Mobil 1 Great car great road: Porsche Boxster S

This story is a part of the Mobil 1 Great Car Great Road Series

 

Who would have thought that fixing up a great road to drive a great car on would lead me to some unforeseen challenges? Sourcing an English equivalent of the Hindi saying “ghar ki murgi daal barabar” was tougher than I expected. The collective wisdom of the internet was stumped. Then I asked family, friends and colleagues. “Familiarity breeds contempt” comes close, but it doesn’t quite hit the right vein. The Hindi saying implies that people underestimate the value of that which is easily accessible. And that summed up my disposition towards our often-used Lonavla-Ambavane-Nive road perfectly.  

 

Lonavla-Ambavane-Nive road? Well, that’s how little I knew about the 25km stretch of tarmac between Lonavala and Aamby Valley City. It is popularly referred to as the Aamby road, but this two-lane strip of tarmac (shown as Dattawadi road on Google Maps) starts off as Jalvaayu Marg and once past the INS Shivaji turn-off, transforms into the Vaayu Marg for its uphill trek. Then it zigs and zags to the top of the hill and settles down once it has swooped past the Air Force Station. 

 

Wow! That was a lot to not know about a road that most of us at Autocar India know better than our own homes. I have to admit, it just wasn’t on my radar when planning this story. And when it was suggested, the swell of objection was chortled by the bewildering realisation that it is undoubtedly a great road. Corners? It has innumerable, and no two of them are alike. Surface? The tarmac is velvety smooth, mostly, and never unpleasant. Traffic? Light and fast-moving. The landscape is also a great mix of green and brown, soothing and staggering. The peaks of the Sahyadris hurtle skywards, teeming with ambition; shafts of sunlight burst through the rippling canopy of green, deepening the sense of occasion, fallen leaves curl with poetic perfection on the white paint at the road’s edge. And the promise of ending the drive inside the controlled confines of the pleasant Aamby Valley City heightens the appeal of the drive.