Cyrus Dhabhar was born and brought up in a motorsport family and cars run deep in his blood. As a passionate founder and head of a classic car club in Mumbai and an avid part of the vintage and classic car scene in the country, Cyrus prefers his cars older and simpler. That said, he loves everything on four wheels and the occasional two-wheeler as well. Cyrus currently is the Assistant Editor - AUTO for the NDTV Group.
Along with the stylish new exterior design of the new Maruti Suzuki Dzire, the company has also extensively worked upon the interior of the third-generation Dzire. New design, nicer material and several new features is what the new Dzire has to offer.
A closer look at 'Cartist', an event that merges Indian modern art with the Automobile and creates masterpieces that every automotive enthusiast in the world would love to own!
Hyundai has refreshed the popular i20 premium entry-level hatchback for 2017. The Hyundai i20 Elite now gets some exterior and interior upgrades along with even more added features that make it an even more compelling package. The updated i20 on the exterior front now gets a two-tone paint job option i.e. red or white with a gloss black roof option. Although the two-tone trend was popularised by the Vitara Brezza and then is available in the Ignis too, many i20 owners in the past have chosen to paint or wrap their cars in the same way that Hyundai is now offering straight out of the factory. Hyundai has also added yet another shade of blue for the 2017 model year. Blue incidentally has been an extremely popular colour for the premium entry level hatchback.
The aftermath of the VW emissions cheating scandal or Dieselgate as is known globally has resulted in severe implications in continental Europe. With a slew of cities voting to ban diesel cars from their town centres in the near future, the popularity of diesel cars will eventually see a downward graph. The European Government too is looking for a complete overhaul on both licensing and testing methods after current European norms came under immense scrutiny and criticism for being too lax on the subject of emissions control. The Government recently voted in overwhelming majority on a draft bill that proposed a more powerful EU oversight.
Maruti Suzuki is making a sports car and yes, it is a convertible! Suzuki has had the experience of making some small, nimble and affordable sports cars in the past like the legendary Cappuccino and our sources tell us that a resurrection of both the car name and the car type is what is on the cards for emerging markets like India. In the international market, the Suzuki sports car will go up against the likes of the Mazda Miata (which won the 2016 World Car of the Year Award) and the mid engined turbocharged Honda S660 along with the likes of the Fiat 124 Spyder. In India, the car will go straight up against the likes of the Tamo Racemo but will be priced cheaper. Expect prices to be around the Rs 18 lakh for the standard car and about Rs 20 lakh (ex-showroom) for the higher variant with options. Just like the Baleno, S-Cross, Ignis and now the Ciaz, the new sports car will also be available only through the Nexa line of dealerships but will be serviceable in all Maruti Suzuki service centres.
The BMW manufacturing facility in Chennai, India has officially celebrated its 10th birthday! The premium car maker set up the factory in 2007 and started assembly operations of the E90 BMW 3 Series at the time followed by the assembly of the E60 BMW 5 Series. The factory currently produces the BMW 1 Series, the BMW 3 Series, the BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo, the BMW 5 Series, the BMW 7 Series, the BMW X1, the BMW X3 and the BMW X5 there. The BMW M cars, coupes and the X6 coupe is imported into India. Till date, the factory, situated just north of Chennai has made 57000 cars and employs over 500 people who work in two shifts to make the wide range of cars.
With the launch of the Tamo Racemo, Tata Motors has become the first Indian auto maker to seriously consider and address the small and yet important performance car buyers segment that is ever growing in India. That said, there is still a huge potential for a manufacturer like Tata Motors to take some gambles and launch more performance oriented versions of their mass market cars too. And in order to do just that, Tata Motors have officially announced a joint venture with performance car specialists Jayem Automotive from Coimbatore for all future special performance vehicles. The new joint venture is called JT Special Vehicles Pvt. Ltd. and will be a 50:50 partnership between Tata Motors and Jayem Automotive.
We tell you about the difference between the BS III vehicles and BS IV vehicles and the options for manufacturers with regards to their stock of BS III vehicles.
The Tata Tigor has been launched in India at a price point of Rs 4.70-6.19 lakh for the petrol and Rs 5.60-7.09 lakh for the diesel. The Tata Tigor also comes packed with a whole bunch of features like a touchscreen infotainment system and mirror link navigation support in the cabin but one of the biggest reasons to consider the Tigor is the way it looks. So lets take you through a detailed review of the exterior design of the Tata Tigor and see how it fares in the already crowded subcompact sedan space in India.
