[Kaizer Sozay]

Originally Posted by kpzen

hey Max

I also own stock zen....I never felt it is unstable at 90+kmph....I can assure you it will be more stable than a wagonr at such speeds..
Infact ask speedsatya who consistently does high speeds(XXXkph) in his zen....

KP

I own a Zen also and have driven it 120 on the expressway the car is rock solid, i dont think that any small car can be better than it, sorry wagon R no way close.

[Insane Devil]

similar exp. here.. we had a zen before, and i used to hate driving it, in sense of pickup and handling vise, but if not, its a great city car, nice mileage, nice looks (thou it seems outdated now but still is ok).

Wagon R, handling/stability wise, just cant take my chances!

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by Max

. Where as I have driven santro and wagonR at 120+ and it felt safe. May be its just me :(

then there must be something wrong with that zen of yours ...about stability and other things ...you can ask NC and RJK on how a zen feels at 160kph on corners ...But then u need the right set of properly maintained tires....
doing 120+ on our highways wont help you gain a lot of time...so 100-120 is more than enough ....

[Insane Devil]

bingo Saty! u rite abt "doing 120+ on our highways wont save lot of time" coz by the time u hit 130-160 someone comes n kills ur speed! and well, nowadays in the newer highways u sure can maintain 120+ speed without any difficulty, in the regular normal highways, no use buring fuel without a cause!

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by Insane Devil

bingo Saty! u rite abt "doing 120+ on our highways wont save lot of time" coz by the time u hit 130-160 someone comes n kills ur speed!

Not many of them drive at 120+ in highways to minimize traveling time. Its just for a thrill & fun which has its own devil waiting to pop out anytime.

[speedsatya]

Originally Posted by Surprise

Not many of them drive at 120+ in highways to minimize traveling time. Its just for a thrill & fun which has its own devil waiting to pop out anytime.

dude...a public road is not a playground..there others also using the road..for your thrill and fun go to to the race track ...

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by speedsatya

dude...a public road is not a playground..there others also using the road..for your thrill and fun go to to the race track ...

FYI. 100 kmph is the max I had touched even on empty highways. I haven't said " I drive at 120+ for thrill and fun". Just poll and find out how many of them drive fast to save time. May be they say they do for it, just for the poll purpose, but that might not be original intent.

[Insane Devil]

Driving Fast for Saving Time, makes sense,
Driving Fast for Having Thrill, makes nonsense!

this rule applies to "Public Roads" and not your private runways!

[Max]

and how much time you save while driving at high speeds to save time ???

While driving on Mumbai eastern express highway I noticed, it makes only 5 minutes difference, if you drive at 120kmph speeds (insane I guess) and drive at 80kmph steady speed. Actually, even if you drive on 120kmph speeds you have to lower your speed after few meters when you face other vehicle on road cruising at 60kmph (specially those moron trailers and trucks which drive in first lane at 60kmph speeds). I also really hate those 800 drivers cruising at 60kmph in first (fast) lane. ***, they think while driving at such low speed in fast lane ? then you have to overtake them from left (wrong). so driving at normal speeds make sense on most of the roads in India.

and yes

IMO, Driving Fast (safely) for Having Thrill, DOES make sense !!! (j/k)

[DCEite]

Mods, Well done!!... "why do people STILL buy Zen".. thats a more appropriate Title. Thanks for changing.. ;-)

[DCEite]

aaahhh... finally MUL decides to discontinue Zen and introduce a new model. Source: NDTV

[abhibh]

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...en-lovers.html

No zen anymore after 2006

[sushim]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

yeah GTO thats true but in 2006 3 manufacturers are going to have JTD engines and other manufacturers are going to miss a beat .
the good news about this engine for maruti is that they will have very competitive cars and for fiat, if maruti makes it , it will be cheap and increase their sales and for us consumers it will still be a win win situation

hey gordon dude i think that the zen is just too expensivefor its space, design and age .
for an everyday consumer looking for FE and maintainance and looks the zen scores
the alto ad wagonR and santro are too ugly, the 800 to basic , palio and indica loose out on FE
so the winner is zen .
its only informed people like us or smart people who ask us benefit and go for the other cars in its segment

Its true, the FE is ahead of Santro, Palio, Indica, Wagon R...... pick-up more than all of these except for Palio 100. Take a Zig-zag course, Zen can out-steer, out-run, out-perform any of the others. At a top speed of 150 kph+, this car aint any Dud either. Low-maintanance is a big boon. Its cramped, but who cares anyway.

[shelby GT]

i hve better answer for ur question.......................................... .............................



just drive a well maintained zen u will see the difference.

[rks]

Originally Posted by sushim

Its true, the FE is ahead of Santro, Palio, Indica, Wagon R...... pick-up more than all of these except for Palio 100. Take a Zig-zag course, Zen can out-steer, out-run, out-perform any of the others. At a top speed of 150 kph+, this car aint any Dud either. Low-maintanance is a big boon. Its cramped, but who cares anyway.

The Santro has higher torque and lower turning radius (4.4 mt.) than Zen (4.9 mts). Pickup and top speed are about the same, when you compare Xing with Zen. So I doubt if the Zen can outperform the Santro in a zig-zag course.

Regarding the highways, the claim that the Santro does not corner well is a myth. It has a larger wheelbase than the Zen and is only marginally heavier. I don't know about the Zen's cornering, since I haven't driven one. All I can say is that I have taken the ghat roads in the Expressway at 80-90 kmph on the downward Pune-Mumbai stretch in my Santro ZipDrive without any problems (except tyre noise -- stock tyres, overinflated to 33 psi for highway runs). In particular, the corner at the end of the Expressway in Dehu Road near Pune was comfortably negotiated at 80 kmph in my Santro - could have done 90 too, but that would be about the limit, at least on stock tyres. The only time I have felt an instability and the tyres failing to grip was when passing over a small series of bumps when negotiating a sharp corner at high speed (90 kmph).

I can vouch for the fact that you can comfortably do rapid lane changes in the Santro at 140-155 kmph. In fact, I did 160 kmph in my Santro ZipDrive (1 lit) just this Sunday on a sloping stretch after the Kamshet tunnels during my weekly Mumbai-Pune run on the Expressway -- and did a lane change with one hand a this speed while the other was on the mobile. Contrary to the opinions expressed here, the Santro feels quite steady at high speeds except on rare occasions when there are very strong cross-winds (but then I suspect that most hatchbacks will not feel too comfortable under these conditions).

To summarize, the Santro in my opinion will outperform the Zen in city driving conditions - it should be able to overtake better and has outstanding steering response and maneuverability. There should not be much of a difference on the highway, when you compare the Xing with the Zen. Again the Santro's ability to make tight overtakes with rapid lane changes will suit Indian highway conditions very well. Maybe the Zen is better in ghat stretches, and may have a slightly higher top speed, especially as compared to the 1-lit ZipDrive, but there is not much in it.
Regards, rks