Renault India starts Inviting their Exclusive Dealerships

After the broke-up between the Mahindra-Renault JV, Renault is now trying to stand-up on his own feet & has started looking for the Entrepreneurs to make their own seprate Network of Dealers & ASS(as they are restricting the Nissan-JV only upto the Manufacturing-Plant level only).

Renault India says:
The US $55 billion Renault group has designed some of the most Stunning, Innovative, safe & enviornmentally friendly cars the world over. In fact, renault has over 110 years of Automotive experience & presence in over 118 countries, with Manufacturing facilities in 18 countries. We're poised to enter the Indian Market armed with Global expertise & revolutionary creations. ANd we're looking for dealers who would like to partner us in driving the change. to support our commitment to India, we've Invested over Rs.5000 crores to set-up a State-of-the-art manufacturing & Engineering facility in Chennai & have drawn up a robust plan to launch a car in each segment in India in near future. As our business partner, you'll soon realise that, like driving a Renault, selling is just the same-SMOOTH.
(Source: Advt in The Tribune 19/05/10)

So, It can be clearly understood that now Renault is keen to take over the Indian Market once again from a new beginning, with leaving behind the Logan for Mahindra use(IMO, This is one of the best decision by an Auto giant to save its Image).
So the expected launches from the Renault India are;
-Renault Megane.
-Renault/Dacia Duster.
-Renault Clio hatch(next-gen version to compete with Swift et al).
In the same Upward-down order, to make their Image Better & more Capable here.

New Refreshed BS-IV Compliant Alto

Finally Marui Suzuki refreshed their Mass selling warhorse- Alto to meet the BS-IV emission norms.
Earlier there was so much rumours about Alto's getting the 1.0l, 3-cylinder K-Series engine from A-Star. but due to Cost-Sensitive car & segment in which it fits, Maruti decided to upgrade its Old 796cc, 3-cylinder F-series to meet the BS-IV norms & they acheived it by Tweaking its Ignition System- Distributor-less now from the Old-Distbributor type.


Maruti Suzuki has also mildly played with its Body & Features too to keep its costs under the check. Front is kept the Same but other Body & Features Changes Includes:




On EXTERIORS;
-New Refreshed Tail-lamp design, with Indicator element finished in Orange shade now(from the earlier Transparent-Orange bulb one).
-Sticker logos for Name at Rear(Gone are the earlier Elegant looking Chrome ones).
-Chrome Suzuki's S-logo above the Tail-Gate lock.
-New Wheel-Rim design.
-New Tubeless tyres.
-0-100kmph in 17.7 secs.







In INTERIORS;
-New Instrument Console with Digital Fuel-Gauge.
-Shrunken Temprature Gauge(From Analogue Gauge to mere LED-Blinikg light now).
-Silver Coloured Centre Console(now missing is the Stereo mounting frame now).
-Basic-Finished & looking Handbrake lever(very M800 like).
-New Seat Fabric design.
-New design Front Seats with fixed Head-Restraints(but seat-backs are made much thinner now, very much like Tata Nano, all for Cost-cutting).

But with now better & Improved FE figures of 19.73kmpl by ARAI & at Same Old-Starting Price of 2.35 lacs, it still comes alot in that Entry level package.
(Image source:tbhp.com)

Driving Report: Volkswagen Polo 1.2 TDi-CR

Recently Test Driven is the Volkswagen Polo 1.2 TDi(Common-Rail Diesel).

Beginning from the;
LOOKS:Clearly the car is the winner amongst the current crop of the cars & design is so Simple that it'll suit to the tastes of everyone & will not age anytime soon.
Paint Finish is excellent with Top class finishing & Gloss.
Even VW offers 3-years Unconditional Warranty on its Paint against Cracks & Peeling off & 6-years Unconditional Anti-Perforation Warranty for its Bodyshell.
Build Quality is excellent with Doors closing with Excellent Thud.
Definitely this car won't age atleast before 10 years.

INTERIORS:
While Stepping into the Inside, Greeted by the Well-built & High-Quality Interiors.
Simplistic by design & Functional by usage.
Instrument Console & Meter dials are too legible, Clear & ease to use.
Steering is Tilt & Telescopically adjustable for Rake & Reach even in base versions.

ENGINE & PERFORMANCE:
Powered by 1.2l Common-Rail, 3-cylinder engine which churns out 75PS of Max Power at 4200Rpm & 180Nm of Max torque at 2000Rpm. Firing it feels l'll bit Noisy at Idle, though not as Cluttery as CRDi engines but smoothens out very soon, almost within a Minute & gets almost Inaudible On the move, making the passengers nearly Impossible to make out whether its a Diesel or an Petrol enigned car.
If Official Reports are to be believed this 3-cyl engine is way efficient(both thermally & performance-wise) than Similar capacity 4-cylinder engine & Its On Road behaviour clearly shows this the way he pulls this car weighing 1.2 tonnes.
Turbo kick becomes evident at around 2000Rpm & can be experienced best in 2nd or 3rd Gears. Torque spread by this engine is equally balanced beginning from Low range to Top range & One can never feel that this car is powered by the Smallest, Powerful yet most efficient Diesel engine engine in its class & One can easily cruise in this car at speeds around 120kmph with Relaxed engine & composed Suspension with 15-Inch Alloys doing complete justice with its Body charactersics.
Bad or Undulated Roads isn't altogether a problem for this German baby.
Highway Mile munching is the forte of this car with its lighter Steering feel.

