people who drive a lot and get calls a lot. Still, a standard hands free set fitting into the ear is much less cumbersome than a stereo that has to be paired every now and then. Also, imagine you are travelling with 4 other’s in the car and the phone rings.. what do you do? Not to mention if its your secret ‘other girlfriend’ you are in great danger of a collision of a different kind. Avoid.

Navigation System

Navigation Systems only make sense if the supplier of the Map and directions is reliable. In most cases, the Nav System gives you the shortest possible route, and not the best possible route. An important component nevertheless. One should probably note that a Standalone Navigation System comes a lot cheaper than an Integrated with Stereo one. Plus, you can shift them from one vehicle to the other if need be.

A Delphi NAV 300 installed in a car

This pretty much narrows down the sensible scope of add ons to a CD player which reads MP3 and has some kind of input to play external MP3 players. Which brings us to a different kind of a problem, do we select an Auxiliary Input or a Direct USB Input? The auxiliary input will definitely be cheaper and will have almost no quality difference it terms of playback as compared to a direct USB interface. Here’s what will have a difference, the ease of use. In case of an Auxiliary Input, every-time you want to change a track / song, you will have to hunt down the every diminishing sized MP3 player and then change the song. With any luck you would not have collided with the next jay walker on the road. In case of a direct USB interface, it ’s the same button on the CD player which is at a pre-determined fixed place. Operation is smooth, without danger, and over time you will not have to grope the dash either thanks to our “Muscle Memory” (The same biology stuff that helps us remember the difference between 2nd and 4th gear.

What do we have till now!

We have a headunit (the stuff that sits in the dash) which plays a CD, tunes to FM, connects a MP3 player through USB, and probably displays the number of the person calling you on the phone. But this is just 25% of the drama. The rest begins after this.

Sound Quality and Wattage

We have finalized on that we are doing with the stuff on the dashboard. Now it’s time to see what can be done with the stuff you do not see. Before we get into the whole issue of how much wattage and how much quality, we need to look at one important factor, that is how many speakers can be fitted in the car. Most headunits will come with the provision to plug in 4 speakers, but most cars wont. So search for all the provisions to fit speakers in your car, chances are there will be at least 2. Start with them, find out what size of speakers an be fitted into them.

• Small Cars: 4″ (2 speakers)
• Little larger hatch backs 4″ or larger (4 Speakers)
• Larger mid size vehicles 5″x7″, 6″x9″ (4 Speakers)

Now that we have a value, for the above, we can go looking for the wattage that we actually require to power these. By thumb-rule, smaller speakers are best driven at lower wattage. The wattage a speaker can handle at the maximum will be rated and printed on them. Along with that, there will be the impedance value (load the speaker puts on the amplifier, higher the value, greater the load). This should land you with a set of speakers that have X wattage and Y impedance. These have to match exactly to the X and Y of the head-unit, if they do not, the joy is short lived. There is provision for a marginal variation in terms of wattage but variations in terms of impedance is a definite “No No”.

This more or less sums up a decent stereo system for a car. If you manage to get higher wattage in the size available for the speakers, you can get a head-unit that pumps out more power. Higher the RMS, better the sound depth (not quality)

So what will give quality

The answer is simple. Money. Higher end audio products (head-units and speakers) with lesser RMS power output will sound better than lower end average like Sony or Kenwood. It is better to get the speakers and head-units from the same manufacturer as they tend to match and gel together better. Like a marriage between two Chinese people or two Indian people. Mix and match is risky in quite a similar kind of way, do not attempt unless you have a lot of cash to burn. Mix and match can either sound excellent or can be a pure recipe for disaster.

Lets go back a little. What IS sound quality?

No, it’s definitely not how loud the system sounds, its more of ‘how true and natural’ the system sounds. Depending on your taste of music, get a file of Tabla, Dhol, Drums, etc. A Safri Duo track will be an ideal choice. Lots of drums and beats. Once you have this track, play it. It should sound like the drums are tight and not like a ‘bucket being bashed up’. (For this you may need a reference point of actually hearing a drum, but human ears do not lie) A tell-tale sign of a base heavy system is that the reverberations remain even after the beat (much like a speaker in an Autorickshaw), avoid this at all cost.

Get something that does not retain a humming effect. This gets irritating when the stereo is on for longer durations.

Next is, how good the human voice sounds. The best tracks for this is anything by Lata Mangeshkar or Whitney Houston. Both are masters of their craft, different genres but similar octaves. If they sound good, chances are the rest would too. Most music systems get very shrill while trying to reproduce these two artists, the objective is to have them sound like artists and not a ‘machine’. Most music systems also crackle a lot when female vocals are played loud.

But how do we test this. Well, chances are the dealer will have some sort of a demo in place to test drive the Head-unit and speakers that you want to go for. If you have OEM speakers (Factory fitted in the door, boot, window, parcel tray), then just test the head-unit with multiple speakers. If the head is fine, the rest will sound good as well.

Now that we are set with the Sound Quality part, we get to LOUDNESS

Its a matter of choice, how Loud is Loud Enough. What is Loud for me may or may not be loud for you. We go back to our Basic RMS jargon and up the values. The higher the values, the louder the system gets. It is a good idea to first fix speakers with the largest (or desirable) RMS values. Remember that larger speaker have larger RMS values but there may not be the place available to put them in your car. Do not go for drilling, cutting etc of door panels. It’s a fools errand, things will start rattling before you know it and Money for Nothing, will play more of the window than of Dire Straits. Most music systems available in the market start at about 50 RMS and end at about 80 RMS (total). If you want to go on beyond this, you need to plug in a power amplifier.

Power Amplifier

These are god send devices for audiofiles, those who want more depth in audio in their cars. A typical Power Amplifier takes the audio signal from your head-unit in it’s native form and amplifies it further. Power amplifiers can take the output value to about 100 Watts of RMS per channel. Since there’s not much place available in the dashboard, these have to be fitted in the boot, under the seat etc. and the cables have to run under your floor carpet or ducting.

