Chevrolet Sail Hatchback 2012-2013 Diesel

Sail Hatchback 2012-2013 Diesel Review

The Chevrolet Sail UVA that has been collectively developed by General Motors and the Chinese partner SAIC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation). This model marks to be one of the highest selling models in the Chinese market. But before introducing this new hatchback design, it has been localized and tweaked to suit with highly competitive India market. The fresh Chevrolet Sail UVA Diesel LS , has ample space inside and comes with beige interiors, which enhance the spacious look. Following the generic design trends, the car is made neat with smoothly flowing character lines and perfectly matching features. The swept back headlights wraps are well fitted into the flacks around prominent grille. The brilliant body styling that present slightly raised character line towards the back, offers a sporty vigilance to this hatchback. The rear end is not much aroused and kept normal with vertically aligned tail- lamps that appears bit old fashioned. The Chevrolet Sail UVA Diesel LS mechanics has been engineered as in to much strengthen the chassis. GM’s engineers in India have also completely redone the suspension to suit rough Indian roads, that includes more ground clearance; and thereby raising the height of the cars was essential. The diesel version comes with a 168mm ground clearance. Taller, stiffer springs have been used and the front anti-roll bar has been beefed up in accordance with the higher Gross Vehicle Weight. General Motors plans to come up with a manufacturing devision ( CKU) in India. This completely knocked down unit will aims at incorporating many local content into the Sail U-VA, which will be developed into India. Well stepping into the car may not be a very exciting experience. The interiors are developed with the same old plastic and the upholstery fails to grab the attention. The storage space seems to be given just fore mere sake, as the glove boxes are small and even the door pad is shallow. The power window buttons are fitted ahead of the gear lever. The cabin do is however, very functional and has a restrained maturity. The protruding central console, with its large vents, is particularly attractive. Finished in dull silver, it mingles with the rest of the dash quite nicely, and functionality of the buttons and switches is also good. Driving through the traffic city area would be easy with the light steering wheel. and even when you press on, you will be impressed with the accuracy of the helm. It’s just that the steering isn’t bristling with feel and has a dead zone around the straight-ahead position, which sanitizes the driving experience. Front seats are positioned high so as to provide clear on road visibility, and are made quite soft and comfortable. However, they do not comes with any kind of height adjustments. The wide and horizontal line development provides makes the car spacious inside. This hatch back facilitate ample leg room space, and is complemented with perfect shoulder spread space. However, head room area is not very appropriate, and could be because of sloping roofline. The back seat felt a bit too flat and firm. To make up, the seating position at the rear is brilliant thanks largely to a centrally placed fuel tank. Boot space is pretty decent and can accommodate 248 litres of luggage. In terms of safety, the Chevrolet Sail is decently well-equipped and comes with two front airbags and ABS on the top-end version. It is powered by the smarttech 1.3-litre SDE diesel engine , which was jointly developed by Fiat and GM. This efficient powertrain is supplemented with F17 5-speed manual gearbox, that offers a swift gear changes. The Sail surprises with its flat-out performance and the way it sprints from 0-100kph in just 14.6 seconds.

