Maruti ZeSteem – Performance kid. Review on Maruti Suzuki Zen - Petrol

Hi people,

– I purchased a second hand zen to customize the car.

I passionately love cars and bikes and have always wanted to own something different – Hence I decided to buy a used zen and customize it – I picked up an esteem engine [carburetor engine] and plonked it on the zen. The zen and the esteem share similar engine mounts and hence this swap is quite simple - No need to touch the gearbox or any stuff. The work was carried out by a friend who has a garage and lo..the car was transformed. We added a free flow exhaust to the same to get some nice groovy deep sound on the car. Alloys and tubeless tyres were added to get better traction out of the car.

I had tried Pirelli 155/70 R13 but decided that it was too soft and got a 155/70 R13 Michelin certis as the Michelins give a more compliant ride. Pirellis are good but on the softer side. With Michelins, you could push more and the traction was better.

Now the car could accelerate from 0-120 kmph [I have not timed her but know that she could tailgate a Honda city VTEC upto 120 kmph.] The car attains a max of 150 kmph but the ride gets a little floaty above 140 kmph. The sad part was the brakes. Though servo assisted and all – it was not enough to bring the car to a halt from such high speeds. It was fun to drive the car and get on a drag with anybody. Amazing was the ability of the car to out accelarate most cars available. Also one could plonk 5th gear at 30 kmph and step on the gas without the engine pinking. The mileage obtained was around 14 kmpl in city and around 17 kmpl on the highways. The car just had mad accelaration and could do 60 in 1st, 100 in second and 130 in 3rd and so on.

I enjoyed driving the car for more than 2 years before I got bored and sold it. So friends, anyone out there interested in customizing their cars are free to write to me.

Thanks and Ciao