Note that the power amplifier can get very very hot with prolonged uninterrupted use and fixing them anywhere near the fuel tank is not a good idea. The units also carry a lot of high voltage and a short circuit within can spell disaster.

The ideal place will be to put them under the driver’s seat, or the co-passenger’s seat. Mostly they are available in black and stay out of the view. Installation will require an expert hand as drilling and bolting may be involved.

Subwoofer. What is this?

A step up in the Power Amplifier area are the Subwoofers. There are three kinds that are available.

1. A type that needs a separate power amplifier and is placed in a hole on the parcel tray.
2. There are those that do not demand cutting and have a large baffle (box) of their own, but still needs a separate amplifier.
3. The third type, that has the amplifier, baffle (box) and speaker in a single unit.

The third type is the most preferable. The first type involves unnecessary cutting of original equipment and fitment. After market fittings are never rattle free. The second type is Ok, but it still needs an amplifier to bother with. The third type is the most hassle free and kind of plug and play. In most cases, the 2nd and 3rd types are mostly places in the boot (eating your precious luggage space). Thinner are slimmer varieties are available, which can be fitted under the seats to retain valuable boot space.

But it’s the second variety that sounds the best out of all of them. In this case, the box (baffle + enclosure) plays a major role. A base reflex type will save you further on space. Most brands like Kenwood or Blaupunkt have reasonable good subwoofers, but these are no match for a Velodyne. (Class A home theater grade Subwoofer).

A non enclosed subwoofer from Pioneer

Given the size of your pocket, and willingness to spend, you will land up with something that's schematically like this.

High pass and Low pass

Most amplifiers and head-units will have High Pass (let high frequency or ‘mid and treble’ pass to door speakers) and Low Pass (let low frequency or ‘bass’ pass to Subwoofer). If the one you selected does not have that, change your selection and get one which have. In case you are putting extra amplifiers, disregard the High – Low pass on the head-unit and set the same on the amplifiers instead. By Bridging an amplifier, you can direct all power to one speaker and use one amplifier for each door. This is a very rare thing to do in a car, and you will definitely run out space to put 5 large amplifiers. Not to mention the amount of current they will consume from your battery. Amplifiers used for the Subwoofer are mostly bridged to give it more power.

All these fitted in and you are almost done.

Set the head-unit equalizer values to suit your ear and car (keep them at 0 – 0 till this point of installation), if the Subwoofer and Amplifier sets you bought have high pass and low pass settings, set those as well. Get your favorite CD / MP3 and gun the system. Not too loud, just about 25% of its available power. Most amplifiers will only sound good till about 50% mark of their peak, after this they run out of steam. (Unless you are using a really high end one)

The next important thing is to find a good long road. But that’s another story.

There are two types of roads in india. The roads that are currently under repair. The roads that desperately need repair.
- Times of India

Yes, this is a Karnataka Road. And a pleasure to be on.

No, that's not a garden, that's the NH4 after Neelamangala and before Tumkur. Again, no less than a garden.

The situation is offcourse not that bad. Over time the roads have improved and here’s a quicklist of few out of Bangalore.

• Bangalore – Hosur – Krishnagiri (After Attebele Junction) NH7
• Bangalore – Mysore Road SH17
• Bangalore – Tumkur Toll Road (after Neelamangala) NH4
• Bangalore – Neelamangala – Hassan Road (few Kms out of Neelamangala) NH48
• Kanakpura Road (in parts) NH209
• Mangalore – Kushalnagar SH88
• Krishnagiri – Vellore – Chennai NH46 – NH4

Well, at least there are some good roads here, there sure is more in AP.

I am parked next to a busy road.

There is an absolutely walkable patch after the road ends. Which can be called a footpath. Although, years of ‘no one walking’ has left some overgrown shrubs and bushes on it.

And then there is this long row of cars parked right next to the footpath.

After that is a 3 lane wide road (thats minus the parking) where vehicles normally cruise at break-neck speeds as thats one of the few breathers you get on this road to overtake the slow-going tractors, autos etc.

Bangalore Traffic.. much like this actually

We are again deviating, sorry for that.. the Note is about the people who walk this side of the road. It has been my observation (I have been observing for past 7 months) that most people prefer to walk between the parked vehicles and right into the traffic.

The logic is unknown. Is the safety of a perfectly safe footpath undesirable? (which is shielded from the traffic by the parked cars). Or is it more like “Need that Buzz” and prove a point by walking right into an oncoming 3 ton truck at 60 Kmph.

On further observation one may note that the educated (so called) lot prefer the traffic side while the under educated prefer the footpath. Groups of laborers walking actually take the footpath while the IT crowd masquerading with their Collar IDs like the close brush with death.

I have pointed to a few fellows of the alternative available. Was not really taken that well.

Bottomline, I guess if you desire to be a roadkill, no amount of good sense can prevent that.

PS. The IT crowd part is just an observation, I am not necessarily generalizing on a whole bunch of IT people here. Not to mention, I do fall in a similar category.

Onward (4th Sept, 2008)

Now, there are many who have written on this route on Team -Bhp and other blogs and claim that they finished the whole thing in 8+ hours, one way that is. Which is entirely possible if you take very minimal breaks and drive almost continuously. Else, a leisurely drive will cost you about 11 hours and will be a lot less stressful. Plus you can stop at all the small towns on the way and sample Indis, Vada Sambar, Coffee, Tea and the occasional Mutton Curry, Fish Pulusu and Rice. We took the second option. Travelers were two bachelors, one of them driving, the other putting the camera to use, and the DJ. A stereo equipped with an iPod is mandatory on such long rides as they can get very very boring otherwise.

