2,400 km drive in a Tata Punch; How it managed to impress me

The average fuel efficiency for the entire 2423 km trip was 17.4 km/l.

BHPian Punch_KL recently shared this with fellow enthusiasts:

Last October, I did a 2400 km road trip from Kochi to Hyderabad and back in my Tata Punch, a 2022 AMT model (Creative AMT, top variant).

Before I describe the journey, I will give a brief experience of my car. I bought the car mainly for city use. So the AMT lag and the absence of a turbo engine didn’t bother me much. I’m generally a quiet driver and the AMT felt like a great convenience compared to a manual transmission, especially since it was my first automatic car. As a family car, safety, space and functionality were my main considerations, which the Punch fulfilled.

The car is excellent in terms of handling and ride comfort. Special mention must be made of its turning radius and steering response. Driving sharp corners and tight U-turns is easy, so much so that I’ve come to enjoy the smooth rollback of the steering after a U-turn. Its high driving position gives a clear view of the road and the feeling of a bigger car is another satisfying aspect. Its compact size comes in handy in tight city streets and tight parking lots, and its SUV-like stance gives it road presence.

Two years later, I am still a happy owner of Tata Punch. But apart from bi-weekly trips to my hometown (60 km from Kochi), the car hasn’t seen much action on the highway. Its longest journey so far was a 400 km round trip on a state highway spread over two days.

So when a college friend suggested a long trip to Hyderabad on Punch, I was skeptical at first. In the end I agreed, with the experience of the 400 km drive in mind.

Brief description of the route

Thus, on October 26, at 5.30 am, three of us set off from Kochi. We planned to visit Hampi on the way to Hyderabad.

The first night we stayed at Tumkuru (about 510 km). We reached Tumkuru by evening 6 pm. The route we traversed was Kochi-Palghat-Coimbatore-Annur-Hasanur-Chamrajnagar-Maddur-Huliyudurga-Tumkuru).

Next day morning (27th Oct) we left for Hampi. It was an excellent highway from Tumkuru to Hoskete, where we could consistently cruise for 90-100 km. We passed the 275 km mark in about 5 hours.

On the 27th and 28th we stayed at Hampi.

On the 29th morning we left Hampi for Hyderabad. The roads were terrible in several spots till Raichur. From Raichur to Hyderabad it was a good highway. We reached Hyderabad by 6 PM in the evening.

We stayed at Hyderabad from 29 October – 1 November. Besides a road trip, it was also a food trip, especially for two of my friends who are foodies. The culinary experiences of the trip could be a topic for another forum.
On the first morning two of us returned from Hyderabad. The third friend went to his hometown from Hyderabad. The first night, after traveling over 650 km, we stayed at Krishnagiri. On the second morning we left Krishnagiri and reached Kochi in the evening of the 4th.

Experience with vehicles

In a word, Punch surprised me with its highway adventure.

It really impressed me with its performance at high speeds, exceeding my expectations. You can comfortably cruise the stretch at 80-90 km/h. It can consistently maintain its triple digit speed as well. Above 100 the engine tends to get noisy. The harshness of the 3-cylinder engine can be felt at the 100+ speed.

As a non-turbo AMT vehicle, one cannot get the instant high torque in this that one would like. So overtaking must be planned accordingly. Being used to this vehicle for over two years, I can pretty well judge how it will accelerate in a situation and plan my overtakes accordingly. But my two friends were not at all used to this vehicle. In fact, they drove an automatic for the first time. So they had a bit of a hard time adjusting to the power delay.

The vehicle’s high ground clearance came in handy on uneven roads. The Hampi-Raichur stretch and the Hoskete-Krishnagiri stretch had several horrific stretches. However, the suspension felt a little stiff in some places so that you could feel the bumps.

Overall, ride comfort was good. We didn’t feel much fatigue from driving. The final word is that the Punch is quite good for long highway trips, although it may not be as fast and sporty as turbocharged vehicles. I think Tata didn’t give the Punch a turbo option so as not to cannibalize the Nexon.

Fuel efficiency

The average FE for the entire journey of 2423 km was 17.4 kmpl.

However, on some highway stretches, it even gave 20 kmpl.