Drive from Chennai To Munnar. Route Suggestions Please?

[plainman007]

Hello Guys,

Im planning to drive from Chennai to Munnar in my new NANO CX 2012 BS4 for the heck of it. Can i have the best route to take. Shortest and with best road conditions ?

Also the vehicle is brand new. Will it be good to stop every 150 kms and give it a rest for half an hour or so ? Is it ok to do a max of 70kmph max because the windshield sticker says max 60kmph in 4th/top gear for the first 1000kms. My other cars are both Marutis and this is the first time im taking a long drive in a non Maruti vehicle and that too a NANO.

Thanks a lot.

 

[swift&furious]

Hello Guys,

Im planning to drive from Chennai to Munnar in my new NANO CX 2012 BS4 for the heck of it. Can i have the best route to take. Shortest and with best road conditions ?

Also the vehicle is brand new. Will it be good to stop every 150 kms and give it a rest for half an hour or so ? Is it ok to do a max of 70kmph max because the windshield sticker says max 60kmph in 4th/top gear for the first 1000kms. My other cars are both Marutis and this is the first time im taking a long drive in a non Maruti vehicle and that too a NANO.

Thanks a lot.

I think the shortest would be from chengalpatu -- >thindivanam -- > villupuram -- > Attur -- > Rasipuram -- > Thiruchengode -- > Erode -- > Vellakoil -- > Dharapuram -- > Udumalapettai -- > go through chinnar to Munnar (this should be 600KMS approx) had been in this route a year back

There was another route through madurai and bodinaykanuyr but avoided it due to roads at that point of time but have heard that roads are good now,

After udumalapettai the route is so scenic

Give a 100 Kms stop and as you are not going for some time calculated trip i would ask you to increase the frequency of stops and take the route said above in my first and not the madurai and bodinaykanuyr route

Happy and safe drive

 

[plainman007]

Hey Thanks, I shall do the first route then. Ill also stick to the 100km stops pattern.

Anyway ill be doing a lot of photography so ill have a lot of reasons to stop :).

I think through Chinnar and then have to go through Marayoor right ? I think at chinnar is where the forest dept stops you after 6pm since they dont allow vehciles to ply through the forest area after dusk.

Regards

 

[swift&furious]

Hey Thanks, I shall do the first route then. Ill also stick to the 100km stops pattern.

Anyway ill be doing a lot of photography so ill have a lot of reasons to stop :).

I think through Chinnar and then have to go through Marayoor right ? I think at chinnar is where the forest dept stops you after 6pm since they dont allow vehciles to ply through the forest area after dusk.

Regards

Yes you will have to pass through marayoor and the timing of 6 is correct, but they sometimes allow cars to pass through if you go in groups but also instruct you on how to pass through, we had passed through post 6:45PM but a local jeep escorted us and there were some more cars behind us who were passing through it was thrilling but we encountered only huge wild buffalos that too from a far distance

 

[plainman007]

Sometimes there are huge elefants or even herds of them claiming ownership to the roads. Should be exciting to watch from a long way off hopefully and certainly not being in a NANO.

 

[dksarker]

I have travelled to Munnar 5 times by my car. I generally take one of the following two routes:

1. Chennai - Trichy - Dindigul (BP) - Palani - Udumalaipettai - Munnar
2. Chennai - Trichy - Dindigul (BP) - Theni - Bodi - Munnar

I normally prefer the 2nd route. But currently Dindigul - Theni road widening work is going on. Thus the road condition is not good. on 22nd December I took this road for going Kodaikanal and I found the road was not good thus during my return I took the Palani toad and that is in good shape.

For more details please follow my travellogue on Weekend in Munnar below:
Weekend Munnar Trip from Chennai January 2012 (Attending a marriage in Theni)

 

[plainman007]

Had to call off the munnar trip. Due to the NANO actually. I was planning the trip itself just to give the NANO a test run. Im very disappointed to have found out by a tank full to tank full test that the nano is now giving me 12.5 kmpl in city with ac switched off half the time. Ride quality is horrible to say the least, but more of that in my forthcoming review. I was anyway not venting about all these inconveniences due to the fact that i bought this just for the mileage.

