Mumbai to Delhi in the new Fiesta!
12 Aug 2011 2:37 PM by
Bunny Punia
in
Single review,
We love driving , who doesn’t! But , we also love driving a car across have the length of our country – now this is something that most don’t love with the reason being the unavailability of a relatively good , or a fun to drive , or an interesting car. In our case , our four-wheeled companion seemed to tick all the right boxes! The plan was to finish the Mahindra Monsoon Challenge (read HERE) , fly to Mumbai from Goa , pick up the all new Ford Fiesta and head back home – sounds simple , doesn’t it?
Well , spending three hard days on the road in the Mahindra Thar over various terrains meant that our bodies had started aching by now. Being in Goa also meant we slept pretty late the previous night (now we had to do justice to this beach city!) and hence were deprived of sleep! Our afternoon flight got us to Mumbai in time but the notorious traffic became our first hurdle. By the time we picked up the spanking new Blue sedan from Ford , it was 4pm! Another hour and after numerous waves , thumbs-up and smiles by fellow motorists on the road , we were finally outside Mumbai.
Exiting Mumbai
This was thankfully the top-end diesel variant and surely looked stunning on the road – the front end design doing wonders to its road presence. The all-new diesel motor felt smooth and punchy and soon we were cruising at triple digit speeds with the on-board Bluetooth enabled system allowing me to make a dozen work related calls without a fuss!
Rains! A rainbow greeted us enroute Surat
Roughly 140km after we started , we were flagged down by a few cops in the middle of nowhere. It so happened that we had just entered Gujarat , a state where consumption of alcohol is banned and hence people often carry alcohol in the boot from other states. However as soon as we stopped , the cops got busy in checking out the car than asking us any questions! Our destination for the night was Surat , another 140km away. However , the highway by now was perfect with less traffic and by 8pm , we had checked-in into the first decent hotel. The Fiesta in the meantime stood parked in the hotel's parking and seemed to wear a proud smile on its face , ready for the 1170km drive to Delhi the next day.
As we left Mumbai at 4pm , it got dark pretty soon!
Leaving early is always a wise decision. By leaving Surat at 6am , we managed to cover distance pretty fast. Vadodara for example , roughly 150km away , was dispatched in less than two hours. The next 90odd km on the NE-1 expressway was pure bliss – this is also the place where i finally stretched the Fiesta’s legs. Ford has developed all new 1.5-litre engines (read our complete road test HERE) for the Fiesta and needless to say , the diesel will be the hot seller. It puts out respectable amount of power with exceptional fuel economy and the car easily cruises at speeds between 130-140km/h. NVH (noise , vibration , harshness) levels are up there with the best in this segment and the whole driving experience seemed tiring-less and fatigue free. Worthy of mention is the fuel economy - the display showed an average fuel consumption of a shade over 18kmpl even with spirited highway driving.
Whats more beautiful? The Fiesta or the back-drop?
Roads like these are best experienced in a car like this
Another stretch of road Bobby and I were looking forward to was the hilly section between Ahmedabad and Udaipur. This stretch is well paved four-laned highway where the Fiesta showed another highlight in its package – the brilliant handling and perfectly weighed steering. It was a delight to throw the car into long flowing curves and it always responded well without a fuss or making me feel nervous. From Udaipur , Delhi was another 670km and the highway all the way till Jaipur bypass was a fast One - less traffic , wide roads and hardly any bottlenecks. For number crunchers , we covered the 400km distance from Udaipur bypass to Jaipur bypass in four and a half hours! By the time we bypassed Jaipur completely , it was beginning to get dark. The current situation of Delhi – Jaipur is pretty bad with diversions and flyover construction. This also means that at times you need the reserve power to close in on tight gaps and once again the Fiesta responded well with the only niggling issue being the flow from the air-con vents freezing my hands (placed on the steering wheel) and not cooling my body!
The sign boars says it all
We hit the outskirts of New Delhi , 1150km from Surat , in a shade over 15 hours. This including toll booths , meal and fuel breaks and ofcourse photography stops. Needless to say , the Fiesta proved its mettle on the highway and turned out to be a very comfortable companion for such a long driving stint. We guess a drive like this is also the best way to judge a car and justify the technologies it comes loaded with. I have driven and ridden on this Mumbai – Delhi close to a dozen times but this trip goes down as one of the quickest and the most comfortable ones ever – all kudos to the all-new global Fiesta from Ford.
For the complete road test , see our review HERE
Content courtesy: 
on 10 May 12 at 7:21 PM
Wow! The Fiesta Diesel is much better than most of the rivals
on 10 May 12 at 7:21 PM
We are looking at buying the diesel version - this log has impressed us!
