Jan 09, 2009 12:52 PM
6378 Views
Well friends, I am writing my first review. I own this logan 1.6 gxi model for 10 months now. I have good experience of this car so I can write a decent review.
to start with as you mention an entry level sedan people start comparing it with city and sx4. but they dont realize the price difference in all these cars which mark them out separately.atleast it is the case with me.i got this car at a very high discounted price. the reason for that is this car was manufactured in july 2007and I bought it new in feb 2008. this car belongs to the first sets of logan petrol which were launched in india.so no changes were there in it which were introduced much later.
I agreed to the conditions of this specific car since I got it for 5.1lac flat on road .with all insurance and other stuff included.also got a rear boot opener which is absent in this model for free.
the price might surprice you since its cost is 5.7 lac ex showroom and 6.1 lac on road so indirectly I got a discount of 1 lac.
now coming to the difficulties that I faced with the car are . since having its origin in france it has typical left handed driving features. like the indicator and lights are on the left and the wipers on the right.
this is not much of a problem . the real problem is with the wipers . they turn from left to right strangely the other way than the conventional cars in india.this is a problem bec when the wipers have reached their turn limit and start to retrace its path then they drag the wiped out part and leave droplets ont they driver side which would have been on the non driver side had the things been normal.
the other problem which the r nd people fixed later was the doors which are very heavy and cant support well. after 100km of driving they started making noises when thecar met a pothole.this was because the door clasp had rubber coating over its metal part so with the heavy weight the rubber used to worn out very soon.so the fix for indian consumers was a complete metal clasp with no rubber on it and really it works wonders. no sound and when the doors are closed shut they make less noise.this fix was made to my car free of cost by the car dealer when I complained.
the other problem which cant be fixed is the noises inside the car cabin. it would have been much beter if it was more sound proof.when you drive rough road you wouldnt feel he bumps but the noise will make you feel them .i hope you get my point.like the noise is as if the car has faced damage in the bump but actually its the noise which is common outside the cabin of every car .but you hear it inside and dont feel it.
coming to the engine .it is a very powerfull engine the figures and details of bhp and torque you can check I am telling you the practical part. compared to its counterparts like accent and honda.the engine is damn powerfull.it can charge up at low spped at higher gears so you dont need to shift gears very frequenly so the drive is comfortable.
the problem is with air conditioning that I felt. when you turn the fan on inside the cabin then it passes hot air as it sucks air from a region close to the engine so it throws hot air. the heat of he engine is sfelt inside.though it helps in winters to keep the cabin warm without turning on the heater. probably the design is like that because of the cold climate in france. I dont know if the air source changes when the air conditioner is turned on.because if it remains the same then probably its taking more load to cool the hot air which is hotter due to the engine heat.but cant say because the air is anyway cold.
one other problem is the mileage which turns out to be 9-10 kmpl in city as I travel a very crowded part of delhi.on highway with or without ac it is 15-16. I know strange statement to make.with ir without ac same average.its probably because ac doesnt give that powerfull engine much load.
best part about the car is the space which is very huge.
on the rear seat three people can sit without touching each other.and four like three in other cars like honda city.even when the front seats are pulled to their maximum towards the rear there is a lot of leg space still left in the rear seat.this is amazing.
if you do not like the interiors and the mileage then you can improve it with the money that you saved compare to the other cars .
I saved 3.5 lacs compared to honda city more than any other logan user.the drive quality is really amazing.
the braking is just breathtaking.it can hault from 100kmh to 0 kmh without travelling much of a distance. this seriously adds o the safety because of the power brakes not abs.
it gains very high momentum because of the enormous weight that it has 1600kgs. whch is a lot compared to 1300 or less in honda city. city is extremely light and aluminium body makes it quite delicate.this car is very strong which you can feel by driving for its weight and also when you raise the bonnet of the car which is very heavy.so when you have attained decent speed it just doesnt stop and travels a lot of distance before it comes to complete rest.
so go for this car if you need some serious space otherwise many other good cars in the lineup.
