Ideally, I should be moaning about how the illustrious Zen badge has been usurped by that vile Estilo, while it should have been here, on the neat butt of the new A-Star. But I won’t, despite the fact that this new compact from Maruti Suzuki has the right ingredients to become the 21st century version of one of India’s favourite hatchbacks. (Why? Perfect and compact anti-tall-boy dimensions, a wide, planted stance plus of course, the return of the 1.0-litre powerplant although a cylinder less). So instead of moping about what a lovely opportunity it would have been to introduce the A-Star as the real Zen and portray the Estilo as the masquerader, I’ll celebrate the arrival of yet another all-new Suzuki with global ambitions.
Yes, as everybody knows, this car replaces the Alto in global markets, but in India, it will co-exist with the other members of the happy, virtually deathless family of Maruti Suzuki. Though the production model looks quite different from the strangely attractive concept that was shown at the Auto Expo, the A-Star looks different, all right. I really like the fact that it is not a tall-boy, and have fallen in love with its perfect urban runabout dimensions. It’s wider than the other ‘kei’ cars like the Wagon R, Estilo and the Alto, and Maruti Suzuki is especially chuffed at the fact that it sits on a wider front track and has a very good
co-efficient of drag (officials say that they have done extensive testing in the wind-tunnel with full size models).
When it comes to the overall design, the large, Audi-like beard that every modern-day car seems to be wearing nowadays gives it a bit of aggression, and more importantly, makes it a different looker from not just other Suzukis, but most other hatchbacks on the road as well. Oh, but the pulled back headlamps, the front fenders and the way the waistline tapers upwards are elements that we have already seen in the Hyundai i10. Though the upward kink of the waistline is tastefully done, the design highlight of the A-Star is the cheeky rear end. Smooth and flanked by large, individualistic tail lamps, it’s something you wouldn’t mind seeing while being stuck behind at traffic jams.
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