As a little boy my Dad bought me a plastic peddle car in the shape of a jeep, metallic gray it was with plastic tyres and all. It was my pride & glory for a number of years until my legs would no longer fit in the foot well. That I like to believe is how my passion for cars started. I drove around the house at full peddle power sliding around the custom made indoor race course, in the process damaging a lot of my mum's valuable decor.
Then, in 2004 I had a set of keys to a shiny new Euro 2 Maruti Suzuki 800. It gave me a sense of freedom, I could go anywhere I wanted when I wanted without having to rely on anybody else. That I believe is the most important reason for the ever growing demand for a car.
The Car
Anyway back to the car. The little 800 was a delight. It was extremely easy to drive, being a Gypsy graduate it actually felt like driving a toy car. And what a toy car it was, 800cc with 36 break horse power on tap. Now while that might not sound like a lot it actually wasn't. But the fact that the car only weighed a mere 650 kgs did help.
It may only have had a tiny 800cc engine, it may only have had 36 puny horses under the bonnet, it may have had leaf spring suspension, the air con unit made more noise than the engine did, but it had the one factor that every car aspires to have, it had character. It was a basic car no frills, but thrill it did.
The Drive
Bigger and more powerful cars were put to shame on the streets of Guwahati as a mint white 800 shot past everything in its view, through every little barely manageable gap. Sometimes it messed with the ego of other drivers in more powerful cars. Shift a cog down and the competitor faded from my rear view mirror in no time. The mid range of the 800 was its strongest point. The ideal gear was 3rd in the city. From 30 kph it pulled with all its might and before you knew it the engine was screaming at 65 kph. There was no limiter but a good driver knows the sweet spot for changing gears and in the 800 this was it.
The best part about the car as I always say was the steering. It was deadly accurate. It might only have been a basic car but sometimes that isn't a bad thing. Because everything was so direct the steering was too. Just point the car into a gap and shoot, I can bet you a million bucks it will not budge a centimeter off target. But more importantly you could feel the road with the steering. You knew what was going on all the time and that inspired major confidence while driving. Till date I have not driven a car with as a good a steering as the 800 had, and that is a big compliment.
The Handling
The little car was so chuck able. The fantastic steering combined with the suspension setup provided excellent body control. The car went where you wanted it to go every single time. It inspired confidence. There was a little body roll past 60 kph but nothing that you can't manage. The grip from the tyres was good. It didn't have a very comfortable ride over bumps but the upside was that the car was so light that if you drove fast enough it would just float over them.
The real Achilles heel of this car was high end speeds. I topped it at a 135 kph on the highway. But as you go past a 100 kph the front starts to lift, it goes light. You have to really concentrate to keep the car on the road. But that doesn’t stop 800 drivers from doing so. And it certainly didn't stop me. The car never lost its composure entirely till its top speed so you could manage it. But it's not highly recommendable.
The Ownership
The little 800 was a joy to own. Being a basic car it meant that there was very little that could go wrong. As long as I owned it nothing major went wrong with it. Just regular servicing and the car was always tip top. The cost of ownership is negligible and you are always at peace mentally because you know the car is never going to give you a problem.
And here is the most amazing bit, the wheel alignment even after the kind of driving it was subjected to, never once went off. The car was sold on the very same tires it came with, and they were in good shape, all the grooves on the tyres were albeit little faded but were still there. That just baffles me! A five year old car having done 60000 kilometers was sold on the same set of tyres that it came out of the showroom on. Unbelievable.
The Niggles
The 800 had very good quality standards for reliability and quality for its price.
And while you could fly over bumps on the road. Do not speed over speed humps because that wears out the front arms very quickly.
The gear shift for the first two gears was appalling. It was very slightly better than the gear shift on a Ford tractor.
The headlights were rubbish. They had very poor illumination when in dipper mode. You could barely see ten meters ahead. And on the highway at speeds even the high beam just wasn't enough.
The wiper blades provided by Maruti were useless and had to be changed twice every year. Mind you they were dirt cheap though.
Safety
The 800 came with a crumple zone and that's it. There were no safety features. The glass was not shatter proof. It scares me to think of the way I drove that car. That was the level of confidence the car inspired.
Verdict
The 800 was a laugh to drive. When you drive an expensive car you drive it with a serious face and within limits because of the power it has and the value that the car has. When you drive the 800 you forget everything else. You become part of the car, it feels taught and together. And the car is so manageable that you can't but help but have fun with it. That I believe is the most important quality a car must possess.
