Livin’ La Vida Loca, as a certain Mr. Martin would probably say. Yes, living the dangerous life is what the Alto VX exemplifies. But more on that later...
When I first drove the car, I was reminded of a review I read back in 1989, in the American magazine, Car & Driver. This was about the Nissan March SuperTurbo. A small hatchback based on the very ordinary Nissan Micra, the March ST had a 930cc inline-four - supercharged AND turbocharged - which pumped out 110 horses. ’’Wheelspin city, ’’ said Car & Driver, with the tyre-smoking capabilities of (hold your breath) a Ferrari F40. YES, got your attention now, haven’t I! :-)
And though the Alto VX has barely a tad more than half the grunt of the long-defunct March, it’s still highly entertaining. 62 horses from a 1061cc 4-pot mill, and a taut, responsive chassis make the Alto VX go like stink. Use the right cog (choose from a menu of five...) at the right time, and the little bugger sprints from one tight corner to the next like a WRC-contender (okay, not really, but use your imagination...) would. A rat in reeboks would be less agile!
Top whack is in the region of 160 km/hr, which is not so bad. In fact, if it were not for the brace of Palios which Fiat have now brought here, outright performance would be class-leading.
The brakes and handling too, are up to scratch. Once, while coming back from Pune late in the night, with Joe (a senior correspondent at Indian Auto at that time...) driving, we came upon a bunch of boulders randomly strewn about the road. This, on the Pune Expressway, where some construction work was in progress. No lights, no caution marks - nothing. Both of us spotted these stones at the same time, and at about 150 km/hr, Joe swerved to the left HARD. The Alto didn’t miss a beat, took the sudden change of direction in its stride, and after a brief, easily-controlled fish-tailing session, snapped back into line. Oooooooohhh! We cheated the grim reaper yet again, thanks to the dynamic capabilities of the Alto.
A good car, I think. Pity about the Palio 1.2 though. If it weren’t for that car, I’d say that the Alto VXi is the pick of the small car litter right now...