Reevaluating driving comfort

Driving pleasure @ Bangalore City

I am writing this from 20yrs of driving experience and real wide range of vehicles (BMW to Nano). I am trying to reevaluate / explore best (convenient) way of commuting in Bangalore on a daily basis for all practical purpose. In turn, exploring the meaning of driving convenience for Bangalore. Reason being, earlier I regularly drove my SUV everywhere, later when I moved to hatch, I almost refused to go back to suv and now I find bike to be the best medium.

If you are a daily commuter then I am sure you would understand the pain points, which I need not highlight.

Assuming, you are driving yourself and your commute does consist of heavy peak hour Bangalore traffic.

• Fuel efficient : for smoother wallet
• Small turning radius for U turns : U turns being inevitable in Bangalore
• Easy public parking: Most general places lack proper parking places
• Quick Overtaking: With all kinds of vehicles on road, you need it all the time.
• Relaxed driving / Alertness: Has the vehicle anything to do with alertness. Yes one needs to be more alert when driving SUV than a bike.
• Respect: Sure, that's one reason people drive expensive cars around city while they have others lined up.
• Safety: At the end of the day one wants to be safe home.

SUV’s: Great for family outing. Long drives are a pleasure. But when it comes to city driving, then comes real trouble. With narrow roads, wider turning radius is definitely an issue. Same with public parking. Although, most SUV are pretty agile, but width of the road and randomly parked/ stopped cars on the road make overtaking a daunting task. Of course, one has to be extra cautious of bikes and other smaller vehicle all the time as by the ‘unsaid’ rules of road, it’s the bigger vehicle at fault.

Fuel efficient
Small turning radius for U turns
Easy public parking
Quick Overtaking
Relaxed driving / Alertness
Respect
Safety

Sedans: Overall good combination of comfort and drive. With respect to city turns, parking still a problem. Many a times one get this feeling that if this boot wasn’t there, I would have been able to park.

Fuel efficient
Small turning radius for U turns
Easy public parking
Quick Overtaking
Relaxed driving / Alertness
Respect
Safety

Hatchback: Good for city driving and family hang outs within city. Comfortable in most respect. Most still lack fuel efficiency.

Fuel efficient
Small turning radius for U turns
Easy public parking
Quick Overtaking
Relaxed driving / Alertness
Respect
Safety

Micro: Although most wouldn’t even consider this, but I think it this way. When you don’t have place to drive one move’s to smaller vehicles. For me its definitely a contender (Nano). I wouldn’t be thinking much for parking, if bike comes close enough (because of the price). One gains on outer driving comfort but inner driving comfort is lost. Easy parking but nagging gear shift. Good mileage but less BHP. So it’s a mixed bag. But definitely should be considered for Bangalore roads.

Fuel efficient
Small turning radius for U turns
Easy public parking
Quick Overtaking
Relaxed driving / Alertness
Respect
Safety

Bike: Surprisingly ~70 of Bangalore vehicular traffic consists of bikes. And if you are on Bangalore road, you would immediately understand why. Easy navigation, quick overtaking. Bikes will be always be at front line at any red light. Saves time and money. A travel which takes 1hr by car will take 40 mins by bike. The greatest drawback is safety and passenger capacity.

Fuel efficient
Small turning radius for U turns
Easy public parking
Quick Overtaking
Relaxed driving / Alertness
Respect
Safety

I would say if you are like me, had enough joy of driving and its experience and are now done with it. All you want to do is to commute to places safely with some of above defining comfort parameters. Then I am sure you would want to have a bike for local commuting and sedan for all other purposes.

When I see a BMW driven by its owner, I actually pity him. Simply because he is incapable of enjoying any of the comforts the car has to offer on Bangalore roads. Instead, he has to constantly suffer from tension of getting a scratch from any of the bikes/autos on road.

http://bangalore.safemovingtraffic.in/