NH7 and the route till Hyderabad from Bangalore. (Image Screenshot: Courtesy Google Maps)

I started out pre dawn at about 3 AM, by 4 I was picking up my friend near Mekri Circle, and by 5 we were through with Bangalore and well away from Devanahalli Airport. There was rain, the road had frequent diversions, and the onslaught of Volvos coming from the other side didn’t leave much for us to see of the road. Now both of us were practically watching the road, driver on the right and passenger on the left. A little after sunrise, things got a lot better, speeds were up from the 60 we were managing till about 110 kmph. Going was good and the first Tea Stop came about real fast.

Tea stop a little after sunrise on NH7

The state of the road is quite pathetic wherever work has not been completed. It is possible to drive a couple of kilometers only to realize that you are supposed to travel on the wrong side. lack of oncoming traffic makes it difficult to judge where one has to take a dievrsion.

Roads were moderately good, they had finished at least one side of the surface but we were still prone to on-coming traffic. The good thing is, traffic is minimal on this road during daytime. Anantpur came up fast in about 3 hours, about 10 AM. Tea, little food and restart. We were also on a tight meeting deadline, so avoided any unnecessary photographic stops.

A pink temple about 140 Kms from Bangalore

A little ghat section comes up after Anantpur and before Gooty, where managing high speeds are possible. A Logan, probably a regular on the road was cruising and we tucked behind. But unknown roads and the suddenly popping ‘XL Potholes’ told us to back off. It’s not worth the risk, after all we had to come back with the same car. Gooty came up in the next 1.5 hours. There are plenty of places to eat here, specially at the NH63 and NH7 junction. Mutton, Rice and Fish is a possibility. Look for a Dhaba on your left right after crossing the junction, the food  is good, the name of the Dhaba was not there. The place looks like a ‘Xerox Shop’ from outside, but opens up nicely once you are in. Very easy to miss, and misinterpret the place.

Rest of the route was pure mile crunching,  Kurnool came up fast. Navigating out of Kurnool took a while, we were on some wrong road.

Mehboobnagar comes up soon after, the roads are nothing to write home about, but good. The NH7 work being complete in most sections makes it a lot easier. There are parts where you drive on the old NH7 and things can get a little scary there. We saw some large size potholes that were good enough to hide an Alto / 800 comfortably. It was already about 1 PM at this time. By the time we crossed Shamshabad Airport turn off, it was 1.30. No regrets, it was still a good drive, and neither of us were tired. Thanks to ample amount of signage, navigating through Hyderabad was a breeze. Plus the fact that I stayed there for about 6 years helped.

Reached target in Somajiguda at 3 PM. Got ready and drove off for the meetings.

Rest is simple, meet people, eat Biriyani, have Haleem, it was pre Eid. Crash out and get up by 4 AM. Yep 4, coz we wanted to avoid the Volvos shining their glossy bulbs at us.

The ride back (5th Sept, 2008)

This went like how we expected, except that we got a little delayed at start and got out only by 5 AM. Filled gas, topped up. Headed out of the city, again was not a major issue as roads and signage (although in a state of construction) were well directed. First stop was right after the turn off for Shamshabad Airport. Tea, Idli, well only tea happened. Idli was not yet out of the oven. Continued out, and faced some extreme truck traffic till  Mehboobnagar. No worries, there was enough music on the pod and enough places to stop by for the idli and vada sambar, we did exactly that. By the time were out of Mehboobnagar, it was almost 8 AM. That was some slow going.

The next few hundred kilometers went fast, this time we knew the roads and were extremely confident.

Except for stops to attend to nature’s call at a Dhaba, stop to shoot the scenery and the ‘devoid of any human’ road. (see attached panorama)

Panorama of NH7 under construction. The car is parked on the un-constructed side of the road. When this is done, it will be a pleasure to drive till Hyderabad from Bangalore

Gooty was our stop for lunch which came up at about 12, Mutton, Fish, Rice etc followed. It did take us a while to locate a good place to eat. Food was good and highly recommended at any Dhaba near this crossing.

After lunch the going got a little tiring. The front driver side window switch malfunctioned (Ford Fusion) when we re going towards Hyderabad. While coming back it completely gave up. As a result we were stuck with the AC on all the time. Not that it would effect the already Frugal mileage, but it was kind of irritating to not have the option. 2 hours later and after many tried to make the window work, we passed Anantpur. We desperately tried locating coffee / tea places but were completely un-successful in doing so. Thankfully the semi completed roads after Anantpur were a breeze to drive. With nothing in the car except for the 2 people, we were able to hit 160+ speeds between each diversion (about 2 – 3 Km gaps). This was fun for the driver (me) and not so much for the passenger, who was by this time in the middle of full-on business emailing with his mobile phone (and taking photos at the same time).

The road is a gem where it is almost complete. White marking were still not in place (Sept, 08) but once they are, it will be like road-heaven.

There was one problem while coming back, we did not compensate for the AC and absolutely forgot to fill the tank somewhere in the middle. As a result, while approaching Bangalore, the reserve lights came up. Now that’s nothing unusual as the car still holds about 10 liters. Which should translate to about 160 – 180 Km on the highway. But my mad runs between diversion to diversion testing the 0 – 100 in 11 seconds (Go Fida!) part saw to it that it lasted just about 110 Km, which was Hebbal Flyover. It kind of felt like the AXN Ad a while back which said “Need that buzz!”.

Filled up on Bellari road after Hebbal Flyover, at about 4 PM and headed home after dropping my friend off at Mekri Circle. The rest of Bangalore took a drastic 3 hours and I was home by 7 PM.

Verdict: Lets do this again.

(Photos: Srikanth Vellore, Shubhodeep Das)

Started off, a little late for a long drive, and a little too early for lunch. Took the outer ring road from Banerghata road and continued straight till Mysore road (SH17). Uneventful till here. The next idea was to get out a little bit and locate a place to eat. There was one pre-condition, it should be a new place and not some place we have already dined at. Sounds simple enough. The SH17 is a paradise for road lovers. Very little traffic being the yearend, we were nearing Maddur in almost little or no time. The Cafe Coffee Day near Maddur has been my favorite pit stop for a long time now. For a few reasons:

• It has a well allocated large parking space.
• It has other adjoining places to eat regular desi stuff.
• It has a petrol pump nearby.

