
Its official, women are hopeless at driving. I know this will anger all those feminists out there, but unfortunately a survey of 4,200 drivers (men and women!) by insurance company elephant.co.uk has proved it. The survey found that female motorists are much more likely to suffer parking stress than men, particularly when someone else is watching them.
I’m afraid I have to agree with this survey. I am hideous at parking – I hardly ever reverse into a space, and if my boyfriend is in the car with me, I usually get him to park the car if it’s a particularly tight spot. And apparently I’m not alone, the survey found that women are twice as likely to ask someone else to park their car for them, and three-quarters admit that backing into a space is at times too tricky even when there is sufficient room. This compares to just 9% of men who admit they are useless at parallel parking and half who admit that reverse parking can be tricky.
Interestingly, earlier this year, the AA revealed that 34 per cent of drivers would fail on parallel parking if forced to retake their driving test.
Fortunately, many car makers, including Ford, Volkswagen and Mercedes, have wizened on to the fact that us girlies are useless at parking and have invented parking assist gadgets to help us out. Ford’s Parking Assist, for example, uses four ultrasonic sensors located in the rear bumper which are activated when the ignition is switched on and the reverse gear is selected. As the car is reversed the sensors detecte any obstacles behind the car and will alert a warning sound when the car gets too close. So if you own a Ford and you find yourself panicking at the thought of having to park your car, pop down to your local Ford dealer to find out more, and let those panic-stricken moments be a thing of the past and let’s beat those boys at parking!

The SX4 - The men in black
Well the headline maybe disappointing for many who own the SX4 and all men, but I do need to mention that the SX4 has some cool properties as any men would do. If one compares the SX4 with the erstwhile Baleno, which the SX4 replaced, it is silly to do so as the SX4 sedan is brilliance personified in comparison and built on an all-new platform. Sporting an Italian design, the SX4 has been developed as a crossover of designs for developing markets. Maruti has also introduced the all new aluminium M-series engine (M16A) for this car.
The SX4 looks pumped up shoulder to shoulder when compared with its predecessor, slightly longer I guess, much taller and wider. The well designed cabin looks massive and carries on over the boot which has ample boot space. the bonnet is steeply raked and there is plenty of room for passengers to park themselves both in the front and the back seats. The looks (both interiors and exteriors) which could be the best fit for the song – hey muscular, hey popular, spectacular…. A stunner when it comes to looks. The steering is slender and there are lots of nooks for storage in addition to the twin glove-boxes.
But pappu can’t dance sala as that’s not all that you would look for in this segment and a clear benchmark would be the arrow headed Honda City. As an automobile freak and having driven the Honda city from their initially launched model, I have fallen in love with the Japanese elegance called the City. Maruti is well-aware of this fact and ensured that the SX4 is not an ‘also-ran’ vehicle. It comes fully loaded and is available at an attractive price. So, is it good enough to give a run for the City at the helm?