The Hindu Business Line : Question & Auto

I am planning to buy the new Maruti WagonR Vxi with ABS. I live in Bangalore and plan to go on weekend trips in the car. What do you recommend, the ABS version or the VXi trim variant without ABS ?

Ramachandra Kiran K

ABS or anti-lock braking system is becoming popular even in small cars, though most of them still offer it as an optional add-on. This is a reflection of the maturity of the Indian automobile market; many cars even in the luxury segment do not offer this relatively well-known safety feature as part of standard fitment.

Anti-lock brakes, as the name suggests, do not lead to wheel lock-up during emergency braking. In conventional car brakes, be they discs or drums, the wheels tend to lock during sudden, hard braking. This leads to skidding and, therefore, the car continues to travel well past the point of braking.

The braking distance is longer and the driver of the car loses control, even as the car continues to slide in the original direction of travel. What this means on the road is that if you want to apply the brakes, avoid an obstacle and keep control of the car to get back on to the road, the conventional non-ABS brakes will not be of help even at speeds as low as 40 kmph (post-braking).

However, unlike regular brakes where the drums or the calipers of the disc brakes jam and lock, with the use of ABS, the calipers actually pump the brake discs in a series of split-second clasping and release action that will not lead to a complete lock-up of the wheels, even as it quickly decelerates the car. It may seem surprising, but ABS (though it alternately releases the brake discs to avoid skidding) actually cuts the braking distance.

Since ABS manages to bring the car to a stop or decelerates without skidding, the driver can also maintain control over the car. So, it will actually be possible to apply the brake, avoid the obstacle by turning while braking and continue the journey without actually bringing the car to a stop.

The addition of the ABS option in the Maruti WagonR VXi will push up the price by about Rs 32,000. That is over 8 per cent of the car's ex-showroom price, a high price for this feature when you compare similar cars globally. While this is also due to the fact that the WagonR is a low-priced small car, the high price for ABS in India is also due to its low penetration levels amongst the current crop of cars on sale here.

The WagonR is also part of the tallboy league of small cars and these cars' designs tend to have poorer handling characteristics compared to low-slung small cars and sedans. Therefore ABS may be the option to choose for added safety, especially on the highway. But it comes at a price and the decision to opt or not entirely depends on your focus on safety.

We hope one day all cars in India will have ABS as part of their standard features, much like air-conditioning is fast becoming standard in most cars sold to individuals.

I want to know as to when the Maruti Suzuki Zen Estilo would be launched with a diesel engine option?

Niranjan Rao

With the launch of the Suzuki Swift DDiS diesel, Maruti is firmly on the path towards having a sizeable presence in the diesel cars segment. However, it is unlikely that the company will launch a diesel version of the Zen Estilo. This small car's design is based on the Suzuki MR-Wagon, a car that was sold with a 660cc petrol engine in Japan till early 2006.

The Zen Estilo is based on the monoform, cab-forward design and this, along with its smaller dimensions, means that the engine bay is extremely small and narrow.

Maruti R&D has smartly packed the WagonR's 1.1-litre engine under the Zen Estilo's bonnet. But slotting a diesel engine into that small area in this new, small car from Maruti will be close to impossible. Structurally, too, the Zen Estilo is not built to handle the kind vibration, noise and harshness that even the current generation of common rail direct injection diesel engines produce.

At a later date, Maruti may consider bringing in a smaller Suzuki petrol engine that could be more fuel-efficient and this could be targeted at city dwellers. But it is unlikely to consider a diesel engine.

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