Team-BHP - Hyundai i20 or Fiat Grande Punto. EDIT- Poll added

Quote:

Originally Posted by roms (Post 1356666)

Coming to the Hyundais, they have mostly been city cars with soft suspension and light steering. Nothing wrong with that in the city, they provide stress free driving. The Getz and the Verna do have a softish suspension set-up. But with the 1.1-1.3 and 1.6 petrol motors respectively, they are pretty decent (not great) with highway manners and are neutral handlers. But when the same cars are given a heavy 1.5 CRDI diesel that has the ability to make them go very fast around a corner, the set-up requires to be changed accordingly. It has got to be stiffer than what it is to enjoy that kind of torque. Thats when the two cars are found lacking.

Roms
Thanks for going into so much detail.

But, my question is still unanswered.
Why do u say Verna and Getz have flawed chassis and dynamics ?? Or did u conclude that on the basis of soft suspension and steering ?

BTW, Getz CRDi's has a very stiff suspension as compared to its petrol counterpart. Since last couple of months Hyundai has started providing the same suspension on their petrol version as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by extreme_torque (Post 1355941)

If you have read GTO's reviews the diesel Punto goes to 130-140 kmph pretty fast and I dont think there are many places in India where you would want to go faster than that.

I wonder why this statement keeps popping up onlywhen someone says a Fiat is underpowered.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shajufx (Post 1354997)

As of now Fiat has a very bad reputation on after services be it independant or TATA assisted !

My neighbour guy is really worried about his Linea within 2 months, some of the plastic parts are broken, few screws have come out, some glued panels have seperated and servics guys have no clue how to solve this. If I want to buy a Punto, I would really really wait for 3 months and see how the first batch is going to be a on road. As of now the waiting is 45 days.

agree: That is the reason I voted for i20, though my heart said Punto. i20 would also give more space than Punto.

Quote:

Originally Posted by roms (Post 1355224)

If we keep in mind their track record, yes Hyundai will most probably mess up the dynamics on the i20 diesel. But if the current 1.2 i20's suspension & chassis set-up is to be taken into account for future reference, then the dynamics may not be as flawed as say, the Verna D or the Getz D.

If you see above, I did refer to the i20's suspension & chassis set-up for taking a future reference for the upcoming i20, while when I made a reference towards the Verna D & Getz D, the word 'flawed dynamics'was mostly used to emphasize on the soft suspension & light steering set-up of the two cars. And thats precisely what I have spoken about in my explanation as well. Although, the way it was written could lead to a misunderstanding that the two have bad chassis as well, which I did not intend to say. Apologies for the same

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpzen (Post 1357340)

Roms
Thanks for going into so much detail.

But, my question is still unanswered.
Why do u say Verna and Getz have flawed chassis and dynamics ?? Or did u conclude that on the basis of soft suspension and steering ?

BTW, Getz CRDi's has a very stiff suspension as compared to its petrol counterpart. Since last couple of months Hyundai has started providing the same suspension on their petrol version as well.

Since you own and drive one, I will take your word for it. And its good to know that Hyundai has acknowledged the fact that their otherwise good cars require a firmer suspension set-up and has started providing the same for the petrol versions as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by roms (Post 1357517)

Roms
Its ok, No apologies required. We all are here to learn which is a never ending process.
The statement was a little generalized and misleading, hence, raised a question..

Anyways its all clear now. :thumbs up

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpzen (Post 1357340)

I wonder why this statement keeps popping up onlywhen someone says a Fiat is underpowered.

Trust me its nothing to do with the fact that its Fiat or not. Offcourse the engine is underpowered if you compare it to Getz diesel but in its own right i think its quite OK.
Can a diesel which can go upto 130-140 kmph in a 1.2 Tonne car reasonably fast, be called underpowered? Going by your logic any car less powerful than yours should be called underpowered and anything more is well too dangerous may be?
The fact remains that a car isnt only about the engine. Given the option of a i20 with 75 bhp diesel and the Getz 1.5 I would always go in for the i20 but then its just me. Isnt that what forums are all about... 'your' opinion.
Please dont take all this personally... I have got nothing against you and your car. I am just stating whats my opinion.

I would give my vote to the i20 simply because of the foll:
1) the interiors of the Hyundai are way way ahead of the Punto in terms of comfort and quality.

2)Styling is open to discussion (though i personally loved the punto looks).
Engine wise the 1.4 petrol and the 1.3 multijet seem to be superior to the 1.2 Kappa (and lack of diesel motor). But again as a city car the 1.2 Kappa is competitive and not undriveable or grossly underpowered.

3)Hyundai A.S.S has the measure of the Fiat-Tata at this moment.

4) and finally the back seat space in a premium hatch - the punto disappoints - i20 clearly wins there.

* since i havent yet TD the punto - cannot comment on the ride, but from what Ive heard and based on GTO's test drive - Punto seems to be tops here.

enough reasons to vote for the i20.

I prefer i20 for the features it offers on this segment. Must say this is not good highway performer. Changing right shoes would make one.
GP is stand-up in terms of performance & stability. But little skeptical about A.S.S

I20 with CRDI heart should wait & see with the pricing.
If pricing of diesel i20 asta (o) matches with the price (never mind few thousands more for A.S.S) of GP emotion+, then my take would be i20.

Had a T.D of the i20 today and am disappointed.
No doubt that the car looks gorgeous and the interiors are to die for but the engine is a huge letdown.
This T.D has totally changed my mind.

Regarding the Punto ,here is what i think....

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/1359580-post341.html

So imho you should also consider the Swift Vdi as an option.

All Hyundai Diesels have been good motors. The i20 Diesel may be a gem of a car. But it is the pricing which will derermine if it succeeds in the showroom wars. If price were not a criterion, the Getz would probably have been a greater success than the Swift Diesel.

Secondly, the GP has a service interval of 15 K km. Unless FIAT blunders and makes the car with too many niggling issues, most customers will not be visiting the service station more than 3 times in two years (after the initial free services). So, Hyundai's better *ss may not turn out to be a major plus.

In the Punto, the front seat travels quite a bit. Hence the back seat will seem cramped when the seat is pulled back, compared to other manufacturers. This gives the impression of lack of rear room leg. Not saying that it has more space but its not that bad either.

Voting for Punto. i20 has more rear room space than Punto, but Punto is not as cramped in the rear as some posts make it appear.

Driven the i20, and I agree that the engine is underpowered. Not enough grunt at all. They seem to have given it the bare minimum amount of power that's needed to propel the car, which in my opinion is a huge blunder.

The Swift diesels, on the other hand, move like greased lightning in comparison.

Some people on this thread have claimed that the Swift is dated. I strongly disagree. It looks thoroughly modern, and will age slowly and gracefully. The i20, on the other hand, will age rapidly and be another face in the crowd in a very short time.

If I were you, the choice would be between the Swift-D and the GP-D. Both have stonkingly good engines, and if you bought the i20 I think you'd wind up regretting your decision.