[Sheel]

@GTO-- how would you rate the engine? vis a vis with the Ritz's 1.2K series?
excellent drive report i must say...

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by GTO

- Front and side visibility is just like any other modern hatch. Thick A pillars are now the norm (safety standards).

By that you mean lousy?! The A pillar/ORVM combination makes for a killer blindspot, a truck can sit in it, leave alone two wheelers and cars. The A star is the worst I have come across yet. There was a time when cars boasted of maximum front and side visibility of oncoming traffic via slim A pillars. Perhaps the thinking has changed to "its better to get hit, the improved crashworthiness will save you" - not sure I get that thinking, to be honest.

[kraft.wagen]

Great review GTO.
Impressive Car with and agressive look, but the rear somehow fails to carry it or should I say complement[COLOR=#1F497D][/COLOR] the frontal of the car.

The MSIL folks must be busy working out some good deals for the Ritz and A* already

[ashthedivx]

Another feather in Cap GTO !! Congrates !!

However, as a personal prespective i didn't liked that BOLD look in small car.

[Amartya]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

By that you mean lousy?! The A pillar/ORVM combination makes for a killer blindspot, a truck can sit in it, leave alone two wheelers and cars. The A star is the worst I have come across yet. There was a time when cars boasted of maximum front and side visibility of oncoming traffic via slim A pillars. Perhaps the thinking has changed to "its better to get hit, the improved crashworthiness will save you" - not sure I get that thinking, to be honest.

I kind of agree with this. In fact, some years back, Volvo (number 1 in terms of safety at that point of time) showcased a concept where it had a transparent section (naturally reinforced though) in the A-pillar. Although stylistically is wasn't great, but the concept was neat.

I believe that visibility is of paramount importance and the Beat might just beat the A* to the worst visibility among Indian cars (including the front and rear views).

[anu21v]

Originally Posted by GTO

What you won't:
• Very dull dark-grey interior shade. No beige option either
•

Find it quite amusing since beige dahboard to me seems a huge problem to the drivers, what with so much of reflection coming from windscreen. Is it only me who gets distracted while driving or is it a common problem faced by everyone here?

Also with so much of beige rush, I am craving for a beige interiors with two coloured tone on dash (within hatchs) and not the simple one being offered like i10 or spark. Simply put, don't want to give away safety for aesthetics.

[niv26]

This seems to be designed as coupe and introduced as hatch in Indian market.. The rear shows the same.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by Amartya

I kind of agree with this. In fact, some years back, Volvo (number 1 in terms of safety at that point of time) showcased a concept where it had a transparent section (naturally reinforced though) in the A-pillar. Although stylistically is wasn't great, but the concept was neat.

I believe that visibility is of paramount importance and the Beat might just beat the A* to the worst visibility among Indian cars (including the front and rear views).

Its difficult but someone will eventually figure out an engineering solution that holds up in a serious crash but doesn't need thick A pillars for that. Until then, we cannot do much. This problem is largely because, in the West, blind spots created by the A-Pillar are less significant on their disciplined roads. But here, we need complete all round visibility.

[gupta_chd]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

i10 is just no match for Beat as far as looks go. Speaking of i10, wonder why people buy i10s. I find santro a lot better looking, peppier and roomier.

From my ownership experience, I can easily say, i10 is easily one of the best hatches available in India at the moment.Though looks are subjective and I appreciate that, most of the people go for i10 from looks perspective as compared to santro.

Also, i10 is one hatch with least of flaws in its segment. I am not including the beat here.

[Apple]

Excellent review GTO. Hope it will be priced competitively. Looking at the Cruze pricing, I'm sure they will.

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by Amartya

I believe that visibility is of paramount importance and the Beat might just beat the A* to the worst visibility among Indian cars (including the front and rear views).

It is, and I don't know about the Beat, but I ruled out the A star when I was looking for a small city hatch because when I sat in the drivers seat, it was "I can't see anything out of this thing" - and I am not short. I thought my Palio was bad when I got it in 2001, but this was a disaster enough to rule out the car for just this reason. Its nice to see as much as possible of where one is headed and what is headed in your general direction, as early as possible.

[pb10gagan]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

It is, and I don't know about the Beat, but I ruled out the A star when I was looking for a small city hatch because when I sat in the drivers seat, it was "I can't see anything out of this thing" - and I am not short. I thought my Palio was bad when I got it in 2001, but this was a disaster enough to rule out the car for just this reason. Its nice to see as much as possible of where one is headed and what is headed in your general direction, as early as possible.

after driving an indica for 5 years i could not agree more with this point.

i have suffered innumerable heartburns due to scratches suffered because of poor visibility, and have been shocked by the huge A pillar blind spot.

if indica was bad, A-star and Ritz are horrible.

so rejected them and settled for a getz.

[Sawyer]

Originally Posted by pb10gagan

i have suffered innumerable heartburns due to scratches suffered because of poor visibility, and have been shocked by the huge A pillar blind spot.

if indica was bad, A-star and Ritz are horrible.

so rejected them and settled for a getz.

More than scratches, one can get into a nasty coming together with everything from a cyclist to a truck heading towards you out of the blind spot unless one is always very aware of it and moving the head like a boxer all the time while in the car at any hint of such road conditions where this situation is possible. And it gets even more of a hazard at night given the state of lighting - on the roads and on other road users. And if the Beat is worse than the A Star, in my book that makes it an absolute non contender for this one reason alone, no matter how good a car it otherwise may be.
I think it helps if the ORVMs are not mounted at the base of the A pillars. Breaks up the spot somewhat. The Beat should perhaps have carried that forward from the Spark.

[Latheesh]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

Its difficult but someone will eventually figure out an engineering solution that holds up in a serious crash but doesn't need thick A pillars for that. Until then, we cannot do much. This problem is largely because, in the West, blind spots created by the A-Pillar are less significant on their disciplined roads. But here, we need complete all round visibility.

+1 to that

here we need 10% concentration on our driving rest 90% on how others are driving.

[Vid6639]

I think the blind spot issue is not that big deal. If people can drive the Civic, the Linea and the old NHC which had the front quarter glass then the Beat should not be a problem at all.

Most of the cars which had a small front quarter glass were very poor on visibility. You could never use those windows unless you move your head.