DriveBlog

Battle of the Tall Boys II

They fought it out then; they fight it out again. The Santro won then; the WagonR loses again.

Lights, camera, acceleration!

What, it took an appearance in an inane, semi-jingoistic 'new-age comedy' flick for people to sit up and take notice of the Santro? Not for me, no...because I hardly remember the car from this movie. For its own sake, I hope the Swift makes a more promising impression in the movie that will introduce it to the Indian masses.

Also see:
The good, the bad and the ugly about the Swift
More public opinion on the Swift from Mouthshut.com (What's with the pic of that WagonR?) =)

Swift makes debut today

The entire nation, I daresay, can now let go of the collective breath it's been holding all these days in anticipation of the launch of the Swift. After much vacillation on both the launch price and date, the car 'officially debuted' today. The bottom-end LXi version has been launched at a cool Rs. 387000 (ex-showroom Delhi). The mid-range VXi option can be yours for Rs. 405000 and the fully-loaded ZXi (the one with the 'Z' is always, the coolest, isn't it?) comes in at Rs. 485000. Again, smart on the part of Maruti to price the 3 variants with almost a lakh of a difference between the bottom and top. Something for everyone to choose from.

And going by the reviews (read what BS Motoring had to say after they did the car), it looks like the Swift is the answer to both the Indian carbuyer's and Maruti's dreams and looks very unlikely to disappoint either. Or should I say it better not disappoint, because over 8000 of the cars have been spoken for already.

Update: The Swift will grace Indian roads only by the first week of June when customer delivery begins. And the mouth-watering prices at which it's been launched may not be the same for too long, but no one's confirming that yet.

Also see:
Inside the Swift
The average Joe's take on the Swift ('Registration required' link)
All the news on 'Maruti Swift' from Google News India
All the news on 'Maruti Suzuki Swift' from Google News India

BS Motoring does the Innova

Looks like Toyota Kirloskar Motors India may have made a mistake bringing in the Innova to stand in for the Qualis. But not for any other reason - the Innova just too damned good an automobile to be a taxi!

Now you know: The new Toyota 'people carrier' will be available in a whopping 10 variants!

Update: Not one week on the road and Toyota cuts prices on the Innova by Rs. 14000! But you really should be thanking good ol' PC for that.

Another hatch match?

I'm feeling a bit of déjà vu while I'm making this post. I'm getting the feeling that I've done this link featuring a 6-hatchback shootout already. Maybe it's because I've posted a couple of hatch head-ons already? Or did I just read it in the magazine and that's where I barely remember it from, my near term memory being what it is. I'll try and figure that one out while you run along and read it...go on, it's one where the Palio wins again. =) Oh and hey, if any of you do come across my having posted about this earlier, leave me a comment, will you?

Also see:
The Opel Corsa Sail vs. the Fiat Palio nv vs. the Hyundai Getz vs. the Ford Fusion
The Palio 1.2 nv vs. the WagonR VXi vs. the Santro Xing

C'est la Viva

Like the review itself says, a diesel car that delivers some kickbutt performance and comes with a reasonable sticker tag attached, is somewhat of a rarity - and all this without a compromise on what diesel cars are bought for in the first place - more miles for your money. With the possible exception of the Palio D, the Indian car buyer didn't have much to choose from.

That is, until Hyundai served up the Accent Viva CRDi, the hatchback (sic) version of its more popular sedan sibling at a price that was a cool Rs. 40000 less.

Unused Potential?

When Fiat launched the Petra 1.6 EL petrol variant earlier this year, the news was met by sharp intakes of breath from many a quarter. Till that point, the Indian market had yet to come across a sedan that truly served up some deadly-serious value for money. At Rs. 4.75 Lakhs, ex-showroom Delhi, words like 'highway robbery' and 'corporate charity' didn't seem out of place. Fiat India too, seemed to be banking hugely on the rebadged sedan to pull them out of their downward spiral.

Well, the carmag reviews still find the Petra a hard deal to beat but whether Fiat has been able to rustle up the numbers to back that up, is yet to be seen. For the time being, the Petra remains an excellent car that is yet to get its due.

Damn, it must hurt to be at Fiat India right now.

The Fiat Petra Petrol Ownership Report | Test Drive Report | Purchase Experience.

BS Motoring does the CR-V

How the heck do you get away with calling the new Honda CR-V a sedan? Anyways, going by the way this review of Ver 2.0 of what is, in my opinion, India's best looking SUV reads, Honda has succeeded in making an already awesome product even better.

Update: "Honda Siel Cars calls it the Creative Life Vehicle. Whatever."

DriveBlog does the Getz

Some time ago, I had mentioned on this weblog that in the search for my first car, someone had yet to give me a compelling reason to buy the Hyundai Getz. Well, over the last couple of days, someone did. With nothing else to do over the rather long weekend, I decided to make the best of it and took the Getz, the Ikon Flair and the Palio nv Sport out for test drives.

Disclaimer:
1. While I'm going to be talking mainly about the Getz here, I will draw comparisons now and then with the Palio and the Ikon.
2. This is the first car review I’ve ever written. Go easy on me.

Let's Getz this started then, shall we? =)

Test breakdown

There's a lot riding on the test drive (no pun intended). No surprise then, that for many, it ends up being one of life's more stressful exercises, especially for new drivers and first-time car buyers. Here then, is a little tip to make it a little easier: take the test drive one step at a time (yeah, there's a before, a during and an after) and you won't find yourself thinking about ten things at the same time. Oh, and see if you can carry this checklist with you.