11.01Maruti-Omni India, Maruti-Omni Review
Maruti-Omni is the poor man’s family car, with not much in the way of comfort, refinement or finesse, but plenty of utility and practicality for a very low price. The incorporation of the Bharat Stage III emissions norms has seen many manufacturers taking advantage to slightly upgrade their models, and Maruti is no exception. After the recent face-lift for the 800, it is now the Omni’s turn. The Omni is nearly as old as the 800; in fact, it’s one of the oldest cars in Maruti’s stable.
The Omni is a people-mover. Space for five or eight people depending on the version you buy, an LPG version and cheap and easy repairs that are in the DNA of all Marutis translates to minimum ownership costs and a hassle-free ownership experience. The only area of concern with the Omni is with its safety. With no engine ahead of the cab, and thin sheet metal the only protection in front of the driver and passenger, even minor accidents can have dire consequences.
It’s a van, from its mono-box shape to its flat, easy-to-make panels, and from its engine, mounted under the front seats, to the rear-wheel-drive set-up, sliding doors and crude leaf springs at the rear. It uses 12-inch wheels, with cross-ply tyres and drums all round. There’s no pretence of sound-deadening apparatus or any real effort towards making it car-like.
Build quality is really flimsy, with tissue-thin sheet metal; with this and the fact that there are only a few inches of metal and plastic between the front passengers and a head-on collision, safety is a real issue.
Fit and finish of the interiors is still shabby and the centre console resembles that of the Wagon R, minus the vents and the air-con knobs of course. A headlamp beam adjuster has also been added following the new laws governing cars sold from April 2005. The Omni finally gets radial tyres as standard mounted on the M800/Alto’s 12-inch wheels, which should improve ride comfort. Four new body colours add the finishing touch.
However, the driver suffers, but there’s decent legroom in the rear, in the five-seater version. For a car this size, it can easily take five passengers and their luggage. This practicality is a major reason for its success, both as cheap rural transport and a tourist taxi, accentuated in the eight-seater.
Getting in and out through the sliding rear doors is easy, but once inside, you have to contend with flat, shapeless seats, vinyl upholstery and plenty of vibrations. There’s no air-con, and the sliding windows are a pain to use. The seatbelts are also the old static type, a safety concern.
The boot is fairly large, considering the Omni’s size, but the angle of the rear seats means luggage leans against the hatch; open it up and everything tumbles out. This space is best used for a CNG cylinder.
The Omni uses the same engine as the 800, turned by 90 degrees to fit longitudinally, and drives the rear wheels instead of the front pair. This engine has MPFi and the same two-valve-per-cylinder head. It also uses the same four-speed gearbox as its hatchback cousin, but with different ratios, to offer drivability instead of top-end performance, which is necessary in a van.
The tiny, 796cc, 37bhp engine works well enough in town, with good drivability through slow traffic. However, it feels woefully under-powered on the highway, especially with a full complement of passengers. The breadbox-like aerodynamics doesn’t help and the large frontal area severely limits top speed — in fact, any speeds you manage over 100kph are a bonus.
The engine is noisy and harsh, and the gearbox is rubbery, and the shift is not as smooth as you would find in a car. Fuel efficiency is pretty good: it’s not as good as the super-frugal 800, but double-digits are possible in the city, which is pretty good.