Fuel efficiency is also one of the best which is in the region of 21kmpl+ for Highway cycles, considering the blend of Performance & Practicality she offers.

VERDICT:
With Base Price tag of 5.67 lacs for its TDi Diesel version, its 1st two variants makes excellent case for Sensible & VFM buy while its Fully loaded Highline variant goes out of the VFM range & seems to be purely meant for Higher Strata for car buyers.
However another variant Mid-Way between Its middle(Comfortline) & top-end(Highline) variant makes a strong case to be considered by even more of the 1st time Premium hatchback buyers.

New Wagon-R Test Drive

Test driven New MS Wagon-R VXi with 1.0l K-series engine.

Looks:

Exteriors, As by Maruti Suzuki the new Wagon-R is developed by Input costs of over Rs.260Crores & In reality it shows to large extent as except from badge Nothing seems to be shared with the Old Wagon-R, only the common traits includes the Boxy looks & Ruler-drawn Straight body lines. Doors, Mirrors, Entire front-Rear sections are new, Wheels are also upsized to 14-Inchers in top VXi variants. Even gone are the Old-version design based Rear C-pillar Quarter Glasses.
Only the elongated nose looks somewhat out of place from the Overall design theme.

Interiors: With Doors closed & through All-around Tinted Glasses, its Interiors gave a typical Quality Glare, especially its Dashboard plastics & Seat fabrics-All enough to Put a smile & Anticipation to feel it onto the face of the looker there.




So, after opening the Door & entering into it noticed the Improved design & quality of the Interiors in Lovely shades of Light n Dark Grey, Aluminium finishes, etc.
Again each & every bit here, from Dashboard to Upholstery-Door Trims, etc every bits are new- with Huge Music system dominating the Scenario of whole dashboard there, another one is the Excellent looking Steering Wheel, Electrically Adjustable Outer Rear View Mirrors & As usual Perfect City Driving position of Wagon-R(same as earlier). Alongside it, below the Passenger seat is the Utility tray.



Also, at the sake of Interior Space reduced is the Boot Space from the Previous version.


In Short, Exteriorly & from Interiors the Car looks, feels Fresh & Styling is the word which you can now easily Associate with this new Wagon-R & both in the White, Glistening Grey & Greyish-blue colours she looks very desirable. As per me, the best shade amongst the all is the Glistening Grey shade.

Test Drive Experience:
Engine:
As the new Wagon-R now comes with the 998cc, 3-cylinder K-series engine from A-Star/Estilo.
So,Here comes my favourite 3 vs 4-cylinder engines clash;



So, after Twisting the key of this 3-cylinder engine powered car, the engine settled into a barely audible Idle. Then, Pressed the accelerator pedal to the max & again surprised by the Silence & vibe-free nature of the car at STAND-STILL.

Then came the actual driving Test,

Started from the Casual driving Style 1st, Putting the Oval shaped knob dominated Gear-lever into the 1st Gear via better but still somewhat Rubbery Gear-shifter & got onto the crowded Highway. As it was my consecutive TD immediately after the Ritz-D, I noticed this new Wagon-R somewhat Light & Easier to drive, with More direct, lighter & better Feedback providing steering than the Latter, but losing out on the Engine area, especially in the NVH stakes.

On straight performance runs, this unbalanced 3-cyl engine loses heavily infront of its parent 4-cyl K12M engine.
On flat-accelaration run in 2nd gear till rpm Redline, this engine felt very much Inconsistent & Unbalanced in the Power delivery with the front end of the Car Shaking & jittering alongwith the high NVH-levels, very similar to that of the Alto's with 796cc 3-cylinder engine.

So, Better was the Older 1061cc 4-cylinder F10D engine here with 64PS earlier than that of now with 68PS.


Driving Dynamics & Suspension:
But this is the Section where this Maruti's work shows, as this car felt very Planted & Car-like in Road-handling, Suspension & Stability areas with only High-feeling thing in it was its Tall-Roof not its Centre of Gravity.

A +1 over the Previous W-R.
Infact, IMO this car felt better & much-easily manouverable than Ritz in the City & till 70-80kmph speeds whereas the latter felt bulkier & large in same Road there.

And, During the TD the contributory features were:
-Aircraft-like Engine note on high Revs
-Excellent Sounding Music System.
-Great looking Steering Wheel with Good Grip.
-Properly Cushioned Seats.
-Super-Chilll A/C.
-Tilt Steering.
-Electrically Adjustable ORVMs.

While Not-so-Good Ones being:
-Dull Engine Performance as compared to its Rivals.
-Some Extra-wide Body Panel Gaps.




