Boyracer Rips a Maruti Suzuki Kizashi weeks before the Indian Launch.

I have just entered my house after  Test driving a Kizashi, nope ripping a Maruti Kizashi. Unlike most magazines, I will try to put down just the vital points in layman's language instead of giving the technical Testdriving details and review.

The First Impression

The mascular looks of the Maruti Kizashi take away most people's heart unlike the smaller sibling SX4 which it so closely resembles in India and elsewhere. Suzuki has changed the car a lot from the original concept it unveiled to make it more usable. Infact I liked the grown up look on the Kizashi unlike on the SX4. Maruti Suzuki has decided to follow other makers and give the cars a corporate look. The imposing chrome grille is the first of its kind chrome grille that I really liked. The rear is non-suzuki ish too with designer lamps. Nothing special here though apart from projector lamps which I thought wer Xenon at first.



The dual exhaust finish at the rear looks awesome from a distance but at closer look, we can see the exhausts ill fitted with silver accents in the bumper. But it is these exhaust which help the car give a throaty roar which demands respect. Love the sound!!!

The finer details

The Vitara engine was not smooth as expected (this was a new car and so roughness is expected) and neither was the gearshift the best in the business. It got stuck between 3rd and 4th on numerous occassions. The short gearshift is also nice to hold. The low profile rubber did let the shocks through but aided handling. Braking is mediocre at best. I liked the Handling and Cornering aspect better than some competing cars. Acceleration is not sudden but once the car is on the move, all the 165 horses move those big wheels (18-inchers??). I flipped it on the lanes and the car didnt budge my confidence at all. Awesome then.

I can safely say that I tried but could not relate the Kizashi to any other brand and it looks distinctive for a maruti.



I touched a top speed of 140 but my friend touched 180. I did a 0-100 in about 9 seconds but lost a vital half in the beginning at launch since I am not used to driving it. This I am saying purely based on seat of the pants experience. No, I did not do a Fuel efficiency average test and so I cannot answer your question 'kitna deti hai'. :P It is a petrol though so yes, the 2400 cc petrol engine will sip.

Living with the car

The plastic and interior quality are similar to that of a Vitara. I can say the quality is better than most Suzuki's you've seen. Seat comfort is excellent. I was fumbling to find a good driving position though. Also the headroom was not as generous as the legroom due to a slanting A-pillar which gives the car a nice low slung stance. The puddle lights and leg space illumination is a nice touch and looks beautiful too. But why different colours? Once can also access the boot throug the rear arm rest like many other cars in its segment.

The handbrake did not fall into the hand easily and the steering wheel is not nice to hold either . But steering wheel has rake and reach. Dead peadal is also standard. The car already had a Kinley mineral water bottle in the door so yes they can hold bottles and are not just for show.  I had to pull the doors hard to close and that's a bad sign.

Luxuries

Cruise control is standard. So are Stereo buttons on the steering wheel.
Climate control is standard too.
Stereo doesnt sound good for the price segment. USB is present but no aux. The stereo seems to be a 6-speaker system with front door tweeters. Red lighting brings sportiness to the interiors.
The car I drove had leather upholstery and aluminium insers in the dash.
The light and viper stalks are American styled and not suited for India ala GM and Ford.
Interior is airy. Boot can be accessed from the rear seat arm rest.
Keyless operation is standard on all models.

Conclusion

The overall quality of the car is much better than most Suzuki's but the build is still Japanese Suzuki. The model I test drove was a CBU but lets expect more refined engines and better build as cars are indegenized for our fuel and lifestyle.

Motorcycle body styles?

I write about Cars on my blog more but motorcycles remain my first love. There is a distinctive aura and charisma exuded by motorcycles which cars can never match.  But the image differs from motorcycle to motorcycle and country to country too. for e.g. in Canada motorcycles are only used by a handful of the populace for recreation while in India motorcycles are used by a majority for their everyday commute. Also, India is the largest two wheeler market in the world. Just like cars motorcycles also have body styles.

1. Cruiser : Cruiser is the term for motorcycles that mimic the design style of American machines from the 1930s to the early 1960s. The riding position on a cruiser usually but not always places the feet forward and the hands up, with the spine erect or leaning back slightly.  Mostly the engine capacities are much higher than normal bikes and also feature car engines on various examples.

Cruisers that are built uniquely or custom designed are called Choppers and mostly American in their origin.
Bobbers are cruisers which dont have front fenders mostly seen on Choppers.

2. Sportbike: A sport bike, also written as sportbike, is a motorcycle optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on paved roads, typically at the expense of comfort and fuel economy in comparison to less specialized motorcycles. The bodies are mostly fully faired (clothed) to providing for the best aerodynamic efficiencies aiding in performance and termed superbikes. Sportbikes are mostly classified bytheir displacements as

Lightweight (250cc),
Middleweight (600 cc),
Superbiker (1000cc) and
Hyperbike (above 1000cc).

