[Tapish]

Off topic, but I guess you should stick to automatics considering the bangalore traffic. May restrict your options but your knees will thank you.

[SmartCat]

I agree with Tapish, you should pick an automatic. Suzuki DZire diesel AT perhaps?

[csnanjappa]

If you are planning to pick up Dzire AT I would suggest Ameo TDi DSG

[krishnadevanur]

Originally Posted by csnanjappa

If you are planning to pick up Dzire AT I would suggest Ameo TDi DSG

It's tempting, but hearing the pathetic service of VW group, I feel jitterish about going to VW.

[Ry_der]

IMHO yes!! It does make sense.
I'll summarize my points as per below :-
1.Brezza is clearly atleast one segment higher than the Baleno.
2. Additional 13BHP , 10nm torque and 200 KG weight over Baleno. Baleno is said to be bothered by the crosswinds on highways due to its low weight.
3. GC~200mm while Baleno has 170 mm.
4. On road presence.
5. Torque available straight from 1750RPM.

The above points are as per my opinion which is again based on the following factors:-

1. I have been driving four wheelers since last 14-15 years.
2. I am in my late twenties so I seek more road trips.
3. I am confidant enough to drive the Brezza in city traffic and retain it without any scratches.
4. I am tall(6'2") so the ingress/outgress is also a deciding factor.
5. I am currently driving a sedan so going for a hatch will be a downgrade.

You will have to get your priorities as well as driving habits aligned to make an optimum choice.

Cheers.

[AnkitAnimesh]

Considering your budget and requirement, you may also look for pre owned breeza.

[agambhandari]

If you can look past these 2 cars and want an AT option, I would suggest looking at the

1.Ignis - Yes it is a smaller car than Baleno but as you said it will be only 2 people mostly and it offers a higher driving position than most hatches and sedans. You could buy a Delta/Zeta variant with the Diesel AMT in your budget.

2. The Dzire- suggesting only if you want more space

But these options only if you want an AT, and if you are planning to drive over 2k kms a month in a city like bangalore, I would definitely recommend an AT.

[krishnadevanur]

Originally Posted by Ry_der

IMHO yes!! It does make sense.
I'll summarize my points as per below :-
1.Brezza is clearly atleast one segment higher than the Baleno.
2. Additional 13BHP , 10nm torque and 200 KG weight over Baleno. Baleno is said to be bothered by the crosswinds on highways due to its low weight.
3. GC~200mm while Baleno has 170 mm.
4. On road presence.
5. Torque available straight from 1750RPM.

The above points are as per my opinion which is again based on the following factors:-

1. I have been driving four wheelers since last 14-15 years.
2. I am in my late twenties so I seek more road trips.
3. I am confidant enough to drive the Brezza in city traffic and retain it without any scratches.
4. I am tall(6'2") so the ingress/outgress is also a deciding factor.
5. I am currently driving a sedan so going for a hatch will be a downgrade.

You will have to get your priorities as well as driving habits aligned to make an optimum choice.

Cheers.

Thanks for the detailed info. Point 3 in your experience is interesting. Is it difficult to drive Brezza in traffic? Specs wise, it's almost similar to Baleno except for the height and GC.

Originally Posted by AnkitAnimesh

Considering your budget and requirement, you may also look for pre owned breeza.

Already discussed and family is not comfortable with used Car. They say, you buy once in a decade or so, nothing beats the new car smell and feeling

Originally Posted by agambhandari

If you can look past these 2 cars and want an AT option, I would suggest looking at the

1.Ignis - Yes it is a smaller car than Baleno but as you said it will be only 2 people mostly and it offers a higher driving position than most hatches and sedans. You could buy a Delta/Zeta variant with the Diesel AMT in your budget.

2. The Dzire- suggesting only if you want more space

But these options only if you want an AT, and if you are planning to drive over 2k kms a month in a city like bangalore, I would definitely recommend an AT.

I considered this before, but the design is not for everyone's liking.

[Ry_der]

I think krishnadevanur made it clear that he has only 2 cars to consider and him being a Team bhpian, it would be safe to assume that he had already done enough research before arriving on the last 2 cars. We should not confuse him further by suggesting other Make/Models.

This is again, just an opinion, without any intention to question/hurt fellow members' suggestion/feelings.

Love cars, Live cars.
Peace.

[Ry_der]

Originally Posted by krishnadevanur

Thanks for the detailed info. Point 3 in your experience is interesting. Is it difficult to drive Brezza in traffic? Specs wise, it's almost similar to Baleno except for the height and GC.

