A fusion of cab and auto-rickshaw - Bajaj Qute

| MARCH 24, 2019, 03:08 AM IST

Ritesh Madhok


The Qute is Bajaj’s first foray into the four-wheel market. At its unveiling back in 2012, the company announced that the car had high fuel efficiency of 35 km/l and low carbon dioxide emissions. The Qute is not legally classified as a car, therefore could not be sold to individuals back then. On 22 May 2013, The Central Government legally classified it as a quadricycle. The Qute is unable to reach speeds of 80 km/h and therefore it’s only allowed to be used for commercial purposes, primarily to replace the auto-rickshaws.

It’s not a Car!

Bajaj has specified that the Qute is not a car. It perfectly bridges the gap between a cab and a three wheeled auto-rickshaw. Dimensionally, it’s exactly the same as the Bajaj auto-rickshaw. But, the four wheels make it more stable over the three-wheeled auto-rickshaw and can accommodate luggage too. With doors all over the Qute protects the passengers sitting inside from rains. Bajaj also claims that the running cost of the CNG powered Qute are lesser than a 150cc motorcycle.

Exterior and styling

The Qute comes with a high strength sheet metal monocoque body. What makes the Qute interesting and lighter is the use of impact resistant plastics. The hood and doors are all made up of plastics; the storage under the hood is also plastic and provides adequate protection from the rains. The black front and rear bumpers are made of light weight plastics too. Come to the side and you’ll notice the tiny length of the car and the tiny doors. The windows on the door cannot be rolled down instead they slide both ways. The Qute comes with decently sized 12-inch alloy wheels. The Bajaj Qute comes with twin multi-reflector headlamps with integrated turn signal indicators. The front bumper has a massive air-dam which sucks up all the air when the vehicle is in motion and directs the air inside the cabin via an opening on the A-pillars. The tail-lamps are very basic and house the turn signal indicator, reversing light, brake light and a multi-reflector.

Interior and safety

Front seats are basic and only the driver side seat can be adjusted to move forward and backward only, it cannot be reclined. The co-driver seat is fixed and not adjustable. The seat offers adequate under thigh and back support, but, gets no headrests. The dashboard gets two storage boxes which can be locked. The instrument cluster is placed in the centre and gets an analogue speedometer surrounded by all the tell-tale lights and below that is an orange backlit LCD which gives out all the required info including the gear position indicator. The spare wheel is placed under the dashboard near the co-driver seat and the jack and spanner is placed right next to it. The handbrake is oddly placed on the right side of the driver seat. Surprisingly, the Qute gets a Radio/ MP3 player with a remote controller and a USB port. The rear seats are basic and flat but offer good knee and headroom and can be split and folded in 60:40 ratios. Seatbelts are provided for all the four occupants as the only safety feature. A fire extinguisher is placed behind the rear passenger seat for added safety.

Engine, transmission and drive

The Bajaj Qute comes with a single cylinder 216.6cc liquid cooled Petrol/ CNG engine which is mated to a 5-speed sequential gearbox and it’s very easy to use. The only downside of having a sequential gearbox is shifting down all the five gears to engage the reverse gear. We were sampling the CNG Qute and it was not underpowered in anyway. The torque spread was even throughout the rev-band and the throttle response was instantaneous. Ride quality was surprisingly good and it handled all the bad roads extremely well. The steering feels slightly vague but not scary. It’s very easy to drive the Qute in and around tight spaces.

Verdict

The Bajaj Qute is good in almost every sense and a practical everyday solution within the confines of any city. The Qute always got a lot of eyeballs followed by a lot of inquisitive questions, which says a lot about how attractive it is. With a starting price of Rs 2.63 lakhs, makes the Qute safer and better than the auto-rickshaw.

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