Many years after I first drove the original Maruti Gypsy, I had another go in one recently. The ‘new’ one, of course - the 1.3-litre-engined, fuel-injected, 80-horse version. And this ‘new’ Gypsy is waaa…aay different from the ‘old’. While the original MG410 1.0-litre Gypsy had barely enough power to get out of its own way, the new one will happily stomp up to 80kmph in second, which says a bit about what fuel-injection will do for performance!
The ’test car’ was completely stripped down to the bare basics - the rear seats were folded up, the soft-top removed - and there was not even a boombox to divert attention from the essentials. Turn the key, and the engine howls like a rally-prepped Gypsy from the late 1980s. This, is the real deal! Step on the juice in first, and the car
leaps ahead with abandon. Don’t let up, don’t give it mercy, and you’ll see 40+ in first, 80 in second, and 100 in third, with two cogs still left to go. Since overall gearing remains low, the Gypsy still does not go much beyond 120kmph (which comes in fourth…). For me, the maximum practical cruising speed in this vehicle is not more than about 80 - 85, which is a bit slow. Some might argue that on-road speed is not really the point here, but the fact remains that most city-slickers who buy the Gypsy don’t do much off-road driving, if any.
With the Gypsy, it’s the ‘pose-value’ that matters. An open Gypsy buys instant street-cred, and you can’t knock that - people somehow seem a bit less inclined to take any ‘panga’ if they see you getting off a Gypsy! On the road, the car handles just about okay - though it can catch you out if you like to speed around all the time! As is to be expected, the Gypsy does the wallow-and-weave dance at speed, but the mythical propensity to turn turtle did not manifest itself even once. And if you are thinking we were not pushing the thing hard enough, think again... I got into impromptu madcap races against all kinds of vehicles, but the Gypsy could take on all comers without being disgraced.
The car is very stiffly sprung, which means if you encounter bumps at high speeds, you are thrown about quite a bit. All that is OK if you are out with gang and looking for some fun, but if the wife and kids get propelled two
feet off their seats while you take speedbreakers at 50kmph, be prepared for some hell when you get home!
The gearbox is a bit notchy, but the gear ratios are well suited to some nifty traffic slicing. The brakes are good, but the Gypsy needs better (thicker, stickier) tyres to
complement the rest of the running gear. Under hard braking, the car moves around a lot, and wanders off the straight line if you lock the wheels. Steering feels a bit vague at times, and the ‘wheel requires constant corrections to keep the vehicle headed in the desired direction. A tendency to wander? No wonder the name is “Gypsy”!
If Maruti wants to position this as a yupmobile for young richies, they would do well to slap on some meaty alloys, thick radial tyres, and a kicking sound system as standard equipment. And while they are at it, they should spruce up the rather Spartan dash as well - give it some aluminum trim and other fancy knick-knacks perhaps. A decade-and-a-half on, stuff is getting a bit dated on the Gypsy. See, with a mileage of about 8 - 9 kilometers to one litre of Petrol, those who are looking for pure and simple utility vehicle will probably never buy the Gypsy. And those who do buy it, will want the fancy stuff. Well, most of them will. So bring on the goodies like power-steering (badly needed…), power-windows, and more comfy rear seats (throw out those rear benches, please…), and the buyers will
come.
Me? I’ll wait for the Grand Vitara... ;-)