The Chevy Optra 1.6, the car that was supposed to take on the new Honda City / Lancer / Baleno / Corolla . Well.....it did more than that, since its launch, down south ! Take a look at price comparisons, whereas a City sells for 7.37 lakhs ex-showroom, the Optra does the same for 7.47.
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Now why pay the extra 10, 000 Rs you may ask? Well here’s why! For that extra ten grand you not only get a bigger car, but a more powerful car at 1600cc of pure European horse-power!<p><p>
The car is more spacious than the City (but, same as Lancer) and is so smooth, I ended up starting the engine again, thinking it was shut off!<p><p>
The car is fun to drive, thanks to its electronically controlled power steering, something akin to the system fitted on the Maruti Baleno. It becomes stiffer as you ride fast and smooth when you are riding slowly!<p><p>
The version I test drove, had pathetic interiors and the first thing you notice when you step into the car, is just that! If you are paying 7.47 you better get decent interiors! The competitor Honda City gets my full mark on this front, the City has a wonderful beige interiors with ample wood, to give it that upmarket feel!<p><p>
We shall not talk about the interiors of the new Lancer
(available ex-showroom at 6 lakh +!). The less said, the better.
Haven’t seen a Corolla, at this price-range..yet! However, if you want
a car that just beg you to push the accelerator and just flies off the
handle, you might consider the Baleno lxi available now at 5.5 lakhs!<p><p>
The car had a Daewoo reminiscent gear shift, with the reverse right next to the first gear, activated by a knob on the gear lever. Infact the Daewoo similarity goes on the dashboard too,
with the stupid, dark black resin wrap-around console over the dash!
Wake up GM, we live in the 21st century, black went out of fashion in
the 90’s! <p><p>
If you have cash (since you are in the market for a C1-segment car, I
shall assume you have lots of it!), and want to be driven around with comfort in the city or highway, this is the car for you. However I doubt the resale value of the Optra.Forget about the tall claims of the good
mileage (20kmpl! ...yeah right, we weren’t born yesterday GM! ). Lets
be realistic, the Optra is not going to give you more than 9-11kmpl in
the city and 10-14kmpl in the highways with the Air-con unit on! <p><p>
For 7.47 (ex-showroom) you get everything as standard in this car, tubeless radials, power-windows, power-steering, central locking, decent music-system and the ’’ I got a bigger car ’’, tag!<p><p>
The Honda City uses a SOHC engine unit (remember
the Ikon?? yes..SOHC are for the value-concious customers--read:
’’us’’. More on that....it is cheaper to build and customers in India,
can’t yet understand the difference between an SOHC and a DOHC unit! ),
vis-a-vis the more refined DOHC unit in the Optra (from Austria.... with love!).The Optra1.6 gives you the feeling the you just met Cielo’s long lost brother! (but....this brother just happens....to walk on the fashion ramps of Milan and Paris!) <p><p>
The negative points of the car are, that it gives you a caged
feeling (the seats wrap around your body...gives me the jeepers!) and
the A pillars with the side B pillars give you bad all round visibility!<p><p>
More about the car, it has a good ground clearence at 173mm, trunk capacity is 405 ltrs, and a tight turning radius of 5.2mtrs! There is also the addedfuel tank capacity of 60 ltrs! <p><p>
Wait..don’t go.....there’s more.....actually lots more! The piece-de-resistance, the gas-filled shock-absorbers, the same as those fitted in the Mercedes E-class! Yup..that is what gives the comfortable bump-less drive to you!<p><p>
More huh?...sure .....the engine is 1.6 E-tec engine (ecm unit--i.e. with micro-processor unit), which pumps out 104ps of power at 5800 rpm, for the power freaks, that is roughly 148Nm of torque delivered to you at 3500 rpm to make sure you are always ahead!<p><p>
Ok....i am sure you are getting tired of this...there’s .......what else?...MORE!<p><p>
The Optra feature for the first time, in a car of its class, All-Wheel-Independent-Suspension system! This is done by incorporating, McPherson struts, both at the front and the rear!Basically it means, a very..very..comfortable ride and handling!<p><p>
I guess that is what the Optra 1.6 is all about, giving you
more..for less..but with lots...and I mean seriously..... lots of style!<p><p>
-----------------------------------------HOT NEWS----------------------------
Incidentally got a call from the dealer at Skoda and got a unofficial test drive of the
SKODA Fabia! Test drive report coming soon! Also got a test drive of the new Indgio
CS(compact sedan)!