Maruti Suzuki Omni

This car has performed the roles of a people-mover, courier-delivery vehicle, ambulance and a host of others! The Omni is basic, large-family transport at its cheapest best. Having been around since my childhood days, Maruti has regularly updated the Omni but the age is quite evident. The last major facelift was in 1997 – that’s more than a decade ago!

There’s little that you will find appealing on the style quotient. The Omni has a mono-box design and is more or less flat all through. The build quality is atrocious and sound insulation is minimal. The story is equally bad on the inside. Plastics that look and feel cheap, a barebones interior and no creature comfort whatsoever make the time spent behind the wheel a torture.

The engine is mounted underneath the front seats and powers the rear wheels. The gearshift does not make things any better while the car is dangerously under-tyred; those 12-inch cross-ply tyres’ road-holding isn’t good at all. The Omni’s safety and handling aspects are best left unsaid. There’s only a few centimeters of thin sheet-metal and plastic separating you from anything that you hit. Ride and handling are nowhere in today’s league.

The interior space is good, but the seat comfort is rubbish owing to lack of proper bolstering and padding. Ingress and egress however is not a concern and the sliding doors at the rear make for a good experience, however, the same cannot be said about the sliding windows.

Underpowered, uninspiring in all ways, no safety to speak of and quite badly built, the Omni is one car which is good only for a point-A-to-B run, with risk levels being too high. Not recommended.