Say hello to warm cars

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Driving has become a more passionate affair in our democracy. Thumb prints are now shifting from horns to steering audio controls and we are getting cars that reflect our personalities, for the most part. But, we can do still better — much, much better.
Because it’s time for car manufacturers to offer us Indian motorists ‘sweet-handling’ variants across as much of their model ranges as possible. Cars that handle well, rev higher and are just awesome to drive. Here are the points:
Since our driving is only slowly maturing, the warming of the automotive pie in the country is thankfully happening, and not cooking too early. Small-diesel kingpin Fiat has gotten the power band rolling with the Indica Vista D90 Xtreme Concept’s 1.3L motor, which finally gets an uprated output of 108hp.
If Tata’s getting it, then Maruti Suzuki and Fiat should pretty soon too. Suzuki and Fiat offer performance variants of their best-selling hatches with stiffer shocks in other world markets, the drool-worthy Swift Sport and the Grande Punto T-Jet respectively.
Car companies have many sport springs up their sleeves — it’s time to start showing them off. Also, India now gets the world’s best small diesel engines — carmakers might well supplement this newfound testosterone with suspension engineering that caters to our improved roads too. Makes them cars safer as well. Remember the pure handling of the Ford Fiesta S? Unfortunately, it didn’t sell because it lacked the ‘diesel bhi hai’ option.
Thirdly, lndia has the potential to become the biggest car enthusiast market in the world. But how do we learn to drive these warm hatches and sedans if they don’t ride like they ought to? With the great power that car firms have, it’s time they showed some responsibility.
For our part, we must begin by learning how to exploit these ‘warm’ hatches and sedans as stepping stones first, and hopefully not get excited and jump into the hairy hot hatches and performance saloons too early. While the term ‘warm’ might sound delicate, these cars too are capable of being pretty darn quick if driven well.
And finally, India’s going to get performing cars, there’s no doubt about that. But there’s no point dumping powerful engines into cars that roll like canal boats. We must get cars that will take the bends safely — and that can happen only with good suspension. So, come on car companies, get your screwdrivers and start on cars that are exciting, safe, powerful and yes, warm.

The writer is a motoring enthusiast
writing from Kodaikanal