‘Going compact, but efficiently’, the mantra that stuck many car buyers in India has not even spared the petrol king of small car segment – Maruti, and compelled it to deliver a one such example for the others to follow on.
The Delhi based carmaker finally took its turn to roll out a small diesel car called Celerio DDiS 125 this week, which house a 793cc twin-cylinder diesel engine of 47bhp. But it isn’t the only car in the segment so far to offer mobility with the efficiency of a small diesel engine. A couple of other models present there proven quite competitive, and are doing the job very well since launch. Everyone knows them very well, a Chevrolet Beat and Hyundai Grand i10. Stacking neck to neck, each of them have got a different story to tell, but their makers aims at the same point – bottom line.
- Engine Talk
On paper, it’s Celerio that holds the smallest engine of all three with twin-cylinders, which even at its peak produces the lowest amount of power than the other two. Comparatively, Beat balances the situation handsomely. From the whole one litre engine it sends an output of 56bhp. The most powerful car of this comparison Hyundai Grand i10 with its 1.1-litre engine sends other to shame with the peak power of 70bhp.
| Engine | Maruti Celerio | Chevrolet Beat | Hyundai Grand i10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cubic capacity | 793cc | 936cc | 1120cc |
| Cylinder on offer | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Power | 47bhp | 56bhp | 70bhp |
| Torque | 125Nm | 150Nm | 160Nm |
The power isn’t all to talk of; weight too is taken into consideration where aligning both puts up a new story on the board. Outcome is clearly witnessed on fuel-efficiency, where to name the least powerful option Celerio, which is also the lightest here, is rated as India’s most fuel-efficient car by ARAI for its 27.62kmpl return. Earlier, the Beat too enjoyed that top spot of most fuel-efficient list during its heydays, but later it got dethroned by entrants who managed to sum up numbers in a better way. Though, Hyundai’s grandeur of small car – i10 – is the most powerful option available, but the huge weight pulls it down quite literally on the fuel-economy, and as a result it fares last.
| Fuel-Efficiency | Maruti Celerio | Chevrolet Beat | Hyundai Grand i10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| As per ARAI (kmpl) | 27.62 | 25.44 | 24 |
- What’s inside?
Thus, it makes no sense in writing about the space inside the cabin of compact cars. After all, they are compact and one is pretty much sure about facing crunches in the cabin. Still, in India and people do ask for such information. So carmakers prefer to put on offer about the information of space on their brochures, for some to do the comparison. Amongst all, Grand i10 is literally grand in nature when it comes to serving the cabin space. It offers airiness to front and rear occupants both. The Beat on its side is focused only to the front. Maruti conceptualizing the mentality of Indians very aptly offered more space at the rear bench. Overall, Beat is a cool option to make a statement on arrival, rather than it puts utility to the best.
| Space | Maruti Celerio | Chevrolet Beat | Hyundai Grand i10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front legroom (min/max) | 56/77 cm | 62/82 mm | 61/82 cm |
| Rear legroom (min/max) | 68/90 cm | 62/80cm | 67/89 cm |
| Front headroom | 100 cm | 98 mm | 99 cm |
| Rear headroom | 95 cm | 90 cm | 92 cm |
| Boot space | 235-litre | 170-litre | 256-litre |
- The featured excitement
Out there looking to buy a small diesel car, for them the list of features does make sense offered for the given price. Without raising a doubt Hyundai remained unbeaten leader in league for offering more features than others in the segment of compact cars. But the effort put up by Maruti Celerio is really worth to talk of. Maker left no stone unturned to mark it where it needs to stand as of now. The availability of two top-end trims (ZDi & ZDi Optional) explains the relevance. However, Chevrolet Beat is altogether a different story. Its cabin space is quite narrow and the seats at rear aren’t quite comfortable, but liveliness it offers is unmatchable. The sportiest design on inside and outside both, with very interesting instrument cluster and dials makes it to top the chart for an young enthusiast looking out to buy his first car of life.
- Overall
All put to together, everyone has a different story with the same aim, but its buyer’s choice who prefer a one that suits his taste.