EXTERIORS

Incepting into India's one of the most competitive car segment market isn't a jelly stuff. As B-segment of car market in India is quite over folded and offers a cut-throat competition. All the major players are in a race to adorn their car with numerous attributes. And here in the flurry of launches we have Chevrolet Sail UVA hatch back to grab attention and secure its place. All new Chevrolet Sail UVA Diesel LS hatchback design looks very sporty on the outside. The front part follows its much prevalent Chevrolet style by picking up cues from other cars from the brand. And so the front fascia is defined with dual-port grille finished with a golden lining. The signature cross signed brand logo is with hold ed rignt in the middle of grille. The bonnet of the car gets much muscular cut-lines that give it a very 3D look. The outside rear view mirrors comes in body color while its stalks are made black. Moving on to the side profile of Chevrolet Sail UVA, the car has a very exquisite waistline, which signifies energy and livliness of the hatchback.The other body proportions of Chevrolet Sail UVA Diesel LS are close to perfect. The lower posture on the front end elegantly moves upward, giving the car a much higher stance at the back. The rear end of Chevrolet Sail UVA Diesel LS, is smart, elegant and sporty. The tail lamps has been positioned high to give the back a much cleaner look, while the Chevrolet cross sign is beautifully positioned in the middle. The rear wiper will allow the owner to drive much carefully in the rainy and misty season, whereas the stop light lamp has been placed nicely on the top of the rear glass. This well structured hatch back measures to be 3946mm in length, 1690 for width and has a height of 1503mm. The car comes with a wheel base of 2465mm and a ground clearance of 168mm.

INTERIORS

Interiors are though not much appealing but incorporate quite much functional features. The dashboard plastic seems to be of low quality and the seats upholstery also fails to prettify the appearance. The cabin is made extremely spacious, bright and airy. The Chevrolet’s dual cockpit design has been distinct in standing out against other hatchbacks in the segment. The instrument panel is sporty and has been finished with a bit of chrome. This panel comprises of a sophisticated music system, including CD player and FM radio and the AUX-in interface is flawless and enhances the overall entertainment of the car. The air conditioning system is simply awesome and proves to be every effectual in the hot summers of India. On the other hand, the seats are comfortable and have been upholstered with high quality fabric to provide a very posh feel to the passengers. The light power steering will make it easy for the driver to glide through heavy traffic and the power windows are smooth to use. The new Chevrolet Sail UVA Diesel LS  can happily accommodate five adults.

ENGINE AND EFFICIENCY

Yet to be launched Chevrolet Sail UVA Diesel will be powered by smarttech 1.3- litre SDE diesel engine that is extremely responsive as well as robust. The engine comprises of 4 in line cylinders . This powertrain promises to generate about 77bhp power at 4000rpm and accompanied with about 108 Nm of maximum torque at 1750rpm. This engine also houses in Fiat. This multi-jet engine is known for its nature of high performance and will also make certain that the car delivers impressive fuel efficiency with low carbon dioxide emissions. The power mill is complemented with the F17 5 speed manual gearbox, thereby enhancing the entire driving experience for the owner.

COMFORT & CONVENIENCE

However inspite of the fading interiors, this 5- seater hatchback delivers outstanding comfort . The positioning of fuel tank in the middle of this design with the short rear and front overhangings amplifies the interim space. The headroom is pretty sufficient as the roof has been designed intelligently and kept a bit high. The vents are stalked in such a manner to suffice all the occupants. Talking about the storage space, the designers have kept this in mind and offered plentiful storage space to stack up handsome amount of luggage specially for long trips. Comfort and space wise, the Chevrolet Sail UVA Diesel LS is certainly better than company’s other hatchback cars.

SAFETY & HANDLING

The braking mechanism of the new Chevrolet Sail UVA Diesel LS has been designed and developed with utmost care and concern. The brand has keenly equipped the car with a good and effective braking system. General Motors has provided the hatchback with MacPherson strut suspension in the front accompanied with a twist beam axle at the rear with gas shockers. The car is equipped with disc brakes in the front and the drum brakes for the rear making the car just perfect. The safety attribute of this premium hatchback could be symbolized with the features and technology involved in its manufacturing. The main body of Chevrolet Sail hatchback has been made with high strength steel, which makes it more strong and sturdy. The fuel tank has also been protected by steel beam rolling beams thereby assuring extreme safety of the driver and the passengers. Two airbags in the front along with anti lock braking system and EBD comes as standard features on the safety front. What enhances the safety features of this hatchback is the stability traction control, electronic stability control, fog lamps and rear seat belts.

Pros

Nice styling and equipped with high performing engine.

Cons

Interiors is not much upgraded.