India has embraced the cheekily-styled Chevrolet Beat with reasonably open arms. Its unique combination of distinctive looks, decent performance and extremely competitive pricing has been key to the car’s success here. However, a major chink in the Beat’s armour was the lack of a diesel heart. Until now. The newly launched Beat features a 1-litre, 3-cylinder diesel engine option to escalate the Transformers-starrer’s potential.
The engine is a derivation of the Multijet diesel engine jointly developed by Fiat and GM that has done duty in a host of motor cars now, across Tatas to Maruti Suzukis. The new motor develops a rather modest 58 BHP; this is especially noticeable with a full load in the car. Driving in town is where the new Beat really excels; its decent midrange makes short work of general overtaking and quick exits from traffic lights.
But get the new Beat on the expressway and its shortcomings are almost immediately noticed. The car behaves like a wheezing asthmatic after 4,000 rpm which translates into a relatively low top speed of around 135 km/h. What gets a little infuriating as well is the constant need to work the gearbox to pass other guests of the asphalt. However, this lack of performance sees a great upside in fuel frugality; the Beat provides up to 16 kpl in city conditions.
There haven’t been any alterations to the Chevy’s standard equipment or styling, save the ‘TDCI’ badge to help distinguish it from its gasoline counterpart. Look closer and you’ll notice slightly wider tyres that provide the new Beat with a better ride in comparison to the stiffer character of the petrol, noticed especially on bump-ridden stretches of tarmac. Also, this car doesn’t heed to our impractical fad with beige, since it retains the black upholstery of the petrol variant that stains far less easily.
Will it ‘beat the heat’ from the competition though? For those who desire an excellent city car that is priced sensibly (`4.29 to `5.45 lakh), is remarkably fuel efficient and looks quite different from the safer designs of other players in the market, the new diesel Beat should be pondered over very carefully indeed.
The writer is an automobile enthusiast based in Kodaikanal