Ford Figo - A sure shot?!

Ford was one of the first foreign car makers to explore indian market. It did well with Ford escort and then ikon. Now doing marginally better with Fiesta. But still lacks a proper super hit car like a swift or an i10. After a failed hatchback attempt with its fusion, Ford is set to rock the indian hatch segment with its 'Figo'.

This car looks cute and spacious. It will be available in petrol 1.2 and diesel 1.4 as well. Price is the key here. Ford says the range starts from 3.6 lakhs. That's a lollipop!   

Which 150cc to buy?

We are spoilt with choices now. Over 7 models of 150cc bikes available in market now. Which one to pick?

Hero Honda started off the 150cc segment with its flawless CBZ. It ruled the market until Bajaj spoiled the party with pulsars. It was then Pulsar which set some standards in the segment like standard electric start, alloys, discs etc. Pulsar dethroned CBZ with its stunning price and good fuel efficiency. Pulsar set the sales chart climbing then on. Then came the Honda's unicorn and the TVS apache. Unicorn was superb in quality but lacked styling. Apache had looks but not the performance upto Pulsar. It had woes with slippery tyres and poor battery. Still the pulsar ruled the market. Then comes the Apache RTR with a 10cc increase and grunt performance. Looks are good and performance hairy. But then, poor fuel efficiency. It still had more takers.

Yet, Pulsar remained king of 150cc segment. Suzuki too tried the segment with its 150cc gs150r. Had very few takers. Then comes a thunder in 150cc category. Yamaha launched YF-15 and FZ-16. The 150cc segment standard was set to impossible heights. Bajaj and TVS are shell-shocked. YF-15 had all the technologies and staggering performance. FZ-16 had the looks, performance and price set superbly (unlike Honda ;-) ). Youngsters throng Yamaha showrooms. Yamaha sales figures jumped double, triple, quadruple. Yamaha fanatics were delighted to see their favourite company coming back to full form after the legendary rx-100 period.

Looking for a new 150cc bike? Look no further than a FZ-16!

i10, i20 Safety flaw

Oops... What a mess by Hyundai! Its i10 & i20 cars have the front impact beam made of fibre! Quite shocking.. My i10 had a minor accident recently and the impact beam was broken. It costs a whooping 6k to replace. I am surprised why Hyundai made the impact beam with fibre. Even my earlier Santro had a proper steel impact beam! For i10, Hyundai has chosen cost cutting over the passenger safety. Pity!

Got an i10!

Atlast, I decided to change my old Santro to a new car. My requirements are simple. A petrol hatchback with decent power, style, fit and finish. My budget was around 4 lakhs. I considered Alto, WagonR, A-Star, Santro (again!), i10, Swift and Fabia. Fabia is sure out of my budget. Alto lacks power, fit and finish. WagonR's styling looks boring and the model is getting older. Santro's interior starts boring to me :-). Now I have 3 contenders. Nice looking i10, refreshing A-Star and superb Swift.

Petrol Swift is around for several years but still looks refreshing. Excellent performance, decent mileage and superb looks. It was the leader in the segment until diesel Swift spoiled the party. Butter smooth, torquey, fuel efficient diesel engine from Fiat changed the entire picture. Sales chart jumped and months long waiting list grew madly. Swift Petrol is left unnoticed. Diesel Swift piped petrol in 0-60, quarter mile drag and mileage in a huge margin (20+ in city!). Though the VDi costed a bomb onroad price of around 6 lakhs, people continued to throng on diesel. Me too liked diesel Swift but 6 lakhs is too much for that car!

Next is the newly launched A-Star. Same like Swift, the interiors are better than any other typical Maruti cars, it looks refreshing. The 3 cylinder single litre engine is superb in fuel efficiency and performance. But being a new car and the cramped rear passenger space made me to rethink.

And then I zeroed my choice to i10. The reliable 1.1 litre engine from Santro, entirely new body, superb interiors, excellent driving visibility, good rear leg room and cute looks impressed me a lot. Price too affordable, though I feel some 20k overpriced. I got my car last week and have run around 200kms till now. Long drives planned next month :-)

Demands for Swift Dzire diesel...