My Verdict:

With a ARAI Claimed Class leading Fuel efficiency of 18.9 kmpl, Its A good-looking car with good-features at a Price that's still 10-years Old(Thanks & hats-off for the Maruti for this hard-est job). Improved is the Character, Driving dynamics of the car, which's now more Car-like but Not-so-Good is the Retrogressive move of the engine in NVH & Torque-delivery manners, where I still appreciate the Old 1061cc one.
(Image source: AutocarIndia website)

Test Driven Ford Figo 1.2 Petrol & 1.4 TDCi Diesel

Here's my Test Drive experience with New Sea Grey coloured Ford Figo 1.4 TDCi TITANIUM Diesel & Moondust Silver 1.2 Duratec Petrol with Coral Dash,





LOOKS:
From the first look the Both the colours are equally attractive, Moondust Silver simply Shines up & on the other hand Sea Grey colour in the Ford Figo looks good & lends it the class with Black-like shine hues.
Rest, Chill & White shades also looks cool.

Design of the Car looks somewhat Fresh & New with Properly hiding the Old-Fiesta Underpinnings, but Overall looks seems to be Conservative & the best designed feature is the Front Kinetic design hued front bumper & Well-Executed & Integrated Bigger Boot in the Rest of the Bodyshell, unlike Honda Jazz.
Rear-section is also executed well with Smartly designed Rear Tail-gate Glass in design Syuncro with Tail-lamps.

Other Special bits includes the Chrome-lined front Grille, Black coloured Plastic Cladded B-Pillars(even on base LXi versions too), Chrome-Shrouded Side Indicators, Smart ORVMs, Wheel Covers & Lower-part Cladded Rear Bumper, etc.

INTERIORS:

After opening its Driver's door, the 1st attention seeking thing is the Coral shaded Dashboard, which i found somewhat actually Good-looking than Ordinary Grey or Black Shades.




The Seats are well Cushioned with Proper Contours & are also Comfortable to sit on too but the Sore miss is the Tilt Steering Wheel(even on Top-end variants), but it wasn't a Sore miss actually, as the Steering Wheel is placeed at Proper height for drivers of almost all heights, lending a good Ergonomic feel.

The Instrument Panel Dials/digits are well executed & Clear & legible to See & Read on the Move too, but looks even more better at Night with its Red-lights, but here the Crab was the Opposite-Placed Indicator & Wiper stalks.

Rest all the Gear-shifter, Door Trims, Centre Console, Tag-Ringed Silver lined A/C vents are Cool & Fine.
While the Coolest bit being the Electric Boot-lid release near the Instrument Console,


But the Best Part from the Whole Car lies inside & it's its Bluetooth Enabled CD/MP3/FM Player with AUX-in facility, it simply looks & Sounds Awesome(above the Great) even at the FM-mode(92.7 BIG-FM at time) with only its Factory Fitted Speakers, Truly eliminating the need of Expensive Speakers with Sub-Woofers, etc.


DRIVING IT:
After twisting the Key, the Diesel engined car swiftly settled into a Smooth & Quiet Idle but the most Worst thing is that the Minor Tapp on the Accelerator pedal, the Whole of the Cabin vibrates very much in a Shivering manner(or in simple words, The Engine Shakes the Whole Bodyshell in a Jerk manner if suddenly the Accelerator is pressed or Released or while Switching-Off the Engine, like the Jeep, may be due to Cost-Saving Engine Mounts there)

But Performance-wise, The Engine response was Good with Power Delivery in a proper Linear manner with Smooth & Strong Acceleration- Much Easier & Relaxed than 1.3l MjD/DDiS/Quadrajet Diesel.
Whereas what really Surprises is the Way its 1.2l Duratec Petrol engine sounds, Revs & Actually responds to the Driver Inputs. Though it's having only 71PS on paper, but what actually surprises is the Way it Drives, with almost Linear Power delivery & its Refined nature it's almost Effortless to drive in both City & Highways at speeds upto 130kmph.


Overall the Car is having very Sorted dynamics with Satisfactory performance, Good Ride & Body-Control, Infact while driving the Car felt much Compact than Actually it is, Surprisingly Good it is.

But during that Scorching Afternoon, its A/C performance felt just adequate or Slightly less than Satisfactory, but not Upto the mark(like Beat, Swift, etc).
Also not so good is the Amount of Vibrations creeping in the Cabin of its Diesel variant, indicating Cost-Cutting Insulation used, etc, really a notch behind the Swift/Ritz DDiS & quite reminding me of ZEN-D all the way.


MY VERDICT:


On Carefully driving & Watching the whole package, At a Price-tag of Rs. 3.5 lacs, 4.5 lacs & with FE of 15+kmpl & 20+kmpl for Petrol & Diesel respectively & with Long list of Attractive features like Airbags, ABS, etc. This Car feels an Attractive VFM Buy, even better than earlier Class leader Indica Vista. An Overall Tempting & Satisfactory Package, Proof being its Top10 sales figures since 1st month of its Launch.