Refreshed Hyundai i10 Coming This Diwali

This diwali Hyundai is planning to launch new i10 and you may get to see it at the upcoming Paris motor show. Now its not going to be a new car altogether but will be more of a mid-life facelift. Its not that we are bored looking at Hyundai's little baby but giving it a refreshed look will definately improve its road presence. Upcoming i10 has recently being captured on camera undergoing trial run under camouflage by guys at IndianCarsBikes.

Lets now see what changes can be expected in the upcoming Hyundai i10. Firstly the 1.1-litre iRDE engine that powers the current i10 is expected to be replaced by this new 1.0-litre, VTVT engine whereas 1.2-litre Kappa is expected to remain unchanged for now. From the spy shots its clear that new car gets redesigned set of headlamps which look similar to what we saw on new Hyundai Elantra released abroad. And going by the same design theme we believe i10's grille, the fog lamps and the lower air dam position will also take cue from the bigger sibling. Look at the comparison picture below to know what we are talking about.

On the rear, the most important change will be the new tail lamps which are expected to be much more appealing. Interiors too gets a facelift with blue back-lit for music player and maybe a different theme colour for dash. Overall the i10 facelift is said to have 86 new parts.

Source: IndianCarsBikes
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VW Polo Sedan Maybe Badged As The Vento

Volkswagen has a history of selling sedan version of Polo hatchback in many countries across the globe. Even the previous generation Polo had a sedan variant called the Polo Classic. And what you see here are said to be new sketches of the upcoming Volkswagen Polo Sedan, being dubbed as VW Vento.
It doesn’t look particularly surprising as the change to a sedan bodytype is quite straightforward – adding a boot and making few changes to the front nose and the backlights to differentiate it from hatch. And this saves loads of money and time as building a car from scratch would have taken years.

There are no awkward lines to be smoothened out as the Polo has quite a squareish straight-cut design to begin. The Vento will likely ride on a 50mm longer wheelbase (than the Polo). While this is a minor change, the additional length will allow for increased rear seat head and legroom. The Vento will be launched in India sometime in July this year.

Source: Leblogauto.com
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Trivia: Volkswagen Polo India

The 5th generation Volkswagen Polo, launched globally in 2009, officially entered Indian market on 23 Feb 2010 with a tag line of 'German Engineering. Made In India.' Polo comes with the classic "VW" look famous for its clean understated designs. Beautifully crafted inside and out, it is a testament to Volkswagen’s lasting quality standards. It is being manufactured at VW group's Chakan plant in Pune. Made available in 3 variants: Trendline, Comfortline & Highline, Polo currently comes with only a 1.2-litre, 75 bhp, 3-pot petrol mill paired with five speed manual gearbox and develop 75 bhp power along with a decent fuel-economy of 17.2 kmpl. It has been priced at Rs. 4.42 lakh (base ex showroom New Delhi). The 1.2 litre diesel model will be available from May 2010 and followed by a possible 1.6 liter powerpacked machine.

VOLKSWAGEN POLO TRIVIA
The Indian Polo does not wear the twin-focal smoked European headlamps that look so much better.

Unlike most newer generations of the same car, the Polo has cut flab and actually weighs a few kilos less than its predecessor.

The clever VW boot handle/lock is taken straight out of the Passat.

When you drive it for the first time, make sure you look at the shifting lever closely as the reverse gear is positioned parallel to 1st gear before it.

VW Polo was voted as the European Car of the Year(CoTY) 2010. The last time Volkswagen won the ECOTY was back in 1992, for the Golf.

Polo is one of the oldest running production cars ever. With the first run happening sometime around 1975, the Polo was and continues to be the able younger brother to its hot-hatch sibling, the Golf.

The 12-valve petrol engine is also found in the Fabia, but VW has eked out some more oomph from it.

The 1198cc diesel motor develops 74 bhp at 4200 rpm and a significant 18.3 kgm of turning force at 2000 rpm. This diesel is an all-new unit — it is one of the first applications of the engine for the VW Group anywhere in the world.

Source: Web
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Tata Nano India Review: Secret Behind Peoples Car

No single car by the Tata Motors has been talked about as much as the Tata Nano. Classified as being part of the new breed of 21st century cars the Nano symbolizes the new age philosophy of smaller, lighter and cheaper cars. The project was initiated in the year 2003 to construct a small sized car in the range of one lakh rupees i.e about $2100. This was done after considering the fact that India had a considerable number of families that were being forced to drive around on two wheelers due to the lack of finance for a four wheeler.

Hundreds of reviewers who took Nano for a ride had a different take on it. But there was a lot that all agreed on. Nano is a ultra compact but looks bigger due to its height and wide stance. Its interior is unexpectedly roomy with decent quality material used for furnishing. The car is more than capable of accommodating four adults along with few small bags in its 130 litre boot volume. Fold down the rear seat and the parcel tray fixed to it and you can reach the luggage area.