On the ‘cons’ side, it’s on the wrong side of the highway so you will have to follow the directions, pass Cafe Coffee Day, take a U-Turn avoiding vehicles coming at you at ludicrous speeds, and then get to the coffee.

Map of the roads taken.

We did the coffee bit, it’s become like a OCD to stop there. We did not eat at the adjoining places like Kamath (a few kilometers down), or the one right to it, MTR. We have eaten there a million times.

So we went on, take a U-turn and back towards Mysore.

As we were reaching Maddur town, something terrible came up. There was some political disturbance in Mandya and it was a Bandh. Which meant we could either turn back or take the road from Maddur to Malavalli (on Kanakpura Road, NH209) or head back. Took the first option and went on. Reached Malavalli after battling the traffic which was diverted from the wide Mysore road to this narrow by road. From Malavalli turned towards Mysore and went on till we touched Mysore ring road. Now that this is not a major highway, there were obviously very little places to eat here. Except for one, but we had stopped there once and did not want a repeat. Mysore came up fast, ring road was empty in the afternoon, we started back towards SH17 just in case if we do not find a place, we will head back to Kamath.

Take the KRS road from SH17 onto SH88 and avoid getting into Mysore

Cities in Karnataka have the best of signage, at least Bangalore and Mysore do have. A nice large green board came up which said Madikeri straight, turn right for Bangalore. This was crunchtime, had been to Madikeri earlier but did not drive till there. We had taken a bypass right after Srirangapatna on KRS road connecting SH88 (Mysuru to Madikeri and beyond). Did the right thing, did not want to waste anymore time on a wasted day, when the light turned green, went straight ahead towards SH88. Soon we came at a junction west of Mysore with SH88 pointing right, took that and found a reasonable Dhaba about 10 Kms into the ride.

Ate.

Rain washed roads near Kushalnagar on the 2nd trip

Went on, passed Hunsur, passed Kushalnagar, and we were in Madikeri by about 5 PM with the sun fading out on the december sky. Now its a day away from New Years eve and almost all the places in a place like Madikeri are booked. Had a large tea, ate some more, and found a small little ‘Home Stay’ to spend the night. Parked the car and went about on foot checking out the place. We actually got to see 90% of the places while we were hunting for the Home Stay. Ate, slept, paid the chap as I intended to leave as soon as possible in the morning, what with all the pending work in Bangalore. Got up at 4 AM, now all the places to sea were empty, plus the weather was a lot better off than a polluted evening. Started out of the city by about 630 AM. Faced a little fog, a little of Kushalnagar and the tricky ‘One Way’ in the middle of the town. It was morning and I could reverse out in next to zero traffic. (why is later?)

Way out early in the morning with the sun rising

Morning Fog after Madikeri

Honsur came up very soon. We stopped for chai and I asked in my broken best Kannada, “Tea, Place to See, Good”, the guy smiled, then laughed, then said (in Kannada) “Don’t miss Nagerhole, Irpu”. Out came “52 weekend getaways” book from the glove box and we were charting new roads. Turned into Hunsur town, filled up gas and went right through Nagerhole National Park (Also called Rajiv Gandhi National Park). This is truly a beautiful road. A narrow snake, not so well finished, and almost never travelled, snaking tile a python / anaconda though thick forest. Its also a staggering 30 – 40 Kms through the forest. Occasionally one can spot a deer, small bear, and various other wildlife that I may need a picture dictionary to recognize. In one word lovely.

Nagerhole National Park, somewhere in there is this forest officer's office.

Crossed the National Park, they checked the bumpers at the gate, to verify weather we played a ‘Salman Khan’ on a Black Buck.

In one word, pure hell was unleashed soon after. The road became narrow, we could touch boundary walls on both sides of the road with our hands stretched out of the vehicle. It became a little worse. Then we got some good food. Then it became it’s worst possible and we reached Irpu falls. Walked up the falls, saw it, great view. Also, to all those people who take their clothes off and wear an underwear and jump into any waterfall they find, “Guys, you are neither Mandakini, nor is it cool to wear an underwear in public, unless you are Superman or David Hasslehoff (from Baywatch). Also, you need a physique to do that, not a potbelly which hides the only piece of clothing you are wearing.”

Falls was good, situation around was pathetic.

People bathing at Irpu Falls

We headed back. Did not take the Nagerhole Route Back as vehicles are not allowed to ply through the forest after 6 PM. Took the road via Ponnampet. Potholes were larger, so large that bandits can hide in them and rob you. We were tailing an Optra at this point which was increasingly getting slower, and slower and slower. I don’t blame them, I could see the car bottom at every pothole that they crossed, ouch!!. At this time we decided to pass him, honked, blinked, while passing he stopped us and asked if there was another option other than this road. Gave him the bad news and my sympathies. Once you pass Ponnampet, the road improves and becomes a part of the SH88B. What a relief, followed the rest to the route back till SH17 and back to Bangalore.

Part Deux

Abbey Falls

Exactly a year later, took the same roads and landed up at a home stay (pre planned) right after Suntikoppa, near Madikeri. Vindhya’s. They have great food, and enough place for 6 people. We were 4 plus 1 toddler and 1 infant. Worked fine. The idea was to stay, see the elephants at Dubare, eat Momos near Bylakuppe and head back the next day after seeing Abbey Falls.

Some Map (approximate) of the detour taken. Good detour. Ask for directions to Suntikoppa once officially on SH27

The story of wrong turns starts right after we had visited Abbey Falls. We were to take a left on reaching SH88, but we managed to take it a little early on SH27. See in Google. But this was a mistake I would like everyone to make, as SH27 is a much more beautiful and winding road than the SH88 can ever be. Only problem was, we were fast running out of Gas. Both the cars (WagonR and Fusion) were nearing fuel zero, a stop soon made it clear that we were on a long wrong way around to Suntikoppa where the next pump is. Fuel crisis aside, this is one of the best roads to take to get to Abbey Falls instead of the truck infested SH88. Suntikoppa came up after 50 + kilometers, and insane amount of good winding roads. Filled up the cars and headed to Bangalore.

