Ownership review of Sail Saloon 1.3 Diesel LS ABS

Exterior

This car though above 4 meters in length and impressive pricing can be compared with Amaze, Swift Dezire or Toyota Etios. Sail has better exterior looks and styling compared to competition if feel - however this is subjecive to personal preference. I have nothing more to comment on exterior other than it does not sport a chopped off look compared to competition. 

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort)

Interior Colors and design -> Though some may say the interior is bit too dull and does not lift the mood, I got used to it after 4 months and now feel that its not that bad as it camaflauges the dust settling on the dash board and still looks clean. With better seat covers and floor mats, one can slightly uplift the looks.

Space and comfort -> It has good space and can seat 5 medium sized adults in comfort and is very comfortable for me who is 6 foot 3 inches to drive and can still seat 4 adults like me in comfort with a small sized adult or a kid in the rear seat.

Storage space under the rear seats and bottle holders on the two front doors and ample cup holders with a arm rest with cup holders available in the car. Gives a complete sedan feeling.

Not to forget the boot of 370 liters which can swallow quiet some luggage.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox

Now this is where the problem starts. This 1.3 diesel engine is said to be codeveloped by Chevrolet-Fiat and is the same engine that does duty in Swift Diesel, Tata Indica Vista, Punto but now all know that all the companies have tweaked it differenty and that is where the problem is. Whatever refinement that chevrolet has brought in this engine has two sides. The mileage is average. City bumper to bunper traffic I have not got over 11-12 Kmpl and on highways if you do not change gears too frequently and drive constantly at 90-110 then you can see a mileage of 19 kmpl (This was between Bangalore and Hyderabad).

With the car loaded with 5 adults where 3 of us were 99-100 Kgs and 2 others around 60-70 Kgs with sufficient luggage in boot with full tank of diesel and between Bangalore and Madikeri (coorg) highwat, got a mileage not more than 12 Kmpl (this was when the car had run just 200 Kms - within the 2nd week of purchase).

So in short mileage is much lower than claimed and differs as per your driving conditions.

Ride Quality & Handling

Ride is excellent, feels like sailing on smooth roads - good NVH levels and very little noise from outside can be heard. When driving on highways at 100 - 120 there will be some road noise that leaks into the cabin. Getting a 3M rubberised undercarriage protection can reduse this noise.

Suspension is really great and absorbs all the average potholes with ease and keeps you comfortable.

Handling is good - in city driving conditions there is good feedback from the steering and the gear ratios are nicely aligned. You do not need to shift gears too much and is comfortable to drive around in city traffic and feels lignt on its feet. Cross 120 Kms on the highway and you will loose all your confidence as the steering feels dead and scary, slight movement of the weel will upset the driving. Ideal and comfortable driving is bwtween 0 to 120 Kms speed. 

Final Words

This car is new in India and still needs to improve on its made in china image and settle down. New buyers can get easily tempted to buy this but hold on - give it a good thought as there are many who have faced problems. Give it some time in the market and most of the problems from the first batch gets resolved, I am sure GM will work hard to make this little more problem free and give a better competition. 

Areas of improvement  

This car has very cheap windshields - absorbs no heat and with the useless rule of no tints on windows - your car easily turns into a oven and AC feels useless and this leads to more fuel consumption and lower the meleage.

After a 4 hour long drive with A.C on in full and later had parked in under the hot sun. The same night the weather dropped (hill station effect) and also rained that night - the result morning found the windshield cracked. 

GM inspected and gave a free replacement. So happy and thumbs up to GM for quick response. This proves that they care.

But still I hope they put better glass that absorbs some heat - something like what Amaze is coming with may be better.

GM needs to work much harder on the mileage.

The most annoying problems i faced: The plastic trim under the front windshield - it always keeps creating creaking noises. Have the entire trip replaced with windshield and 2 months later can still hear it creaking. Am due for 2nd free service and am going to fight to get it fixed for good.

 

Good looks, space and comfortAverage mileage, Cheap windshields