New Cars and Motorcycles Update

Well, the Auto Expo got over and now its time for the long and agonizing wait for the cars and motorcycles shown to actually come on roads. A few of them have already made it and the rest will follow soon. Here’s a list.

Indigo CS: First the cheapest car in the world, and then this, the shortest saloon in the world. The CS or the Compact Saloon is less than 4000mm in length, and gets the benefit of the excise duty cut. Cheap doesn’t even begin to describe what it costs. A no frills CS will cost you as much as a small car with a fair number of features. If you always wanted a ‘big car’ for not much money, this is it. You get enough space on the inside, big car feel, diesel economy, looks a touch odd side on.

Indica DICOR: The Indica gets the Indigo’s DICOR engine making 70PS of power. Not much change on the inside. Looks like a ‘normal’ Indica. Costs a bit more than the Turbo. Expect better fuel efficiency and a slight performance advantage. Nothing else.

Skoda Fabia: Oh my god! It’s a Swift! Okay so it does look like the Suzuki, but its nothing like it. Loads more space on the inside, quality levels comparable to a few classes above it, and priced slightly out of the reach of the conventional small car buyer’s reach I think. The diesel version will let you know it drinks the dirty fuel in low revs with a bit of noise, but the engine is pretty stress free as revs build up. Ride quality is again much better than the supposed competition (read that as Swift, UV-A, Getz). The real competition though are the Fiesta and Verna diesels. Petrol 1.4 is pretty nippy too.

Ford Endeavour 3.0: The Ford gets an engine upgrade. Already? Yes, well 13 more bhp and a bigger three liter motor. More torque lower down in the revs. The original Endeavour lacked the power to pull its own weight, which the company rectified with the last upgrade. This upgrade has come in a pretty quick time.

Palio Diesel 1.3 Multijet: Palio will be the second car in the country to get the famed 1.3 liter engine also found under the bonnet of the Swift. It will be available shortly throughout the country, and if Fiat is to be believed, it will be priced competitively. So don’t be amazed if it undercuts its half brother by more than a few thousand.

Chevrolet Captiva: GM launched their new SUV at the Expo. It is powered by the same 2.0 liter turbocharged engine found in the Optra Magnum. It produces more power though, 28bhp to be exact. Seven seater, gunning for the CRV is a good choice if the thoughts of heavy fuel bills of the CRV have been detracting you. Costs approximately 17.7 lakh ex-showroom.

CRV 2.0: The SUV from Honda has got a smaller engine, still pretty powerful, lost its four wheel drive in favour of front wheel drive and a few other things like a sunroof etc. More fuel efficient and even more desireable now.

Scooty EV: The two stroke motor has been replaced by an electric motor. So no more blue smoke, but you do get 40km to a full charge. Top speed of around 40 kmph. Pretty fast for an EV. A 750 watt motor does duty and hence you need to get the vehicle registered by the RTO and also a valid license to ride it.

Gladiator SS: The SS stands for Sports and Style. Pretty lame I must say. But anyways, it should be out in a few days time. No change in power and torque figures. Modifications made are too many to list but the important ones are a new air filter, tachometer, O-Ring sealed chain. Fairing has a scoop in it. Whatever. Will cost more no doubt. Will be followed by the Type RS in a month’s time. Read about it here.