Aug 11, 2007 03:32 PM
10012 Views
This is my third car(just to tell you I am not a novice in car usage) and I value a car on it's utility, not on some high funda feature that one may use once in a blue moon. I am not an engineer and don't bother too much over specifications. I have reasonable understanding of engine power, utility of torque in city drive and some basic on fuel injection system. I drive and test to draw conclusions. If that is OK with you.read on .
First, let me clarify that once the common rail diesel engines are available in India, I see a mass shitch over of the petrol car users to diesel cars. In present times of escallating petrol prices and increased mileage with advanced diesel engines, the trend is easy to predict. So after checking out on some of the recent diesel common rail engine cars, I landed with Mahindra Logan, the diesel version.
Considering the fact that looks are not something that I look for in a car(I bought a Santro when it was touted as the ugliest car on Indian road by the Automobile Experts), here is what I feel about the Mahindra Logan.
Plus:
1 The price .instead of trying to make a snobish comment to cover up a foolish decision of buying a high priced car with the same facilities, let us accept that at this price you don't get a'big car' in India.
2 The space inside, pay around six lakhs or a couple of lakhs more than that, and show me a more spacious car
3 Comfort on Indian roads, I drove the car at 2nd, 3rd and 4th gears over different seed breakers - the result was amazingly comfortable
4 Great city drive, I am talking about cities (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata etc) where you spend a lifetime waiting for signals and most of the journey has to be covered in low sppeds, I tested the car in 2nd gear and 3rd gear(with AC) and was more than satisfied with the result.
5 The car comes with a five year warrenty on bottom perforation and a built in immobilizer - two features that spell real utility.
6 The mileage is fantastic, considering the size. My brother reports that to cost Rs 2/- per KM
Small Minus:
1 The Gear shifting is tight and has to fall in slots - that I understand will ease with use
2 The driver's gadgets like indicator switch, wiper controls etc are on the opposite direction - this also one expects to get used to, while driving. The wipers are also arranged for an LH drive, but if you don't know that - it won't bother you.
3 Rear doors dosen't have handles inside, there are grip slots - again one gets used to this
4 The boot is real big.but it dosent open from driver's control
5 The major part of the driver's control panel gets hidden behind the steering
Big Minus:
Reading one of the reviews of this car, I do agree that you can't drive this vehicle at 185 km/h on CNG and blah blah.but I wonder in which part of an Indian road you can do it legitimately.and how frequently one finds the requirement of such driving. In fact a visual recording of such driving provides evidence for penal action.but all that is not for practical use, so I will cut the cr.
My view:
There is no car that gives you more value for money at around 6 lakhs, on Indian roads. It should go as a practical man's big car.