We love driving , who doesn’t! But , we also love driving a car across have the length of our country – now this is something that most don’t love with the reason being the unavailability of a relatively good , or a fun to drive , or an interesting car. In our case , our four-wheeled companion seemed to tick all the right boxes! The plan was to finish the Mahindra Monsoon Challenge (read HERE) , fly to Mumbai from Goa , pick up the all new Ford Fiesta and head back home – sounds simple , doesn’t it?
Well , spending three hard days on the road in the Mahindra Thar over various terrains meant that our bodies had started aching by now. Being in Goa also meant we slept pretty late the previous night (now we had to do justice to this beach city!) and hence were deprived of sleep! Our afternoon flight got us to Mumbai in time but the notorious traffic became our first hurdle. By the time we picked up the spanking new Blue sedan from Ford , it was 4pm! Another hour and after numerous waves , thumbs-up and smiles by fellow motorists on the road , we were finally outside Mumbai.
Exiting Mumbai
This was thankfully the top-end diesel variant and surely looked stunning on the road – the front end design doing wonders to its road presence. The all-new diesel motor felt smooth and punchy and soon we were cruising at triple digit speeds with the on-board Bluetooth enabled system allowing me to make a dozen work related calls without a fuss!
Rains! A rainbow greeted us enroute Surat
Roughly 140km after we started , we were flagged down by a few cops in the middle of nowhere. It so happened that we had just entered Gujarat , a state where consumption of alcohol is banned and hence people often carry alcohol in the boot from other states. However as soon as we stopped , the cops got busy in checking out the car than asking us any questions! Our destination for the night was Surat , another 140km away. However , the highway by now was perfect with less traffic and by 8pm , we had checked-in into the first decent hotel. The Fiesta in the meantime stood parked in the hotel's parking and seemed to wear a proud smile on its face , ready for the 1170km drive to Delhi the next day.
As we left Mumbai at 4pm , it got dark pretty soon!
Leaving early is always a wise decision. By leaving Surat at 6am , we managed to cover distance pretty fast. Vadodara for example , roughly 150km away , was dispatched in less than two hours. The next 90odd km on the NE-1 expressway was pure bliss – this is also the place where i finally stretched the Fiesta’s legs. Ford has developed all new 1.5-litre engines (read our complete road test HERE) for the Fiesta and needless to say , the diesel will be the hot seller. It puts out respectable amount of power with exceptional fuel economy and the car easily cruises at speeds between 130-140km/h. NVH (noise , vibration , harshness) levels are up there with the best in this segment and the whole driving experience seemed tiring-less and fatigue free. Worthy of mention is the fuel economy - the display showed an average fuel consumption of a shade over 18kmpl even with spirited highway driving.
Whats more beautiful? The Fiesta or the back-drop?
Roads like these are best experienced in a car like this
Another stretch of road Bobby and I were looking forward to was the hilly section between Ahmedabad and Udaipur. This stretch is well paved four-laned highway where the Fiesta showed another highlight in its package – the brilliant handling and perfectly weighed steering. It was a delight to throw the car into long flowing curves and it always responded well without a fuss or making me feel nervous. From Udaipur , Delhi was another 670km and the highway all the way till Jaipur bypass was a fast One - less traffic , wide roads and hardly any bottlenecks. For number crunchers , we covered the 400km distance from Udaipur bypass to Jaipur bypass in four and a half hours! By the time we bypassed Jaipur completely , it was beginning to get dark. The current situation of Delhi – Jaipur is pretty bad with diversions and flyover construction. This also means that at times you need the reserve power to close in on tight gaps and once again the Fiesta responded well with the only niggling issue being the flow from the air-con vents freezing my hands (placed on the steering wheel) and not cooling my body!
The sign boars says it all
We hit the outskirts of New Delhi , 1150km from Surat , in a shade over 15 hours. This including toll booths , meal and fuel breaks and ofcourse photography stops. Needless to say , the Fiesta proved its mettle on the highway and turned out to be a very comfortable companion for such a long driving stint. We guess a drive like this is also the best way to judge a car and justify the technologies it comes loaded with. I have driven and ridden on this Mumbai – Delhi close to a dozen times but this trip goes down as one of the quickest and the most comfortable ones ever – all kudos to the all-new global Fiesta from Ford.
For the complete road test , see our review HERE
Content courtesy:
Wow! The Fiesta Diesel is much better than most of the rivals
We are looking at buying the diesel version - this log has impressed us!