Clockwork Mouse

There’s something quite oddly appealing about a city car. They are usually small, run like clockwork mice and each of their appealing factors usually revolves around some form of practicality and usability. Well, that’s pretty much this Renault Kwid 1.0-litre Easy-R AMT in a nutshell.

The Facts

It’s a second innings for the Kwid in our long term garage and this time around we have inducted the 1.0-litre Easy-R AMT into our fleet. This 1.0-litre engines put out 67bhp/91Nm and makes use of a five-speed automated manual transmission. We are driving the top-of-the-line RXT (O) variant and this gets a driver’s side airbag, AC, touchscreen infotainment system with USB and AUX-IN.

At the time of writing this report, this variant of the Kwid has been priced at Rs 4.53 lakhs (ex-showroom Delhi). The selling point is, of course, the AMT that’s controlled via a dial on the dashboard. And it is as simple as that, call it if you will dial and go. Also, its other main selling point is its mini-SUV looks which should come in handy when you need to brag a bit on social media because #SUVS is the new trend.

First Order of Business

The litmus test for any city car is how it can perform in the tight confines of an urban forest and that is my first order of business with the Kwid. My testing ground being, of course, Mumbai- a city with too much of everything except space. Its narrow lanes, haphazard parking habits, heavily dug up roads and general “Me first attitude” should be quite a boot camp for the Kwid to display its skills.

Vehicle Log

Odo: 1152km

Km this month: NA

Fuel efficiency: 12kmpl

Photos: Kaustubh Gandhi