Sep 17, 2003 06:08 PM
45123 Views
(Updated Sep 17, 2003 06:08 PM)
I always wanted a B segment car which can fulfill all my general needs with decent cabin space and good looks overall. For that reason maruti zen and alto were already out of the equation. I was left with Wagon R and Santro
Initially I was biased towards towards Wagon R due to its tall boy looks, decent space and the way you can recline its rear seats to make more room for luggage. I was almost ready to book it. Then came the new Santro Xing and I was completely bold over by its stunning looks and europeon styling. I wasted no time to rush to my nearest dealer(MGF) to check out this beauty and boy I was impressed. It had all which I ever wanted in my car.
The car looked good from all the angles and the headlights and tail lights were absolutely stunning specially the rear lights which were brilliantly detailed. The interiors were equally impressive with very decent cabin space for the car in its class. The A/C was also very effective but could have been bit better in cooling the back seats. The rear seats were also comfortable with good legroom space. The new santro xing is longer by 70 mm and wider by 30mm then the older santro. The ride was very comfortable with nice and smooth gear box and the brakes were very effective daring you to take the car to higher speeds. The boot of the car was spacious and could accomodate two mid sized suitcase easily. The rear seats can also be reclined for more luggage space.
The car has its downsides too. The engine could have been more responsive and peppy. The fuel economy could also have been much better. It returned around 10-11 Kmpl in city with A/C . One thing I would like to mention is that the battery of the car is not that strong as compared to indica or wagon R. It also has a 16 bit computer onboard where most of the modern cars these days come with a 32 bit computer. I'm mentioning this thing because sometimes there is a strange problem with my car. Whenever I give ignition to the engine the car starts normally but its AC power windows and head lights just do not work and when I give the ignition again the problem goes away. Though this particular problem could be with my car and I hope to rectify it when the car goes for its Ist service.
Inspite of its slight disadvantages its one of the better car around. The santro xing is available in four variants with maunal shifts and one with an automatic shift. The model name with manual shifts are XE, XP, XG, XS resp. I own its XG variant having body coloured bumpers and front power windows. The XE is a plane jane model without power steering and i'll not recommend it. The XP has a power steering but without body coloured bumpers and according to my personal view the car looks best with body colloured bumpers. But it's all upto you which one you like. The XS is the flagship model with all the goodies.
Will I recommend this car? Definately!
And yes you do have that europeon feel with this car. The latest news is that the car will now be shipped to europeon and ameriacn markets under the name ATOS. So here is car with international capability.