Actually its a bit wider(45mm) than the Baleno.However, It makes a difference in B2B traffic and apartments with stilt parking. And the turning radius is also 5.2 mtr (.3 mtr more than Baleno)

[krishnadevanur]

Originally Posted by Ry_der

Actually its a bit wider(45mm) than the Baleno.However, It makes a difference in B2B traffic and apartments with stilt parking. And the turning radius is also 5.2 mtr (.3 mtr more than Baleno)

Thanks. Here I thought I will be able to judge the turnings better because of good visibility compared to Baleno.

[jsanket]

Originally Posted by GTO

Excellent question, and very relevant in today's time.

In terms of practicality & functionality, a FWD compact SUV (Vitara Brezza, EcoSport etc.) offers nothing over a hatchback. Their ground clearance is more, yes, but most hatchbacks in the market do have adequate ground clearance for 99% of the terrain they're going to see in their lifetime.

The main reason for the popularity of compact SUVs is style & the higher seating position. You got to gauge just how much these matter to you.

You basically mean that ground clearance alone does not hold any advantage. But consider this: someone is doing a Ladakh or spiti at a time when the conditions are less challenging. Now he would love an AWD but say he has to choose between a hatchback with 170mm ground clearance(decent) and a psuedo SUV with 200mm odd ground clearance. Won't the latter hold the edge, with less worries to underbelly scraping and a possibility of better water wading because of the added ground clearance?

Would love to be corrected as am myself considering buying the Ecosport/Nexon instead of a regular hatchback and one of the prime reasons is what I listed above!

[autorahul]

Originally Posted by jsanket

You basically mean that ground clearance alone does not hold any advantage. But consider this: someone is doing a Ladakh or spiti at a time when the conditions are less challenging. Now he would love an AWD but say he has to choose between a hatchback with 170mm ground clearance(decent) and a psuedo SUV with 200mm odd ground clearance. Won't the latter hold the edge, with less worries to underbelly scraping and a possibility of better water wading because of the added ground clearance?

Would love to be corrected as am myself considering buying the Ecosport/Nexon instead of a regular hatchback and one of the prime reasons is what I listed above!

The extremes should not make a day to day decision.

Firstly, if you look at travelogues, you would see quite a few who have done the terrains you are mentioning in hatchbacks and sedans. We often tend to take ground clearance as the sole deciding factor. There are other factor like suspension and wheelbase which have significant effect too. The Innova is the most popular car in Leh-Ladakh region, has ground clearance of 190 mm and a super long wheelbase and does quite fine.

Then comes to day to day conditions. The hatchbacks of this day and age are able to tackle most conditions that a town throws at you. Again, talking about most, not all. If you fall in a category, that will face those exceptional circumstances more than a few times, you may consider a full blown SUV, something like a Scorpio or a Safari instead of softroaders.

PS: If ground clearance is the only thing you are looking for, have a look at i20 Active S. Recently rediscovered it, it costs just 20k more than comparable Baleno Alpha and has quite a good feature list accompanying the 190 mm ground clearance.

[jsanket]

Originally Posted by autorahul

The extremes should not make a day to day decision.

Firstly, if you look at travelogues, you would see quite a few who have done the terrains you are mentioning in hatchbacks and sedans. We often tend to take ground clearance as the sole deciding factor. There are other factor like suspension and wheelbase which have significant effect too. The Innova is the most popular car in Leh-Ladakh region, has ground clearance of 190 mm and a super long wheelbase and does quite fine.

Then comes to day to day conditions. The hatchbacks of this day and age are able to tackle most conditions that a town throws at you. Again, talking about most, not all. If you fall in a category, that will face those exceptional circumstances more than a few times, you may consider a full blown SUV, something like a Scorpio or a Safari instead of softroaders.

PS: If ground clearance is the only thing you are looking for, have a look at i20 Active S. Recently rediscovered it, it costs just 20k more than comparable Baleno Alpha and has quite a good feature list accompanying the 190 mm ground clearance.

Ofcourse it depends on a lot of other factors. But I just wanted to know if these softroaders, the Ecosport and all, hold any advantage or not. They are often criticized on this, and I on the contrary do think that they are atleast better than regular hatchbacks. They can atleast cover ground without anything to their underbelly.

[autorahul]

Originally Posted by jsanket

Ofcourse it depends on a lot of other factors. But I just wanted to know if these softroaders, the Ecosport and all, hold any advantage or not. They are often criticized on this, and I on the contrary do think that they are atleast better than regular hatchbacks. They can atleast cover ground without anything to their underbelly.

There is no advantage, other than higher seating position as mentioned by GTO previously.