The heart of the new Maruti Esteem is it's 16Valve 4 Cylinder 1300cc MPFI (Multi Point Fuel Injection) Engine which belts out 85BHP@6000RPM and 109Nm Torque@3000RPM which complies with the Bharat II specifications.
Until the early years of the 90s the Ambasadors,Premier Padminis ruled the ''protected'' Indian Automarket. It was in the reign of these vintage cars that Maruti launched elder much ''sober'' sister of the esteem-Maruti 1000 with it's slick looks, style made it stand out amongst the other cars. However it was fitted with Gypsy's 999cc engine which delivered much less power than what the car asked for.
But this was to change soon....with the advent of the Esteem, which ships with a 1300cc all aluminum engine belting out 85BHP. The engine which is made entirely from aluminum is lighter and has better thermal conductivity which ensures that the engine cools down rapidly.
SAFETY AND CHASSIS
1) The monocoque body of the esteem distributes the impact of collision evenly and the affected parts start collapsing in the crumple zones which ensures that the passengers in the cabin are safe.
2) Seat belts are provided for the front as well as the rear seats.
3) Side Impact beams are in the form of robust steel tubing formerly steel sheets were being used. Thicker door construction and a reinforced cross member provides extra protection to the occupants in the cabin in an event of a collision.
BRAKES
Braking System: Front Discs and Rear Drums.
Discs:13'' Ventilated Disc Brakes.
Drum:8'' Self Adjusting drum brakes.
The distribution of force from the front and rear brakes is done by a dual proportioning valve for stable breaking even under high speed panic conditions. High Speed panic tests have proved that on applying brakes suddenly when the car is cruising at 100 km/hr,the car remains completely under control and stable. albeit leaving a huge cloud of dust behind. Whereas the same test conducted on other cars such as Hyundai Accent showed that the car jumps a whole lane to the left.
This excellent braking performance of the esteem comes from the diagonal circuit brakes that employ large 7'' vacuum boosters in the master cylinder. This reduces the effort required while braking.
SUSPENSION
4 wheel independent McPherson suspension softens most of the bumps the harsh Indian roads might
give. The suspension is excellent although it may not be as smooth as some other cars but still it's
pretty.Infact fill up the boot completely with heavy luggage and stuff in 6 adults into the cabin
still the esteem would easily endure the load and cruise at 120 km/hr on the expressway.Thats
exactly what we tried once. The car would have easily gone beyond 120 km/hr mark.After making
a to and fro journey we got the suspension checked from a authorized service station and it
was perfectly fine.
ENGINE
16 Valve 4 Cylinder 1300cc all aluminum engine which generates 85BHP@6000RPM and 109Nm Torque
at 3000RPM.The engine and the car is entirely made of aluminum which makes it lighter with
kerb weight 860Kg.This shoots the power to weight ratio upto 99!!The esteem can accelerate from
0 to 100 in just 12 secs.Throw the esteem into the 5th gear and hear the growl of the engine
and feel the enormous surge of power generated under the hood.
The esteem has a 16 bit ECM(Electronic control module) which is the highest in its segment.This
ensures faster response from the engine.
BOOT
You can open the boot lid from inside the cabin with the hydraulic boot handle.The boot is huge
with a luggage capacity of 376litres. It's smaller than the Hyundai accent but still good enough.
All the above and immense customer satisfaction make the esteem clearly the most owned car in India.
However with entry of other race horses like Hyundai(Accent) Ford(Ikon) Opel(Corsa) etc in the Indian auto market, maruti needs to pull up it's socks and make a few changes/improvements to the esteem. I think it's time esteem got clear headlamps, body coloured side mirrors.Infact a 1.5 or 1.6litre petrol engine would do wonders to the car. Esteem begs for a more contemporary look. I would suggest that the buyer change the tyres to thicker ones for better road grip and minimum drop in fuel efficiency.
HANDLING
The car handles pretty well. Even at higher speeds the car is stable and grips the road well. This can be further improved by changing to thicker tyres.The turning radius is good coupled with power steering(VX onwards) makes the esteem very easy to drive.
VARIANTS
Esteem LXi,VXi,AXi,Di,LX,VX,D
The diesel version of esteem which runs on a Peugeot TuD5,1500cc engine.
The lowest model costs 4,65,000 odd and the top most model goes upto 6,00,000 which makes the
esteem luxury at an affordable price. Also the spares are less costlier than those of Accent
and more readily available. The numerous Maruti service stations all over the country provide
an excellent after sales service which makes esteem really a good choice in theory.
It's a relatively low maintenance car. Minimum visits to the service station provided it is
respected and not allowed to be tampered by unauthorized mechanics.
However latest studies show that the popularity of the esteem has nose dived in the last couple of years.This is because cars like accent indigo and ikon are far superior technologywise and also look modern whereas esteem still has almost the same look and the same 1.3 L engine so it's time Maruti revamped the esteem.
C SEGMENT FACTS
Esteem
Power to weight ratio: 99 (85BHP,860Kg)
Valves/Cylinders : 4
ECM : 16bit
Fuel Efficiency : 12.6 KmPl
Ikon
Power to weight ratio: 70 (69BHP,978Kg)
Valves/Cylinders : 2
ECM : Not Known
Fuel Efficiency : 11 KmPl
Accent
Power to weight ratio: 92 (94BHP,1023Kg)
Valves/Cylinders : 3
ECM : 16bit
Fuel Efficiency : 11KmPl
Indigo
Power to weight ratio: 79 (85BHP,1065Kg)
Valves/Cylinders : 2
ECM : Not Known
Fuel Efficiency : N.A
