Venturing on India's longest sea bridge with the MG Comet
4 months into living with the MG Comet as my daily driver I decided to take it on the new Atal Setu Sewri-Navi Mumbai bridge to the upcoming international DB Patil Airport to get an idea of what the drive would be like once the airport is operational next year.
As you know the Trans-Harbour bridge allows you to drive at 100kmph through most of the stretch and while I was apprehensive about pushing the Comet to triple-digit speeds, I must honestly report back it proved to be pretty sturdy at 100kmph. Switch to sport mode and the throttle feels light to the touch. I guess it's about the surface you drive on as well, given this was a new construction with a smooth surface and no imperfections the drive felt comfortable unlike in the city where most of the broken tarmac can be felt. I do however feel the wheel size being bigger would have given more cushioning to the ride.
I would also advise keeping a regular check on the condition of the tyres, that's a must for any driver per se, but given the Comet does not have space for a spare tyre and you have to make do with a tyre pressure warning system, it could lead to moments of alarm in case you're on a bridge like I was on the Atal Setu when I saw the warning light come on. Nothing that a call to the MG service guys thought couldn't be fixed within a day.
I wouldn't advise pushing hard around even small bends or corners either, its boxy design isn't meant to corner hard. The steering-mounted controls on my Comet take a while to respond to the few infotainment commands which could be a lag with this particular long-term car only.
The Comet shows me a 200km driving range every time I fully charge it & on my return journey from Atal Setu I was left with a 41 percent charge with an 82 percent driving range while driving in normal mode which according to my daily observation left me with one more day's charge to head to work & back. Pretty good I'd say.
To date I've only let the Comet deplete charge to 22% which happens every once in 4 days given my daily driving route is Bandra - Worli & back which is around 20 km both ways. Like I've said before, range anxiety can be kept at bay as long as you plan your charge cycles keeping your next day route and maybe a bit more in case of an unplanned journey in mind.
Overall, as of the four months into driving this urban commuter I'd say it's been a relatively smooth journey so far.
