2014 Chevrolet Beat LT TCDI

The Chevy Beat has been on sale since 2010 in our market, the 2014 facelift is as minimal as one would expect with an already flamboyant design. This 2014 model looks good from the front. The headlights now get black surrounds; the split front grille extends further into the front bumper, and is the most prominent feature of the front fascia. The chrome-outlined grille and the fog lamp housing add some sparkle to the already sharp looking front. The flared front fenders, the thick A-pillar, the grab rails and the centre-mounted long antenna look good. The Beat continues to impress even when looked at from the side. The rear is a little disappointing though because it doesn’t look entirely as good as the rest of the car. Nevertheless, the re-profiled tail-lamps, reworked rear spoiler and reflectors on the rear bumper do brighten your mood.

Step inside the cabin and the first thing that strikes you is the funky instrument console. The Beat’s instrument cluster gets an analogue speedometer and a digital tachometer. This is puzzling, and takes a while to get used to, because it is always the other way around. Nonetheless, the speedometer dials are simple and easy to read, the blue illumination in the night is especially good to look at. This is definitely the most modern design of all the instrument clusters in its segment. This was proved when, in traffic, other motorists ogled the speedometer console. The dashboard is attractive as well, with decent fit and finish. The large dark display on the centre console above the AC vents glows only when the fuel pump is priming itself; the rest of the time it appears like a piece of blank plastic, which isn’t a very good thing. The glovebox offers just about enough space for a pouch with vehicle documents and a few utilities. There is a small recess above the glovebox which can be used to store a pen or a similar item. The door pockets, though, are big enough to take in one litre bottles both on the driver and the passenger side. There are two cubby holes under the AC controls that can hold your mobile phone and wallet with two bottles and can holders ahead of the gearshift lever.

The audio system is a basic unit with four speakers, two of them on the dashboard and two behind. The system supports Aux in/USB/iPod and CDs. The sound quality is decent and has adequate clarity, but it isn’t the best in class. The Beat now also gets steering mounted audio controls, which is a little annoying to use when you are in the mood to listen to the radio. The mode button is the only way to browse through the saved frequencies, but one can’t go back and forth between them – you have to cycle through all the saved stations on all the bands before you can get back to the FM station you just changed from. The positioning of the controls also don’t sit right with me, because they are on the lower half of the wheel and moving my left hand to the bottom of the wheel every time I want to operate something audio-related defeats the purpose of steering-mounted controls, which is to ensure that the hands on the wheel don’t move.

The Beat gets a decent HVAC unit. While the AC is adequate for most of the times, the car refused to cool the cabin effectively in start-stop traffic. I realised later that the compressor cuts off after 25 seconds in idle with the blower speed set at two and the thermostat at max cooling. This is to save fuel, and this is a strange idea for a car that has the highest current ARAI fuel efficiency rating among the hatchbacks. What GM could have probably done is made the compressor cut-off intervals longer which could have saved some sweat for the rear passengers instead of a little fuel.

The cabin is surprisingly well insulated and it does reduce the noise levels but where it loses out is the engine noise. The engine is audible at high revolutions, otherwise the cabin feels nice. The seats are soft and the front seats are comfortable for tall people. The rear seats are best for only two passengers while the third one will literally be a squeeze. The boot space is very little at 170 litre and can only take two medium- sized bags at best. The Figo in comparison gets a 284 litre boot space and the Indica eV2 gets 220 litre of luggage area. This makes Beat, the car with the least boot space in the segment.

The Beat gets MacPherson struts up front and twist beam at the rear. It absorbs most bumps with a muted thud at city speeds with not much transferred to the cabin. However, the Beat has a relatively short wheelbase which makes it uncomfortable on the highway. If you hit a bump at high speed it won’t veer off line, but it does feel like the car is ready to lift off, which isn’t a very nice feeling.

The Beat has predictable handling characteristics despite the uncomfortable highway ride, but it isn’t a car that you will enjoy blasting down your favourite mountain road. That is not to say that it isn’t a good handler; hit a bump mid-corner and it lets go of the front progressively, and you can even provoke the rear to step out of line if you’re so inclined. In comparison the Figo has a very stiff suspension setup and feels a little too firm in the city, but it rides better as the speeds increase. The Figo is a far better handling car, thanks in no small part to the hydraulically assisted steering system – the Beat has an electrically assisted unit which is direct and progressive, but cannot match up to the Figo’s feel.

The Beat has good brakes that bite well and are progressive. They perform well even at highway speeds, but fade appears a little quickly when the car is loaded up and driven consistently hard.

This brings us to the important question, would you buy a Beat diesel? Well, the answer isn’t a simple affirmative or negative. If you are looking for a stylish hatchback that is easy to drive with a small boot that will mostly be driven in the city with two passengers at best, the Beat makes sense. But, if you are looking for a diesel hatchback that is equally good on the highway, then the Beat diesel is not what we recommend. The Beat is a good city car, even the diesel engine is tuned to run well in the city. But, the price difference between petrol LT and the diesel LT (the model we tested) is close to about a lakh rupee. The petrol engine has a good bottom end and feels good to drive in comparison to the diesel. So, if your driving is confined to city limits and less than 50 km a day then the Beat petrol makes lot of sense. If you are looking for a diesel hatchback that sums up as a weekday warrior and the weekend mate on the highways, then look elsewhere. The only real alternatives to the Beat diesel is the ageing Ford Figo, which still holds its own in the city and the highway.