The Chevrolet Beat has a good ride. The gearbox could have been better

Engine

The Beat comes with 1.2 litre S-Tec II engine, it develops 79bhp at 6200rpm and max torque of 108 NM comes at a high 4400rpm. What’s the deal with this as every manufacture offers a 1.2 litre engine to save money through excise cuts.

Start the engine and you ask yourself whether its running or not; the engine is as silent as a ghost at night but the silence ends the moment you start revving the engine. It gets pretty coarse the more revs you gain the more louder and harsher it gets.

It is not as rev friendly as the motors offered in Japanese duo of Ritz and Swift but it can be a fair match to the Kappa if not slightly better. The engine has a good low end grunt, which eases your day to day need in bumper to bumper traffic but once past the early perk it lacks the mid-range punch and delivers a feeble final punch at higher revs. It doesn’t possess the sound to provide you with an adrenaline rush and neither does it beg to be revved until the red line.

To summarize, this engine feels at home at exactly where it should be doing duties 90 percent of the time in the hands of its international customers – that’s in city runabouts. It is designed for start-stop traffic.

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• Chevrolet Beat clocks 10,000 bookings in 24 days
• Spied: 2010 Chevrolet Beat
• GM India names new small car as Beat

Entry posted on March 17th, 2010 and filed under New Chevrolet Spark

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The Chevrolet Beat’s manifesto shown during the launch held last month

Epic!

The attractive Chevrolet Beat, as our friends in Wheelosphere put it, is beating all competition. In just 24 days after bookings commenced, the Chevrolet Beat has registered 10,000 bookings in India.

General Motors has priced the Beat very aggressively. The company admits cannibalization will definitely happen given the Beat’s prices were very close to the entry-level model Chevrolet Spark. A company official said GM wants the Beat to take the lead soon and become their best selling model with 5,000 units a month.

P Balendran, Vice-President, GM India -

The response to our latest offerings from the 300 series, the Cruze and the Beat, has been overwhelming and we are certain that these will further provide an impetus to Chevrolet’s growth in the Indian market.

Unlike other small cars in the market today, the Chevrolet Beat’s personality is very unique. Features like motorcycle inspired gauge, C-pillar mounted door handle, good quality plastics, high level of fit and finish, a steering wheel that offers good grip and a gear box that works well with the engine are the reasons we think are behind the Beat emerging to this level.

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• Chevrolet Beat – Design and Styling
• GM postpones Chevrolet Beat launch date; No sooner than December 2009
• Spied- 2010 Chevrolet Beat

Entry posted on February 4th, 2010 and filed under New Chevrolet Spark

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The next generation Chevrolet Spark (which will be launched in India as the Chevrolet Beat in January next year) performed well in the Euro NCAP crash tests conducted recently. The Spark a five-star rating for child protection and a four-star rating overall. An overall score of 69 out of a maximum 100, meant the Spark did not come home with a 5 star rating, but still, it is a commendable score in this segment of vehicles.

In adult protection, the Spark recorded the maximum score of 8 points in the side impact crash test against a moving deformable barrier. A score of 7.35 points out of 8 in the side pole test, indicates solid passenger protection in the event of a more severe side collision.

In child protection, the Spark bagged maximum points in child restraint system dynamic performance tests, which evaluate child protection from possible injuries in various types of crashes. Crash test dummies representing 18-month old and 3-year-old children were properly contained in their restraints by the Spark’s protective shell during side impact tests.

• Exclusive – New Chevrolet Spark (Beat) Spied; hi-res images
• New Chevrolet Spark exports begin in Korea – Will sell in 150 nations
• WTF?- Chevrolet Spark with a 505 hp V8 Engine

Entry posted on November 26th, 2009 and filed under New Chevrolet Spark

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