Everything seemed almost normal till now but to make the cheapest car in the world there has to be few things outside the ordinary. Looking causally at the car inside-out you can feel that there is something different in Nano. Look carefully and you can see lot of cost-cuttings. Tata Nano has about one third of the usual number of parts which is made possible due to its centralised wiring; wheels mounted with three rather than four bolts, missing left hand side wing mirror and seats moulded in one single piece. These are just few of the innovative techniques used to cut price and weight to bare minimum resulting a 600kg car versus 683kg for its nearest competitor Maruti Suzuki 800.

The Nano is powered by a tiny 624cc engine big enough to drive it to a top speed of 106kph. The all-aluminium parallel-twin petrol engine makes 35ps of power at 5250rpm and a max torque of 48Nm. The fuel consumption is claimed to be 23.5km/l while emissions are very low. Nano meets all current regulatory requirements in India including full frontal crash, head impact on steering wheel, body block impact on steering and seat belt anchorage strength.

This rear wheel driven machine is a genuine car in every sense of the word and earns the well deserved honour of being the cheapest (most affordable) means of private transportation.

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Photo Gallery: New Tata Nano Pictures.

Spy Video: Tata Nano Caught Testing

The buzz about the upcoming $2500 Nano hatchback had kind of died down after its debut at the Delhi and Geneva Auto Show. The focus had shifted to the Indian carmaker Tata Motors takeover of Jaguar and Land Rover. But now the worlds cheapest car, Tata Nano is back in news with its spy video being uploaded on Youtube.

This is the first time that Nano has been caught on video. Till now nobody had seen any spy photo or video of this cute little hatch due to the high level of secrecy that Tata had maintained about its pet project. The video below shows the base model (black bumper) of Nano being tested on the old Bombay Pune Highway in India without any camo whatsoever.

Tata Nano coined as “The People’s Car” in India due to its rock bottom prices has a RWD all-aluminum, two-cylinder 623 cc petrol engine making 33 hp and is efficient enough to attain a fuel economy of about 55 mpg. The car is expected to hit the Indian market later this year and its delux model might have a $10 airbag (Read).

Tata is also said to be working on the world’s first compressed air car called Tata OneCat which Tata expects to be more efficient than any present hybrid car. We'll be on lookout for more about about this concept but till then checkout the Nano in action below.

Via: TopSpeed
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Spy Video: Tata Nano On the Move.

Tata Wants $10 Airbag For Small Car Nano

The Indian car maker Tata Motors, is planning on a $10 airbag for its worlds cheapest Nano supermini. Now this seems quite logical if not realistic as a conventional airbag would almost cost 10% of the retail price of $2500 (1lakh) Nano. So to keep prices under control Tata has asked occupant safety systems supplier Autoliv IFB to develop airbags that cost only $10 each. How and when, if ever a dirt-cheap airbag gets developed remains to be seen, but one thing is certain that nobody does cost-cuttings better than Tata Mototrs.

The base variant of Nano will be a no-frill car, thats is no airbags, no air-conditioning, just a five seat skeleton car that moves. But the delux or the high-end version of Nano is expected to have two frontal air bags plus the regular air-conditioning, music system and alloy wheels, all for little more that $2500 (1lakh).

Nobody beleived Ratan Tata, chairman Tata Motors when he disclosed his intent to develop a $2500 small car. Within few years he proved his critics wrong by launching his promised budget car Nano, that will go on sale in India later this year. So when Mr Tata says he plans to get a $10 airbag, you better beleive him. Moreover, Autoliv is the worlds largest manufacturer of air bags, and given the large volumes that Nano is expected to sell, Tata and Autoliv may be able to pull off the deed. Atleast their chances are bright.

Read More On: Cars in India

Skoda India Launches New Fabia 1.2L Petrol Variant

On Friday, Skoda-India launched the cheapest variant of its new Fabia range, the 1.2 petrol version. It comes in three trim levels priced at Rs 5.11 lakh for the Active version, Rs 5.48 lakh for the Classic and Rs 6.09 lakh for the Ambient. The new Fabia 1.2 MPI is powered by a three-cylinder petrol motor that gives out 70bhp of horsepower and 123Nm of torque. It will be available in many colours including candy white, cappuccino beige, brilliant silver, magic black, satin grey, corrida red and tangerine orange.

Fabia Petrol 1.2L Classic comes with power steering and windows, dual airbags, defogger, stereo system, wheel caps and adjustable steering. And the Fabia Ambient includes all features of Classic variant plus alloy wheels, ABS, seat height adjustment and remote locking. Skoda Fabia is far bigger than any hatchback in India hence is hugely spacious in cabin as well as in boot. Standard boot is of 300 liters, if rear seat is folded, it can be extended to 1100+ liters.

Before the launch of new 1.2L petrol version, Fabia was only available with two engine options - 1.4L petrol and 1.4L diesel. On the launch of Skoda Fabia petrol, Thomas Kuehl, board member (sales and marketing) of SkodaIndia, said: "I am delighted to present the Fabia 1.2 MPI with HTP engine that significantly enhances drivability and fuel efficiency of the car to our Indian customers". The company has sold over 3,500 units of Fabia till April 2008. The target sales of Fabia product line is 10,000 units for 2008 wherein the share of Fabia 1.2 MPI is slated at 40 percent.