Team-BHP - 2020 Volkswagen Polo vs Maruti Swift vs Hyundai Elite i20 vs the others

I'm looking for a car in this segment or upto 10 lacs and it is such a big mess in my head. No car fits all the criterion. Since I don't want a Maruti owing to the build quality and since I haven't been so fond of Hyundais, the three cars that I can shortlist would be:

1. Ford Freestyle Diesel
2. Tata Altroz Diesel
3. VW Polo Petrol

Safety wise - Altroz> Polo> Freestyle
Space wise - Altroz> Freestyle> Polo
Quality wise - Polo> Altroz> Freestyle
Age wise - Altroz> Freestyle> Polo (youngest to oldest)

Factors like Long Term Ownership are confusing among all the three cars for different reasons. They all cost +/- 1 lac from each others price. I've literally been scratching my head over many days. Since I have not yet tried the Altroz Diesel, I don't know what to expect. The car felt solid when I test drove the petrol version but the engine was meh. I just loved Ford 1.5 Diesel & the way Freestyle handled but wasn't happy with the plastics and the feature deletion (Sync 3). I haven't driven the Polo but am excited about it too.

None of the cars I own currently are Fun to Drive or extremely comfortable to do long highway runs. So I really want to upgrade to a solid car and I think there may be many who feel confused about this entire price range. There's no outright superior vehicle here.

Hence I'm yet to vote and will wait for a Polo test drive before I cast my vote here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by freakmuzik (Post 4853054)

I am in the same position as you are- minus the Altroz. I believe the Altroz is the best of both worlds and would have been the perfect fit. Alas, Tata has grossly overpriced this car and it is out of range.
Regarding the Freestyle/Figo, I have always wanted to own it and would even go for it today. The only mistake I did was taking the Polo TD. :D
It is like tasting blood! Once you get the feel, it is too hard to forget. Hence, I am in a complete fix between the two and have absolutely no idea what to do. Let us know what you decide.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SansGT (Post 4853121)

Haha :uncontrol I'm just heading towards the same mistake! And I agree, the Altroz Diesel is very expensive at around 10.5 L but I can't find another car that equals the Altroz in Space, Ride comfort and having a good diesel heart. 50k lesser would have sealed it. The Rapid Rider and Rider plus is another headache now as it also offers 6 years warranty and 4 years maintenance package. As I mentioned somewhere else in this forum, it's hard to believe how these decade old cars are still giving us sleepless nights! I'll sure update once I test drive the Polo.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aditya (Post 4851096)

What you’ll like:

• Fast & fun to drive. Begs to be driven hard!
• Brilliant 109 BHP 1.0L TSI engine is an enthusiast's delight. Mated to a slick 6-speed MT
• Mature suspension gives the Polo good road manners
• Still looks great. Old, but timeless, clean & classy
• Solidly built with an European feel that no other hatchback matches till today
• Among the safest hatchbacks in India - GNCAP rating of 4 stars
• Features such as cruise control, reach + rake steering, auto-wipers, driver armrest, tinted windows

What you won’t:

• Yet another Polo variant & engine. Enough already (related thread)!!
• 1.0 TSI’s refinement is poor at high rpm (it’s acceptable at regular revs)
• An 11-year old model. The next-generation Polo is already on sale abroad
• Limited rear bench legroom and a large floor hump. Your family won’t be pleased
• VW's sub-par dealership & service experiences
• Many missing features: keyless-entry-go, reversing camera, oldschool MID, boot light, split rear seat, projector / LED headlamps, basic 4-speaker ICE
• Premium pricing! Amongst the most expensive cars in the segment, despite being the oldest

I'll definitely vote for the Polo 1.0L TSI!

I own the 6th gen VW Polo with the same 1.0L TSI engine in a slightly different/higher state of tune, producing 115 GBP. It is a wonderful engine, very refined and begs to be driven hard!

However, like many others on this forum, I really think VW should bring the new Polo into India (albeit with some length shaved off to meet the sub 4m rule). The Polo currently in India is a decade old and badly needs a refresh. The 6th gen polo is not only longer but also wider, translating to better inside space and comfort.

Well, I keep my cars for atleast 10 years, and do about 1.5 to 2 Lakh KM, and I dont trust turbo petrols to last that long, so that eliminated the polo.

My car has only 1 person in it for 90% of the time, and 2 people in it for another 9%, space was, is and will never be a criteria to me, so out goes the i20 and the baleno.

The grand i10 nios has always felt to me to be a neither here nor there car.

The next to go out is the Altroz, I am among those rare people who wouldnt buy the Altroz even if it came with the adequately powered 1.2 Turbo, because I have a turbo petrol paranoia, but given how underpowered the NA is, it was an easy elimination.

Then that leaves us with the figo, the swift and the ignis.

First I have a question, if the Ignis makes it to the list with maruti calling it an urban SUV, and the much more expensive i20 makes it to the list, why doesnt the freestyle? Surely hope people here dont think its an SUV that can compete against the Nexon and Brezza etc. People mock at the ignis being called the urban SUV just because it has 180mm of GC, yet when ford sells the same lifted figo as the freestyle, even listing it under the SUV column on the india.ford website, nobody has a problem. Strange. Freestyle is no more or no less capable than a ignis.

