First drive: 2012 Rolls-Royce Phantom Series II

A Rolls-Royce was best sampled from the rear seat, that's a belief I lived with for the longest time. A limousine of its stature being driven by its owner raises enough eyebrows, does it not? If someone could afford to spend a princely sum for a Rolls-Royce Phantom, a driver for it would be a negligible cost.

So when a Ghost pulled up outside the Nice Cote d'Azur airport with Adolf behind the wheel to pick me up I continued to profess faith in the idea that a Rolls-Royce big or small was best experienced perched on that ample gorgeously leathered rear seat.

Interestingly Rolls-Royce themselves don't share the same belief. According to their surveys most of their owners are also people who prefer driving themselves. Probably not everyday but definitely on a regular basis. And so I was handed the keys to the new Phantom II at the lobby of the very exclusive Cap Estel hotel.

 This new Phantom is still very much one of the most recognised grilles on the planet but a new age of buyers has inspired Rolls Royce to bring the Phantom up to date.

 The key I have been handed unlocks a three-door Phantom Coupe, which in abject size terms has exactly the same dimensions as the five-door limousine. Er, the doors are longer, and it opens up in the suicide fashion, so unless you have an arm the size of Africa there is no way you can reach out from your seat and shut the door. Suddenly the 'CLOSE' buttons at the base of the A-pillar seems such a sensible touch!
It's one of the traditional items that stays just where it is and the way it is. There are other things in the new Phantom however that are not so immovable.

 From the outside it's things like the new rectilinear LED headlights that possesses a slimmer outline than before but is still regally positioned up high. The oval xenon driving lamps are no longer there, in hindsight they did look a bit odd and out of place and the bumper and the area immediately under the head lamp is remodeled to look busy in an elegant fashion.

Apparently Rolls Royce owners are also very discerning and have a very strong eye for details, which is why the new grille is made from a single piece of stainless steel rather than the three it took in the older car. The oligarchs, dictators, generals and directors who can afford these cars wanted a Michelangelo like hewn from a single block of metal work of art, not a machine tooled component!

The one grouse I have with these subtle change is that the new Phantom now closely resembles the Ghost rather than the Ghost mimicking its older sibling! Having said that I'd also add that the Phantom II in no way loses its regality, imposing character and elegance. The Phantom still occupies real estate large enough to build three towers, a swimming pool and a small jogging park, in South Mumbai!


There are other changes too but they are so subtle and so few that it took a few minutes for those to be pointed out. These are and it really won't take you long to read this, the RR badge and indicator on the fender are one piece, the rear bumper is remodeled slightly, the glass on the C-pillar has been improved and there are a few more alloy wheel choices actually just three new wheel finishes to choose from.


Now if you aren't rich, rich as in RICH, you probably won't understand why is it that just three or four new cosmetic additions to a car that hasn't changed in nearly a decade are so important? So to understand that you have to go back in time, to the founding philosophies of Sir Henry Royce, one half of the Rolls-Royce company. According to Sir Royce, the car company he founded made the best cars in the world and that philosophy has stayed that way.

Now if you were the best you really have no need to change do you? That is why Rolls-Royce firmly claim to have updated this car and not changed it. It's a clever stance to maintain, and any revision does not rubbish the best in the world claim and yet leaves enough room for modernisation. There is another way to look at this too.


The original design of the Phantom crafted and released in 2003 was timeless. Even today without having to make any drastic cuts the design is still fresh, inviting and contemporary. So change just for the sake of change is still not necessary and Rolls-Royce customers evidently like it that way.

 Inside the new Phantom subtle updates have been applied to the dashboard, the LCD screen for the multi information display for instance is now larger. The navigation systems have been updated which means you get the new BMW iDrive system, audio and mobile connectivity has improved and the controller knob of the Ghost that is a more functional unit thanks to the shortcut keys has been incorporated in the Phantom.

