[gemithomas]

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Mods please update title appropriately

Guys. Thanks a lot for all the responses.

The test drive took place today.

Spark: Though the price was very attractive and the new beige interiors looked real good, my friend was not very happy driving it. So this car is out of the list. Unfortunately. The music system on the muzic variant looked awesome. WE could not hear it since the battery was removed from the car for charging. Anyone has any review on the perfoormance of this system? Also could we fit this system on the U-Va?

i10: My friend was not very impressed with the car though the engine was a gem. He did not like the interiors (the first person i have seen who said this). He was also unhappy with the ride comfort.

i20: Really good modern car. You feel good sitting inside the car and the dash looks much more moder than all other cars we checked. For some reason the EPS was not functioning and the steering was hard and so could not get a feel of the power steering. The ride quality was very good. The equipment list on the magna is also quite good. a/c was quite dissapointing. Was not cooling effectively.

U-Va: THis looked like the best Value for money car. Just loved the way the car eats up eneven roads. THe rear seat was the most comfortable. The interior space is just awesome. Though the interiors look dated when compared to the i20's. What we did not like was the punny tyres and the gear shift quality.

Final Updates: SO the fight now is between the i20 Magna and the U-Va LS. There is a price difference of around 50K and we get
- a steering that can be telescopically adjusted too,
- a in built music system, better interiors,
- bigger tyres,
- immobiliser,
- Rear Defogger and Wiper,
- Digital meters
...The list of goodies are pretty impressive.

What we did not like on the i20 are the a/c as not cooling effectively. The U-va had an excellent a/c. The Rear seats were more comfortable on the U-Va. The space inside was more in the U-Va. This was more evident at the rear.

The i20 felt underpowered and the car gained good speeds only above 3K rpm. The U-Va we drove was very spiritted and on enquiring we were told that they have put in K&N filters. Not sure if just an air filter could enhance the perfomance so much. The guy made some calls and confirmed that it was only the filter.
Can someone conform if there would be such a difference with just the filter.?

To drive we liked the U-Va with K&N. Overall we liked the i20. Not sure if we should spend that extra money. No discounts on the i20. The U-Va also gives 3 yr/45K km free maintainance. Could we get any other additional discounts on this?


PS: We tried to include the Punto 1.4 Dynamic Pack in the list and would have really finalised on this. My friend really loved sitting inside the car. Unfortunately they did not have a 1.4 test drive car. They gave us a 1.2. We decided to move on.

[Sawyer]

I think that performance air filters work on people's minds a lot more than on performance.
I also think that the U VA is an excellent car, with a very mature ride/space for its class. But the interiors do look cheap, and the i20 feels a lot better inside. I bought an i20 for just that reason. As I said, the U VA is also very good, but given its feel, I would then go all the way, buy the cheapest version possible, and get the satisfaction of also having saved a ton of money. If one is going to put up with cheap/plasticky interiors, one may as well get that satisfaction. And the low end model will still have all the engineering virtues of the car, making it a great buy. Although it is cheap looking inside, it seems well screwed together, and good to last.

[Technocrat]

Final Updates: SO the fight now is between the i20 Magna and the U-Va LS. There is a price difference of around 50K and we get
- a steering that can be telescopically adjusted too,
- a in built music system, better interiors,
- bigger tyres,
- immobiliser,
- Rear Defogger and Wiper,
- Digital meters
...The list of goodies are pretty impressive.

I20 Magna doesnt have rear wiper.

Last year when I test drove, Palio 1.1, Swift Petrol & Uva 1.2 The Uva surprisingly felt more powerful amongst all the three. I didnt like the interiors though

[jkdas]

There is something wrong with the guy

UVA peppy? and UVA is kilavan now compared to the i20 and resale!

[Technocrat]

JK try out the Car man the engine will surprise you It did to me but then may be because I had no expectations from it

[extreme_torque]

For 50k premium over and above the UVA i would still prefer the i20 since its more modern car and looks infinitely better too. Its 5 star safe and comes with more goodies inside out.... seals the deal for me.

[inferno]

I would seriously advice you to go for i20. As per most of the stats which I've read, i20 is much faster and better out of the two and I have driven UVA, it was not at all aspiring to drive that car.

And another point is that, for 50k premium what one gets


1. More goodies
2. Better resale
3. More upmarket perception of i20 than UVA ( at least i perceive that)

Altogether also its a more modern car.

I guess main point you are considering UVA for its VFM and better drivability by your test drive experience. If you see consider resale value too, I guess i20 would cover up equally being VFM.
So main factor left which makes you go for UVA is the engine. I leave the final decision on you as you were the one to experience it. But my vote goes to i20 straight away.

[mjothi]

UVA is a very good VFM. With the 50K please also add the 3yrs maintenance service cost. And it should be atleast 65K.

Never driven a i20, but it certainly looks stylish than UVA.

[Sawyer]

The UVA makes sense if the amount saved is a lakh - which I think it would be if one were to compare the lowest version with the i20 magna. With that saving, it will make sense if one can live with the low rent interiors. For that amount saved, it is like getting free fuel in addition to the free maintenance from GMI! And functionally, I think it is just as good a car as the i 20.

