Maruti Suzukis Convertible Sports Car To Take On The Tamo Racemo
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.
Maruti Suzuki to launch convertible sports car to take on Tamo Racemo
Maruti Suzuki sports car will feature 1.0 litre turbo engine with 190 bhp
Front engined, rear wheel drive with manual 6-speed gearbox
Brace Yourself - it is finally happening!! India’s largest carmaker has finally decided to do what enthusiasts have been begging and waiting for years now. 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.
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According to sources in Suzuki Japan, the new sports car will be based on an evolution of the platform that underpins the new Swift as that platform has already been designed for an all-wheel-drive setup for a few markets in Northern Europe. The Suzuki sports car will have a front mounted 1.0-litre Boosterjet engine like the one the Baleno RS gets. Expected engine power is said to be in the 190 bhp range with the help of a larger twin scroll turbocharger that helps eliminate turbo lag. The torque rating in the car is said to be around 280 Nm and the sports car will get a 6-speed manual gearbox and not a AMT or automatic gearbox. That said, the sports car will also get a rear wheel drive setup and not a front wheel drive one like on the hatchbacks which will make it ideal for the first time sports car buyer that Maruti Suzuki is targeting.
New Maruti Suzuki Sports Car could use the name Cappuccino like the mid 90's Cappuccino shown here
Speaking to a high ranking source at Maruti Suzuki India’s marketing department who requested anonymity said, “the sports car project that is aimed at the millennials is something that has been worked on for a few months now and was slated to be the big unveil at the 2018 Indian Auto Expo alongside the new Swift. But considering the fact that the Tamo Racemo from Tata Motors has garnered so much interest in public, we have decided to launch the car in India around the festive season instead.” He added, “the project will have close to 99 percent localisation with very very few components making its way from Japan to India for the sports car. In fact, we are also exploring the possibility of making India the manufacturing base for the new sports car with our new factory in Gujrat most likely the location where we will produce this on the same line as the Baleno RS.”
Another anonymous high-ranking source in Maruti Suzuki’s Indian R&D and engineering department has also confirmed that the new Maruti Suzuki sports car will in fact not have a BS 4 engine but one that meets BS 6 right from the start of production. The said individual also commented how the project to develop the car and make it production ready was a challenge on the new Swift platform. The platform designation for the sports car will be ‘D1’ to pay homage to the D1 Drift Championships that are held in Japan. The new sports car Boosterjet engine will also be the first car from Maruti Suzuki to feature a three-way traction control setup like some of the more advanced sports cars currently available.
Unlike the Tamo Racemo, the Maruti Suzuki sports car is a soft top convertible and not a hard top coupe. The car will also offer a removable and storable hard top that can be bolted on in just a few minutes with the help of 8 Alan-bolts. The soft top cabriolet top though will be available in a standard black or can be customised with a red canvas or brown canvas option through Maruti Suzuki’s iCreate program. The roof itself will be electrically controlled and is set to open and close in about 18 seconds. Unlike other cars though, the roof will only be operational up 20 kmph. Other customisation options will include the likes of 10 different wheel designs and a range of colors per wheel design along with a set of sporty decals and sticker packages that will help personalise and customise the car.
This sports car from Maruti Suzuki will open up a whole new segment in India, which will make manufacturers like Honda consider bring in the S660 and Fiat consider locally manufacturing the 124 Spyder. We also expect manufacturers like Hyundai to explore the segment with their new N-Sport division. India has been waiting for a mass market sport scar for years now and the Maruti Suzuki sports car would make perfect sense. If only it were true then. Happy April Fools Day.
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