Sep 05, 2010 04:31 PM
17529 Views
I spent pretty long time abroad and during my stay I've owned a second-hand BMW 3 series and a brand new Nissan Altima. Both are long cars which shows class and speed. Now since I'm back in India, I needed a car which can be compared to those. Unfortunately, I had a terrible time figuring it out as there are more than 100 criteria before choosing a car in India....roads, ground clearance, parts availability, their prices, average....and so on. Bt, honestly I was looking for that same raw power & comfort which I used to have in my previous cars within the budget I had in mind.
Hell, it was difficult.I see every second car here in india are either small size or its a honda city/civic. Not to demotivate all honda buyers, bt abroad Honda civic/city is not even a individual owned cars. They are either taxis or treated an average car. It never appealed me, even though its a huge status symbol here in my country. I thought my chutku maruti 800 well maintained with black tinted glasses and some exterior modification looks better, sexier and runs faster than a scared mouse when it sees you..lol!Nevertheless, I had to buy a car so I shortlisted 3 cars - Nissan micra, scorpio & SX4. Now y micra? is because I've driven Nissan before and I know what nissan can do and wht its all about. This is the company tht can surprise you anytime. It can quote its car price very cheap, bt can give features of an audi or bmw.
Look at micra e.g it has push button start at a price a lil higher than 5lacs. compare the specifications very carefully and u'll instantly notice the difference. Notice the interior & exterior features, the boot space, the back sitting space, the body, average, ground clearance, shape, size, pick-up, speed, stability at high speed...it's amazing car. Now lot of people are rightly hesitant abt nissan bcz they are naive, understandably bcz it's new. Jst wait and watch how ppl will suddenly discover nissan and it will become one of the hottest selling car company in India, after Maruti of course.
Then comes Scorpio...brute power and amazing grip on the roads. It can cross a mountain size pothole as if it was walking on a bed of roses. Looks good. However, why do I get a feeling that its rowdy and gunda like? The shape is straight forward like any other SUV and priced less also? I guess the image has become such. Most of them are owned by MLAs and politicians and MOST (pls note I didn't say ALL) owner drives the car in the most rashy and rowdy manner. I was once almost got crushed inside my chutku 800 because someone inside Scorpio had to show me he is powerful...Scorpio turns me off so cancelled.
But, someone gets lot of attention & respect on the roads even frm a rashy driver in a scorpio. Guess who? Yess..its SX4. What a car! just amazing. In between my search for the cars, I sat on my friends SX4 for a test drive. The moment I sat inside it felt like I've been hit with some raw brute force!! I suddenly felt stronger, taller & fearless. Wow! From outside this car looks pretty much straight-forward, but sitting inside is totally different. I had to find it out why? First, I had driven it like Im cruising (which I usually do and I jst love it..slow driving.
It's like a showoff and I've even noticed chicks dig guys more with that kind of laid back attitude..ahem!) which means driving at a low speed of 60 - 70. Man, it really cruises!. No sound, but a faint sound like its roaring like a lion from inside. Suddenly I realized I'm touching 100. Did not notice it coz its a damn smooth ride (I used to get the same experience with my previous other 2 cars). I was just wishing that time that wish I had driven this car in my own country which have roads same like abroad or the properly managed traffic system and even for that matter ppl doing proper lane driving and giving other drivers respect & convenience. Here we are driving like madmen...no respect for others & no respect for ourselves. As it is we are stressed in our offices, and we strain ourselves more with indiscipline driving.
That's how we as Indians choose, stress ourselves everywhere. Why are we running so much I dunno? Anyways, now I figured I gotta speed up and check how much stable it can be. Again surprised...even at 160 (used highway), its just awesome awesome. Then I read some engine specifications by which I figured out that whats inside of it that makes it the real man. Checked the boot, checked the backseats, checked the features, checked the toughness (potholes also nothing for SX4), checked the front & back leg space, comfort...and so on. Thoroughly wowed with it and now I'm a proud owner of my SX4.
The only thing which I as an Indian would generally think, as rightly so coz the fuel prices are high, is the average, which is low. But I guess that's the price I gotta pay for the brute force (strange I never realized until now that I never knew how much avg my earlier cars used to give! never chked!). Also another skipped my mind is to check whether SX4 has automatic drive. I came to know just few days back that automatic option is available. The back portion should have been little broader to give that big car look coz it definitely gives when viewing from the side ways...and also to differentiate it with swift dezire. Now maruti people pls do not change the looks coz if u come up with a better better look to SX4, that will give me a sort of a shocker as I jst recently bought it with profoundness.
AWESOME AWESOME CAR...doing great job these maruti ppl. I even have a chutku 800 which is still going strong even after 7yrs!
