Car and Bike Show on the NDTV network hosted by SVP (SiddharthVinayak Patankar) unwrapped the Chevrolet Beat diesel on his episode. Siddharth gave readers the brief comparison between the Ford Figo and the Beat Diesel. When compared to the Ford Figo, the Beat wins some, loses some. For instance, the Figo has some features which the Beat lacks and vice versa. However the Beat diesel has lesser turbo lag and better maneuverability compared to the Figo. The Ford on the other hand has better space and handling.
The Beat’s diesel engine is a downgraded edition of the 4cyl 1.3-liter Fiat Multi-jet engine, which does duty in a lot of cars (Fiat Palio to the Maruti SX4) in India. However GM engineers have knocked down one cylinder, while simultaneously maintaining decent torque. The 936cc, 3-cylinder motor is known as SDE Smartech Diesel and produces 57.3 bhp of power at 4000 RPM and 150Nm of torque at 1750 RPM. This makes the diesel Beat posses the highest torque per litre in it class. The Chevrolet Beat Diesel’s engine is paired to a new 5-speed manual gearbox (which is smooth) and turbo lag has been minimized using a smaller turbocharger. The best part of the Chevrolet Beat diesel will undoubtedly be the mileage, which has got an ARAI certification of 24 kmpl.
A GM is targeting the Hyundai i10 and the Maruti Suzuki WagonR with the Beat diesel. The cabin is more silent than the Figo’s (which is very silent itself) and is very zippy to drive. Steering system shifted from hydraulic to EPS (Electric Power Steering). The petrol variant will get EPS in due course of time. All variants are the same and equipment hasn’t been discounted on any of them, with the top variant getting ABS and airbags. The company has however added a full sized USB port and tweaked the tuning settings for the audio system. The Beat diesel also has a 3-layer paint application which resists rusting and corrosion. Just like the petrol variant, the diesel variant’s suspension too has been tuned for comfort. Prices of Chevy Beat Diesel are not yet revealed.
OnCars.in earlier this year reported that the new diesel engine will be marketed as XSDE (eXtra Smart Diesel Engine). Features of the engine include an iron block, aluminum DOHC cylinder head, maintenance-free timing chain, centrifugal blow by separator filter for reduced oil consumption, low-noise timing gears, a balancer shaft designed to minimize NVH and a precisely sized waste-gated turbocharger.GM India officials told our friends at IAB that the Beat diesel will be launched during the second half of July.
You can checkout the complete review at NDTV’s website here.
Also see – Chevrolet Diesel Beat further delayed
