Features On Demand!

I was looking at upgrading to a C-segment car from the Zen that I am driving today. The ones looked at were Honda City and Maruti SX4. Was not that enthused by Fiesta or Verna or Logan so wanted to keep those out of the equation completely. That, I thought, would also ease the decision making process since the choice boils down to one from the two, City & SX4. But that was not to be!

Began, surfing net for reviews and both cars seems to evoke a mixed response. I came across opinions like: City sports a more refined engine, SX4 is more powerful and feature-rich, City has better fuel efficiency, SX4 has uncomparable looks, City has low ground clearance, SX4 is tougher to drive, City may have a new model in end-2008/early 2009, SX4 has a rear seat issue due to arm rest and the like. Essentially, choosing from among the two itself is not a straightforward exercise.

I think, automobile manufacturers imagine or expect a prospective customer to have a clear preference for the specs of the car, like fuel efficiency or power. If that were true, I just would have had to figure out which is my priority and then choose City or SX4. While I for one, has a clear preference for fuel efficiency to power and am willing to compromise some power for better fuel efficieny, am still not able to decide in favor of City because, (i) City has a gound clearance of 160mm (the only complaint I have with the Zen that I am driving today it's ground clearance which is 165mm!), (ii) while City overall has a more refined interior, there are aspects of it which are very ordinary like the speedometer, tachometer dials, placement of the stereo, placement of the hazard button etc. On top of all this is the threat of a new City model from Honda which will render my new car one generation behind in six months! So I am going for an SX4?

Not sure! Since fuel efficiency was a crucial parameter for me, SX4 starts with a big disadvantage. There are many good features that an SX4 comes loaded with, but with only around 9-10 KM/l, my fuel bills are going to go north-bound! (my Zen gives me 17-18 KM/l today!).

So, that sets me thinking, why not a car with configurable parameters. Features could be enabled on demand. Instead of a specific power give me a range, for example 75 - 100 BHP. I am told, the low fuel efficiency of SX4 is partly due to huge power premium. So let it run at lower power and give me more mileage, for example while driving in the city. Now if I am on a long drive and want to shift to a more 'powery' drive, I could configure it to run at 100BHP. There could be more other configurable parameters!

Would something like this be possible?

Please HONK!

On the same topic, as I continue to be subjected to indiscriminate honking of my fellow roadwarriors, I noticed something that might be a pointer to why honking is so commonplace. See a sample snapshot here. It seems honking is not just invited, it is a humble request, "Please Sound Horn" and see how prominently it is displayed! Really unfortunate. So it is generations of unlearning that we are looking at here!