Vikram's Blog

My journey started off in a mess. My flight from Delhi to Pune was delayed and by the time I managed to get behind the wheel of the Palio, my first car to drive in the event, it was already 7:00 p.m. I was tired, the airlines had lost my bag and I had spent over 5 hours stuck at the Delhi airport. All I needed was some rest, but I had to drive to Chiplun, over 300 km away from Pune to get that much needed sleep. Now being tired is not a great way to start a drive; however I figured that I always had the option to just pull over and catch some sleep at a dabha along the way! Nevertheless, the night drive was brilliant and cruising down the highway does have its moments but it was the twisties near Chiplun that really had me smiling. Taking those corners and just enjoying the way the car handles was an exciting drive and if anyone could have observed the entire convoy from a low flying helicopter, it would have been a sight to see. From Chiplun to Goa I found myself behind the wheel of the Fiat 500. I’ve wanted to drive this car for a long time now and when I finally got the chance I was overjoyed. This little two door import (that costs a bomb, else I would have bought one by now) is a joy to drive. It handles brilliantly and is fun to push around corners. Being the lightest of the lot means it’s the peppiest as well and it is in this model that I personally felt that the performance of the 1.3 multi jet truly comes to life. What I didn’t factor in was the low profile tyres which soon proved to be a curse on bad roads as one of my tyres developed a bubble. Abhishek would suffer the same fate the next day, but for now, I had to get the wheel switched and pay more attention to even the minor most undulation on the tarmac. The 500 is obviously not designed to be taken cross country across India, but we managed to get her to Bangalore in prime condition (requiring only two new sets of rubber!) Now, I am sure that the other guys who accompanied me from my office on this trip will share the same thought, but the 700 km drive from Goa to Bangalore proved to be a bit more than we can chew. Considering we had to shoot for our TV show as well as take still pictures to document our journey in print and online, we didn’t schedule the fact that 700 km was going to take us a long long time. A late start from Goa didn’t help and we ended up driving 19 hours behind the wheel. I was only happy that I had opted for the Linea on our last day of driving for it is by far the most comfortable of the lot and also the best all rounder in the line up. It did make for decent drive, but the lack of sleep and relying heavily on Red Bull to stay awake meant that this last drive was less test of machine and more of man. The highway was decent most of the way, however the stretch from Hubli to Chitradurga proved to be a hellish experience and as though God sensed the stress we were under, he decided to give us a lot of rain as well-just to spice things up I suppose! So, we had rain, bad roads, traffic jams, and potholes that could swallow the 500, yet we managed and that is all I am grateful for. Reaching Bangalore in the wee hours of the morning meant that there was not much sleep to catch up on for my flight was scheduled for 12:00 departure. It might have been a journey of pedal to the metal all the way, but the trip was an experience to remember and the cars were a joy to drive.