The decade old Maruti Suzuki Zen has been replaced by a re-designed tall boy and rechristened as Maruti Suzuki Zen Estilo. Zen is the first Maruti Suzuki to be officially discontinued from production, and the new Zen Estilo is designed to suit the Indian taste palate.

The design has been borrowed from the Japanese MR Wagon that was phased out in 2005. All the dyes and casts that were used for MR Wagon are used to manufacture the Estilo. It has a look of miniaturized family van because of its smooth flowing, simple lines and the monoform design. Maruti Zen Estilo is a blend of the jellybean and tallboy designs, which gives it a unique stance and looks.

It is powered by the WagonR's 1.1L in-line 4 cylinder engine. Power is transferred to the front wheels by a 5-speed manual transmission. The 16 valve engine cranks out 64 bhp at 6,200 rpm and 84 Nm of torque is delivered at 3,500 rpm. The engine has not been refined much except for the fact that it has been tweaked a bit for responsiveness and fuel economy which certainly have given it a better mileage and better pick up time.Also the engineers have worked on the aerodynamics of this car.

The biggest difference where Zen Estilo scores the most are its interiors which are at par with some of the higher end cars and give you a feel of luxury. It comes with plush, premium interiors. It has a two-tone colour theme and its seats have been redesigned for providing better support and sport fresh new upholstery to match the dual tone colour theme of the interior. The rear seats are comfortable and under thigh support is also decent but it is nowhere near the cars in the same class like the Indica, Palio or even the Santro.

It uses a McPherson strut with torsion type control system for its front suspension. The rear suspension uses Coil Spring, gas filled shock absorbers with three-link rigid trailing arm. These ensure that the Estilo swallows up the potholed Indian roads with ease, making it perfect for city driving.The Zen Estilo uses ventilated discs for its front suspension and drum brakes for the rear suspension. With a wheelbase of 2360mm the Estilo is a bit smaller than the old Zen. This provides better handling and makes the car nippy, which provides that extra edge required to drive in Indian City conditions.

The new Zen comes with an eight colour line-up offering vivid and chromatic colours. The company has chosen interesting colours like Purple Fusion, Champagne Beige, Virgin Blue and Olive Green for Zen, to go with the car’s stylish image.

TV Commercial of Maruti Suzuki Zen Estilo: