Chevrolet Optra 1.6 SMOOTH REAL SMOOTH. Review on Chevrolet Optra

So you are looking for a car in the 8 lakh bracket (plus or minus a few thousands), want the luxury of a spacious sedan, excellent leg room in the front and back, good boot space, wanna cut out the noise, grime and dust of the city, like designer cool looks & require smartness in every aspect of the car; then the Chevrolet Optra 1.6 Elite is the choice for you.Now some people will tell you this is an American car and the Japanese ones are better - bullshit. You need to judge a car on its individual merits and not necessarily which country it originated from, since production of cars has now gone global with manufacture, parts and assembly happening concurrently in different parts of the earth. So before I bought the optra I test drove the following cars - Toyota Corrolla, Ford Fiesta, Mahindra Scorpio, Tata Safari, Toyota Innova, Tata Indigo, Fiat adventure, Honda Civic, Honda City, Ford Fusion, Chevrolet Aveo, Maruti Swift & a few others I cannot remember. I finally bought the Optra for various reasons......one being I wanted a biggish car (by Indian standards, since in the US this would be a mid sized car), something with a smart design, excellent interiors and a completely smooth and noise free run on the terrible Mumbai roads. For all this I DID NOT want to pay a whopping 10 lakhs plus...my budget was 8 lakhs at the most. The Optra brought these qualities together with an effective price and so I decided on it. Since I test drove other cars here is a short summary of each:Toyota Corrolla: Excellent car, good ride, feels a bit light for its size. I think the Corrolla is overpriced here in India, ranging between 11 to 15 lakhs for various models. Check the price in the US, you can pick up a base version in about 6 lakhs. What is it with car manufacturers in India - are we fools here or what? Thus it was a no-no for me with the Corrolla.Honda Civic: Fantastic car, excellent drive - OVERPRICED BY 2 LAKHS THOUGH. If you have the money go for it, otherwise there are better options.Mahindra Scorpio: Good Indian SUV, but needs further work...bouncy ride, clutch pedal is too tight...but the car does give a zip.Tata Safari: I almost bought this one. Great car for the price and the new 3 litre engine moves it well. Interiors as usual can be significantly better. Tata are you listening.Maruti Swift: Pleasurable little car, but too small for my requirement. Great if you are single or just a couple.Ford Fiesta: Excellent car, but the rear leg room was not enough for me.OK back to the Optra...it has wonderful interiors with its two tone beige scheme, a comfortable steering wheel, great space and legroom and an amazing music system. My car came with two front, two rear and four tweeters on board i.e. eight speakers that give fantastic sound.The Optra also comes with an all wheel independent suspension, which makes the ride very good for our porthole filled roads, but it also implies you need to maintain the perfect tire pressure. I have still not calculated the mileage I am receving, but people I have spoken with talk about anywhere between 9.5 to 11 with the new VGIS engine. You may also attach a CNG kit for an additional 55,000 rupees, but my dealer has recommended I wait before doing that, since there are still teething problems with the attachment. Also with CNG there is a significant power drop.As far the engine is concerned I am not a technical expert, but my readings on the new VGIS engine speak about a better variable intake for the engine resulting in efficient power creation and a better mileage. I guess I will try and believe that.I had one problem on the first day itself though - the brake drum in the rear wheels were making a sound. The dealer immediately changed the drums to another set of brand new ones from the company and the brakes have been working fine since then. I suspect the car was lying in their yard for some time and water may have been the culprit, but that is a guess.Overall the car is smooth as a cucumber (don't know why a cucumber is considered smooth with all those seeds) and a great deal at the price. Buy the Optra Elite if you want class, space, a smooth ride and all of it at an effective cost price.