9 I get my first "Inline, 4 Cylinder, 1 Litre": The Chevrolet Spark!!

In order to buy my next motorcycle, I get a car..

I could see this thing coming. Even before I got married, I could sense that I would have to temporarily set aside my biking ambitions for sometime so that I would be able to get a family oriented car first.

My wife with our Chevrolet Spark

I’ll say that moving around in a car is like taking your home around with you..

Some things are inevitable in life and so a desi biker next door finally takes the plunge and becomes a “carwala” next door. I had never been a car guy, maybe because I never had the chance to drive my family’s Maruti Zen (which was bought when I was pursuing my B.E away from my home) properly.

But after almost one month since the delivery of my "cute" Chevrolet Spark 1.0 in "Olympic White" color, and clocking about 1500 kms on the odometer, I am actually err.. "lovin’ it".

I am not going to post a review of the car for the simple reason that I am still just a one car old in car driving experience. What I’ll post is how I zeroed in on the Spark among the many options and what has been the initial experience of owning/driving it (from a biker's point of view).

[I would like to thank Sajal bro for helping me out with my first car purchase. Thanks Bro.]

Zeroing in on the Chevrolet Spark

Honestly I was in the mood of getting the Tata Nano. After all it served the purpose of a basic 4 wheeler and most importantly the damage to the bank balance could have been the least. But my wife made it very clear "No Nano".

The second option for me was the recently launched Maruti Alto K10. Although my wife was again not very enthusiastic for the Alto, nevertheless we went for the showroom. But as soon she stepped into the passenger seat, she said "Its feels so cramped, its marginally better than my dad’s Maruti 800". So therefore "No Alto".

We then went in to the GM showroom to check out the funky Chevrolet Beat. We did like the Beat but then we also had a look at the Chevrolet Spark that was kept nearby.

Chevrolet Spark Interiors (Photo not of my car, but same nevertheless)

Apart from the cute looks, we both liked about the Beige color interiors. The beige color gave a cheerful plus spacious feel to the interiors. Moreover, the car was decently spacious for its size. During the test ride, I liked the ride quality, engine smoothness and the decent performance of the 1 liter engine. What finally tilted the favor in favor of the Spark were some good Festival + Corporate discounts from the dealer end.

So there, that’s how I booked my first car, the Chevrolet Spark 1.0 LS model.


The experience so far

Likes:

+ Compact exteriors yet Spacious interiors

+ Beige color interiors

+ Good Ride quality

+ Smooth engine, decent performance


Dislikes:

- The gear lever throws could have been shorter

Even though I had to set aside my Ninja 250R dreams for this "cute" hatch, after spending a month and clocking 1500 kms, I have enjoyed the experience so far.

Die hard bikers loathe at cars by saying that they are "Cages". Well 4 wheels definitely can’t match the experience the thrill and goose bumps that 2 wheels can sometimes give you, but it does have its own charms. I wouldn’t exactly label a car as a "cage" but I’ll say that moving around in a car is like taking your home around with you. The sense of security and comfort indeed reminds you of being at home.

I hate to commute in a bike because of the traffic but in a car I have seen that I don’t get that much bothered. In traffic, the pace might be slow in a car but at least I am comfortable. Had it not been for the high fuel prices in our country, I would have loved to commute daily in the car leaving my bike for special recreational trips.


But the best part about having finally bought my car is that now I can start saving for my next dream bike.

And mind you no "cute" bikes for me..!!

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Disclaimer:

This is to remind that the Views or Opinions in the blog are entirely mine unless explicitly stated. The Views and Opinions published in this blog should in no way be related to any other person or organization associated -- directly or indirectly -- with me.