Chevrolet Sail U-VA review, test drive

City-based users will also like the hydraulic power steering for its lightness at low speeds and reasonable feel on twistier paths, but the Sail still does not feel as lively as the Swift or Figo. There’s a dead zone at the straight-ahead position and a fair amount of body roll around bends too, so you can tell this isn’t a car meant to be driven in a rush. Our test cars’ brakes also felt grabby, and this takes some getting used to. 

 

It’s the diesel that is our pick of the two engines. To give you a brief, the Sail uses the same Fiat-sourced 1.3 Multijet engine as the Fiat Grande Punto, Maruti Swift and Tata Vista. However, GM has modified it, giving it a different air filter, a new inlet and exhaust, and a new fixed-geometry turbocharger. Peak power is now up to 77bhp. These changes, along with the revised tuning, have worked well; the engine not only feels more refined, but its responses have improved too. No, the Sail still doesn’t have the effortless bottom-end pull of the Ford Figo’s motor, but it doesn’t feel more responsive than the Swift’s. Like the petrol car, the diesel comes with GM’s new F17 five-speed manual gearbox. Short throws and a narrow gate make this gearbox fun to use, though gearshifts do require some effort and there’s also some whine from the transmission. The diesel’s clutch is on the heavier side too, which is a slight irritant in slow-moving traffic.