My fav car!

Okay, so as of 27-Feb-2008 my favorite car is...none, doesn't exist :( I like sports sedan. But the problem is- I want a sports sedan with front engine front wheel drive and 50-50 weight distribution. I can't think of any car.

So among all the existing ones I prefer these cars- Aston Martin Rapide, Maserati Quattroporte, Porsche Panamera.

Upgrading your car

So you already own a car(mostly entry level) and you want to upgrade. Assuming that one can't afford to have 2 cars, the new car should have all the goodness of present car and much more. Please note that upgrading here doesn't mean modifying the car, but changing the car.

Upgrading is mostly obvious but sometimes deceiving. Its not just buying a car which is costlier than the present one, but buying a car of different class. That means if you own a hatchback(premium or entry level) go for a sedan. And if you already own a sedan buy a more sportier sedan. Simple. Also SUVs and estates(station wagons) come under hatchback category. For instance if a person owns Swift Vxi then buying Skoda Fabia is not an upgrade in real sense. Instead going for say Ford Fiesta(or even Indigo CS) is a much better option.

So why am I insisting on sedans over hatchbacks/SUVs/estates? Because its the perfect design for a car. It has better ride and handling. Moreover the passenger compartment is isolated from the boot. Seating position, front and rear, is far superior. I think these enough reasons. So upgrade in true sense.

Some people might argue that a sports car is better than a sedan. Well not really because a person owning a sports car must own another car. Sports cars are only for pure weekend fun and they have zero utility.

Its all about Weight Distribution

Yes, so the most important of all features in a car and also the most over looked one. Nobody even cares to bother about weight distribution. But for me this is the most important, deciding factor while buying a car.

Have you ever noticed how the handling(and ride) of the car improves when there are passengers sitting in the rear seat? The car behaves so well on road. Okay now what if we have the same effect but irrespective of passengers sitting at the back? This calls for near 50-50 weight distribution. It means there is equal distribution of weight on all four wheels.

Generally cars have more weight on their front wheels because most of the cars are front engine front wheel drive layout(FF layout). Therefore when you are driving with some passengers sitting in the rear seat, the weight distribution improves(now there is some weight on rear wheels also), hence the car handles better.

For example the Audi A4 has an FF layout whereas Merc C class has FR layout(front engine rear wheel drive). So in reviews of these cars one often mentions that C class has better handling compared to the A6. Yes this is because of weight distribution. But this is not the reason I hate Audi. Now passengers in the rear seat improves handling, but its hard to find passengers always. So to compensate you keep 2 sand bags. But this is an awful and pathetic idea :"( Audi has done the same in Audi TT; front aluminium, rear steel. Simply put Audi TT sucks.

So it is not only important to have near 50-50 weight distribution, but also how it is achieved(without use of sand bags). Finally, how does one check if the car has good weight distribution? There is one simple check I can think of. Divide the wheelbase by the overall car length. This ratio lies between 0 and 1. If this value is closer to 1 then it has better weight distribution. Lets compare C class and A4 again...

Mercedes C class: Wheelbase- 2760 mm, Overall Length- 4582 mm, Ratio= 0.6024
Audi A4: Wheelbase- 2615 mm, Overall Length- 4520 mm, Ratio= 0.5785

Note that this a rough conclusion. To be more precise we need to calculate the front overhang, which is difficult to measure. The C class has better weight distribution due to other factors also. Some components like differential, drive train also contribute to this.

How to buy a car

People often make mistake while buying a car. I am not saying that people don't think before buying. Most of the people do a lot of research before buying a car. In spite of this they end up making wrong choices most of the time. The reason is that they are carried away by not-so-important eye candy features. They tend to ignore the essential ones.

The first step and the most difficult one is to ignore the price of the car(or any other thing you are planning to buy, like mobile etc). Just don't let price influence your choice for now. After this make a list of the cars you like in an order. I mean rank them without considering their price. You will be surprised to see that the expensive ones are not always better! It is very difficult to rank cars ignoring their price, but its important.

Apart from most of the general/common features it is important to think about these factors and features- mileage, exclusiveness and sun roof.

Firstly mileage. Everyone wants good mileage. But these figures are misleading. Don't prefer car A just because it gives 15kmpl over car B which gives 14kmpl. 1kmpl doesn't matter at all. So set a threshold. There should be significant difference in mileage, only then consider this factor.

Exclusiveness. I give this a lot of importance. I want my car to be the only one of its kind on the road. Everyone should look at it and it should not be easily available. Thats why opt for a limited edition whenever possible. Sometimes a limited edition C-segment car is much better than owning a D-segment car!

Other cool features. So these 'cool' features include things like sun roof, air scoops/vents etc. Tech features like instantaneous mileage indicator don't come under this category. They are not so important.

So that was just a glimpse of factors that affect car selection. There are other things, but the above were just a few of them. Rank them according to the features you are looking for, ignoring price. Then select the first car which falls under your budget. This method may result in the same car you had decided earlier but at least you will see that your choice is better than some of the more expensive ones :)

Tata Nano: First Impression

Well the Nano has been launched. Its currently the least expensive production car. Briefly the spec looks like this-

Max Power: 33Bhp @ 5500 rpm
Max Torque: 48 Nm @ 2500 rpm
Rear Engine, Rear Wheel Drive
Front Disc Brake

So the spec is not very impressive but sufficient for a car of its size and purpose. And there are couple of interesting things about this car. It has 21% more interior space but occupies 8% less space compared to Maruti 800. This is because of rear mounted engine and overall height. Now this low cost(initial and running) and small size makes it a perfect second car. So this car is not just for the common man.

Looks: Design is very good for a car of that segment. Overall its a full fledged car. I particularly liked the air vent near the rear wheel. Its just awesome!

Other Concerns: Now this low cost car will not cause any kind of traffic congestion in my opinion. People who use public transport obviously can't afford a motorcycle(~Rs.30,000), therefore the Nano is un-affordable for them. Some bikers might upgrade to Nano, but this will be compensated by other people who will use Nano instead of their D-segment cars within city limits. Autos might disappear from roads(which is a good thing). But one thing for sure is- Nano will wipe out used car market in the entry segment.

I believe rear mounted engine is also a cause for its low cost. How? in fwd cars both turning the car and driving the car forward is done by the front wheels. This leads to a slightly complex assembly. Debatable, but thats just my guess. Also hatchbacks have huge top hinged rear door to access boot. This requires a stronger C-pillar and a strong rear hinge to support the huge door, leading to extra weight and hence cost. Even this factor is eliminated in the Nano.

Now the most important point I wanted to tell. Is Nano a sedan!? I think so. It has a traditional 3-box design. The boot(in front), the engine(at rear) and the passenger compartment are all isolated from each other! So I am happy to announce that its not a hatch back :)

Hello World!

car -noun

is a wheeled passenger vehicle carrying its own motor.

Well thats the dictionary definition of a car. But in my opinion a vehicle can qualify as a car only if it has certain other mandatory features. And what are they? That is what this blog is all about :)

Welcome to the world of cars! Expect car reviews, auto news and even driving techniques in this blog.

Cheers,
Auto Enthusiast