Life is like a dice.
The situation in our life is always dicey. Sometimes the throw hits a six, sometimes you just have to be satisfied with a one...er..sometimes, two.
The law of duality has affected our lives since stone age. Like I said, behind the success of one sex, lies the success of another sex.
But, can a cross pollination really result in an affair to remember?
In this case, lies the french connection. In fact, more deeper connection than Mr. Bean would have ever imagined.
Back in 2010, Nissan asked Renault-you give me the engine, I'll give you the body. Fast forward to a pulse-ating new year 2012, there's an anti climax scripted by the crew of uttaran.
Renault asks Nissan-you gimme the body, I'll give you more engines in return.
Somewhere in D'wallen, a script is shot and the final product is made-for-India Renault Pulse.
When the car was showcased on Oct 30, opinions were frighteningly strong. Some called it a micra with a french beard, some called it a male micra and what not? Some people even went to the extent of calling it a crossbreed. A victim of badge engineering.
And that's what it actually is. Building a common car on a same platform with minor modifications results in actual savings in terms of huge input costs plus provides with economies of scale. Indian's haven't really taken to the concept of cross pollination so easily. But is paying a premium for the french connection justified?
Come front and the car looks much improved, errr...masculine. The cirrent Micra looked way to feminish and was a hit especially with ladies. To appeal to people using fair and handsome's creamy faces, Renault' design studio carried out suitable modifications to the car's headlamps and redesigned the front bumpers. A more prominent moustache adorns the huge renault diamond logo and gels well with the front bodystyle, giving it a balanced stance. The sides are pure micra, save for the different design alloy wheels to give the car a more aggressive stance. The rear is changed, though and breaks the monotonous tone with a dual tone rear bumper and different set of taillights.
Available in two variants with standard driver airbag and optional passenger airbag, the pulse starts from north of 5.7 lakh and goes all the way upto 6.3 odd lakh for the top end RXZ version. Quite high price for the french toast. ABS sadly isn't offered as standard, nor an option which would have justified the high premium. The base model gets a plum and black dashboard as compared to the greige colour scheme of the RXZ.
The overall seating comfort and posture is mediocre with the seats being on the softer side, under thigh support is lacking though lower back support is above average.
The rockstar of this package is undoubtedly, the K9K engine. Endorsed by the rockstar (pun intended) himself, the engine is by far the most user friendly diesel ever driven in a hatchback. Absolutely close to zero turbo lag, the eager motor spins to 80 in no time, progresses to 110 and then is even stronger at top end. On the open panipat-karnal stretch during a lame day, the car crossed 150 with ease before we ran out of road. The motor sounds gruff at low speeds but as speeds build up, you forget that you are piloting a diesel vehicle. The gear ratios are well spaced, and the motor is extremely user friendly in the city, something which is so good for our congested roads. Quoted power of 65 bhp is something of an understatement. At the highway, just press the throttle at 4th gear and whoosh, the car surges ahead without any hiccup.
As good as the motor is, its the steering that's the let down. Make no mistake, it feels connected to the chassis but doesn't inspire confidence at high speed in a way some similar competitors like the figo, swift and punto do. The higher you go, the better control and concentration has to be done to keep the car planted at the road.
But perhaps, the single biggest drawback of the mechanical package are the brakes. For a car that's got a chassis capable of handling a strong motor, the brakes just don't inspire confidence. Pedal feel is just lacking, and braking has to be planned in advance to avoid any obstacles. Brake fade is instantly noticeable and the stoppage distances are alarmingly long. ABS is the need of the hour and the spongy feeling brake pedal needs to be addressed on a priority.
Overall, as a package, there are many things to be liked-quality, fit and finish, user friendliness, space and average comfort, engine's calibration and fuel efficiency and urban friendly nature.
But, as a package, it still falls short. Optimistic pricing, poor brakes, no ABS, high speed stability and steering feel are the Achilles heal. Renault's dealership network is very few and far between, but its service packages and 4 year warranty cannot be ignored.
Besides, the K9K is a reliable and proven workhorse. And Micra DCI owners are mostly a satisfied lot with their product.
But perhaps....is cross pollination really the need of the hour?
Only time will tell.....
