Ownership Review of Beat Diesel LT

Completed 14000km's, Here is the feeling about car in those KM's clocked.

Passenger Space: The front Passengers will never complain. There is enough room in front that you can stretch your legs freely. Can't say the same for rear passengers - All I can say is it has enough space where 2 grown people can sit a bit comfortably, get in 3rd one and you have a space jam. The thigh support is not great, nor bad either.

Luggage Space: Well, 4 Normal sized bags go inside comfortably. So you can carry 2 peoples luggage for a week or 4 peoples luggage for a weekend. If you are a heavy packer, then the boot space will not be sufficient for you. This car has a most tiny boot in the Hatchback space?! The 60:40 Split seats have helped me a lot of times when returning from my home town filled with luggage.

Mileage: Hovers around and above 20kmpl for the Highway drives, Stays 17 -18 in normal City driving conditions, and worst ever I got was 15 when I was stuck in traffic for ~2 hours multiple times. For more detailed mileage specs you can see my earlier post with all the fuel up details http://lozil.blogspot.in/2012/11/chevrolet-beat-diesel-mileage.html

Power: tiny 3 pot diesel engine does what it is supposed to do. The torque makes up for the lack of power. For city driving the car is good as most of the time in crawling traffic you can manage in 2nd gear and rarely do need to shift to 1st. On highways I am quite happy as the 5th gear can pull from speeds of 45kmph, So minimal gear changes required.

Handling: The steering is like a joystick, You turn it as you are turning a gaming steering wheel. This means easy to drive in traffic.

Speed: 80kmph comes easily, 100-120kmph is a comfortable speed to drive on highways. Anything above does not seem very confidence inspiring. (Have reached the top speed 150 on a occasion just to realize not suitable for the car). Now usually drive speeds of 80 -120kmph on highways.

Suspension: Nothing to complain about, takes most of the small bumps comfortably.

Breaks: Adequate stopping power from speeds of 120kmph-0, No complaints.

Ground Clearance: Never faced the bottom scrapping issues in the Bangalore City speed breakers even when loaded with 5 people. But Shiradi ghats beat the car's ground Clearance.

Air Conditioning:(Front passenger perspective)
Option 1: Set the temperature, Turn the ACC on, Stop worrying. 1-2 mins and you are cooled of from the Mangalore heat.
Option 2 : Turn on AC, turn the temperature to low turn the fan for full, 1 min and you are in a refrigerator.
- There is lack of power when AC is turned on and you are in climbing a hill from standstill, No problems when in normal flat roads in city traffic.
- AC Does not make much of a fuss with power when you are driving on highways.

Noise: The Engine sounds like a small tractor when started, 1 min Idling and the noise settles down. While driving, anything above 3000rpm is audible inside.

Other Rattles: None, Most of the times the sound is from my keys in Cup holder, or a Bisleri bottle in the Door when car revs cross 2800rpm.

Music Player: Still with the Stock Player, Good enough for me, Plays from USB, CD, FM/AM.

That is my honest attempt to summarize my ownership in past 8 months, Please shoot any questions if you have in comments section