The Maruti Omni Bus

Unbelievable?. Not anymore. You can get a decent fourwheeler for that kind of money now. And we are not talking about a patchy reconstruction job on a old Padmini here. Its a full-blooded eight-seater Maruti Omni E that shares the same three cylinder Suzuki-derived engine with its popular 800 cousin. Add the sundry taxes and insurance to the Rs 1,48,000 ex-factory price, and you get the car for around Rs 1,75,000! Astonishing stuff, indeed. Come to think of it, a high end laptop with a sound blaster and a colour monitor will probably cost far more than this Maruti mini bus.

 

Omni E the concept

Its sad if you are stuck with an old Maruti Omni that you wanted to dispose off. The value of the car in the second hand market is nowhere near what it used to be, thanks to the recent price slash by Maruti on this Suzuki Carry clone. The new Omni E has been strictly tailored to the new eight-seater people-mover norms that were recently introduced by the government, which made the price cut possible.

The Omni was, till recently, the second largest selling car in India after the Maruti 800, before being overtaken by the Esteem and the Zen. It was always a delivery van turned into a car, and it never failed to show that lineage in the handling and comfort department.

But within the city limits, the Omni excelled as a value for money choice, scoring over the 800 on many counts. It was cheaper to buy, offered comparable fuel efficiency, and was equally reliable. More than anything else, it carried more people from the office to the nearest waterhole. The Omni owners became popular in the social circles when picnics were planned and airport/railway station transit was called for. Besides, the Omni was an excellent tourist taxi option. Maruti 800 was never in the reckoning for the yellow-top cab duty.

Value for money?

There is more sheet metal for your money here than in the Maruti 800. Technologically speaking, except for the fact that the van is rear-wheel drive (which is a big difference), the Maruti Omni and the Maruti 800 are quite similar.

Now the often heard criticism of the Omni is that there is virtually no crash protection since the driver and the front passenger sit where the bonnets starts. Correct to some extent. This is hardly the car to do inter city runs. Cross winds can severely affect the dynamics, thanks to the brick like shape.

But, inside the city, the up-front driving position ensures that the machine is easier to park. Also, the car-driver response is much quicker, as you are sitting right on top of the steered wheels. The car obeys the command without any need for judgmental calculations from your side.This can be an ideal first car for those who have just learnt driving at the age of fifty or thereabouts, and would appreciate a no-nonsense, uncomplicated set of wheels.

The Omni drive

Perched on an unbeatable truck-like driving seat, you will appreciate the wide vision windscreen of the Omni. The body, though, has the aerodynamics of er...a brick, at best. But we are not talking of any serious speed here, anyway.

The Omni offers the same pick-up as the 800. But if you are used to front wheel driven 800s, you are bound to notice the rear wheels unrelentingly trying for traction.

The Omni motor is slightly low on outright output (38 bhp) as compared to the car (39.5 bhp), but more than makes up for it with the commendable 6.3 kgm of torque developed at 3000 rpm (just in case you forgot that we are talking about a commercial vehicle in its passenger vehicle incarnation).

The engine is tractable, just like in the car, but one should keep working on the four speed box to get the best out of it.

The Omni touches 60 kph in around nine seconds, and can actually touch the 110 kph top speed. If any of your Omni-owner friends said something about overtaking an 800 on the highway at any higher velocity, you know what hes talking bull!.

Road behaviour

The Omni behaves better when it is loaded. And loading it has never been a problem. Now that the Omni E version has eight proper seats, one can expect value conscious owners stuffing in ten or twelve adults when its time to go for a jaunt. It is only when its adequately loaded that the true character of the suspension comes through. With just the driver and a passenger, the Omni does bump around a bit. Again you are not going to notice that when youre picking up milk three blocks away. On the whole, the Omni handling improves with a wider road grip (i.e. radial tyres).

Omni returns a decent 14 kpl on the highway. but with proper use of gears and a relaxed foot on the clutch pedal, you can easily better that figure. Besides, unlike other cars, its fuel efficiency does not drop drastically in the city traffic.

Over the years

Ever since college days, many Omnis have passed through my hands. And I have found that each car soon develops its owners character. Some car-owners just cannot treat the Omni the way they would treat any other car, and that results in quick deterioration. The kind of abuse the Omni is subjected to because of its delivery-van antecedents is sacrilegious indeed.

But there are some 1985 vintage high-roof vans (Maruti stoped making them sometime in between) that can still be spotted with fresh interiors and clean bodywork. A friend of mine loves his Omni, and proclaims it to have the best acoustic characteristics. He has fitted two massive 100W Yamaha speakers mated to some serious audiophile idiosyncrasies in the car. Others have been known to install classy air-con setups, with the two thirds of the cars minus the jump seat area partitioned off with plastic separators. Yes, Omni can very well be a practical and economical mode of transport if one takes care of it, that is.

The Omni difference

The Omni has some very distinctive features. The engine, for instance, is under the front seats. In order to access it, one has to remove the front seat! Also, as the radiator is positioned on the flanks, you have to access the coolant tank via the front seat again. It is difficult to get in and out of the seats owing to the somewhat awkward height.But then there are the patent sliding doors, which can be quite convenient when it comes to getting in and out of the car in a jiffy while in traffic jams or at tight parking slots. However, theres a downside too. In the the long run water accumulates in the door runners and causes the sheet metal to rot. Theres also the feeble mid-row seat legs that needs reinforcement if you do not want to risk an injury when it eventually collapses. But fold those jump seats and you have a cavernous boot area supplemented by a very low loading sill a definite plus, indeed.

The Omni vs the laptop

Omni wins, hands down. The laptop can wait. I lived without a laptop all these days, and it has wrought no great dent in my intellectual property. Besides, the idea of a second car in the family would be far more appealing to my wife, and the expense is bound to be approved immediately. (Now you know why that laptop has languished as a mere want on my wish list effective demand falls squarely in my wifes domain). Also, therere some superb finance schemes available which can make owning an Omni as cheap as Rs.3,000 per month. Although I may have to face some ridiculing from friends who could well suspect my integrity as a motoring scribe, since I have always advised against Omnis in favour of the two box car. But then, friends will come and go. I know who I'll have to eventually face up to when I get home.