Comparison of Punto 1.2/ i10/ Ritz/ Micra Quote:
Originally Posted by SANSI Hi,
All the best. You will enjoy it for sure.
SANSI. |
Thanks! Quote:
Originally Posted by MutantX WAG7, now that you have TD'ed both i10's, Punto 1.2 active, Ritz and Swift, Micra, could you tell us the difference in feel between the cars. |
Sure. Since I had driven all cars back-2-back in a timespan of 8hrs, I can comment on that. - Punto: At 67bhp, the 1.2L engine feels very underpowered and in the bumper to bumper Pune traffic, I had to down shift from 3rd to 2nd gear every time, the speed dropped below 20kmph.I wish Fiat had put a more decent 1.2 engine with the power output between 80-85 bhp.
- The 1.4 FIRE engined Punto was out of my budget, so I didn't drive it. Plus points include drool inducing looks, tank like build quality and amazing suspension which seems to soak up everything the roads throw at it. Minus points are the engine and after sales service. In fact the Pandit automotive person who accompanied me, himself advised against purchasing the Active variant saying it would run out of steam on the highway after 90-100kmph!! Talk about Fiat promotions and sales !
- Ritz/Swift: From Pandit automotive, I went to Sai service. But they didn't have a petrol Swift/Ritz available for test drive; only a diesel Ritz. So once again headed straight to Chowgule's to test drive both these cars. The 1.2L K-series engine is just fantastic and the gear box is one of the best in class what with those short throws and precise gear shifts. In fact in contrast to the Punto, I never had to down shift to the 2nd gear even if the speed dropped below 20kmph. Just a light tap on the accelerator and both the cars would just zip forward effortlessly.
- Since I had shortlisted the Ritz, I went for an extended test drive (total 7-8kms). The bulletproof engine and gearbox are reason enough to go in for any of these two cars, along with the best after sales service of Maruti. Minus points (if you can call them minus!) include long waiting period for Swift, slightly cramped interiors of the Swift compared to the Ritz, ugly rear end of the Ritz and the rattling interiors of the Ritz; but in my opinion these are negligible.Once again the 2 month long waiting period of the Swift put me off and so the Ritz became no.2 on my list.
- i10 twins: After Chowgule's, I went to Kothari Hyundai. First a test drive of the 1.1 iRDE followed by 1.2 Kappa. Even though the 1.1L engine produces the same 67bhp of power like the Punto, the engine doesn't feel stressed out and has far more driveablity than the Punto. In fact only once or twice did I have to downshift from 3rd to 2nd gear. Maybe because of the fact that the i10 is lighter than Punto?
- Cut over to the 1.2L kappa engine, and you can distinctly feel the difference in power.Just like the Ritz, it never felt underpowered in the traffice and has decent torque to keep puttering in town in the 3rd gear.
- However i10 was ruled out because 1) it has become a far too common sight on the Indian roads (I wanted something new) 2) Gearbox felt notchy in both the cars. In fact while starting off in the 1.2L car, the 1st gear simply refused to engage itself 4-5 times despite the clutch being fully engaged. That left a bad taste in my mouth, but it may be a specific problem to the test drive vehicle 3) Interiors felt cramped and more so after having sat in the Ritz. In our family we are a little plus sized though not hefty; and the interiors felt tad uncomfortable and plasticky.
- Plus points are great engine, good after sales service, good VFM with lots of goodies thrown in between. Minus points are the gearbox, plasticky interiors and its a far too common sight on the indian roads.
- Micra: Once again, the same sales person, the same car but a slightly longer route. The second time I rode the car the odometer already showed 290kms. So it's possible that the car was more slightly run in than my first attempt. Anyway the gearbox felt a bit more comfortable and the engine felt a little more free revving and I had a better experience in this second time. To cut a long story short the test drive vehicle felt a bit better compared to previous time.
- Plus points include fresh looks and beautiful colors, decent engine power and stunning AC. Minus points are after sales service, spare parts are priced a bit higher and the back seat absolutely lacks under thigh support of any sort (esp. on the lowest variant XE).
Since my family was with me, we thought and discussed for a few minutes and decided Micra was the car to have . Mind you this does not mean that the Ritz is a bad vehicle, technically it's just too perfect on paper and you can never go wrong with it, but as I mentioned previously I wanted something new and a bit stylish; so the Micra it was to be.
In fact if you don't want any headache but a great car; I would still recommend the Ritz. One point which I want to mention here is that Polo is another fantastic vehicle which I had test driven. But already the waiting period was 4 months in May and I felt it was over priced for the equipment levels and colors they were offering. Besides my mother didn't like the shape of the Polo (felt it was to rakish) and only red and white colors were available; while for other colors, dealer in Pune was quoting a date of September end.
Hope this helps all of you. Lessons learnt: If you want a car with absolutely no headache, go straight for the Ritz or the Swift. However keep the test drive of the these vehicles for last because after driving these cars any other engine feels puny in comparison to the 85Bhp power of the K-series motor.If you want something more snazzy, fresh and cute; go in for the Micra/Polo.
Two cars which I didn't consider at all: Petrol Ford Figo and Chevy Beat. Great products but I don't think the parent companies are doing enough justice to these. Things may have changed in these years for Ford but the bad experience of the Ikon still lingers in the minds of Indians and GM in the Indian mind set has a reputation of building thirsty vehicles.
Chevy beat is also nice, but interiors look cramped and none in my family liked the styling while the Figo has lower FE and power compared to the competition. Fuel efficiency though the last point on my mind, was something I could not overlook and thats what ruled out the Figo. A.S.S of ford/Chevy would not have been a problem because my office is in the same building on the 1st floor above Planet Ford while for Chevy the dealer Pashankar auto is just opposite on the same road. |