Skoda Laura...The future's here!

Skoda Octavia Laura with its extra ordinary looks and super performance is becoming the matter of pride to the owner and envy to the viewer. Its monolithic body, B pillar with tapering at top, attractive xenon headlights and front signal lamps with its roomy, spacious interior makes it more worth buying car to the car lover.To mention more about its interior , various features like rich leather upholstery, dual zone climatronic air-conditioning, 4-way electrically adjustable driver's seat, automated sun roof sliders, unique storage compartment along with illuminated, refrigerated glove compartment are present in this car. Its safety features include powerful windshield wiper with rain sensors, Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), for controlling slippage of the wheels Acceleration Skid Restrain system (ASR),Electronic Stability Program (ESP) to control steering and over steering, Tire Pressure Monitoring (TPM), auto dimming rear-view mirror etc. Other standard equipments available for smarter driving are cruise control, automatic rain detection system, front and rear parktronic with animated display, Skoda audience radio with 6 CD changer, MP3 playback, 12 speaker surround sound, Dolby noise suppression etc.

PHOTO GALLERY :

Chevrolet Spark now in India

The new Chevrolet Spark is priced between Rs 3-4 lakh in India. Enjoy the photo gallery and do use the comments below ......


We won't get into the entire history of the Chevrolet Spark, and how it evolved from the Daewoo Matiz. Basically now it is a General Motors product, and the twice-refined version of the Matiz is now in India as the Chevrolet Spark. We sort of think this was the car India needed some two years back - that's when we carried our first article on the 'future' Spark. No matter, it is here now, and many of you might be considering buying it. At one look, the Chevrolet Spark has a new engine, new design, and new price. And a new name and company to market it. So how does it all hold together?

Chevrolet Spark: Engine and specs:

The Chevrolet Spark has got rid of the three cylinder engine of the old Matiz - and in its place is a new 995 cc four cylinder engine that produces more power than the newly released Fiat Palio Stile 1.1. You get 62.13 bhp (48.5 KW) at 5400 rpm, and 9.02 kgm (90.3 NM) of torque at 4200 rpm which are very decent for a car in this class. The five speed manual gearbox is quite capable and well-sorted out, and most auto mags have said that the Spark drives well, and the car feels sure-footed for something this small.

Inside, the Spark is mostly grey and black. Once you plonk yourself down in the driver's seat, the first thing you will notice is the speedo console which is placed smack above the centrally located AC vents. Visibility is not compromised, so that's not a problem, really. The average driver would feel comfortable with the seat and legroom, and legroom in the rear too would not be a problem for the passengers. However, try to seat three at on the Spark's rear seat, and you are going to face some crowding issues. The rear seat in the Spark does that 6:40 folding bit unlike in the similar sized Zen Estilo, so that is a good thing for carting slightly big things around at the rear.
Fuel efficiency is critical in a car like this, and the claimed figures are around 17 kmpl. Real world mileage figures would be a bit less - there is not enough data at this moment to give you a clear answer on exactly what it would be. Expect The Chevrolet Spark to offer 12 kmpl in stop and start city driving - say in Mumbai - and 14-15 kmpl in a city like Delhi with more open roads.

So what should be your decision on buying the Spark? The Spark comes with a three-year or 100,000 kilometre service warranty, one of the best in the industry. There are four variants available - starting from the barebones version Spark 1.0 E at an ex showroom price of Rs 1.1 lakh in Delhi. Very good, but you don't even get an AC in that version. Then come the Spark 1.0, the 1.0 LS and the 1.0 LT - these are the ones you should consider. So you have an ex-showroom price of 3.32 lakh on the 1.0 Spark, going up to 3.9 on the Spark 1.0 LT version. Got a bit of extra cash lying around, and go for the LT with the optional pack, which will cost 4.25 lakh ex-showroom Delhi. If you were always a Matiz lover, you SHOULD buy the Spark. No questions asked. On the other hand, if you are stuck between the Estilo, Santro and similar, think about what matters more to you - power, space, economy, looks and try to come to a decision based on all the parameters.

The Chevrolet Spark photo gallery.......

Chevrolet Sprak now in multi-colours.......

Hyundai i10

Hyundai i10--New small car


Hyundai i10, the new city small car has been launched. India is the first and only country in which the Hyundai i10 is made. The Hyundai i10 will be made at Hyundai's Chennai facility and exported to over 70 countries. Though Hyundai has not revealed the price, it is expected to be between Rs 3.39 lakh and Rs 3.98 lakh.

The Hyundai i10 in India will have air conditioning as standard accessory; All i10s will have power windows in the front, central locking, power steering, tinted glass, 14 inch alloy wheels, body-coloured bumpers and a CD player.

The Hyundai i10 has a 1.1 litre 65 bhp engine, the same as the one in Hyundai Kia Picanto sold abroad. However, there is less CO2 emission than in the Picanto. The Hyundai i10 also comes with a diesel option which have a 1200 cc diesel engine. Hyundai has also fitted airbags for all passengers. This is makes it a first for any small car in India to offer airbags as standard fitting. The i10 will options for a manual transmission or an automatic transmission.

The i10 is 3,565mm long and 1,595mm wide. It has a 2,380mm wheelbase. The i10 has improved power and reduced weight, by using a kappa engine which uses an aluminium cylinder block.

Some of the features of Hyundai i10 include seatbelt pretensioners, factory-fitted sunroof, leather steering wheel cover, and a rear spoiler. The i10 will roll out in four variants - Hyundai i10 D-Lite, Hyundai i10 Era, Hyundai i10 Magna and the automatic version Hyundai i10 D-Auto. All models come with impact-sensing auto door unlock system.

The i10 is the latest in the Hyundai i-series of cars. It has already launched the i30 in Europe. i10 is being launched for the first time in India. It will be followed by the i20.

Hyundai plans to sell 2,30,000 units of the i10 in the first year. The company is expecting 30% of its non-Korean production from India. The i10 is the first Hyundai model to be developed and launched outside Korea. The company has positioned the i10 between the Hyundai Santro and the Getz Prime.