What’s new?
The Celerio needs no introduction; it was the first car in India to feature an automated manual transmission (AMT), bringing the convenience of clutchless driving to the budget hatchback segment. And that’s not all; it is now, also the most fuel-efficient car in the country, thanks to Maruti’s new two-cylinder 793cc diesel engine. That, combined with its starting price of Rs 4.65 lakh, makes the Celerio diesel a great value proposition too. The budget diesel hatchback segment is, however, quite crowded today and there are some capable rivals the Maruti will have to better, to draw in the sales. The Chevy Beat diesel is the closest direct rival and was one of the first entrants in this entry-level diesel hatchback segment; it’s also very frugal and inexpensive to run. So, which is the car to choose, Maruti or Chevy, two-cylinders or three?
What are they like to drive?
The Celerio has the world’s smallest series production diesel engine on sale today in a passenger car. Displacing just 793cc, this two-cylinder engine puts out a meager 47bhp of peak power. The Beat makes about 56bhp with its larger 936cc, three-pot motor. Neither car is clearly more powerful, evident in their 0-100kph sprint times – 22.6 seconds for the Celerio and 18.5 seconds for the Beat. While the Chevy is clearly faster, these figures are not so important for an urban dweller interested in a cheap city runabout. Here, driveability is more important.
On that front, there’s a fair bit of delay between throttle input and power delivery on the Celerio. But cross that mark and there’s a nice pull for a bit, and because the gears are packed so tight, you soon cross 4,000rpm, after which the clatter is quite unbearable. So, it’s best to drive the
Celerio in a relaxed manner and the gearbox needs a bit of effort too.
The Beat is clearly the quicker to respond of the two here, the extra cylinder making its presence felt. Driving in traffic, it feels eager, power coming in smooth and early. There is an urgency in the way the Chevy moves and the gearbox requires less effort than the Maruti’s although
the clutch is heavier.
The Beat is also the more refined due to the fact that it has three-cylinders versus two. Yes, there is a bit of a rattle and it does growl a lot too, past 3,500rpm, but it feels smooth on the move and idle isn’t too bad either. The Celerio, on the other hand, sounds like a pneumatic drill on start up. There is a sharp clatter at low speeds and though it smoothens up as you spin the engine faster, there’s a lot of noise past 4,000rpm.
While neither of these two cars are well-suited to driving on the highway, the Beat is the one we preferred here. Its extra power, along with
Rivan RS 
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Uday Singh
Suraj Viswanathan
