Chevrolet Sail Sedan – Interesting Reader Review: Quick Comparo With Dzire

After a long time, it seems, Chevrolet has hit the bulls eye with their Sail sedan. The product is good, spacious, competitive and is priced to perfection.

One of our reader, Anil Anupam Mohanty, who has earlier written a detailed review on Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire, has shared with us this interesting review of Sail sedan for all of our readers. Without taking much of your time, we hand over the podium to Anil.

Chevrolet-Sail-Sedan-Exterior-Pics (34)

Chevrolet Sail Quick Review

  • Styling is very balanced and the car looks well proportioned. There is no quirkiness like Dzire and blandness like Etios. It looks like Mini-Cruze from front and the rear end reminds me of Opel Vectra. The car looks far better than the hatchback version, Sail U-VA to be honest.
  • Build quality is light and very much in the league of Dzire in terms of materials used outside. Flat panels and flap type door handles are cost cutting bits.
  • Interior space is quite good, especially at the back. The rear bench is wide enough for three adults which will please Indian audience. Legroom is good and so is headroom. Interestingly the car has got more usable space than what Cruze has to offer.
  • Comfort level seems to be decent though I found the front seats to be little smaller than what they should be. This is no Manza beater at back but adequately comfortable for five.
  • Interior quality is a real letdown. Plastics are hard and cheap looking. Especially the steering wheel and side panels look particularly dull. The choice of color (dull brownish) for the interior is another sore point. Good thing is that dirt wont make its presence felt easily in this scheme of color.
  • Placement of power window switches infront of the gear lever is another inconvenient feature.
  • Boot space as expected is good and better than Dzire. This is a proper sedan and 370 Liters of space is sufficient for most purposes.
  • I drove the diesel version which is essentially the Multijet engine, which Chevy calls as SMARTECH, that powers almost every second diesel car on the road. First thing you will notice about the car is its NVH level. The sound insulation is quite good and for the most part it is quite silent. There is a definite improvement over other MJD powered cars including the Dzire, be it at idle or when in motion.
  • The driveability in city traffic is good and the lag is only felt when the rpm level is below 1400. For most part the power delivery is linear. Figo/Micra are better but Sail is adequately responsive. Turbo kick ? Whats that ! There is no Dzire like spike when the rpm level crosses 2000 rpm nor does this engine feels as free revving. Dzire is distinctly more fun to drive on open roads, but in city stop and go traffic things are vice versa.
  • The gearshift felt notchy and I had a hard time shifting from fourth to fifth. The showroom guy claimed that the test drive car is one off case.
  • Suspension felt quite good and the car seemed to have good low and medium speed ride quality. Ride, in fact, is as good as any other car under ten lakhs I have driven. There is not much noise either. Dzire is good but Sail is better.
  • Handling is mediocre at best. The steering is light and hardly has got any feel. Straight-line stability is good but on bumpy roads one needs to slowdown at times. Its better being driven sedately thanks to the average performance and handling combination.
  • I found the airconditioner under-powered.

 

Chevrolet-Sail-Sedan-Exterior-Pics (32)
This is the best angle to view Sail from.

Sail Price Comparison With Dzire

Chevrolet-Sail-vs-Maruti-Dzire-Price

Where Sail beats the Dzire:

  • Proportionate looks (subjective)
  • Rear seat space and width
  • City driveability
  • Low-end performance. Sail is a better city car
  • Boot space
  • Ride quality

Where Dzire beats the Sail:

  • Fun to drive factor
  • Steering feedback and handling
  • Mid-range and top-end performance
  • Front seat comfort
  • Interior quality and design

Finally:

A well rounded entry level sedan with a pretty competitive price tag. Despite Sail being a ‘Medium’ sized car according to our Excise duty regulations (and hence double the taxes than Dzire), Chevy has worked out an interesting pricing for the car. It hovers exactly around the segment leader Dzire and inclusion of an extra variant in between provides more options.

Sail is a car for those who want do not want a cramped car, non-violent characteristics, car which can be driven equally well in cities, who can not wait for too long and who do not want to be too common.

 

– Anil Anupam (@ Facebook)

Chevrolet Sail Picture Gallery

Leave a Comment