The Phantom however is not a Rolls-Royce because it has the finest entrapments. A Rolls-Royce above all is known for it's engineering, its engine which at idle can't be heard over the sound of the clock in the cabin or even felt for that matter is its testimonial.

 It's a marvelous piece of work and it's now complemented by a new eight-speed automatic gearbox sourced from parent company BMW. Those eight ratios improve the Phantom's performance, efficiency and sublimity.

It is truly amazing to drive a car whose football field sized hood shields an engine powerful enough to provoke the next continental drift with such serenity. In all my years as a journalist I have never ever felt this sense of calm while driving a car. Of course the narrow roads lining the Cote d'Azure find it a challenge to accommodate a car this big, so you really can't bring your racing gloves and thin soled shoes to this party.

 But that has little to do with the way this car accelerates, its linearity and smoothness is only contrasted by the numbers it punches out. At full bore acceleration it does 100kmph in just 5.8 seconds and I'm willing to bet even her Majesty at her age wouldn't feel the jolt.

The new transmission makes the Phantom even more sublime, but what truly amazes me is that it has no manual mode so no paddles behind the steering wheel or a stick with a small plus minus typeface that allows the driver to change gears. And yet this engine is incredibly sensitive to gear changes, knowing instantly which gear is required.

The Phantom Coupe I drove is of course more driver oriented than the stately limousine even though the entire family gets enhancements to its aluminum space frame. It's got the firmer suspension, is 20kg lighter and has a longer wheelbase with shorter overhangs.


The acceleration time I mentioned before belongs to the coupe and it's a second quicker than the limousine. Of the entire Phantom family it is the best example to drive, and lots of fun too soon as you understand just how much room you need to play with.


Yet calling this a driver's car is far from the truth, the Phantom Coupe is certainly a car you can drive joyously but even after the moderately long drive past the stunning Riviera I wrapped up feeling a bit exhausted and I don't suppose a Rolls-Royce is supposed to do that to you.

 The only reason I can pin this down to is focusing ever harder on maneuvering the car through those narrow roads.

That is why I'd prefer being driven around in something this stately. In fact later that night after dinner at the Philippe Starck designed A'Trego restaurant at Monaco harbor, I got driven around Monte Carlo in the Phantom. As we rolled in towards the casino complex we had to slow down for a minute.

That was enough invitation for the people who throng the pavements to whip out their cameras in the hope of capturing a photograph of someone celebrated. For those fleeting moments I did feel awkward and yet special, it was the perfect moment, the perfect setting, the perfect location and even the perfect car.

 All that remained was stopping the car, opening the door and stepping out... if I wanted to break the spell! Instead I kept mum, let the Phantom roll past and kept the magic alive!

Battle of the 7-seaters: Maruti Ertiga vs Toyota Innova

Mumbai: First things first. This can't be a straight comparison. Though the two vehicles subscribe to the MUV segment, the Innova is bigger and powerful and the Ertiga is trying to create a segment on its own. But those are technical details that can easily get brushed under the carpet when the requirement is just a seven-seater.

In terms of looks, both the Innova and the Ertiga have minimalistic designs with neither of them looking to stand out.

The refresh Innova got early this year has helped it keep up with the times. But step inside and the age begins to show. The Swift-derived interiors in the Ertiga give it a much more polished look as compared to the dated design of the Innova.

Under the hood, the Ertiga has a 1.3-litre engine which produces 90PS and 200Nm while the 2.5-litre unit in the Toyota produces 102PS and a similar 200Nm of torque.
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Though the Innova is more powerful, the 445kg extra weight translates into 4.4kmpl less fuel efficiency than the Ertiga. As for the ride and handling, the smaller Ertiga exhibits strong car-like characteristics which help it perform in the city as well as on the highway with ease.

The ladder frame construction of the Innova makes it a better bet over bad roads but the Ertiga doesn't do too badly either.

So has the country's favourite people mover finally met its match? It's all about space isn't it. You will be able to seat seven people comfortably in the Innova but that becomes a bit of a squeeze in the Ertiga.

