Tag: Suzuki

  • Why, Let there be light?

    I have recently noticed (ok, not too recently) but I have noticed a unique design by Maruti Suzuki in their recent cars !

    A small red light, at the lower end of the rear bumper in the center. It does not come on with the rear or the brake lights, but apparently has a separate switch to operate!

    Now I am wondering what thought might have gone into putting a light there, just about 10 inches above the ground !!! The light at the rear top makes sense as it increases visibility from a distance, plus gives indication of applied brakes to vehicles which are relatively higher and following you at a very close distance and is a backup light just in case one of your bulbs for the brake lights is not working !

    But this light in question, is only increasing costs, but making the bumper more customized, added light (prone to damage more often, while parking, backing up etc), extra wiring and above all, a stupid look…

    Can someone help me make sense of that light please !

    Having said that, I still love to drive my first Maruti 800, Tushar’s old Zen and Aro’s really old esteem ! What brilliant engines they are! For some, Maruti might have come a long way, but from where I see it, it produces much worse cars then it used to in terms of finish, durability, and build quality ! Swift, though really strange design ( strange fattish look, and extra small windows), is a car that I like because of the work inside the car, below the hood (a bit of my liking for swift is because of the FIAT diesel engine that it uses :P) Do read about the interesting design story for the SWIFT here, and check out the two door and convertible Swifts ! they look brilliant ! I just hope they improve the paint job on the Swift ! The red one looks like years old even after a few months !

    Oh, and have a great week ahead ! the next week is just a few days away !

  • Japanese American or American Japanese !!!

    A few days back I saw a car on the road here, I recognised it and smiled because I feel good if the same models are introduced in India and outside !!! For me that represents a growing India…
    Honda Accord, CRV, Civic; Toyota Camri, Corolla; The Chevrolet UVA (Aveo in the US) are exactly the same models !!! nice… Ok, back to the incident !!!
    Everything was fine till I saw the logo of the brand, and I was shocked !!!
    The car looked like the Chevrolet Optra and it was carrying a Suzuki Logo… Pretty interesting eh !!!
    Check out the following links for yourself !!!
    I don’t see much of a difference !!! Do you?
    *Listening to Don Davis – Navras (Matrix Revolutions Soundtrack) {Fantastic track; High Energy; Sanskrit ; Rock ; Instrumental; What not}
  • Of Curves and Cuts on Tyres…

    This year’s Auto Expo (one of the exbitions that I love to love) looks like one of the more practical ones in the last few years…

    Two things that I have been following and am happy about are…

    1. The cheaper Car – Nano… The claims are that it costs a lakh, however when you add things like road tax, insurance, a few accesories etc this should be around 1.25 on-road for the base model… not bad at all for a 33bhp 600 odd cc engine… I think this should be a very practical buy for city driving… The only thing that will keep me away from it would be the poor Tata build quality in cars… except the Safari, the plastics of most cars are cheap, and they can start rattling in about 6 months of regular usage… Indigo is a delight to look at, and has one of the best ACs that I know of in Sedans in India, however the sound that it starts making after a few months is something that is a big put off… Ankur now has a Safari and I am really looking forward to some first hand reviews from him…

    The sad part is after I have driven the FIAT, the build quality of almost every car that I have been into seems inferior…

    2. The new SUMO… relabelled as the Sumo Grand… though the looks seem to be coming a lot from the LandRover, minus the headlights which still have a dated feeling… the first looks at the SUV made it look impressive… again.. the TATA build quality is something that I would really like to consider before I would recommend this to anyone… Mahindra seems to be much better in their engine refinement and the quality of the vehicles when it comes to a comparision between the Sumo and the Balero and the Scorpio and the Safari…

    But with this new good looking Sumo, and the “I so want it but cannot afford it” Safari, things might be a li’il tough for Scorpio and likes…

    Another news that I have been waiting for was the launch of SKODA Fabia… Its a premium hatchback, which personally makes a lot of sense to me, and comes with the SKODA tag… needless to say the safety, reliability, build finish and quality are the things that you can assume coming with this car by default… Not sure how successful it would be though in the very cost concious Indian market… We are not too keen on paying a premium for a smaller car which comes with added benefits… If the Fabia 1.4L Diesel engine delivers like the much higher and bigger Octavia does… they already have a customer in line for the car !!!

    Honda also had on display the Honda Jazz which is a sleek looking 5 door hatchback… Another car to look forward to in terms of reliability and performance…

    Oh, and yes I also saw a few pictures of the new Suzuki Dezire… the sedan version of the SWIFT ( which is a nice car) but Dezire is one of the most stupid looking cars that I have seen in recent times… Looks like there is a competition of sorts about who makes worse car backs between Mahindra Logan and Suzuki Dezire…

    All in all, this looked like a good beginning for the potential car buyers, and people who are looking at decent upgrades for their existing vehicles…

    I am looking forward to another FIAT though 🙂