Maruti Suzuki, India's largest carmaker that has consistently trumped competition in most segments of the business, has silently sparked an automobile revolution in the country with the launch of its latest car Celerio diesel.
The company has finally come up with a diesel engine for small cars. Maruti's latest diesel car, the Celerio diesel, is powered by the world's smallest CRDi diesel engine. Moreover, the Celerio is the most fuel efficient car available in India as on date. The car returns an average of 27.62 kilometres per litre of diesel.

Rumours of Suzuki's diesel engine have gripped the automobile market for a long time now and it continued even after the launch of the Celerio petrol a year ago. At that time, Maruti was in the process of developing its own diesel engine. This engine, code named E 08 A, was developed by both Japanese and Indian engineers by incorporating global technology. The engine's commercial name is DDIS 125 and with a volume of 793 cc, this two cylinder unit is the smallest diesel mill in the world.
The only engine similar to the Celerio's in terms of capacity is Tata Ace's 798-cc Dicor TCIC series of mills. But then, the Tata Ace's engine was developed for commercial purposes. The Celerio's engine has been designed to perform like a car's and hence there is a sea of difference in performance and output figures of both. The Celerio diesel can even challenge petrol cars not just in terms of fuel efficiency but also in terms of comfort. Into the test drive report of the Celerio diesel.
The Design

The design and features of this car remain the same as the Celerio petrol's. The car's design gives it a good road presence while the beautiful front grills and the modern headlamps give the Celerio the looks of a big car. Maruti calls the Celerio-design 'Curve in Curve Out' or CICO. The sides and the rear end of the car are designed with a focus on practicality. The interior, done up in a tone of beige and black, is roomy while the plastics are of good quality as well while the steering wheel is beautiful with controls mounted on it. The wing mirrors are electronically adjusted and the car comes with two air bags and ABS.
Behind the Wheel
Turn on the key and the engine responds in a different way from any other petrol or diesel car — it warms up with a noisy start and then settles down; the decibel levels do not come into notice again until revved hard.
Driving the Celerio diesel is an entirely pleasurable experience. It is as comfortable as a petrol car to drive and is even better within the city, thanks to the high torque output of its 793-cc two-cylinder aluminium engine. This unit churns out 47.6 PS and 125 NM of torque and these figures are 50% higher than that of the Tata Ace's, which has an engine of roughly the same size. The petrol model of the Celerio manages only 91 NM in torque. Apart from high torque, well sorted gear ratios too aid the excellent drivability of the Celerio.
The Celerio LD model that comes with power steering and AC costs Rs 5.35 lakh on road. The top-end model SDI costs Rs 6.64 lakh on road.
Test Drive - 8943345931