The Innova also offers a boot space of 300 litres with all the seats folded as compared to the 135 litres in the Ertiga. But the third row of the Ertiga folds flat which is not the case in the Innova. The Maruti's middle row also slides more to liberate more space for the boot or legroom as per your requirement.

Another crucial thing that swings it in favour of the Ertiga is that despite being a less powerful engine, with a full complement of passengers, the Ertiga will perform as good as the Innova because of the similar torque output. That is clever engine design by Maruti.

The Maruti gives you an all-in-one package - a vehicle which you can use daily and also for the weekend trips.

And most importantly it does it at a much, much lower cost - Rs 4.74 lakh the difference to be precise (between the top-end variants. All prices ex-Delhi). And that makes it more for less – something's that's a sure winner in our country.

India road test: 2012 Maruti Ertiga

Shooting in the dark requires skill. You need to be an excellent archer, have the right equipment and at the same time hope that your guess about the position of the target is bang on. The Ertiga was Maruti Suzuki shooting in the dark. Surely they must have had reams and reams of research data to back this new product.
Surely they can firmly claim to have their finger on the pulse of the Indian automobile customer but still the element of risk, however miniscule, of the Ertiga becoming a Kizashi would have crossed their mind.
But now, having received about 32,000 bookings in the first month after its launch, India’s most preferred automobile brand can pat themselves on the back for having created a new segment. One where now there will be a flurry of activity from the other manufacturers trying to play catch up.

