Smile-long rally

PITSTOP

With the twin objectives of proving the Hyundai Santro Xing's fuel efficiency and building a rapport with their customers, Hyundai Motor India organised a series of Miles & Smiles car rallies in several cities of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa over the last two months. Over 277 owners of the Santro and their families participated in the rallies.

While the drivers tried stretching every drop of fuel as far as it would go, the rest of family were being entertained by music, dance and even magic shows.

The top three prizes for getting the maximum mileage were cash awards of Rs 10,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 2,500 respectively. The rallyists covered a distance of around 70 to 80 km, and the average mileage of the Santro Xing was an astounding 26 kpl.

Stable diet

With great power comes great responsibility. Famous words that hold true even with cars "� what with them getting more powerful by the day. Well, the European safety agency NCAP now recommends stability systems to be fitted to cars to make them safer.

Now while it's a given that driving carefully is perhaps the best way to reduce the chances of being in a crash, ESP is proving to be a real life-saver as well. And even though modern cars have better dynamic performance than ever before "� more grip, better brakes and more predictable handling "� ESP is almost a standard feature these days.

Stability control systems evolved from technologies such as ABS and traction control. ESP electronically senses when a car is deviating from its intended direction and applies small amounts of braking separately at each wheel to bring the car back to its intended course. And you thought ESP meant Extra Sensory Perception.