With fuel prices soaring, putting a diesel engine into a car is a great way to sell them. Frugality apart, the modern generation diesel is also offering mad performance. The new Chevy Optra Magnum is choosing to do just that, regain its popularity by putting in a new diesel powerplant.
The Optra has a lot of lost ground to regain. When launched, it was a hot favourite. But, over the years, newer, better and more modern cars came in and despite being priced lower than the competition by over half-a-lakh, the Optra was left behind, mainly due to GM's reputation of poor after sales service. But in the recent past, the company has successfully renewed its assurances to the customers.
So, the diesel Chevy Optra comes right in time with a minor face lift - it has the SRV's headlamps, a mesh grille divided over two horizontal slats, instead of the familiar three-part grill, which makes the front a little fresher. Inside, the flat dashboard gets the SRV curved touch with two-tone colouring and lighter interiors, amplifying the space within. But all that's cosmetic, let's get to where the change really matters...and here its pretty radical.
The new Optra has had a heart transplant and what a job the surgeons have done. This engine boasts of impressive figures - l20 bhp and 32 kgm of torque. On the road, the bottom end is not its strength but go past the 2000 rpm mark and this one just flies away with you, which is pretty impressive. The engine is quite refined as well and only at higher revs does it get throaty and noisy.
But cruise along and the Optra glides silently. The gears also are short, sharp and smooth and do not need to be used to work around the lag at the bottom end. The Optra doesn't feel ill at ease in the city and ambles around comfortably. Let's do a quick comparison..
Flat out, the Optra beats the competition. In gear, it loses out to the Elantra and is neck to neck with the bottom end of the Skoda but way ahead in the 40-100 slog - that means a stronger midrange and better top end whack. So, it's quick and driveable but that's not all to a car is it?
When I went in, I felt something else was different and did a bit of digging around and found the car has been raised and the suspension has been finetuned. So, what its done is that, it has made the ride more springy but its now far more pliant and comfortable.
Throw in the Optra's strength - its premium rear seat space and this car can be pretty comfortable to be chauffeured around in. But, soften the ride and you spoil the handling. That's what happens in most cases. The Optra feels softer around corners than it did before and the steering doesn't inspire too much confidence either. But it does have good body control and reasonable grip to balance out the act. But can the Magnum do the same in the fuel efficiency test?
Earlier in the performance comparison, I saw that the Optra was just shy of the Elantra's figures while being better than the Skoda. Now looking at these fuel efficiency figures, it's clear that the Optra balances performance and fuel efficiency better than the slightly quicker Elantra.
Is the Indian consumer ready for a luxury diesel? As you saw, the Elantra had good power, a good price but couldn't cut it in the Indian market despite being a competent all rounder. Will the Optra Magnum break the mould?
With all the bits and bobs of body detailing, the Optra does look spicier, it's comfortable, it has performance and it has the economy of diesel. So, will the Optra regain its popularity in the Indian market? Well with a cracking price of Rs 8.74 lakhs ex-showroom Delhi, Chevrolet have half the battle won.
Comments
0 comment