We have already put a magnifying glass to the Ertiga when we drove it in Goa during the unveiling of the car to the media and came back impressed with the product or more to the point with the relevance of the product in today’s market. But we wanted to get a feel of how it feels like to live with the Life Utility Vehicle (LUV). Here are our observations.
Two things have played a key role in the success of the Ertiga. The competitive pricing and the familiarity card. We will come to the price later. The design of the Ertiga, as we have said in our first drive report, is one which doesn't polarise opinion. 'No marginalisation' is the motto of the design people at Maruti. The front has the Ritz look mated to the Swift head lamps.
When you look at it head on, you won't be able to make out that it’s a seven-seater. And that becomes a drawback when you are out driving on the road. We took it for a couple of trips to Pune and on the expressway the sight of an Ertiga in the rear view mirror is not intimidating enough for the vehicle in front to move aside. It doesn’t look like a seven-seater unless you look at it from the side where the length gives it away.
Step inside and the Swift interiors greet you. Taking away the all-black theme and replacing it with the black and beige theme has helped increase the feeling of space. This is where Maruti have played the familiarity card well. The Swift customer looking to upgrade will have no problem adapting to the Ertiga’s interiors. Even my mom, the last possible expert on anything to do with automobiles, said that the inside looked similar to the Swift we had for a while (Of course she didn’t know it was called the Swift).
This observation was made by my mom when the Ertiga was being used to ferry my sister and her three-month-old bundle of joy to her place. The entourage included, apart from me, three women, one uber energetic five-year-old and three month’s worth of baby 'equipment'.
So apart from the baby the rest of the configuration could be what, on an average, you can expect an Ertiga to handle. And it was a perfect fit. The kid went in the third row with his toys and the 135-litre boot was used to hold two duffel bags.
Two adults sat in the middle row but a third adult would have been a bit of a squeeze. The journey was comfortable with the air-con vents in the roof, above the front row of seats providing ample cooling.
The only complaint I have is that, even in the top-end variant of the Ertiga, you get knobs for the air con instead of the automatic climate control available in the Swift and Dzire. So overall, interiors that feel similar to the Swift and offer the same high level of comfort. And a layout that doesn’t need getting used to.
Now let’s get behind the wheel. The first thing that you notice is the high driving position. It feels like a Swift on stilts. In fact if it weren’t for this high position you could have safely assumed that you were in a Swift or a Dzire. That is until you look back and see the rear windscreen a little farther away than you would expect.
This car-like feel is evident even when the vehicle is on the move, especially when you push the Ertiga into a corner. The heavy steering provides you with the required feedback and the planted feel of the vehicle doesn’t give you the sense of it being a MUV.
The suspension is softer than the hatchback, translating into a plusher rider over bad roads with only a marginal increase in body roll. Within the city the Ertiga feels nimble and again, it’s the car-like feel which helps you steer it with ease through traffic (the 5.2-metre turning radius helps) but the only catch is that you have to keep reminding yourself that, even though it’s not as big as other MUVs, it’s not exactly a small vehicle.
Under the hood the Ertiga sports the 1.3-litre DDiS engine from the SX4. It also comes with a new K14B petrol engine – 95PS of power at 6000rpm and 130Nm of torque at 4000rpm but petrol vehicles currently are only for Arab sheikhs and Rajnikanth (insert suitable joke here).
So back to the diesel which produces 90PS of power at 4000rpm and 200Nm of torque at 1750rpm. It comes with a variable geometry turbocharger which helps in reducing lag.
Below 2000rpm, especially in higher gears, you can feel the delay but that doesn’t mean you get bad responses when the pedal is pushed. It pulls away in most gears, except for some reluctance in the fifth. But in the city traffic especially, the power delivery is more than enough to overtake that irritating rickshaw or the cabbie driving in the fast lane.
The Ertiga reaches the three figure mark in 13.33 seconds which is quite quick for its size, especially when you compare that time to the 14.24 seconds of the SX4 and the 14.98-second time of the Dzire. It did a top speed of 169.13kmph in our test which again is more than its siblings (SX4 – 165kmph, Dzire – 162kmph).
And despite this burst of speed it also returns a fuel efficiency of 13.20kmpl in the city and an impressive 21.25kmpl on the highway giving it an overall figure of 15.21kmpl. That would be just what the doctor ordered for the MUV segment – a healthy combination of power and fuel efficiency.
Now the price. Maruti have always been aggressive with the pricing and the Ertiga toes the line. With the top-end diesel variant, ZDi, that we tested being available for Rs 8.45 lakh, ex-Delhi, Maruti have managed to present the Ertiga as a strong alternative to those looking to graduate from a hatchback to a sedan.
It offers you the extra third row - for two energetic kids and also retaining the car-like feel which will make the transition from a hatch easier. It’s at home on both the highway and the city traffic.
Add to that the frugality of the engine and the aggressive pricing means that the current six-month waiting period isn’t going to come down any time soon.

Review: Honda Dream Yuga

It's been ages since I slung my leg over a commuter motorcycle, a segment I always steered away from as I thought them to be quite boring and slow. I got off the motorcycle ninety minutes later with a changed opinion on the segment and pleasantly surprised with the Dream Yuga.

Was this down to my changing perceptions or was it all credit to Honda's latest commuter?
The bike we have for the first ride is the top variant with electric start and alloy wheels and it fits the bill of a commuter. Understated and confirmative come to mind as I try to describe it.

The bike will be available in five colours brown, silver, grey, black and the colour that we have for testing - red. The instruments are laid out well in a basic twin pod layout with speedometer and odometer on the left and fuel gauge with the tell-tale lights on the right.

This is more or less the standard level of equipment in the segment. I wish Honda had given it more equipment in my heart of hearts, but I understand that this is the pragmatic way to spec this bike.

The switch gear is on the left handle bar and is similar to those on the CBR150R, easy to use with the only difference between the two being the addition of a pass switch on the Dream Yuga. On the right hand resides just the electric start button.

The engine has quite a bit of pep from its 110cc engine and is the same unit that we loved from the CB Twister, but it has been tuned for 8.6PS - still among the higher figures in the segment - and for more efficiency.

The gearing is quite low and in traffic on the way to work, I sometimes found myself crawling along in second gear in bumper to bumper traffic. On any other motorcycle I would probably have been in first.

