I love Karnataka. I love it for its rich heritage, beautiful culture and lip-smacking food. This state has it all — lush green plains, gorgeous mountains, a beautiful coastline and even tightly packed concrete jungles. But more importantly, for us petrolheads, it also has some of the best highways to drive on, in India, period. These well-planned roads have fast forwarded travel from one end of the state to the other. The newest gem of the lot is National Highway 275 (NH 275). The Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway, which I went to explore for the second episode of our Great Driving Roads series: expressways edition.
A part of the Bengaluru-Mangaluru Economic Corridor, NH 275 connects two very important cities of Karnataka, its capital and the tech capital of India, Bengaluru to the historic and oh-so-beautiful city of Mysuru.
It has reduced the travel time between the two cities from 3 hours to just 75 minutes and on a smooth expressway such as this, I wanted to drive a car that was a very capable cruiser. That’s exactly why I chose the new Hyundai Verna and no, I didn’t opt for the hot-shot turbo-petrol variant. Why? We’ll get to that later. First, a little bit about the star of today’s show, NH 275.
The Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway is 119km long and it has 10 lanes. With two-lane service roads on either side, its main carriageway has a total of six lanes. Built at a cost of about Rs 8,000 crore, the foundation stone for this project was laid in 2018 with final stages completed in March 2023. The project consists of two phases, a 58km-long Phase 1 between Bengaluru and Nidaghatta, and a 61km-long Phase 2 between Nidaghatta and Mysuru. Here are some interesting facts about NH 275. It has nine major bridges, 42 minor bridges, 64 underpasses, 11 overpasses, four railway over bridges and even an 8km-long elevated corridor. In addition to that, it also comprises greenfield sections that form bypasses around major towns. This is done to ease out traffic congestion and reduce pollution.
Speaking of towns, the Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway also connects an array of iconic places along its way, which are famous for one thing or the other. The town of Bidadi which is known for a world-renowned local delicacy, the Thatte Idli. Ramnagar which is known as the ‘Silk town’, Channapatna which is known as the ‘Toy town’ and Mandya where five rivers pass by – Kaveri and its four tributaries, Hemavathi, Shimsha, Veeravaishnavi and Lokapavani. NH 275 passes over the river Kaveri, which is the main source of water in these areas.
I opted for the Verna equipped with the 1.5-litre naturally aspirated engine mated to a CVT for this drive, because this is the most relaxed model in the new Verna line-up making it a perfect fit for a journey like this. Not only that, at Rs 16.19 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), it is also one of the most affordable cars in India to offer Level 2 ADAS features.
The new Verna is a quick car in turbo-petrol avatar boasting class-leading power figures — 158bhp and 253Nm, but this 1.5-litre nat-asp engine, which produces 113bhp and 144Nm is no slouch either. It picks up speed quite effortlessly, because of its good mid-range. Unlike the turbo-petrol engine, which provides a sudden surge of torque pushing you towards the horizon, this nat-asp mill has a very linear power delivery.
The other area where this engine excels, is in the refinement department. It is smooth from the word get-go. It comes to life with minimal noise after you thumb the start/stop button and doesn’t transfer any vibrations to the cabin. The mill only becomes really vocal when you’re gunning it, as the revs climb past the 4000rpm mark. In fact you can barely hear it, when cruising at the 100kmph mark. It chugs along quietly, sitting under 2000rpm at that speed. And because this combo is best enjoyed with a light foot, it also delivers on the fuel efficiency front. At a 100kmph, I managed to eke out 20kmpl from this engine, which is really impressive.
The Bengaluru-Mysuru highway is made of cement instead of bitumen even though it is much more expensive to construct, because the former has a longer life than the latter. A concrete road is also a lot safer, as it is much more resistant to water seepage. Throughout the entire journey on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway, I didn’t encounter a single pothole or a bad piece of road, because it was built to global standards. As expected, it is smooth and has well-marked boards for entry and exit into small villages and towns. That makes possible, entering these small villages and towns and indulging in some local delicacies.
The expressway has a 100kmph speed limit, with a 80kmph speed limit in certain areas, with police interceptors present throughout for speed control. But speeding is something which you certainly won't attest to on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway because there's a lot of beautiful, jaw-dropping scenery this route has on offer.
I was stunned by the sheer diversity of backdrops this expressway offers. At one moment, you can have lush paddy fields on both sides, and tall coconut trees running beside you the next. But what I really like are the hills and mountains specific to this region, which have huge boulders with very grand canyon-esque colours that look oh-so majestic. I can come to this region only to lay my eyes on these gorgeous mountains.
If there’s one feature that will make your life a lot easier, when driving on a highway like this, it is ADAS. Short for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, this tech aids you with autonomous assistance, not only making your drive safer, but also much more relaxed. There are a total of 17 ADAS features on the Verna, but what you can use on a highway is the adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, lane change assist and the blind spot monitoring system. Hyundai calls its ADAS system ‘SmartSense’, and it makes use of the cameras mounted around the Verna and radar sensors to detect cars, pedestrians and cyclists out on the road. I have to say, it works impeccably and makes covering long distances a breeze. Set the speed and the car adjusts and maintains a distance from traffic ahead. It can also slow down and can come to a complete stop and after detecting that the vehicle has started moving, can start rolling again. The blind spot monitoring system alerts you if there is a car in your blind spot and the lane keep assist keeps the car centred in your lane, which honestly feels so blissful. Out on a buttery-smooth highway such as NH 275, it makes driving seem like a walk in the park.
The Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway has not only connected two cities, but it has also opened up avenues for a booming real estate industry along its way. It has drawn the interest of numerous investors in the area and is enhancing the overall growth and development of not just Karnataka but also of neighbouring states such as Kerala by making them more accessible and hence bolstering their tourism potential. But the best part? Not only has it made the lives of a lot of people easier, but it is also a great driving road for us enthusiasts. Like every other good expressway out there, it allows us to bond with our machines by sinking into a carefree cruise of life.