3. Street bikes: A street version of sportbikes are known as street bikes. Mostly, the street versions are semi-fared or naked. Street bikes are classified as streetfighter, Naked bike. A Streetfighter is a street bike that is customized by removing the fairing, and making other changes that result in an overall more aggressive look. Beyond simply removing fairings, specific changes that exemplify the streetfighter look are a pair of large, round headlights, tall, upright handlebars such as those on a motocross bike, and short, loud, lightweight mufflers. Caferacers are also a part of streetbikes. Sometimes they are also called roadsters.

3. Touring: A touring motorcycle is a type of motorcycle designed for long-distance touring and heavy commuting. Although any motorcycle can be used to tour with, manufacturers have brought specific models designed to address the particular needs of these riders. Common to the touring motorcycle models is usually large displacement fairings and windshields (to offer a high degree of weather and wind protection), large capacity fuel tanks (for long ranges between fill-ups), engines offering lots of low-end horsepower, and a more relaxed, more upright seating position than sportbikes.  They are further classified as

Sport tourers (fully dressed tourers) which includes features like A/C, Music players etc
Classic tourers are crusiers with a more relaxed riding posture designed for long distance touring
Dual purpose tourers  designed specifically to provide global touring capabilities on both pavement and off-road with the intent of making virtually any destination reachable.

4. Off-road (enduro): An Enduro motorcycle is a motorcycle specially made for the Enduro sport, with the long travel and medium-hard suspension of a motorcross bike conjoined with features such as a headlight and quiet muffler to make the bike street-legal for parts of the track. The engine of an enduro bike is usually a single cylinder 2-stroke between 125cc and 360co, or 4-stroke between 250 and 650cc. Such bikes are also known as dirtbikes. They are classified mainly based on the races they are used for.

Moto cross
Supermoto (Dirt bike)

5. Muscle bikes: Just as the name suggests Muscle bikes like their muscle car counterparts are  a type of  motorcycle that puts a disproportionately high priority on engine power. Cafe racers are not exactly muscle bikes but are a breed of cruisers modfied for a sporty posture and performance.

Sidecar: An important role has been played by the sidecar in history of motorcycles. Such has also been the cas in movies. So a mention is obvious.

Car founders and their car brands

Ford- Henry Ford

Porsche - Ferdinand Porsche

TATA-Ratan Tata

Mahindra- KC Mahindra

Opel- Adam Opel

Dodge- Horace and John Dodge

Chrysler- Walter Chrysler

Maserati- Alfieri, Bindo, Carlo, Ettore and Ernesto

Toyota - Kiichiro Toyoda

Chevrolet- Louis Chevrolet

Buick- David Dunbar Buick

Bentley- Walter Owen Bentley

Buggati- Ettore Buggati

Lamborghini- Ferruccio Lamborghini

Peugeot- Armand Peugeot

Citroen-Andre Citroen

Honda- Soichiro Honda

Ferrari- Enzo Ferrari

Alfa Romeo- Nicola Romeo

Lancia- Vincenzo Lancia

Suzuki- Michio Suzuki

Renault- Louis, Marcel and Fernand Renault

Diamler Benz- Gottlieb Diamler, Karl benz

Maybach- Wilhelm Maybach

Rolls-Royce- Charles Steward Rolls, Henry Royce

Cars that wrote the Indian Automobile history- Happy new year 2011

1.  Sipani Motors:  During the early 1990s, a deal was struck with Bangalore-based Sipani Automobiles, whereby saloons and estates would be exported in SKD form (semi knocked down) to be assembled in India and sold through the Sipani subsidiary, Dolphin Motors Ltd. These cars were all built in Cowley during 1994 and were complete, save for a few locally-produced components, such as batteries and air conditioning. When the Montego went on sale in India, it was subject to higher duties putting the high price into perspective, the Montego cost ten times the price of the basic Maruti and seven times that of the Hindustan Ambassador.

Sipani decided that in order to counter their own bad name, they would market the car as the "Rover Montego". The Rover Montego nevertheless found its place at the premium end of the Indian market, where it sat comfortably above the workaday cars from Maruti, Hindustan and Premier, with a suitably hefty price tag. The newly liberalized market meant that the Montego faced stiffer opposition than Sipani would ever have anticipated, and despite great promise it never took off: in its first full year, just 236 Rover Montegos were sold, in both body styles, and its appeal rapidly faded. A total of 500 Montegos (approximately split 50/50 saloons to estates - all Clubman diesels) were shipped to India during 1994 and 1995, and the last 51 units were sold in 1998.

Cars sold by Sipani

Sipani Dolphin
Sipani Montana
Rover Montego

2. Standard Motors : The Standard is an India brand of automobile which was produced by Standard Motor Products in Madras from 1949 to 1988. Indian Standards were variations of vehicles made in the U.K. by Standard- Triumph. After being formed in 1947, their first product was the Vanguard, which began to be assembled in 1949. From 1955, versions of the Standard Eight and Ten were produced, with ever increasing local content.