This low gearing is a boon in traffic and pulling away from the lights is a breeze. I even had the front end get slightly light in one spirited dash from the lights, when I slipped the clutch a little too much.

The bike does get into fourth gear very quickly and you are in top gear before you cross 40kmph. This left me looking for fifth and I think the engine could easily take the extra cog. It would certainly help in the highway mileage figures with Honda claiming that the bike will deliver 72kmpl.

The riding position is neutral with your feet not too far forward and the reach to the handle bars seems just right. The ride quality is good over broken roads. The steering is light and the bike flicks easily through traffic. The suspension is neither too firm nor too soft but the seat is another matter.

 It seems too soft and after riding a distance of 30 kilometres I had a case of numb bum. A firmer seat might have made the ride more comfortable.

Another complaint I have with the Dream Yuga is the brakes, they are dull and the drum brake up front means that stopping with only the front brake is not an option. Even at speeds below 30kmph both brakes are needed to bring you to a stop before you dent a car bumper.

The Dream Yuga is available in three variants with the spoke wheels version priced at Rs 48,028, alloy wheeled for Rs 49,592 and Rs 51,678 for the alloy wheels and electric start, all prices being ex-Mumbai.
Delivery of the vehicles will start in July and Honda anticipates that it would take approximately a month to clear the existing bookings before delivery times become streamlined.

2012 Mercedes B-Class in India first drive

Think of a Mercedes-Benz in India and the first things that come to mind are long sedans, convertibles, SUVs and even a van or two. Despite having a sizeable number of cars in its portfolio, the marque is falling behind its German rivals.

Internationally, Merc competed with BMW and Audi in the compact car segment with the A and B-Class. Merc never dared to bring these cars to India. Why? Because no Indian in their right value-for-money-mind would buy a hatchback for more than Rs 7 lakh. But that was then. Now times have changed.

And the entry level luxury car pie is what Merc wants a piece of. Enter the newest members of the Merc family – the all new A and B-Class.

The two cars that have now been reworked to fit in the pie and are all set to take the game to the next level. Among the two, the B-Class will be the first to make its entry in India and we got our hands on it right here.


MPVs can be desirable too, look at the B and you will agree with me. The new design language used in the latest generation B-Class transforms it from being a boring family van to a more modern MPV (actually an overgrown hatchback) with a dash of sportiness and youth added to it.

In fact the Mercedes Benz design team has aimed at making the car emotionally appealing.


It’s an attractive car, viewed head on it looks very car like, the nose sits low with the only give away being the bonnet sweeping up till the windshield quite rakishly.

 Similar to most of the newer upper end models from the Merc stable, the B too gets LED strip lighting that blend well by following the upper part of the sleek headlamps.


The front bumper though looks rather small, smartly houses the air dam and day time running lights. The twin slat grille is prominent while the large three-pointed star takes centre stage. Speaking about the star, I like the transparent flat badge with the three dimensional star incorporated inside rather than the one we are otherwise familiar with in a Mercedes.


The side profile is like most modern European MPVs but what really stands out in the B are the lines that run around it. Inspired by the concept A-Class, the shoulder line begins at the front fender and sweeps downwards to the middle of the rear door while a low side line runs parallel and shoots up all the way till the rear taillamp. This gives the side a very sporty feel and character to an otherwise conventional MPV look.


The car we drove featured 18-inch wheels with low profile run flat tyres that add to the sport quotient. However, the Indian production model will feature smaller wheels with higher profile rubber and a spare tyre.

The outer mirrors are borrowed from the existing Mercedes parts bin. From the rear, the taillamp resembles the E-Class and ML-Class and this ensures the distinctive family look.

Step inside, and one will notice the layout has also evolved directly from the A-Class concept. Three centre air blowers and a tablet like centre-mounted multimedia screen are perfect examples. In fact the control knobs and propeller-like aluminum-finished blower vents are shared with the all new production model A-Class (Both being from the same MFA family).


