I have owned this little wonder, this bundle of joy that sometimes I call, when I am in a good mood, a car. The urdu speaking visitors to this website will understand the word ‘peepa’ and can relate to the review I would write, if I ever was to write one for Suzuki Mehran.

But I would never write a review for this little zipper-on-wheels. Why? You ask why! Because there are some things that you just do not do. The rational side of me (and of any sane person I have met) will not accept, much less actually call, this odd combination of nuts, bolts and metal sheets a car! I have owned an all-white Suzuki Mehran VXR CNG, costing me Rs 376,000 plus Rs 40,000 or so on own. I drove this thing of beauty around Lahore and out of it for more than a year. Never once, never ever have I called it a car. By name, yes, it was, is and will remain a Mehran. But a car? Let me explain…

The Engine: It is powered by a massive 800 CC engine that I swear you can lift straight out of the bonnit. With one hand if you have a cigarette in another. But the engine will make those pistons turn even if there is a burp worth of CNG left in the tank; it will sputter out warnings, the red light on the CNG meter will seem to glow ever brighter with each hick-up the car manages, but it will not stop till you reach the gas station. The Mehran just knows. No car I know can do this. The Mehran will take care of you regardless you take care of it or not, much like the mysterious unconditional love I keep hearing about now and then.

The Interior: Only recently technology companies are realizing that people do not want extra features in their software to be productive; products by the small company 37 Signals are built around the concept of less features means more focus on the work at hand. I am sure the owners of this small company and many other minimalists have taken their inspiration from Mehran’s interior. Combine that concept with the concept of disposable bottles and you have yourself a Mehran interior, my friends. One gear shift, one steering wheel, some space-takers disguised as Air conditioning knobs and a well-marked (with proper groves and everything) plastic emptiness for a possible tape deck; everything else is as disposable as your next 18 rupee coke bottle. The lever won’t bring the window down? Replace the lever for less than a 100 bucks. Heck, change the window while you are at it. In fact, come to think about it, there is nothing else to break or jam other than the window lever. Just beautifully magnificent practicality. Majestic even.

Exterior: On a hot day, the paint shines. With any standard screw driver, you can take apart pretty much anything. You can, if you want to, drive the screw driver through the door and into that majestic interior with one firm jab. I will not recommend it though. If you scratch the paint (why wouldn’t you?), you might as well see logos and tag lines of ghee oil brands like Dalda and the like; worry not and take comfort that you have contributed to recycling. The bumpers do not fall off, that is how tough they make ‘em, but if they do, do not fix them, just replace them with new ones. The insurance companies probably have a song for Mehran they sing everyday before starting work. I am sure.

Drive: Nimble. With the four tyres and all of ‘em touching planet Earth, you can’t go wrong. The car does have a habit of turning on its side if you behave too rashly. I was lucky not to be so rash. But the car drives and cuts through traffic like a hot knife through a slab of butter. Once you get the hang of the gear shifts and figure out which gear gets stuck and which ones offer more control, you will be the ‘dude’ of the streets.In one of many excursions out of Lahore, I have actually tried to get a speeding fine. The Mehran won’t let me. Like I said, it knows and it gives a damn.

Safety: Beats Volvo, but don’t compare.

So there you have it, my honest-to-God opinion of my ex-car. The Suzuki Mehran. If Transformers ever come to Lahore, my white Mehran will be the cute one. Hell yeah!

When it comes to cars, CNG stands for Compressed Natural Gas.

CNG could also mean saving worth thousands of rupees per month. It can also mean that you have something to show for after watching An Inconvenient Truth . Although not many (hardly any!) people here in Pakistan are concerned about their carbon foot print, there are many who would love to save. This little article gives you the low down on CNG for your car, answering questions about CNG safety (exploding cars?!?!) and engine life.

Fuel Savings: It is by all means a great way to save on fuel, given that the fuel prices in Pakistan are rising. A friend of mine, living in Gujranwala, has a Toyota Vitz 2002 on CNG; he is getting Rs 2 to a liter. That is unheard of for petrol as anyone who has done the calculations would know. Would know by heart!

CNG and car performance: Yes, your car will not have the same pick with CNG that it has with Petrol. I used to own a Suzuki Mehran with CNG and the car would actually refuse to go above 90 Kmh when on CNG. On petrol, the car would be flying at 120 (for a Mehran, 120 is definitely ‘flying’!). A friend has a CNG fitted Honda Civic 2001, and the difference in the car’s acceleration is actually quite insignificant; I had to ask him that if the car is on CNG or not, I could not tell while we drove around Lahore. A car engine above 1300 CC will not let you feel the difference between CNG and Petrol, whereas for below 1300 CC, the difference is more in top speed than in pick/acceleration. If you do face drawn out acceleration when on CNG, it is probably because your engine needs some cleanup; oil change, oil and/or air filter replacement etc.

CNG and Engine Life: Getting CNG for your car does NOT affect your engine and does NOT reduce its life in a worrisome way.  People in opposition of CNG, do say that ‘Engine life gets reduced from 20 to 15 years after putting in CNG,’ as if they have done the calculations. I would save enough in those 15 years to buy two more cars, and that is the main point of getting CNG; cost savings.

CNG and types of cars: CNG can be fitted in any car that is being driven on the roads of Lahore. I have seen Toyota Land Cruisers on CNG and do plan to put up pictures of a Cruiser that I saw with four cylinders fitted at the back. Mostly people are of the opinion that only Petrol cars can be kitted out with CNG; a modified diesel engine can be converted to CNG. Although I have not heard of such a ‘conversion’, in theory at least CNG and Diesel go good together.

The CNG ‘threat’:There has been incidents of car CNG cylinders exploding. Now this is dangerous. But how real is the threat? As long as your CNG tank is inspected at least after every 5 years (look for an approval stamp sticker), you are good to go. The problem of exploding CNG tanks is due to cheap material being used while fabricating the tank. CNG tanks that do not pass quality standards is not a ‘good-thing-to-have’, it is a must. Make sure you ask for a quality stamp from the workshop, and also know that CNG tanks do not explode; it is so rare that God willing, it will probably never happen if you take the above mentioned precautions.

As the gas, inherently, is compressed, that automatically poses a greater risk than Petrol, which just ‘lies’ in the car petrol tank. So the quality of the car’s CNG tank can not be overstressed; make sure you get the best.

For the nitty-gritty on CNG technology, please check out the CNG page at caradvice.pk’s technology pages. (as per plan, this is where different car technologies will be explained, God willing ).