Chevy Beat Ride quality, NVH and Handling
The Beat employs the popular McPherson Strut suspension setup up front and a compound link type suspension at the rear. Now, the first thing that you would want from a car like the Beat, which is primarily going to potter around in the city is comfort. And the Beat delivers a pliant and composed ride which is substantially superior to the wobbly and thuddy ride quality of the entry level small car. However, things like ride quality are difficult to measure. There is hardly a quantifiable means to measure the quality of ride. You can do with references though, and for me, the ride quality of the Ford Figo is by far the best in this class. The Beat is still some distance away from attaining the impeccable composure of the Figo, but offers a comfortably pliant ride nonetheless. I definitely didn’t find the suspension to be squashy, although a few of my journalists, going by their views in their respective articles would probably differ. I think that the Beat’s ride is slightly on the stiffer side when compared with the other cars in the segment, which make the rear a wee bit bouncy. There isn’t anything to worry about though, as it still offers above class-average ride quality.
The engine noise intrudes the cabin. The NVH level in the cabin, even with the thick NVH insulators under the bonnet isn’t the best in this category. As you climb up the rev range the noise increases progressively, and by the time you reach the 5000 mark, you feel like releasing the throttle so as to ease the engine a bit.
Climbing into the driver’s seat, you realize that you are sitting high up with a good view of the road. The dash is rather high too, which may be a bit of bother for short people as there is no driver side seat height adjustment option. Ladies too may have a bit of an issue keeping the immediate patch of road in view if they are 5 feet or thereabouts. The steering wheel is nice to hold, although once on the move you realize that it isn’t really the smoothest unit. Also, you somewhat crave for some feedback from the three-spoke unit, although the car maintains its poise rather impressively and changes lanes without any wobble or drama. I drove the car primarily within the city and in dry conditions, so the 165/70 R14 tyres weren’t much of an issue. But I am sure that while driving on slippery roads or while climbing up or rolling down a ghat enthusiastically some more rubber around the wheels won’t hurt.
There is a fair bit of body roll around the corners, and a lack of communication from steering doesn’t inspire you much to push the car hard around the corners. The remaining desire to play is taken care of by the noise of the engine. So essentially the Beat isn’t your car if you are one of those who like scaring their back bencher family around corners. However, to think that these 1.2 litre sub-90bhp cars were ever designed to entice you around the race track would be foolish. The Beat does it job of hauling you around comfortably in a splendid manner, and you are no real reasons to complain unless your conceited self has started thinking of itself as a cousin of Sebastian Loeb.
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Chevrolet Beat Introduction
Chevrolet Beat Design and Styling
Chevy Beat engine, transmission and performance
Chevy Beat interiors and features
Chevy Beat Ride quality, NVH and Handling
Chevy Beat – Summing it Up
Chevy Beat Specifications