Places to stay near Madikeri

Forest Flower. Nani Estate, Horoor Post, Sunticoppa Telephone No: 08272- 239332

Honey Pot Homes. Email: enquiries[AT]honeypothomes[DOT]com, Website

Jade Hills. Kaloor Road, Galibeedu Village, Madikeri – 571201. landline: 08272-651268

Vindhyas. Kedakal, Sunticoppa, Kodagu District, Telephone No. : 08272-239145

1. If its a single cow (I mean number and not marital status), try and slow down, honk, thins usually stuns the cow and it will stop moving. Once this is achieved, navigate from the front of the cow keeping safe distance. Cows in south India have sharp horns than can dent your automobile.
2. If its a bull, avoid at any cost. They do not move, they may charge at you if you honk. A bull easily weighs close to a ton, and taking them on is not a wise idea.
3. If its multiple cows, come to a dead stop. Honk once, this will stun all the cows and they stop moving. Hence, don’t honk, just put the vehicle in neutral, and rev the engine. The growl of the engine usually gets them moving out of your path. If you have a noisy diesel, even better.
4. There is a Donkey in your path, static. Chances are, it will remain that way and won’t budge with any of the above techniques. The best is to slow down, and navigate around it.
5. If you are traveling though a wild life reserve, and you have a Deer in front of you. Stop, wait for the animal to pass. Under no circumstances, hit it, if you have enough bad luck, it could be a Black Buck.
6. Chicken, no issues, chances are they will move out of the way.
7. Goat, this is a tricky animal to pass as it has a habit of making sudden movements. The goat can actually jump forward and backward, hence, apply caution while passing a goat from any direction.
8. Do avoid dogs at any cost on a lonely stretch of the highway. Dogs will avoid your vehicle and given a chance they will chase the car.
9. Elephants, avoid from a distance. Specially if you are in a small black hatchback.
10. Cats, very unlikely you will see them on the road. They are fast animals, and chances are, they will manage to cross the road weather you see them or not.

Just thoughts.

The usual sight of cattle occupying the available road

How do you decide on which vehicle to give pass and which one to not?

Largely depends on how many hours we have been driving. We do give pass to vehicles that honk less and use their lights more. It’s kind of irritating to have smaller vehicles with no patience for a truck.

Tail Board graphics

How many Kilometers do you cover in a day?

Depends on road conditions. A truck usually averages around 25 Kmph during the day, that makes it about 200 – 300 Kms in a day with stops and breaks.

Where do you eat?

We eat mostly at Dhaba’s, but sometimes that can be expensive as one can get stuck at an Octroi Gate for a day or more. We carry a stove and basic ingredients to cook anywhere possible actually.

I did see some of the truckers utilizing the time they are stuck in traffic on the highway to cook, eat, take a bath.

What do you have to say about private vehicles and smaller cars on the highways?

They are irritating. They have much powerful lights and they tend to drive on high beams always. (we did check out the lamp brightness of our car against the 4 lamps on the truck, the car was anyday brighter, even with stock 55/60 W lamps) What the small cars do not understand is that its very difficult to maneuver a truck. It takes a considerable amount of effort to change lanes. With bright lights shining in the face, it gets near difficult.

Take on overtaking from the left?

Ask a truck to give pass. Blink a couple of times, then honk. If the truck CAN change lanes, probably it will and let you pass from the right. If it cannot then it will give the indicators on its left, and you are free to pass from the left. Sometimes they may not have working indicators, in this case the truck wont stray from the inside lane and you can pass from the left. But do try, blink and honk. A truck driver has near to zero visibility of things coming from its left.

Also

Do not follow a truck to closely. The vehicles are not made to class and sometimes they may stop without even a brake light glowing. Even if we gear down, the reduction in speed is quite a bit for a car to manage. Maintain a safe distance, if a car hits the rear differential, its the differential that will win.

If you see a tilting load, try and tell the driver about it, as the driver might not know that his cargo is tilting and becoming off balance.

The Indian truck is a unibody of sorts. The cabin is physically connected to the loading bay to give the driver the idea of what’s happening behind. If its a cargo that is shifting around, the driver is able to judge it by the movements of his cabin. Newer trucks, which have separate cabin do not allow this and often the driver is oblivious to a shifting cargo.

The plan was simple. Get from Kolkata to Kharagpur (spend somehow less time at Kolaghat), hit the GQ to Balasore, continue till Puri and do a night hault. As we know, plans are plans and reality is something totally different.

3 AM Start

Wanted to have a similar pre dawn start, but saying bye bye to everyone and packing the extra luggage that we accumulated in Raurkela and Kolkata took a while. We got out of the house at 4AM. An hour late and yet not too shabby. 5.10 AM we reached Kolaghat, this time I was hell bent upon avoiding and smarting the traffic there. Turns out the approach to Kolaghat Bridge from Kolkata side has very little shoulder space, and we were stuck. The time it took for us to reach the next gap in the median was a staggering 4 hours. The moment I got that, was on the opposite lane like a regular cabbie and crossed the next 4 Kms in a giffy. Yes, we were stuck behind 4 Kms and 3 Lanes of Truck traffic.

Looks like I am praying for the Jam to clear. (actually killing a mosquito)

The Kolaghat Bridge - Or the lack of it

Crossed Kolaghat.

The roads were a bliss till we were about to cross into Orissa. A local boy had assaulted a local girl and the local population had blocked the roads and blaming the truckers and cars. huh!!. To me it seemed like a publicity stunt being pulled off by the local youth to get on TV. No sooner the TV channels left after the reporting, the blockade was off and we were on as well.

