Get some Va-Va-Vroom into your life!

Slip into the driving seat of the sensational new machines that are scorching the highways and byways of the Indian landscape and feel the power! We take a look at what's hot on the roads and why some women love driving the cars that they do!

The Maybach 62

The Maybach 62 is something of a super pedigree in the car world from the DaimlerChrysler stable. One of the most fascinating things in India is its price - a whopping three crore (excluding import duties and other taxes!). Now if you can get past the sheer shock of the price tag, the super luxury salon has great things in store. Naturally at the price, it drives like a dream and comes equipped with automotive technology derived from the jet age. It boasts of a matchless V12 Maybach engine that is capable of developing 405 kw/550 hp. It has a 'sensotronic' brake control that incorporates an electro-hydraulic braking system. The other superior features of this car include an electronically controlled air suspension, voice-controlled operation, a 600-watt sound system, a four-zone automatic climate control system and two separate air conditioners. It comes with a built-in DVD player, a television receiver,

a refrigerator, and a cordless telephone. You might want to make this car your permanent residence once you buy it! The Maybach 62 is expected to be available in India soon.

Mercedes C-Class

How do you improve an already amazing car? By making it more 'sexy', of course! And sex appeal is what the new Mercedes C200 reeks of in its new avatar. Already available in the country, the famous three-pronged brand that is synonymous with luxury and excellence, re-launched the more affordable of its cars, the C200, with a bag full of new goodies and comforts that makes this sensuous German beauty look even lovelier today! Apart from the obvious facelift it has received on the body in its recent styling makeover, the car comes with indicators housed in the rear view mirrors fitted with clear plain surface lenses and vapour-plated reflectors, a haematite waistline trim, brighter tail lights and a touch of chrome in the interior of the car that has a more user friendly control panel for the lights and climate control inside the car.

Ford Fusion

It's a sturdy little car that mixes business and pleasure. Built with the Indian driver in mind, the car combines elements from different pedigrees of vehicles... and this makes the Fusion extremely exciting in its competitive segment. The central character of the car consists of practicality, agility (for parking in those narrow nightmarish 'gallies') and the sheer appeal of a mid-size sedan. With a capable 1.6 litre Duratec 16-valve petrol engine, the Ford Fusion offers a unique combination of European styling, a strong build, spacious and versatile interiors, a command seating position, and superior driving experience, all of which respond well to rapidly shifting customer lifestyle aspirations.

Ford Endeavour

For this SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle), size has to matter if you consider that this is without doubt the vehicle with the largest overall dimensions on Indian roads. Powered by a 2.5 L turbo-charged and inter-cooled diesel engine, the Endeavour offers the best-in-class ride and great handling performance in varied driving conditions. The vehicle dynamics have been developed to offer excellent low-speed steering and smooth transmission shifts. It has good ground clearance, and approach and departure angles that affirm its true off-road capability.

Chevrolet Optra

The Optra is GM India's most exciting car to date. Larger and more enhanced than the sturdy Astra it replaces, the Optra competes squarely with the larger Corolla from Toyota and the Octavia from Skoda. The company recently launched a Special Design Edition of the Chevrolet Optra to mark the first anniversary of its entry into the Indian market. Based on the Optra 1.8 LT category, the artistically crafted Optra Design Edition is loaded with luxury features that include a DVD player with a 7-inch roof mounted screen, remote control and two cordless headphones, and a 5 CD changer on the dashboard that can be independently operated, making for a unique experience.

Chevrolet Tavera (MUV)

A big multi-utility vehicle, it is surprisingly nimble to handle despite the hulking dimensions that its styling exudes. The Tavera means business when you drive it and compares well with the diesel version of the Qualis. The four-cylinder 2,499 cc, direct injection turbo-diesel engine produces 79 horsepower at 3,900 rpm, which is quite satisfactory for a vehicle of this size. The steering wheel has been adjusted for driving on Indian road conditions and the diesel-based MUV gives a fuel efficiency of 12-13 km a litre, which is really quite impressive. It's got a polished look, both inside and outside, and is easily a vehicle you can elegantly drive in without raising eyebrows as it trundles along with admittedly a little less sophistication than the more snazzy and flamboyant SUVs.

Honda City (New Edition)

This sylph-like new edition of the Honda City is a zesty car that has great visual appeal on the road. The design effort that has gone into creating it is commendable and also a refreshing deviation from the other Honda cars, which tend to stick to a safe family resemblance in their overall styling. This car has a short overall exterior (it is 40 mm shorter than its predecessor). The extensive room in the cabin and the luggage space that the old Honda City was acknowledged for is still the same, making this one of the most roomy cars in its segment. Easy to manoeuvre and ideal to drive through a chaotic city scenario, the new City is a fine example of how a great car just got better!

Honda CR-V (SUV)

It's neither too big nor too small, and this in-between look actually works to its great advantage. It is a very comfortable SUV to drive in a city and it turns heads with its fetching good looks. Powered by a 2.0 litre I-VTEC engine and a four-wheel drive, the CR-V feels at ease in most driving conditions and is unexpectedly agile in city traffic, possibly because it's not a seemingly humongous vehicle. In fact, one could even describe it as an SUV which has hatchback appeal. The interiors of the CR-V are well thought out and stylish. If this is the type of vehicle you've set your heart on, it's quite hard to go wrong with the Honda CR-V.

Hyundai Elantra (New)

It looks like a smaller version of the sensuous Sonata and although the Elantra might be one of the later entrants into the executive car segment, Hyundai has come up with a sophisticated product that is loaded with performance and efficiency. Both the 1.8 litre DOHC petrol engine and the 2.0 litre CRDi Diesel engine are powerful and fuel-efficient and deliver an exhilarating driving performance in most conditions.

Maruti Zen (New Edition)

The styling makeover that the dependable Maruti Zen has undergone in recent times is significant from a motoring point of view, simply because the car itself is so popular and well-accepted. The redesigned and all-new Zen, a flagship premium compact car from Maruti, has been styled and designed entirely in India and retains all the popular attributes of the Zen, like the low-slung seating, peppy performance, low operative cost, hatchback appeal and excellent fuel efficiency. The innovations include an all-new bonnet, a fashionable new grille, fenders, a new set of clear multi-reflector headlamps and front and rear fog lamps, an arresting bumper with bonded rear screens, a new hatch door, tail lamps and a redesigned gear shift lever.

Maruti Esteem (New Edition/Relaunch)

The ageing Maruti Esteem has got a new lease of life as a spiffy looking version of the old car with many new features. The new front and rear changes are part of a crisp and more sophisticated styling. It is an extremely fuel-efficient car in its class, which, coming from the Suzuki stable, is no surprise. It's light, affordable and ideal for most Indian conditions, with the older version of the car having proved itself many miles over. The new Esteem is an altogether more refined version of its predecessor.

Suzuki Grand Vitara (SUV)

Cheap and cheery this is not... 'Plush and powerful' is possibly a better way to describe the super SUV that is every bit as 'grand' as it is made out to be. The Grand Vitara XL-7 is the biggest, most luxurious, most powerful and most expensive vehicle in the Maruti-Suzuki line-up. What lies beneath is a 2.7 V6 that delivers scintillating performance. It reeks of torque, making the Grand Vitara an effortless and unassailable machine to drive. The handling of the car off the roads is challenging and whether or not you choose to drive it in the city or in the countryside, the Vitara lives up to its name and is definitely a grand choice.