sleeper (n. or adj.) - A sleeper (US English) or Q-car (British English) is a car that has high performance and an unassuming exterior.
I am new to the world of "actual" driving as I turned 18 just a few months ago, my backseat driving skills notwithstanding.
My car is a humble 2003 "Tata Indica V2 LSi 16-Bit Microprocessor 75 BHP Petrol" (well, that's what the badging says).
I've spent almost three months learning about the car (apart from improving my driving skills) and staying behind the wheel of my petrol Indica gave me a lot of pleasant surprises:
The main reason for the surprises:
Most of the Indicas sold are diesels for reasons I don't want to elaborate upon and insult your intelligence. Thus, everybody presumes that my car is a diesel.
Here it goes: At the time of starting:
People feel that this car will start with a huge groan. But to their surprise, it almost purrs to a start (if you are comparing with the diesel).
At fuel stations:
In most cases, the pump employee blindly presumes that, "
here comes another call-centre cabbie, and will definitely fill the cheapest available diesel". So, he will ask me, "
Diesel ?". When I say, "
Speed Petrol", it is interesting to note the rather confused expression on the poor chap's face. Many times, he'll be hesitant while filling petrol with the fear that I am putting petrol in a diesel car.
At traffic lights:
Here, things get really interesting. Many times, it does happen that an overenthusiastic driver stops just beside my car at a stop signal with an intention of going ahead of the pack just when (or before) the light turns green. Once again, he expects that my car would be a diesel and I would invariably be a cabbie (whose only aim in life is too ooze out max mileage from every single drop of diesel). He feels that he would easily cut lanes and go ahead of me. That's when the time comes to acclerate a bit harder than usual and show him/her who's the boss.
When in motion:
Let me explain this, with an anecdote:
I was driving at a steady speed of around 70-80 kmph, when a blue Indica diesel was almost tailgating me and trying to desperately overtake me for no valid reason. So, I opened the throttle a bit more, to show him that my car was NOT a 53 bhp diesel.
What makes my car more special, is that it belongs to the batch of the most powerful (in terms of raw power) stock Indicas ever to roll out of Tata Motors' assembly line. The newer Xetas are probably not that fast compared (correct me, if I am wrong) to the Type-I Indica V2s, as the 1.4L Xetas were slightly detuned for refinement and fuel efficiency and most of the petrol Xetas sold now are 1.2Ls.
Having said that the Indica Diesel Turbo has reduced the gap between petrol and diesel in terms of performance but still, compared to the normally-aspirated Indicas, their number is quite less.
I don't claim that this is the best hatch in the market. But thanks to the presumptions and the prejudices of the
aam janta about the Indica, the Tata Indica 1.4 petrol is surely, a nice tool to raise a few eyebrows on the road (without any modifications)! The fact that the Indica lacks "snob value" (sic) and "status" (sic) works in favour of the petrol version !!!
Signing off,
salilpawar1
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