Which then leaves the two Marutis.
Hands down the best naturally aspirated petrol in the segment. And its a slightly hard decision to make. Do I go with the sporty swift, or the practical Ignis. Am I okay with getting the underbody scrapes with my current 165mm GC car to buy another car with the same GC? Or do I get a vehicle with 180mm on GC, and forget worrying about badly designed speed breakers, and huge potholes. Am I okay with a car with a much higher body roll, or do I like to take corners smiling?

Its a hard choice, but I choose practicality.

So my ranking is:
1: Ignis (good GC, reliable, refined, proven)
2: Swift (sporty, reliable, refined proven)
3: Freestyle (Good GC, rare, available in black)
4: Figo (rare, available in black, sporty handling)

# Wildcard entry. Red Polo 1.0 MPI. Dreadfully slow, but reliable. Add matte black alloys, do de-badging and chrome delete, and boy does it look hot. More rice than performance, but I guess I'll make an exception. Oh, and the build quality. But the decision to buy a car this impractical, in a colour this weird, has to be supported by someone else in the family as well. My ex loved a red polo, so I guess I'll add this question to the list of questions to ask before I pop out the ring.

I own a Vento MT, Ameo DSG and a Figo S TDCI. During my purchase of Figo S, I contemplated between another VW (Polo GT TDI), Figo S and Freestyle (Both Diesels). Once you own a VW, it is very difficult to live with the quality of other car brands. Figo/ Freestyle is way too inferior to Polo when it comes to quality of material, built and safety. Having 6 airbags is good but overall the built is not comparable to VW.

Figo S was chosen due to three reasons - Driving pleasure, Team BHP review (a separate thread on Figo S, which I have read multiple times) and Powerdrift reviews on Figo S (watched multiple times). In my 14 months of ownership and currently on 14.5K KMS, I still sometimes feel to have chosen Freestyle or Fiat Urban Cross (Diesels) over the Figo S. Figo S shines like no other on curves and good roads. For normal roads (metro) the suspension is stiff.

We generally keep Cars for long and to me it should be a good balance of Safety, Fun to drive, features, service accessibility and consider ownership costs.

If ranked likewise, Freestyle shall score higher cumulative points and does make the best Hatchback (It is a hatch!) among all competitors.

My vote however goes to Polo TSI MT for the sheer pleasure of owning a German Car.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FAIAAA (Post 4852341)

Totally agree with the above !!!
- We vote based on 'how we feel', we purchase based on our thinking/careful analysis/ past experiences - own /others. (exceptions occur when the 'heart' rules over the 'head') - would be good to see whether the voting here even reflects actual ownership numbers even within our TBHP community (even keeping the latest models out)
- Even the 'feeling', is it based on actual TDs/ownership or based on reading views /watching reviews only?
- driving pleasure vs ownership - it's one thing to take an occasional TD/drive someone else's car, would we go ahead and plonk our money on it ? All other factors (reliability, ASS, features, space etc.) mentioned in earlier posts definitely come into play then.
- primary car vs secondary car, and so on

As an example, consider the Figo. Nearly all the votes are for the Diesel, yet for both Figo and Freestyle, the petrol version sold more than their diesel counterparts in 2019 (Figo - 69%/31% , Freestyle 57%/43%in favor of petrol. Source : auto panditz).

Friend of mine is planning to buy a hatch. So accompanied her last weekend to TD the Ignis, Swift, Glanza, Altroz, Polo. Had done extensive TDs earlier of Figo and Freestyle before the lockdown and had driven an i20 (from Zoomcar) for 600kms earlier as well.

Key buyer values - Reliability & ASS (plans to keep for 10-15 years !!) > Drive > Suspension/ride quality > Comfort & refinement > Space & practicality > Features

In order of elimination (all petrol-manual versions):
- Swift : Pros - sporty steering and suspension, good front seats . Cons - interior plastic quality especially when compared to the Baleno/Glanza
- i20 : Pros - fit and finish, features Cons - not exciting to drive esp. the steering, poor suspension (could have been an issue with this specific car, however i've owned Hyundais in the past and have faced similar issues)
- Altroz: Pros - Build quality & safety, space Cons : weak petrol engine, Niggles esp. with Electronics & electricals (TD car had quite a few - why can't Brands ensure their TD cars in top shape?)
- Figo/ Freestyle: Pros - steering , ride & handling, cheap ASS Cons - bland interiors , Ford/M&M JV future, quality (recent Freestyle ownership video on Youtube and the company's response dented our confidence)

Top 3
- Ignis (Surprise inclusion) Pros - peppy engine, funky interiors, decent build (doors and boot closed with a lovely 'thud' ), suspension Cons - quirky rear ( i am ok with it , my friend wasn't ), light car - didn't evoke confidence to drive at speed
- Polo : Pros - Gem of an engine with minimal turbo lag, strong build (even better 'thud' when doors close), excellent combo of ride & handling. Cons - long clutch travel, rear legroom is limited (not a deal breaker in my books though), perceived ASS, reliability of a turbo petrol (??)
- Glanza (surprise winner) Pros - decent all rounder, sweet engine+gearbox+ light clutch combo (guess this is why Maruti wins the MS game) Cons - light build (though doors close in an assuring way)

My friend , who had booked a Petrol Titanium Freestyle changed her mind and has booked the Glanza G MT.

As for me, if I had to purchase today (petrol-manual), I would rank
- Polo - if you want a fun to drive car /second car
- Baleno / Glanza - for a single/primary car

Special mention : Drove Marutis after such a long time and am quite impressed with how far they have come.