Maruti launched its new Zen. The new bonnet, grille, bumpers and front fenders make the Zen look bigger. The rear, with its wimpy looking tail-lights looks like it belongs on a Maruti 800, and the front looks too sober for its own good. Fit and finish are pretty good, especially paint quality, and the new body parts line up well with the old ones. Dimensionally the Zen is largely unchanged, the new bumpers adding a bit of length.

Inside the car almost everything remains the same. The dashboard continues unchanged with the only revision being to the white-faced Speedo and oil and temperature gauges. The seats are the same old units that lack any support whatsoever though the front headrests have been made smaller while tacky-looking headrests have been sewed into the rear bench.

The ZEN LXi is a vehicle especially meant to provide Superior Control at all speeds through its special electronic power steering. The electronic power steering vis a vis the ordinary hydraulic power steering available in other small cars has a computer controlled mechanism which provides low maintenance costs, less load on engine (2%) as well as no oil leakage’s. Its greatest strength though lies on the fact that it provides virtually no power assistance at high speeds (unlike the other ordinary power steering) and hence provides safety.

All the original rounded themes have been junked in the new Zen, instead replaced by a sharp-ish front end, all straight lines and creases. Viewed from some angles the headlamp and grille look like they’ve been inspired by the Volkswagen Golf but scaling it down to smaller proportion hasn’t been easy. Industry-standard clear lens headlights incorporating the turn signal Indicators are mated to an over-large grille with horizontal slats. The bumper has been redesigned to incorporate the fog lamps in recesses though the air dam is a bit too fussy.

Maruti has worked hard to make it as interesting and practical as possible, adding some aluminium-look trim and brighter upholstery for a sporty feel, and fiddling with the seats to make them more comfortable, especially at the rear. Now, there is also a partial centre console, making the cabin a bit more practical, and it is now more airy than before, with lighter upholstery. Luggage space is dismal though, and there is space only for a couple of squashy bags. Equipment levels are also not particularly high in the Zen, with power windows only for front seats, no tachometer and no options of ABS, airbags or any other safety equipment.

Out on the acceleration runs, the Zen turned in a 0-60kmph time of 6.12s while 100kmph came up in 15.58s. Referring to our road test of the Zen VXi the 0-100kmph time has decreased by half a second which probably has to do with the increased drag that our earlier Datron optical sensors hanging outside the car used to generate. The quarter mile sprint came up in 19.76s (at 111.7kmph) while the standing kilometer run look 37.07s (at 134.5kmph). The top speed registered by the Racelogic VBOX timing gear was 147.2kmph in fourth gear with the Speedo registering over 160kmph. Among the small cars these figures are bested only by the Maruti Alto VX.

The extremely efficient engine and ultra-light weight results in some of the best fuel efficiency figures in the small car category. On the highway run she delivered 24.21km to the litre, the figure going down to 12kmpl in the city. The worst figure she returned was 10.9kmpl that on our testing and flat-out highway runs.

The Zen’s 1.0-litre 60bhp all-aluminium engine is central to the car’s sporty character. It’s as quick as the Wagon R but feels a lot more swift, thanks to its rev-happy engine, which fizzes and sparkles all the way to a 6000rpm red line. At low revs, it isn’t as responsive as the Wagon R but once you get the revs up, it feels urgent and eager, which makes it a delight to drive. Acceleration through the gears is very good, especially because of the car’s lightweight, and performance at the top is similarly sharp.

The other engine is a 1.5-litre diesel borrowed from Peugeot, which totally changes the car’s character. The fuel economy is otherworldly, at 15.4kpl in the city and a whopping 20.9kpl on the highway, but the engine is just too coarse. It makes the car a good highway cruiser, but performance is hardly exceptional. It is torquey though, and has a good turn of speed, but in a car this small, it makes little sense.

The petrol one makes the most sense really, as the diesel is simply not practical enough to be a workhorse. Add the legendary reliability, Maruti’s widespread service and dealer network and the car’s superb fuel economy, and you still have a pretty good car. The Zen means reliability and cheap, hassle-free service, and the car is available pretty much off the shelf.

Filed under: Maruti Cars in India