Orissa

We were stopped at the Orissa border and a man came and demanded for the DL. The illiterate government employee had a look at the Karnataka License and said, “Don’t give the Credit Card, give DL”.. At this I said “It is the DL, if you please, read.”

It seemed every vehicle passing through Orissa had to pay a 6 month temporary road tax. They said they were collecting it because other states like AP, TN and Jharkhand were doing that too. I quietly paid the 800 Bucks and moved on. I hope governments in these states become more organized about such things instead of treating everyone line “Criminals”.

Stop at Cuttack

After the two hold ups we decided we would rather spend the evening and night in Cuttack than venture into Puri.

Places to stay in Cuttack

http://wikitravel.org/en/Cuttack

We got off to a great start in the morning and headed straight to Puri. The next 20 Kms from Cuttack to Bhubaneswar was shrouded in heavy fog. Thanks to great roads, good fog lamps, we did nit have to step down from 80 – 90 Kmph.

The fog thanks to Mahanadi. Was enjoyable drive though.

Puri came up early even after 3 long good stops to enjoy the Green Orissa Countryside.

Green green Orissa

Puri beach

After spending quite a few hours in Puri we headed to Konarak. The road from Puri to Konarak is easily one of the best I have been on. Its a simple highway with perfect banking, perfect surface and it has the sea on one side.

Puri - Konarak highway. Without dispute the best place I have ever parked the car in

Konarak - Puri road. And the sea right next to it.

We left Konarak at about 6 PM and took the state highway till Khurda to get onto the GQ. Chilka was our next stop. The 5 hours that we lost at Kolaghat and 1 more at the blockade bundled our plans to get till Vizag. We stopped at the ‘now usual’ Pantha Nivas and prepared for Vijaywada the next day.

Vizag

No one asked for road tax when we entered AP. Just that I think AP should really ask for taxes as they have the best roads. Vizag came up fast. Lack of signage in the city costed us enormous amount of time. We were disappointed by the quality of service available at beach side food joints as they had easy access to hungry tourists who would almost always eat anything.

Target. Vishakhapattanam. Incidentally, this was the road where we had the puncture while going to Chilka 2 weeks back

Roamed around a little, got out of there soon after and headed to Vijaywada. But we did lose 4 precious hours trying to find things in Vizag. At this point we were seriously considering Rajahmudri as a night halt instead of Vijaywada. On reaching Rajahmundri we decided otherwise, the city seemed shady and avoidable even in the evening and we continued straight till Vijaywada.

Oversized beauties on the road

To Chennai

Roads in AP are the best, (I have not been to Rajasthan lately but heard they are good as well.)

Started at 2PM. Chennai came up easy at about 10PM, navigating out of Chennai was still a pain given the colossal lack of signage. With generous stops after every 100 Kms (literally) we were home in no time. Although, the Krishnagiri – Chennai highway does seem a bit irritating in the night, the overuse of ‘Cat Eyes’ just does not allow you to see anything else on the road, not even the oncoming traffic.

Overall

A great trip. Now that the east coast is done, really looking forward to hitting the west coast.

After a break though.

Photographs: Shubhodeep Das, Aparajita Ghosh

The thing I mentioned about going the extra 120 Km via Sambalpur, well be ditched that idea and decided we can take on these bad roads with the Fusion definitely in broad daylight if we could have managed well in the night while coming. We were absolutely right, even though the roads were extra bad, the car never really complained as such and managed gracefully. I do have photos of this section in the morning.

Size does matter. If you have a steel plant nearby, chances are you will face traffic like this. Navigating around this chap on a bad road with gradient on a foggy morning took all the skills that I had acquired over the last few years.

Barkot

This is the place where one gets to take NH6 which goes all the way from here till Kolkata via Keondjhar and Simlipal National Park. I had heard lots of stories about this road and its status or the lack of it. The fact that this is the main road connecting Mumbai to Kolkata confirms that there will be unusually high truck traffic. Assumption was not wrong, the traffic was high, but very organized and I must say that the truckers do know their road manners. The percentage of private vehicles and cabs in this section was about 0.1, which was good as there were very few surprises.

An industrial sunrise. The panorama, even though high res, cannot really describe it. The bad roads were worth it.

Keondjhar

This bit of Orissa came totally as a surprise to me. I had lived in Kharagpur as a kid and never knew that a few 100 Kms and there was this beautiful ghat and National Park. The road starts winding about 70 Kms into the journey after Barkot and you realize that you are climbing, and that too rapidly on a very busy ghat section. This was the Simplipal National Park and the road quality, as expected, started deteriorating rapidly. Until we came up to sections that were almost un-motorable in a Fusion. I think I should mention here that we did not see any other vehicles other than Sumo, Scorpio, Bolero and Max, one or two locals in Altos do brave the roads, but then again, they are not going the whole distance.

Kid selling Chai at a pit stop

There are roads, then there are bar roads, but this was insane

The scenery was beautiful, the winding roads climbing up and down were scenic. The truckers are really helpful in this section and they do signal you when to pass. Else you are just stuck in second gear behind a gigantic slow moving vehicle. Overtaking opportunities are minimal as NH6 does not have a lane divider or a median, its just got a while marking and rest is up to the skill and the vehicle.

Leaving Orissa

We were hoping for better roads ahead and at this point the road entered Jharkhand.

Our perception of “Bad Road” got redefined once again. People who complain about “Shiradi Ghats”, listen very carefully. This was a complete section of NH6 which had potholes the size of an Alto. This was by far the worst road we were on. Not to mention even the trucks with their gigantic wheel dia had difficulties navigating this. There was a way though. Got on to the muddy shoulder and pressed the pedal, the 15” wheels on the Fusion were meant for this business and we crossed the whole section of about 20 + Kms in less than 2 hours. (achievement, specially as it includes two octroi check posts.)

