Suzuki’s Alto has been launched by the carmaker to compete with Daihatsu’s Cuore. Although they are both priced in the same range (Alto variants priced for Rs.0.588million & Rs.0.637million while variants of Cuore sell for Rs.0.569million to Rs.0.709million); engine displacement of Cuore is only 847cc (3-cylinders) with a 3-speed A/T transmission (5-speed in CX & CXCNG variants) compared with 970cc (4-cylinders) displacement of the Alto’s with its 5-speed M/T transmission.
is more compact at 3.3m in length while Alto is slightly larger at 3.395m. Both have near exact suspension systems i.e. MacPherson Strut for front wheels & isolated trailing link for rear ones. WHile fuel tanks are also identical (37-litre capacity) the CNG cylinder in Alto is slightly bigger (55-L) than Cuore’s (50-L).
If Alto sells for its better performance features the several
variants of Cuore make it affordable to a variety of buyers including some chunk of the Cultus market which is otherwise the only car that competes exclusively against ‘unorganized imports’. Both are assembled locally with Daihatsu assembling their’s at the Toyota Indus Motors plant & Suzuki having their own assembly unit.
Lets face it with price of the lowest tier 1.3L RXI MT starting at Rs.0.952million with the top of the line 1.6L EMINENT AT going for Rs.1.086million Liana is ”poor man’s sedan”. But is this just our ATTITUDE?
Let us examine what it calls Life In A New Age (or LIANA for short). Suzuki’s Liana is the shortest of all sedans with a length of 4.35m from bumper-to-bumper slightly shorter even than Honda’s CITY (4.395m) and comes in three variants: The basic RXI, slightly luxuries LXI & top-of-the-line EMINENT.
Shiny, metallic interior is complimented by the new chrome front-grill & alloy tyre-rims which are again an option only. With new fog lamps added to suit the needs of up-country Pakistani clients & a new ‘sparkling’ tail-light Liana seems to scream ‘look at me, I am a sedan too’.
Although Bugatti Veyron made by is the fastest production car currently with a price tag of US$.1.7million and a top speed of 253mph achieved by its 1001hp Narrow Angle W16 Engine and ended McLaren F1′s (Top Speed: 240mph) 11-year reign as the fastest production car in 2005. Today several cars are in various stages of development that have proven faster in trials.
One such car is the swedish-made Koenigsegg CCX whose manufacturer also claims that it is capable of exceeding 250mph putting it at par with the Veyron. Infact CCX ended the reign of McLaren F1 but its own reign was short-lived as Bugatti immediately updated its Veyron. Koenigsegg has announced that they will update CCX very soon.
Yet another challenger is SSC Ultimate Aero which on Sep. 13th, 2007 using a closed section of Washington State Highway clocked a top speed of 256.18mph using a V8 engine half-the-size of Veyron’s. It generates 1183bhp & of torque (Veyron: 479lbs). The car’s website page(
Another equivalent of this amazing challenger is the fast yet modified supercar built by Barabus called Barabus TKR having 6L V8 Chevy bi-turbo engine capable of generating an amazing 1095bhp & acgheivingtop speed of 270mph. The body & chasis of the car are both made of carbon-fibre. It is rumoured to reach 0-60mph in 1.67sec which is amazing since even 4 sec qualifies for supercar.
An obscure modifier using modified versions of Dodge Viper under name of Hennessey SRT-10 Viper Venom 1000 Twin Turbo Coupe claims to challenge Bugatti Veyron (even SSC Ultimate Aero) using a 500bhp Viper engine reworked to give 1000bhp at 15psi instead of the usual 10psi creating a 255mph marvel priced at a ‘reasonable’ US$0.225million.
Colani Racing of Switzerland has designed a roadster which is yet to see the light of any road other than the 24-hour LeMans Circuit. With a 900hp engine The Colani LeMans is rumoured to have a top speed of approx. 255mph. However there is no news regarding any plans for commercial production and Colani are uptil now only producers of cars for racing purpose.
Callaway Corvette Sledgehammer reached a top speed of 254.76mph on Oct 19, 1989 driven by John Lingenfelter. Only 1 of these cars exists, although, at the time Callway Motor Company claimed that they could reproduce it for 0.400million. It seems no one wants one at that price & it has ended up being a concept car rather than a commercial production model.
Eversince Honda introduced Accord & Toyota launched Camry as their up-market luxury sedan models there has been tough head-on competition between the two.
A zero-emission supercar, tentatively named LS AMG eDrive, features 4 electric motors with a combined output of 392 kW (526 hp) and 880 Nm (649 lb-ft) of torque enabling it to rocket from 0-100 km/h in around 4 seconds.
What I don’t understand is that why do Honda meed ‘so many’ sedan brands? If Accord is a class apart & in the same league as Toyota Camry then why are City & Civic cutting into each other’s market share? Conceeded that City started as an attempt by Honda to make a ‘budget’ sedan but isn’t that like Suzuki’s job?
), but a man can form an opinion, man, a man can form an opinion.