Everyone knows about the growing demand for Swift dzire diesel and months long (6 months?) waiting period. But now it has gone to next level. People are ready to pay as much as one lakh to get the car which is ready to deliver for others. Sounds insane right? I'm sure the delears are making much money with this.. Adding the one lakh, the car price goes to as close to 8 lakhs!!

Yes. The fiat 1.3 turbojet engine is a stunner.. But this price is too much. I'm sure the new Tata indica vista will give a good fight for Swift. I always like Maruti cars and their flawless service. But creating artificial demands and sky high hypes is just not acceptable in any standards. Some dealers claim 25 kmpl in city! No way... With the extra boot weight, AC on, typical city traffic it's hard to get more than 17-18.

In fact I once test drove the Swift VDi and very much impressed with its performance. It never felt like a diesel. But still I will go for the petrol for its superb free revving nature. So, Don't get carried away with the diesel hypes...

Think,decide and choose :-)

Swift VXi or Fabia 1.2 ??

I am just going to compare two cars. Both are petrol hatchbacks. One is the top seller and the other has just made it pricing right. One is Japanese and other is a Czech chic. Any guess? They are the Suzuki Swift VXi and the Skoda Fabia 1.2. Swift Vxi has a/c, power windows, power steering, tacho, digital trip, optional ABS. Whereas Fabia has a/c, power steering, 2 air bags (wow!) and no ABS. Swift has no air bags as standard in Vxi and Fabia surprisingly misses the power windows (oh no!). Vxi on-road in Bangalore is 5.1 and Fabia is 5.5. So, which one is the best? It's a tough call.

Swift's superb 1.3 petrol engine chunks out 88 bhp whereas Fabia's 1.2 delivers a feeble 70 bhp. Full marks to Swift in performance front. Though Swift has good transmission, Fabia is really good, straight from VW family. On the build quality and interiors, Fabia wins hands on. Swift suffers from rattling doors and tinny bumpers. So on is the interior of Swift. Now on to the meaty section: Mileage. Swift delivers 12 in city and Fabia scores little over 10 kpl. Can we now decide which is good? Still not!

If you want badge value, superior build, classy interiors, safety (airbags!)... Go for the Fantastic Fabia!

On the other hand, if one likes superb performance, reliable service, cheap spares, resale value, better mileage... Go for the Super Swift!!

Which Diesel hatchback?

Now that the fuel prices have gone a skywalk, most people opt for a hatchback preferably diesel. So which one is the best in India? Gone are the days when ambassadors and fiat padminis ruled the entire car segment. Now the market is flooded with almost all the world leading car makers and the hatchback segment is the most happening. We have maruti-suzuki, fiat, hyundai, chevrolet, skoda and tata. Honda, VW, Toyota, Nissan, Renault are on their way.

Though the market has aplenty of hatchbacks, I see Suzuki Swift, Skoda Fabia, Hyundai Getz and the Tata Indica are the best available diesel hatchbacks. Though I'm yet to drive a fabia and getz, I am sure they won't disappoint. Of all the four, Indica is the cheapest and the Fabia is the most expensive. Getz too is bit expensive and Swift is excellently priced. Though expensive, Fabia has no compromise for the build quality and interiors. It is the segment leader in both categories. Typical Skoda build quality and the fabulous interiors give the Fabia a D segment car look and feel. But it disappoints with its performance and the steep pricing. The onroad price for the top end diesel is a staggering 8 lakhs! Getz now comes with the Accent 1.5 CRDi engine which makes it the strongest performer here. Still gives a reasonable mileage. But the pricing and the less impressive looks are its downfalls. It has good space, excellent build quality and nice interiors though not as good as Fabia. Then comes the cheapest and the most affordable diesel hatchback, the Indica. Local maker Tata still has to come a long way in build quality, transmission and interiors. The plastic looks and feels cheaper. The gear shifts are rubbery and inaccurate. But the road presence, mileage and space are impressive.

So, finally coming to the class leading Suzuki Swift. Though this model is around for years, still it looks attractive. Now fitted with Fiat's world class diesel engine, the Swift is a runaway success again! Delivery period of over 4 to 6 months proves the demand for this car. People keep thronging to the maruti showrooms! Superb looks, awesome mileage, world class Fiat engine, petrol like performance makes Suzuki Swift unbeatable in this segment. Though the space, bulid quality, interiors are not up to the segment standard, the sales chart seems unaffected..

Me too planning to get one soon..... :-))