Driving on a highway - Palio Special!!

There is an earlier post which has some good driving tips for a highway.The blog is here.

Here are some tips for Palio owners. All of these are what i have personally experienced or heard from really dependable sources.

Preparation -

This is easy. Not at all something you should worry about. But still here are some important pointers.

1. You can fill in about 43 litres of fuel. Its good to know your mileage and route plan well in advance as the fuel indicator in Palio is not the best in it's class. I have had false alarms sometimes.
2. There are "Blind Spots". Know them well. Blind spots are areas of the road, that are not visible from inside your car using just the rear view mirrors. Of my experience, the rear view mirrors in Palio is insufficient for the size of the car.
3. Driving in the night is easy on a Palio when compared to other cars that i have driven. The double barrel lights on Stile seems more than enough, but there is a catch. I had had a tough time while driving uphill in pitch darkness around where I felt my high beam was of no use when i wanted to focus. My mechanic at the service station says he corrected this but have not tried e same since then.
4. Some may not agree but with ac on, i have had difficulty overtaking in Palio. So make sure you dont plan steep revs while overtaking.

These are some of the ones i thought was important. Please comment on this and I will make additions along with links to your blogs in case you need it.

Prepare your car for a long drive !!

Driving on a highway can be fun. But can be the most disastrous if not planned well. Here are some tips to prepare your car for the long drive you have been looking forward to.

Please feel free to comment on any point that you think should be added/removed. I am not going to add points such as check engine oil, check brake oil, etc, but will try to give high level points that you should not forget while starting a long drive.

1. Make sure you have read the troubleshooting tips section on the user manual of your car and also carry the same. This gives the primary information you would need in case of any troubleshooting during your travel. I include in this point itself that it really makes good sense that you carry all your documents too. This is the best driving tip you can ever follow.

2. It is never a good idea to take your vehicle for a long drive just after your service. Make sure you have travelled a good 30 to 50 km before you start on a long drive.

3. Air pressure: Keep the air pressure low in case you believe most of your travel is going to be on cold weather or on hilly region or in the night. Lower the air pressure, better will be the grip on the roads (of course with a little loss in mileage).

4. Make sure your spare wheel is in good condition and you have a working wrench and jack. Nowadays you even get a battery operated ones which should save good time/effort for replacing your tyres.

I personally have a tyre guage and a air filler and would recommend people to have the same (it should together not cost more than Rs 1500 in Bangalore,India). It does make sense to reduce air pressure if you travel in a hot sun averaging 65kmph continuously for about 3 to 4 hours. The air gets heated and hence your tyre tends to bulge at the side. If your air pressure is high, chances are that it might burst.

Tyre burst when you are travelling even at low speeds of 40kmph can be dangerous. So it is best to avoid this situation by reducing the air pressure.

5. Make sure you carry about 5 to 8 litres of water just in case. You will need water most when your engine is really hot, or you are driving on a really dusty road and you want to wipe your windscreen/windows clean, etc.

6. If you are planning to drive at the night, it makes good sense to carry a torch. Consider a situation where you have to replace your tyre somewhere around midnight. you can never even imagine it without a good torch.

OK...there are some of them out of a lot more i care to share of the driving tips. Let me know if anyone needs any specific information also about driving on a highway.

Driving on a highway !!

I should have completed about 10,000 kms on a 4 wheeler thats just about an year old now..and in no way consider myself an expert in driving. About 70% of my driving has been on highways and I am one in the group that thinks that anything less than 500 km ought to be covered on a car instead of bus/train(leave alone flight).

Here are some tips for making your long drive a pleasant one. Many of the tips I have mentioned below should hold good for those whose driving skills are upto average.

• First and foremost plan who all are going to drive. In my experience it is always good fun to drive for long periods of time but still it is a good idea to take a break every 4 hours or 200 kms whichever is earlier. Also having one experienced person amongst a group of 4/5 should really be of help.
  
• For those who plan to drive, make sure you have had enough rest and that you don't feel tired in any way while you start.
  
• Check my other post "Prepare your car for a long drive" (coming soon)
  
• Take care to drive slower while you enter a village/town or a city. You tend to maintain the same speed as you traveled on the highway even after you enter a village/town/city.
• Don't ever switch off you car driving down hill (I always do that on my bike!). You power steering does not work and your braking is also not powered when the ignition is off.
  
• Maintain lane discipline whether or not others do. This is the only proven way to a safe drive on a highway.
  
• Sounding horn is no match for the quick high beam to ask for way on a highway. I usually want to do this inside city limits also but never usually works. But believe me, driving on a highway is usually more organized and except for a few rash drivers, most of the vehicles do follow rules.
• Have a perfect grip on the steering at all times. Make sure you bring back the steering wheel after a turn and not wait/rely on it to automatically come to position. This holds good especially when you are driving faster than 60 kmph.
  

Driving in the night

• Check my other post "Prepare your car for a long drive" (coming soon) for some startup tips you need to drive the night.
• Let there be a reason for driving in the night. This reasoning is personal but try and avoid travel in the night if you are not really confident.However there are some really good reasons for traveling in the night.
• Of most places i have been (generally south india), there are not many signboards to tell you about the deviations you might have to take. So plan your route in advance as you dont want to search for someone who can guide you in the night!
• National highways are better, but beware of district roads and bypass roads. These may not be secure and dont stop at anything that is suspicious.
  
• Make sure you know if a route is getting closed in the night. This is common and the timings/rules change frequently. Make sure you call the district admin or forest department for this information. You dont want to be stranded in the night in a forest and wait till it is 6.00 am.

Ok, now these were only those which i could recollect. I wll add new items as i get them. Meanwhile feel free to give you comments to this post.