Bengal

Once in Bengal, we faced our first hurdle right outside Kharagpur. A bridge was being repaired and there was a 2 Km long truck line. I did not wait, since this was a area I have grown up in, I just followed the local ambi and got onto the dirt road running about 100 meters away from the highway. The Zen and WagonR behind us stayed clear, and with god reason too. Soon after I found the ambi stuck, thankfully they moved out of the way and we joined the line of trucks right about at the beginning of the line. At this point I just parked the vehicle and we took a Tea – Cake break.

Greenery greets the eye

The whole thing cleared in 1/2 hours and we were on the GQ roads once again from Kharagpur till Kolkata. We stopped for a quick evening bite, and met up with many injured getting back home from the Coromandal Express crash the earlier evening.

Kolaghat

Now we were 70 Kms away from Kolkata and we reached this “Never Been Repaired” bridge. Its 4 lanes of traffic on each side, its the only entry into Kolkata from South, and this bridge allows only one way traffic for 1 hour. (The new one being constructed right next to it was stuck in litigations) We promptly got stuck in the middle of the mess. Saw some of the locals taking the opposite lane and getting ahead of the trucks, it seems they let cars and smaller vehicles pass easily. But the information was too late as we had to wait till we got onto the next gap in the median. We did not bother, Kid and wife were sleeping in the back, did not want to offroad here and there and wake them up. I took up this opportunity to mingle with the truckers and see what they think of the roads.

The lineup of trucks, 4 Kms long.

From 8 PM till 2 AM we were at this spot.

The traffic was allowed to go at 2 AM and we crossed the next 70 odd kms in 50 minutes and were at home by 3 AM. Approach to Kolkata after the bridge was a breeze. 7 Km after the tollgate on NH6 GQ we got the exit for 2nd Hoogly Bridge Via Kona Expressway. I must say here that Kolkata is way ahead of Bangalore and Chennai in terms of Signage and Road Layout.

Photographs: Shubhodeep Das, Aparajita Ghosh

Car got fitted with tinted windows. Metro Ford did an OK job, but it could have been better.

Actually consulted a vehicle designer on the headlamps and he suggested NOT to upgrade to 100/90 as that would screw up the geometry. The light would be bright but will light up all the wrong places. Also, it will heat up the lamp more and bend the reflector in the long run. Changing to newer bulbs of the OEM variety was a better option as these bulbs loose about 15% brightness every year.

Got a Kenwood KDC MP6539U fitted in the car. Its a single DIN headunit made to handle iPod and data CDs. The audio quality is excellent once set up and fine tuned. Operating the iPod through the in-dash click wheel interface is a bliss. A subwoofer would help boost the audio quality even further.

• Wheel alignment and tyre check was done.
• Car cleaning. Every corner of the car was cleaned to make it feel better. It’s good to start new after a bath.
• All fluids in the vehicle were topped up.
• About 30 pages of Maps were printed with city details to avoid any delays.

Upgraded to Kenwood 'made-for-iPod' head unit so that I dont hear Phantom's pets hissing in the background. The Belkin was good, but it did take away a lot from the music experience.

The route map. Just to put the distances in perspective, here is a route map of the whole trip. The green dots are stops for onward and return trip, the only yellow dot is a specific stop for return trip.

First stop was Vijaywada (850 Km), Second one at Chilka (700 Km) and the third Raurkela (450km). Then Raurkela to Kolkata (530 km). Kolkata to Cuttack (405 km). Cuttack to Puri to Konarak to Chilka (240 km). Chilka to Vijaywada (700km) and Vijaywada to Bangalore (850Km)

The Start

The idea was to start a little early and cover as much ground during the time the kid is sleeping. The plan was to cover all known roads very early in the morning (bordering on Night). We got off to a good start at about 1.40 AM from home hoping to hit the clear roads to Krishnagiri a little before daybreak. The results were even better, in 45 minutes we were out of Bangalore, past electronic city and on a road with 10% traffic. We touched Krishnagiri turn-off under the fly-over to Chennai at around 3.30 AM, the roads after this were beautiful, and occasional toll gates were welcome. Driving in the breaking dawn was great and before we knew it, it was 6.30 AM and we were in Sri Perumbudur, looking for directions to get to NH5 in the least complicated manner.

Road through krishnagiri

In Chennai

After entering Chennai, it became a little frustrating to navigate as most roads do not have any signage to guide you to major roads. This continued till about 7.30 AM, at this point I went up to the only Police Patrol that I found to ask him for directions. They were extremely helpful, they clearly said that there is no legible signage that I can follow to reach NH5 and instead offered us a better solution. They escorted us out of the city so that we do not loose any more time.

Sunrise on the road to Chennai

NH5

Right after we found NH5, we stopped for breakfast. Alu-Puri being the choice of the hour. Food was good. Little Luke has his dose of Cerelac, Lactogen and Boiled Apples. We were off. The roads after Chennai keep improving. The plan was to reach either Vijaywada or Vizag by 4PM with healthy amounts of breaks. The 2.5 hours lost navigating Chennai put Vizag out of contention. Target was Vijaywada by 4PM.

Golden Quadrilateral in AP

This section of NH5 is beautiful for driving. Yet it’s equally boring. The roads are devoid of any bends of scenery which tends to make the drive very very boring. We soldiered on bravely, the temperatures were intolerable and the AC and Sun Shades (fitted 2 days before the trip) came in handy.

Average speeds on these roads were high, nearly hundred, as in the next 8 hours we did cover 700 Km with breaks (big long lots of breaks). When we did hit the road, it was with a vengeance and speeds were above 110 Kmph for most times. Peak speeds touched on this stretch was 140 Kmph (did not want to venture any further up with a kid in the car, and long way to go)

The Roads

The roads from Bangalore till Chennai were in one word – Excellent. The roads after Chennai were even better. The highway was 4 lane all the way with clear markings for Bus Bays, Truck Bays, Distances, Turn Offs etc. The road surface was flat, the Banking calculated to 120 kmph and you can actually take them at a little higher speed as well. For early mornings or late nights, they had Cat Eyes placed at strategic points to aid drivers and driving was a bliss.