[14000rpm]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

The UVA makes sense if the amount saved is a lakh - .

GM better wake up and get the newer version of the UVA. this one sucks big time and is only going to drain GM further. i20 a better pick of the 2.

[gemithomas]

Thanks for the fast replies.

Originally Posted by Technocrat

I20 Magna doesnt have rear wiper.

Last year when I test drove, Palio 1.1, Swift Petrol & Uva 1.2 The Uva surprisingly felt more powerful amongst all the three. I didnt like the interiors though

Sorry for that. The MAgna does not get rear wipers. True.

Very true about the power. I too felt the same with the Stock Engine. But todays test drive cars performance was much more better. The throttle response was so good. I really cant believe that an air filter could make this much difference. But the sales guy was very sure that they have not changed anything else. He even called up a few guys before confrming. He sounded genuine too.

Originally Posted by jkdas

There is something wrong with the guy

UVA peppy? and UVA is kilavan now compared to the i20 and resale!

JK. the resale part is very true. But the U-Va in stock though not as smooth as the kappa engine is quite powerfull. The one we drove felt atleast 30% more powerfull than the i20 we drove. The i20 took off only after around 3K. Not sure if it was some problem. But was not at all inspired by the performance. The engine is really smooth and feels good to rev. But in normal driving we wont keep the power band between 3K and 4K and below that range the car was feeling highly underpowered. (Seriously i felt it more underpowered than the GP 1.4)

Originally Posted by inferno

I guess main point you are considering UVA for its VFM and better drivability by your test drive experience. If you see consider resale value too, I guess i20 would cover up equally being VFM.

But somehow we both did not feel that car with that engine is worth the extra 50K not considering the amount we would save in service costs ana better mileage. The VFM factor sways towards the u-va when we consider the 3yr service package. That is the one factor that is causing alll this confusion.

Originally Posted by Sawyer

The UVA makes sense if the amount saved is a lakh - which I think it would be if one were to compare the lowest version with the i20 magna. With that saving, it will make sense if one can live with the low rent interiors. For that amount saved, it is like getting free fuel in addition to the free maintenance from GMI! And functionally, I think it is just as good a car as the i 20.

Very True.


Guys can you also help me with one thing very important and urgent.
We will be seeing the U-va one more time tomorrow. Where should i look to know if they have put petes or done a ecu remap. I seriously cant believe that only an air filter can give you that much more throttle response. Today we opened the hood and checked but did not really see any add-ons. Where should i look to see if anything extra is hiding somewhere? And do you think the air filter change could give you very good throttle response compared to stock.

[Sawyer]

Isnt there another dealer in town, whose test car you can check out? Or that of another user in your city? I doubt if the test car will have been hotrodded by the way, it may have gotten that way in use, as the engine freed up. Comparing it to another with similar kms run should be the way to find the answer.
Air filters only make the engine sound sexier by changing the noise of the air intake, in my opinion. Unless it is a truly full flow air filter - which is to say, one that is missing! That may give a power boost in the short term!
Also, different gearing may be allowing it to lay its power down better than the i 20, but that will mean a trade off somewhere else that you are not noticing.
The lowest end version, the plain 1.2 would be the one to buy, allowing for a saving of at least a lakh over the i 20 magna. A great buy if your ego is not attached in some way to the car you drive! And GMI is doing a very good job in service these days, but these things can also be dealer dependent, so you need to ask some local users of their service experience with the local dealer, to be sure that he is too.

[musicmanaman]

i20 is miles ahead of the U-VA according to me, I have not briven the i20 but have driven the U-VA and din't like it one bit, din't even like the AC in the U-VA, the plastics also look very cheap, and the over all fit and finish is not as good as the i20. I would suggest the i20.

[gemithomas]

Originally Posted by Sawyer

Isnt there another dealer in town, whose test car you can check out? Or that of another user in your city? I doubt if the test car will have been hotrodded by the way, it may have gotten that way in use, as the engine freed up. Comparing it to another with similar kms run should be the way to find the answer.

Another of my friend owns the U-Va. He was there with us and he too was bowled over by the performance of the test drive car.

[sohail99]

I drive my M800, sometimes my dad's Accent and my mom's U-VA LT!

Seriously, M800 is the most responsive of em all!
U-VA is known for sudden loss of power from the engine sometimes! I noticed that a lot.

+ the A pillar on the right side doesn't let you see where you are going in case you are turning right at an intersection.

AC works awesome only when you are constantly driving below 2K rpm! as soon as you rev above 2k, you will notice the ac will turn off as it starts to give a stale smell.

I didn't like the gearbox at all. It was more like putting gears in slots, M800s is more fluid and direct and better suited for quick pickup and acceleration.

(Did you know, the car manual for U-Va mentions that "Do not take the rpm above 2K" WTH!)

Comfort and suspension-wise it is no doubt awesome.
I don't know if its a generalized prob with all U-VAs or a specific one in my mom's car, but the doors kinda creak when you are going over a bumpy area!