Maruti Suzuki India Limited launched the New Estilo yesterday and CarWale went to a friendly neighbourhood dealership and took a few photographs. Here they are, along with a few comments.
The Estilo now has dropped the ‘Zen’ branding in the advertisements, but it retains a badge that says ‘Zen Estilo’. The most prominent changes to the looks are in the front – the redesigned swept-back headlamps, three horizontal chrome strips for the grille instead of the previous single strip, and a more aggressive front bumper that follows a slightly different design from Maruti’s other new launches, the Ritz and the A-Star. It’s now more in tune with new Mitsubishi and Ford grille/bumper designs, and the front wheel arches are now missing the line that rose toward the rear. The bonnet has also got a prominent central ridge and doesn’t flow as smoothly into the A-pillar as the old design did. We’re not sure we like the redesign – it makes the car look bolder, but it’s a fussy design 
that lacks the clean lines of the outgoing model. New electrically adjustable mirrors on the VXi variants, now fold towards the front without breaking, should an errant biker get too close. New wheelcaps adorn the wheels, and the changes at the rear include a new rear wiper design and the exhaust tip is now shorter and is more vertical. New paint options are a beige, blue, brown and orange, essentially colours similar to the Ritz and A-Star. The interiors have new colour schemes, a two-tone beige/brown colour combination with newly designed seat covers, and a digital fuel gauge is now standard.
The talking point of the car is the new engine, derived from the A-Star. The 998cc three-cylinder K-series powerplant has upped the Estilo’s power and torque ratings from the earlier 64bhp and 84Nm to 68bhp and 90Nm. The shifter is also now a cable-operated one, which promises smoother shifts. The gearshift lever seems to be quite similar to the A-Star's. We did like this engine a lot in the A-Star, and expect it will provide enough pep and efficiency (ARAI-certified 18.3kpl) to put a smile on your face.
The facelift and heart transplant should help increase the Estilo’s market share, which has fallen short of the WagonR’s by a fair margin in recent times. The pricing, beginning at Rs 3.12 lakh, ex-showroom, Delhi, should be good enough to get people into Maruti showrooms. Only time will tell how many walk back out with a brand new Estilo.
