What hatchback for 6 lakh budget?

Right. You need a car now and have a nice budget of 6 lakhs. Means, you don't want Alto, WagonR, Santro, i10 1.1, A-Star, etc. So, what options you have? Swift zxi, Swift vdi, i10 asta, i20 magna, Indica vista, Skoda Fabia and Fiat Punto. Expect VW Polo, Ford Figo, Toyota Etios and Honda hatchback to join this list later this year.

Now, the next question. You want a petrol or diesel? I'm a petrolhead and prefer petrol over diesel! :-) But if you clock over 1500 kms per month, diesel suits you best. If you drive less, then petrol is the right choice. Remember diesel cars are expensive to buy than petrols by atleast a lakh and you can fill 2000 litres of petrol for that money ;-) But diesels works out cheaper in long run but it also requires frequent oil, filter changes.

For Diesel, as a typical Indian, we can't set our eyes off Swift VDi. Mated to Fiat's world class multijet 1.3 diesel, superbly tuned to set for Indian roads, the creamy smooth diesel still has over 3 months of waiting period! Most people wait patiently and grab their diesel Swift. For those cannot wait (3+ months wait is utterly unbelievable considering the age of Swift. Is this artificial?!) and like to go for others, have very few options as of now. They should pick from Indica, Fabia and Punto. Except Fabia all others including Swift uses the same engine. Indica has improved a lot since its launch a decade back. But still some things need improvement. For instance the clutch, NVH, brakes, build quality etc. Fiat Punto has a stunning build quality and is one of the best looking cars here. Though using the same engine as Swift, the pickup is disappointing due to the kerb weight. Except that, it is almost flawless. But considering the reputation of Fiat in India, people will have a second thought about it. Then the Fabia. This has impeccable build quality and a stunning interior. The issue being the engine harshness and the responsiveness. That means, Swift VDi is the unanimous winner! This doesn't mean it is flawless. Flimsy build quality, rattling issues, bumpy ride adds up the woes for Swift. Maybe the Toyota Etios diesel bang headon with Swift later this year for the crown.

What about Petrol? Alto rules under 3.5 lakhs. i10 leads the 4-5 lakhs segment. Which car leads the 6L segment? Swift Zxi, i10 Asta, i20 Magna, Indica Vista aqua+, Skoda Fabia ambiente, Fiat Punto are the options here.

Swift Zxi is the value for money model which offers alloys, climate control, ABS, airbags, etc. It now comes with fuel efficient and smooth 1.2l K series engine. The dated interiors and the average build quality would make a car owner to rethink before dumping his money. Next is the i10 asta which even gives sun-roof along with other goodies like ABS, airbags and alloys. Though i10 has nice interiors and so much goodies to play with, it still appears to be a small car for the money we give. Tiny car for a nice lump of 6 lakhs? Nah nah. Indica Vista loses the plot with its unrefined petrol engine. Though it now comes with nice leather finished dash, alloys, ABS and airbags, Tata still has to go a long way in petrol engine refinements. May be a 2012 MY Vista should do. Fabia is fabulous with its plush ride quality and a 10 lakh car like interior. The letdowns are the engine noise and pickup. Fiat Punto's petrol engine lacks the refinement and pickup of its diesel counterpart. Even the 1.4l engine doesn't feel quite faster. A turbo petrol should do things for Fiat. This leaves us to the i20 magna. Fresh looks, superb & spacy interiors, huge boot, handful of options in its basic magna version all makes the i20 as the winner of this petrol contest.

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!!