The youngling seat

We reached Vijaywada a little before 4 PM and went about looking for a place to stay and eat. I had a few ideas from before, thanks to my Movie Industry friends from Andhra. Finding a place to rest took about 30 minutes of our time, and we were all bathed, fed and crashed out by 7 PM.

Places to stay in Vijaywada

Hotel Manorama (moderately good)

Address: 27-38-61, M.G. Road, Vijayawada 520002, India

Hotel Fortune Murali Park (good)

Address: 40-1-28, M.G. Road, Labbipet, Vijayawada 520010.

Onward to Vizag and Bhubaneswar

Got up at my usual driving routine time of 2 AM, got everyone ready to leave by 3AM and was out of Vijaywada clearing all bills by 4 AM. The roads improved. The surface and the quality remained the same but the scenery around was breathtaking, specially early in the morning. This is where we faced a lot of thin fog as well, limiting vision to about 200 meters ahead on a clear road. Speeds dropped to 80 Kmph and I was thanking my stars that I did not upgrade the headlamps to 100/90 Phillips Rally. Well, the 100/90 does illuminate more on a clear night or day break, but it does illuminate more of the fog as observed by the countless Innovas that were traveling the same route. The fog lamps on the Fusion do a great job with the Low beam set at the lowest level to assist it.

Kolkata in Sight

Fog cleared after 20 minutes of travel and the windscreen literally transformed into a picture frame. We were a few Kms from Vizag by this time. In an hour Vizag came up, crossing the city was a pain as there are no bypasses that connect you through. One has to battle the regular 8 AM traffic to get through the city. Once out of Vizag, we continued straight down maintaining speeds of 110 – 130 throughout for hours on. Took breaks of 15 minutes after every 1.5 hrs.

North Andhra Pradesh

Slowly the traffic sense that I was enjoying and was used to by now was thinning away. There were the occasional tractors on the wrong side of the road which slowly increased to people walking in the middle of the road, buses traveling on the wrong side of the road, bikers having a conference in the middle of the road. In fact the road was being used for everything but for traveling. I quietly tucked myself behind a scorpio letting him do all the hard work and following him from a safe 200 meter distance. Speeds were still 90 – 100 kmph.

A pit stop in North Andhra, also the strangest 'Bread Omelette' ever.

The Blowout

Its surprising how a good road when used badly can turn into a disaster. On a clear stretch after Sompet, the rear right tyre met its match and blew out at 120 kmph. Here’s where a heavy car showed its character and did not budge at all from it’s line. The road turned out to be a dead end. Turned back and took a diversion (which can be only found by telepathy). By not the road was the old, pot hole ridden NH5, the directions were missing or blacked out (language issues) and all hell broke loose.

We were officially in Orissa.

Stopped to repair the puncture. The Jack worked but the standard spanner supplied with the Fusion failed badly. In about 4 tries, all the grip got eaten away. With no options left, drove another 100 meters on the flat and stopped at a tyre guy. The guy managed to get the Alloy off the car and fix the Spare. The next part was to fix the destroyed rear right Goodyear. The problem was, this was the first time this chap was seeing a Tubeless. He did some job on the tyre which I did not trust one bit. Decided to sack out at Chilka and travel only the following day.

Chilka lake was beautiful early morning, food was great as well. Recommended - 'Chilka Dhaba' on NH5

Places to stay in Chilka

Pantha Nivas (OTDC)

Location: Opposite Chilka Dhaba, Barakul, (there is another one at Rambha)

Ford Service

The following morning I got the number of Capital Ford on NH5, located on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. The Ford call center was very helpful and they were able to provide the correct number in less than 5 minutes. I was in no hurry to leave Chilika as the food was good. We headed out at about 9 AM for Bhubaneswar and next destination was Capital Ford.

On reaching Capital Ford, I was informed that they cannot repair the tyre. They cannot even take the good tyre off the spare and fit it on the alloy. In fact they cannot do anything with the tyre and actually rely for all their tyre work on the roadside chap 100 meters away who neither has a number or a name. I was was amazed.

They did check the vehicle and confirmed that everything was A OK. I did not waste any more time and continued further down to the next reliable tyre guy on NH5. Found one, got the tyre replaced. It was important to have that done as the alloy cannot be fastened in the tyre well. (Surprise!!)

Tyreworks at a local tyre dude in Bhubaneswar after Local Ford gave us a shock!!

Next stop was Raurkela (final destination for our first leg) and we were already late by 8 hrs.

Define Bad Road

The roads thereafter did not help much as none had any signage to indicate what road you were on. Probably a GPS would help, but the shortest route is either un-drivable or under Maoist control. I prefer asking for directions at the next local chai shop in such areas.

The roads became bad. Then worse. I was wondering why the regular crowd of Innovas and Indicas were absent from this particular road. The answer came up about a 100 Kms later with no daylight left and 60 more to go. The road was unthinkable. Imagine a gradient of 30 degrees with no surface and only large boulders to drive on. Imagine this with enough width to fit one truck. The Fusion did not complain and crossed all that was thrown at it with ample grace and attitude.

Extent of damage on some sections of the road. This photo was taken on our return path.

Reached Raurkela about an hour later. It’s surprising that the steel city has only that road connecting it to rest of the civilized world, the other road is taken and under rebel-control. Complacency at it’s best. Note: Even if you take a flight, you either have to travel through bad roads from Bhubaneswar, or Good roads that are under rebel-control from Ranchi.

Ved Vyas near Raurkela

Fords do travel far

On reaching Raurkela I parked in front of the house, only to realize the next day that the Ford parked in front of the next house was from Harpreet Ford, Gurgaon and had travelled an equally long distance to be here.

Onward

We start off for Calcutta on saturday, initially the idea was to take NH6 till Kharagpur, but now I would rather travel 120 Km extra via Sambalpur and take NH5 instead. Lets see!

Photographs: Aparajita Ghosh, Shubhodeep Das