The Mercedes-Benz AMG GT was the first car to be designed and built completely by the AMG division and it was launched internationally over two years ago. Around the world and in India, the AMG GT is the erstwhile replacement for the mighty SLS AMG and obviously, those are quite large shoes to fit into. The AMG GT though has been received well around the world and it even won the Car And Bike 2016 Sportscar Of The Year Award. And now, for the 2017 model year, AMG has decided to freshen it up a little bit with a slightly updated look, more power, more tech and most importantly, a convertible version.
Mercedes-Benz has just recently launched the new E-Class in India. We are the only market in the world that gets a right hand drive long wheelbase variant and just like with most luxury cars, you get two engine options. The E200 turbocharged 4-cylinder petrol or the E350d V6 twin-turbo diesel. Of course, both get rear wheel drive as the E-Class has always had and both will sell like hot cakes even though they are priced at quite a premium over everything else in the segment. The E200 petrol is aimed at chauffer driven audience who wants comfort and nothing else and the E350d is aimed at the buyer who will still occasionally want to drive but prefers the frugality of a diesel engine. But what if you insist you want a petrol powered car, you also want something fun to drive yourself and you still want all that luxury and comfort that the new E-Class offers. The E43 then is aimed right at you!
We explain the engines and the gearbox on the All-new Tata Tigor.
The DC-3 is near folklore for aviation geeks and enthusiasts and seeing one in mint condition today is the stuff of museums and airshows. But, seeing an early model in mint condition with the capacity of trying to circumnavigate the globe is an even rarer occurrence! And that is exactly what a certain original 1940 DC-3 is attempting in collaboration with legendary watchmakers, Breitling.
The Tata Tigor will be the third sub 4-meter, subcompact sedan from Tata Motors. Going up against the likes of the Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire, Honda Amaze, Hyundai Xcent, Volkswagen Ameo and the Ford Figo Aspire, the Tata Tigor has the potential of being in its very own entry level subcompact sedan segment if priced considerably lower than its competition. Incidentally, Tata Motors originally invented the whole sub 4-meter, subcompact sedan segment in the first place. So, let us take you through the petrol and diesel engines, the features on the Tata Tigor and most importantly if it is worth your money!
On March 12, 1947, Enzo Ferrari fired up the first model to ever bear his name, the 125 S, and took it for a test drive on the streets of Maranello. 70 years down the line, the Ferrari badge has become synonymous with performance, exclusivity and possibly the best the automotive world has to offer. Enzo Ferraris incessant need to be the best in motorsport resulted in some absolutely epic road going automobiles. We take a look back at seven decades of Ferrari and choose seven cars that we think are the coolest, most beautiful and of course, the most revolutionary!
the Corolla Altis has long been in desperate need of a mid-life facelift. And now Toyota dealers across India have confirmed that the updated and facelifted version of the popular sedan will be launched on March 15. The launch of the facelifted Corolla Altis is expected to be sombre affair with only a price announcement scheduled for March 15. Dealerships around the country have confirmed that cars will be available in their showrooms on the same day with new prices expected to be higher than the current ones.
Is this the beginning of the end of the popularity of the diesel engine? Well, considering the fact that cities like Paris and Stuttgart (the home of automakers like Porsche or Mercedes-Benz who still have a very dominant diesel culture), have decided to ban diesel cars from their city centres in the foreseeable future, the threat seems very real.
One of the most exciting unveils at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show for me will not be the new McLaren, a 800 bhp Ferrari or even the new Aston Martin-Red Bull hypercar but the all-new sports car from Tata Motors' new sub brand - Tamo. Tata Motors have already given us hints about what the car will be like in terms of general configuration and approximate horsepower, but for the sake of all you readers, here are the facts again. The Tamo sportscar will have a mid mounted petrol engine (which could be turbocharged) and put out in the ball park of about 200 bhp.
Under the hood, the Baleno RS gets a 1 litre, 3-cylinder, turbocharged petrol engine. Now since Maruti Suzuki has never done forced induction petrol engines in the past, the Baleno Boosterjet engine is completely new technology for it. The engine makes a substantial 101 bhp and 150 Nm. Despite being turbocharged, the max power and peak torque output is well spread out across the rev range and the engine almost feels like it is naturally aspirated, with very little turbo lag. Of course what everyone really wants to know is how the cars outright performance is! And on that front too, the Baleno RS does not disappoint.
We have long longed for a hot hatchback from India's largest automaker Maruti Suzuki and now we finally have one! The Maruti Suzuki Baleno RS hot hatchback has officially been launched in India. The Baleno RS is priced at Rs. 8.69 lakh and is available exclusively through the Nexa outlets.