The only difference was that in the first tank full test it yielded 20kmpl with 50% city and 50% highway driving. The second tank full reveals that im now getting only 12.5 kmpl because there was no highway driving. Thats horrible given its queer looks and autorickshaw styled sound which it does produce.

I really regret having bought this car and even just called off the trip because this was such a let down. Whats the fun of going in this when i can drive with my super spacious Eeco minus the queer looks of the poor mans car with the same mileage !!! Also the engine feel is never consistent like my Zen / Eeco. The car keeps on switching off in traffic and refuses to restart immediately. 6-7 shut offs in every small 12+12 km trip. And now finally this mileage. I know the mileage 'might' improve in the next service (not guaranteed though). But what improvement might i see, 2-3 kms ? Not worth it.

 

[plainman007]

Duplicate post removed by self.

 

[dksarker]

Really disappointing to hear that. Tata is not making good names with its passenger cars. Only indica was a success everything else is like scrap. Hope they think about their strategy..

 

[plainman007]

Yes, Sarker. I read abundant reviews on mouthshut.com. And i jumped for this car with an unbiased opinion. I didnt expect the comfort of my Zen / Eeco (my Eeco is actually very comfortable given the tallboy seating design and extremely zippy too considering its size). It gives me almost the same mileage of my Zen.

I didnt have outrageous expectations, in comfort, ride handling etc. I have had 6 zens since i started driving from the age of 19. And they have been CONSISTENT ! ALWAYS. Same mileage, same ride feel, same engine response. Even though the first 2 were carburetor versions. The NANO has varied responses from different owners. Some say excellent mileage and some are getting 10-12 kmpl. Too bad i fall into the latter category.

I only expected this vehicle to give me the expected fuel efficiency for a 624cc engine. I only expected to get what i paid for. But even that if TATA cant provide, they can just stick to making commercial vehicles.

Please note all the driving was with just one person in the car. :)

Ill be doing a detailed review and havent metioned the other horrors i faced right from when i drove the car out of the showroom because i dont want this thread reated to munnar trip to go off topic. But at the ouset the car is extremely cheaply made, with parts that come off in your hands from day one.

Thank you for listening. I feel better now. :)

 

[plainman007]

I bit the bullet and made the trip. I got a FE of 27 kmpl upjourney till trichy and 23.5 kmpl returning to Chennai. It was just me + 1 passenger + baggage with the rear seat folded down. Though it was pretty boring considering i always used to touch 80-90 but never more in my Zen. My Eeco hasnt run much at all, just 1800 km on the odo and its going to be 2 years old though its in brand new showroom condition.

I did keep within 60-70 kmpl green bandwidth of the speedometer for the up journey and half the return trip. During half the rturn trip i had crossed the 1200 km mark so i occasionally touched 80 but not continuously. I guess that explains why i got lesser FE.

Ride quality is ok given the price of the vehicle. You get what you pay for. Seats are stiff and not too suited for long drives. You need to stop and stretch at least once every 100 km.

One huge problem i faced was getting speed petrol. Speed isnt available at any of the bunks after Trichy. So i had no other go but to use normal unleaded petrol for the uphill climb and thereafter till i returned to Chennai.

Over the past 20 years ive only used speed since it was released and prior to that, only unleaded. Always opted for the best option. I dont know if this figures in my bad FE. But people say that because the Nano is a 2 cylinder engine it doesnt matter if its normal unleaded or speed fuel. Is this true. It has no bearing on FE and engine life and smoothness of the engine ? Plz let me know and i will stick to normal petrol.

Totally the Nano consumed about 61 ltrs of petrol for a trip of 1392 km (600 kms Chennai > Munnar, 192 kms of sightseeing within Munnar, 600 kms return to Chennai) which totals up to 22.8 kmpl. But this is only a ballpark figure since the up journey returned a different mileage compared to the return journey. The hill climbing and slopes must've also had their toll on the mileage. In which case on sea level driving it should probably offer about 25 kmpl.