The Standard Gazel replaced the Herald in 1971. In 1971 the Herald was remodelled (bodily) by Nasir Hussein as the Standard Gazel, with low horizontal rectangular tail-lights and a new frontal design with a different grille and headlights set far apart, purportedly inspired from the Triumph Herald 13/60. Its new, more sober rear end lacked the characteristic tailfins of the Herald. This car turned out to be one of the few short-lived and less-known cars of the Indian motoring Industry. Production of this car stopped after 1977, following which Standard Motors never produced cars again for the next few years until the Standard 2000.

The Standard Herald was made in CKD form in the 60's by Standard Motors, Madras, as a 2 door MK1 and MK2, and later as an indigenous 4-door MK3, which was considered more suitable for Indian families. From 1985 to 1988 the company manufactured the Standard 2000. The 2000 featured higher ground clearance for the Indian market; but low quality, high price, and low performance combined to end the car after only about three years. To top it all, a supposedly false claim about the fuel average of the car attributed to the company from the then Government caused an inquiry and resulted in the company getting into long-winding legal tangles, eventually leading to the factory being shut down for many years until the property was auctioned off and thereafter completely torn down.

Cars manufactured by Standard Motors
Standard Herald
Standard Gazel
Standard 2000

3. Premier Automobiles:  Premier Ltd. (formerly The Premier Automobiles Limited) is a manufacturer of vehicles based in Mumbai, India. Founded in 1944, the car first launched production by building vehicles under license from Dodge and Plymouth. In 1951, they began producing versions of the Fiat 500 for the Indian market. This was followed by the Fiat 1100 in 1954While many do not know, Fiat 500 currently on sale today was the first fiat to have actually been made available on sale in 1944.

 In 1973, the Premier name was used on their vehicles for the first time, the Premier President, based on the Fiat 1100 as Premier Padmini. In 1978, they launched the Fiat 124- based Premier 118 and 138D models. In 2000, they launched production, under license from Taiwan's China Motor Corporation, of the Premier Sigma and Roadster vans and pick-ups which are still in production.

With market liberalisation Premier tied up with Peugeot to build the Peugeot 309 in India. Initial demand was high but labour problems and poor dealer service led to problems which were compounded when Premier also tied up with old partners Fiat to manufacture the Fiat Uno. Peugeot pulled out of the venture around 2001 with only a few thousand cars sold. Labour and service issues also plagued the Fiat venture and a massive strike finally caused the plant to shut around 2001 with Fiat left to fend for itself with its reputation marred. Not only Fiat, but also the Premier Automobiles Ltd., faced severe criticism in media.

There were various criminal cases against its promoters. The Consumer Courts of India were flooded with complaints for non-refund of the car booking. The Promoters of Premier Automobiles have also been confronted with Criminal cases in various consumer courts of India under section 27 of Consumer Protection Act. A customer Association based at Gujarat - Rajkot called Pal Car Customer Association has made various representations against the Premier Automobiles Ltd. CNBC channel also aired an interview under the crime story program called "UNCOVERED".

Premier Automobiles cars
Dodge Kingsway
Plymout Savoy
Plymouth Belvedere
500
1100
PAL Padmini
PAL 118NE
Fiat Uno
Peugeot 309

4. Hindustan Motors : Hindustan Motors is an automobile manufacturer from India. It is part of the Birla Technical Services industrial group. The company was the largest car manufacturer in India before the rise of Maruti Udyog. It is the producer of the Ambassador car, widely used as a taxicab and as a government limousine. This car is based on the Morris Oxford, a British car that dates back to 1954.

One of the original three car manufacturers in India, founded in 1942 by Mr. B.M. Birla, it was a leader in car sales until the 1980s, when the industry was opened up from protection. It began in Port Okha near Gujarat, and in 1948, moved to West Bengal. The Place is now Called Hindmotor.

Hindustan and General Motors have had several tie-ups in the post independence era to produce Bedford Trucks, Vauxhall Motors(1980 to 1990), Allison Transmissions and off-road equipment. In 1994, GM and Hindustan (C K Birla) formed a 50-50 joint venture, General Motors India to make Opel cars. GM bought out the Halol, Gujarat plant from Hindustan in 1999.

Hindustan Motor's [HM] Contessa is derived from General Motor's [UK] Vauxhall Victor whose design was shelved in Europe after 1978. HM picked it up in late 1985.

Cars manufactured by Hindustan Motors
Hindustan 10
Hindustan 14
HM Ambassador
HM Contessa
Vauxhall models
Opel Astra

5. Daewoo India: Daewoo India doesnt really belong here. But it will be sad if the contribution of Daewoo India goes unnoticed. Daewoo made Cielo, Nexia and the super successfull Matiz during its time at the Surajpur plant. Daewoo India was Daewoo's succesful units.

 When The company went under and was purchased by General Motors during its green time, the Indian plant was left to fend for itself. The subsidiary went bankrupt and the plant was later purchased by Argentum Motors.

Cars manufactured by Daewoo India

Daewoo Cielo
Daewoo Nexia
Daewoo Matiz

PS: Mahindra had various Jeeps in production under license. Since the vehicle is still under production after various updated it doesn't feature in this article. But since the Ambassador is here in its previous form, Mahindra does deserve a mention.

Sources:
http://www.team-bhp.com/
http://www.wikipedia.com/
Hari's Motor world