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 :-)