|
The pothole came rather quickly. I was behind the wheel of Maruti Suzuki's new Wagon R and ideally I should have noticed it rather easily, what with the car's high perch design. But I didn't and when I did realise my folly it was too late. What followed was a series of thuds and crashes, but they sounded rather muted, more like a larger car, and in that instant it changed the opinion of a Wagon R owner like me.
For the last five years or so, my family has been in the company of a Wagon R and while the purchase decision wasn't mine, I did grin and bear it. Yes, the Wagon R is practical and frugal and easy to manoeuvre and torquey in town but other than that I was always struggling to find a reason to like the car. The boxy appearance apart, it wasn't the best car to be in while cornering, the seats were as supportive as a coalition government and the gearbox, simply put, was rubbish. The steering was numb, the brakes difficult to modulate and the ride was somewhere between being thrashy and crashy and at times both! That, dear ladies and gentlemen, has been consigned to a book in the corner of the Asiatic Library.
|
