

The SX4 - The men in black
Well the headline maybe disappointing for many who own the SX4 and all men, but I do need to mention that the SX4 has some cool properties as any men would do. If one compares the SX4 with the erstwhile Baleno, which the SX4 replaced, it is silly to do so as the SX4 sedan is brilliance personified in comparison and built on an all-new platform. Sporting an Italian design, the SX4 has been developed as a crossover of designs for developing markets. Maruti has also introduced the all new aluminium M-series engine (M16A) for this car.
The SX4 looks pumped up shoulder to shoulder when compared with its predecessor, slightly longer I guess, much taller and wider. The well designed cabin looks massive and carries on over the boot which has ample boot space. the bonnet is steeply raked and there is plenty of room for passengers to park themselves both in the front and the back seats. The looks (both interiors and exteriors) which could be the best fit for the song – hey muscular, hey popular, spectacular…. A stunner when it comes to looks. The steering is slender and there are lots of nooks for storage in addition to the twin glove-boxes.
But pappu can’t dance sala as that’s not all that you would look for in this segment and a clear benchmark would be the arrow headed Honda City. As an automobile freak and having driven the Honda city from their initially launched model, I have fallen in love with the Japanese elegance called the City. Maruti is well-aware of this fact and ensured that the SX4 is not an ‘also-ran’ vehicle. It comes fully loaded and is available at an attractive price. So, is it good enough to give a run for the City at the helm?
Although it was a closed event and not open to public access, the BBC reports that the Race the Runway event we highlighted recently was a success, with 48 participants each paying £250 for the opportunity to race their supercars along the secondary runway at Edinburgh Airport, with invited guests bringing in a further £50 a head. Cars such as Lamborghinis, Porsches, Ferraris, Aston Martins and others were brought to the event, during which the airport continued to operate as normal.
Proceeds from the day will go to St Columba’s Hospice in Edinburgh and the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow.
Together with the runway activity, the day also provided an opportunity for the drivers to undertake a fire simulation exercise, and visit air traffic control.
It will certainly have made a change from the usual sort of track day that takes place on normal race tracks such as Knockhill, as I’m led to believe (since modern, active, commercial airport runways are one place I haven’t managed to get onto) that by comparison with such tracks, runways can be much smoother. One thing is certain, as anyone who’s been round Knockhill will vouch for, they’re certainly flatter!