A hard one to decline. Review on Maruti Suzuki Zen - Petrol

Its a real gem. But im not enlightened by any means. I have driven this for about two months and found its great buy but certainly not for me. I'm not going into the looks or about its specs cause there is somethin more important that only a user can say.

The positive side:

What can I say abouts its acceleration? Its a screamer. You can push as hard as u can n it delivers. Wonderful torque and great power to weight ratio with its very light body and engine (all aluminium). I can zoom away from any small car or for its power some mid size very easily. Great responce even at speeds over 70 kmph. The car has a good gear ratio which results in great mileage and power. It posses good overall balance and with electronic power steering its very easy to control. I can accomodate upto 5 without any major discomfort.

The mileage I achieved was about 13 in the city and 16 on highway which was good on chennai and it has beaten its competitors very comfortably. I personally loved the car with its very easy handling and wonderfully amazing performance. But all the good faces has a bad side too.

The negative side:

This car is a very good example how simple engineering can change the overall performance. They made the car lighterwhich gave us great mileage, performance and guess what instability too... the car was so light its braking suffers with lack of road grip. The most annoying thing of all is if a bus or some heavy vehicle over takes oh God you will be ratled cause the wind will push you. Particularly if a single person is travelling the road grip and the feel of the car is not there. Not to mention that she is a delicate darling. One small hit she is gone... even if a person leans on it she will squeeze through....

The verdict:

Its all because of the one crucial element, the weight of the car. It gives us the mind blowing performances as well as the cause for its downfall. I found palio the opposite of this. Its stable has a good handling and braking but its heavy resulting in lack of mileage and power but not to a greater extent. I feel thats better engineering. Thats where japanese have to learn. Give a much balanced car so that I can b fast n safe.

I was strugglin to rate this but in the end I don't think I can recommend this... but again it may suit some.....

Happy drivin...

vj