Maruti Victoris 3000km Long Term Review: Shaadi Season Duties

I hate driving in Mumbai. Period. There is just no way to get around the fact that to get from somewhere to anywhere in Mumbai, it will test your patience, depth perception, planning skills and then some more patience. With each rickshaw driver trying to think that they are Ayrton Senna reincarnated and each BMC bus driver prepping for the Dakar rally on the Western Express Highway, staying cool and safe inside the confines of a car become even more challenging. 

Hence, when I had to spend almost half a week in the city, the occasion being a friend’s nuptials, I had to choose something that was spacious yet compact and definitely an automatic. With the long-term Victoris in the office, the car fit the requirements quite naturally. Hence, Ujjawal was temporarily relieved from his custodianship of the car and I spent what turned out to be a calming and comfortable driving experience in chaotic Mumbai.

THE HIGHWAY DRONE

Out on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway, the Victoris sits rather comfortably at legal speeds. The car feels planted and even manages to tune out the nasty concrete ripples of the expressway that have arisen over time. Light steering inputs were enough to confidently change lanes when the slowest driver on the day decided to hog the fast lane.

The dreaded ghat section, though, is where the Victoris’ rather relaxed engine tune made matters a tad bit frustrating. I seriously wished that there was a bit more oomph that would have made overtaking lorries on the tight, twisted sections an easy affair. Not that the 60kmph speed limit in the most trickiest section of the road was helping in any manner. And since I didn’t want to have Ujjawal to end up with an alert to pay a speeding fine (You would have had to only pay it, Jehan - Ujjawal), I sucked up my enthusiastic spirit and decided to be as relaxed as I could be in the ghats.

THE MUMBAI DIARIES

While I was entrusted with the driving duties, my Taylor Swift-enjoying partner had booked us an artsy AirBnB in Juhu for the duration of the week. Not to prop up a stereotype but apparently I should have been better involved in choosing the stay as when we stumbled upon the place, it had no parking and would have forced us to drive through some really shady areas.

After researching for a replacement stay, getting to it was another test of my driving skills as it meant going through the narrow streets of Bandra. And over the course of the trip, the Victoris and I visited exotic locations like Milan Subway, Sakinaka, Andheri East, and Jogeshwari, each one with its own twisted Mad Max Fury Road style apocalyptic driving to conquer. 

Here’s where I rather enjoyed the peaceful cabin of the Victoris. The ventilated seats were a boon. The large infotainment panel displaying each gully that I had to turn into or away from rather crisply, along with the high quality 360-degree camera which made navigating those super tight spots a little less nerve-racking. 

The engine was prompt for the most part. And most importantly, there were absolutely no complaints from either my partner or from her friends in the back seat regarding any aspect of the cabin. A big relief!

THE RETURN

Ujjawal was rather eager to have the keys of the car back and I could certainly tell why. The Victoris did turn out to be a rather neat city commuter while still delivering a reasonable 11-12kmpl in the process. Discounting the heavy right foot driving on the highway and crawling pace in the city, the efficiency could have been a bit more. But if the missus and the rest of the occupants were happy, then who am I to complain.