The design complements the modern exterior, the satin finish centre panel (India spec may have other trim options) exudes a fresh cool look especially with the neat honeycomb pattern trim.

The steering wheel looks like it came straight off an AMG model especially with the added support and brushed aluminum detailing.

The quality of the interiors is top notch while soft touch materials along with leather covered door pads give the B a very premium feel. We drove the left hand drive demonstration variant that featured all black interiors but expect the Indian version to feature dual tone black and light beige interiors.


The B-Class is 4.36 metres long and 1.8 metres wide (which slots it in between the Ertiga and Innova in terms of length but it is wider than the two MPVs). As expected, there is adequate space to seat five adults in comfort.

One sinks into the seats but the rear middle passenger tends to sit higher because of a small bump in the seat though there is no centre armrest. The rear however offers quite a bit of kneeroom, 900mm (maximum) to be precise which makes it just 65mm short of the much larger S-Class.


The only negative being the transmission tunnel at the rear (really don’t know why it’s present in a front wheel drive car with no four-wheel variant in the pipeline!) that intrudes into valuable space for the middle passenger.

The boot offers an ample 666 litres of boot space with the rear seats slided forward, enough to carry luggage for a small holiday and if needed the space can be increased to 1545 litres by folding down the rear seats further highlighting the B’s practical side.

There is also a glass panoramic roof that adds to the spacious feel.
Unlike the previous B-Class, the engine is transverse mounted with the gearbox alongside like a conventional FF layout car.

Talking about the engine, we drove the B200CGI powered by the new series of petrol engines, codenamed M270. The 1.6-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged direct-injection petrol engine uses some of the design features of the latest third generation direct injection Mercedes V6 and V8 units.


This will be the same engine option available in India. A diesel variant has not been confirmed as of now. The B we drove was equipped with a six-speed manual transmission but the Indian version will feature a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission that shares a lot of components with the six-speed manual.
The undersquare SOHC engine puts out 156PS of maximum power at 5000rpm and 250Nm of torque available as low as 1250rpm. On the road, the engine feels very quiet and refined.

There is hardly any turbo lag and the power delivery actually feels like a naturally aspirated engine. Mid range power is impressive and the engine felt responsive. The gear shifts took very little effort and fell nicely into place.


In terms of performance, the B200 with the dual-clutch auto box crosses the ton in 8.4 seconds while the top speed is 220kmph. In terms of fuel efficiency, the B has an overall fuel economy of 16.14kmpl (all data being claimed figures)

The B is based on the new compact car platform developed by Mercedes-Benz. Codenamed MFA (Modular Front Architecture) which will spawn five different body styles including a compact SUV to take on the likes of the BMW X1 and Audi Q3.

 The B-Class MPV being the first of the range followed by the new A-Class hatchback that is also heading to India. The B claims to be the most aerodynamically efficient family car, with a drag coefficient of 0.26, a remarkable figure considering the shape of the vehicle.


The B features a MacPherson strut front suspension and a four-link independent arrangement at the rear, anti-roll bars and electric power steering. The car went around corners without complaint (a lower centre of gravity compared to the older B also being the reason) and only when we do a full road test will we be able to check if there is any noticeable understeer.


The steering is responsive and well weighted even at higher speeds. The ride quality is one of the B's plus points, though our car featured 18-inch wheels with low profile run flat tyres, the ride was impressive even on cobbled roads.

 The car feels well settled and though the wheelbase has come down from the previous B, the car is able to absorb bumps and bad roads better. The smooth ride over smooth and bad roads ensures that the car lives up to trademark ride quality Mercs are known for.


The B-Class will be launched as early as August 2012 and is expected to start at Rs 20 to Rs 22 lakh, ex-showroom and will boast of a long feature list.


At this price it will make it the most affordable Mercedes-Benz available in the country until the A-Class arrives. Will the new 'affordable' Mercs help the German giant to reclaim lost glory? Only time will tell but they sure do have the right weapons.