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It is quite ordinary for our Honda Amaze to do rounds of the Pune Expressway from our CarWale Vashi headquarters to PowerDrift Pune office. But the Diwali day was quite a cracker for our long-termer, the Honda Amaze AT, as we got to drive along with the test mules of the DC Avanti.
Frankly, I was unsure how our 1.2-litre 86bhp petrol automatic car would perform in front of the prowess of the critically acclaimed 2.0-litre 240bhp Ford's engine in the Avanti. However, pretty confident of my habit of pushing the car a bit, I knew I will at least be able to catch up with the test mules of the Avanti. Though the automatic gearbox is a little slow in response, one gets used to it quickly and in no time I caught up with the test vehicles at constant and high speeds.
I realised that despite the high speed runs, our Amaze which generally returns a fuel efficiency of 10-10.5 kmpl in the city, here the fuel economy of the car shot up to 12kmpl on the highway. After covering some distance we caught up with the cars at the food mall. We were chatting with the drivers, who were very friendly and kindly let me explore the test vehicles in and out and even take pictures. Though the equipment in the cabin is not production ready, the components are makeshift and the drivers confirmed that the vehicles are still being tested for its engine.
It was the ghat section in Lonavala where all the cars including our Amaze were tested for handling. Though we didn't go beyond a limit, the cars stuck to the road like slugs and took corners brilliantly. While on my way I was praising the Avanti test mules and was still smiling thinking how 'amazing' the Amaze is! The car lives up to its name and I'm sure it will 'amaze' us in the future as well.
