Stingrayed from MAV to MUV

Stingray in cars goes back to the lineage of Corvettes, but Maruti reintroduced their old time Multi-Activity-Vehicle (MAV) WagonR in a classier, sportier and peppier version, and that becomes the new Stingray. Well, no relevance or whatsoever to Corvette Stingray or any other legendary car with that name plate, this time WagonR is not a family car, but the car a boy will drive on his date night.

The Stingray is a jazzed up avatar of the WagonR and can be easily distinguished by its all-new front featuring a slim and sleek chrome-finished grille, a large air dam, and redesigned fog lamp housings. The biggest change in the new car is the projector headlamps which is a segment first. Other exterior changes include gunmetal grey coloured alloys, side skirts, roof mounted rear wing and a chrome back door garnish with the ‘Stingray’ embossed in bold.

Changes are not restricted to the exterior alone as the Stingray features an all-black theme interiors with tilt adjustable leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls, Stingray themed seats, instrument cluster with blue background and electrically adjustable OVRMs along with power windows. Also it employs a multi information display which gives information like distance to empty, instant and average fuel efficiency. To keep the passengers entertained, one gets an audio system with in-built USB & AUX support. “For the first time WagonR is driving itself in a new direction, on a pretty unconventional road though.

The Stingray will compete with the Ford EcoSport, this is grandeur and all capable of what a mini MUV can do. This is not a family car anymore, this is for youth, the car you will flaunt in college, a guy will drive while he is going to meet his girl friend, a car that the girl will drive along with her pet, this is for definitely for youth,” shared Satyanarayana, a spokesperson from Varun Motors. “In essence the Stingray is a WagonR in different clothes,” he added.

The Maruti Stingray is powered by the same, K10B, 998cc, 3-cylinder petrol motor that powers the WagonR. The power and torque figures remain the same too, with about 67 BHP @6200 RPM and 90 Nm @ 3500 RPM. This engine is mated to a 5-speed cable-type manual transmission, which is no different from the WagonR. The Maruti Stingray has an ARAI certified fuel-efficiency of 20.51 KMPL, which is the same as the WagonR.

The vehicle is available in three variants of petrol with LXi at Rs 4,09,999, VXi at Rs 4,37,999 and VXi (O) at Rs 4,66,999

Varun motors, handed over the Andhra Pradesh’s first car keys of the jazzy Stingray to their first customer, Boddu

Srinivas on Thursday at their Begumpet Showroom. K S Subbaraman, General Manager, State Bank of Hyderabad and Omkarnath, Regional Manager, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. Mukesh Kumar Meena, IAS, was the chief guest for the event.