[babuchand]

One of my friend is confused between Alto K10 Vxi or Ford Figo EXI as his new car. He drives an OMNI which is more of a family car than personal and he wants to have a car for personal use and hopes to retain it for atleast 5 years or so. We have gathered folowing facts about the duel. We have taken test drive of both the cars.

+ for alto K10 VXi
- 80k cheaper
- 15kmpl in city compared to 12kmpl for Figo
- 20kmpl in highway compared to 15.5kmpl for Figo
- ease of service and less service/spare cost
- more zippy, far better power to weight ratio
- light and wiper stocks in Figo are in wrong sides of the steering

+ for Figo EXI
- integrated audio (please tell us how good it is)
- improved central locking with remote
- superb poise and handling, great hydraulic steering
- slightly more space in cabin, boot is substantially large

his usage per month will be 300km in city and another 200km on highways.

Suggest

[ampere]

If its personal use only and more geared to city use take the Alto. If he drives out more often on to highways, it would be good to have the Figo for want of space and extra comfort.

[theMAG]

The two cant be compared - as you've mentioned, they're in different segments altogether. Both are competent in their respective segments.

[kiku007]

What are your friend's priorities? We have enough threads for hatch comparisons I guess.

Am surprised that you mentioned the Figo has slightly more cabin space than the Alto. That's a gross misjudgement Why don't you check out the cars again?

Have you ruled out the Ritz petrol?

[Live To Jive]

I would say go for the Figo. Since the running is not much, the difference is milege won't translate into significant expenses. Since highway use is involved, the Figo wins here. It's a much safer car. The Figo is woth the 80K extra. Sure you'll loose out on the pepiness. Don't bother about the Stereo. You can get a lot of aftermarket options.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by babuchand

+ for Figo EXI
- integrated audio (please tell us how good it is)
- improved central locking with remote
- superb poise and handling, great hydraulic steering
- slightly more space in cabin, boot is substantially large

his usage per month will be 300km in city and another 200km on highways.

Suggest

for K10
- Audio. Blessing in disguise. You get your own!
- Central locking. Dealer fitment for around 7-10k.
- Handling. K10 handles superbly. The stearing has no complaints.

Point to remember is the cost-of-ownership. Here MUL wins hands down, be it maintenance costs or the resale value. The K10 has a service interval of 10k km. I have yet to go for the first oil change!

All in all for a single driver, K10 gives superb performance, excellent legroom and one of the best AC this side of 8L.

[Sutripta]

Hi,
If you are going to keep the Omni, go for the Alto. If it is going to be your only car, the Ford would make more sense.

By common consensus, Fords in India have very good dynamics.

Am a bit puzzled by your choices. Linear thought normally should not lead to an either/ or between the Alto K10 and the Figo.

Regards
Sutripta

[babuchand]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

Hi,

Am a bit puzzled by your choices. Linear thought normally should not lead to an either/ or between the Alto K10 and the Figo.

Regards
Sutripta

the comparison between 2 segment comes because K10 VXi has breached the gap between segments with mouth watering offering both in tecnical and feature front. Add it with the FE (it will save him around 500 per month with his moderate driving) and maruti service and the gap is further sqeezed.

I am 5' 11'' and I drive an alto LX 800cc with ease in both highways and city and am quite happy with even the highway performance it gives. It has enough power to weight ratio to even compete with Swift in 4 lane expressways cruising at 120kmph. So I think Alto K100 would be even better.

But why we are looking at figo is my friend is 6' and is heavily built and space in alto is a constraint if a tall person sits behind him.

We have decided to visit the showrooms again. till that time let your views pour in.

- babu

[A350XWB]

Originally Posted by Aroy

for K10
- Handling. K10 handles superbly. The stearing has no complaints.

Couldn't quite agree with this. Quote from the T-BHP review of Alto K10.
"• High speed handling & significant under-steer. Alto K10 is under-tyred
• Lifeless steering. Steering the Alto K10 is akin to playing a video game."
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...ml#post2010685

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by Aroy

for K10

- Handling. K10 handles superbly. The stearing has no complaints.



All in all for a single driver, K10 gives superb performance, excellent legroom and one of the best AC this side of 8L.

Why does it appear as if a MUL spokesperson made the statements?

Handling compared to Figo? A Star handles much better than a K10.

As far as excellent leg room & AC goes for below 8L, well, I have nothing to say. Were you even serious about this comment?

^Beat & Ritz will be a good choice as well.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Why does it appear as if a MUL spokesperson made the statements?

Handling compared to Figo? A Star handles much better than a K10.

As far as excellent leg room & AC goes for below 8L, well, I have nothing to say. Were you even serious about this comment?

^Beat & Ritz will be a good choice as well.

For me a car is a transport, meant to carry me from point A to B, safely and predictably. All I require is that there should be no surprises or break down. For last twenty years I have been a fan of MUL cars. The reason is simple. The cars are well designed and do not break down easily. The service is available every where, so are the spares. The resale is excellent. What else do you require from a transport. Yes if you want an extension of your ego, then MUL product is definitely out, and you have to have some thing which a million others do not.

That said, in my K10

1. I point and the car steers to it. I bought the K10 for short trips to crowded places - markets. The steering is effortless. It may be that at high speeds there is an under steer as reported, but then you adjust to the car and it behaves predictably. As long as the steering is not unpredictable it is fine. I have taken the K10 to 110 on the Gurgaon Expressway and never felt the steering waver or "vague" or mushy.

2. Handling. Not having driven Figo, I cannot comment. Having an Esteem for the last ten years I am basing my comments on that. Yes, my son's Baleno handled like a dream at 140+, but then I do not drive that fast. Yes it jumps more over rough roads compared to the heavier Esteem, but then it is very light car.

3. I said that with only one/two persons the leg room is a lot, as you can push the front seat way back, much more than my Esteem! An added advantage is that with rear seats folded, there is an enormous "boot space". This I sorely miss from my M800 days. The K10 is definitely a two seater, with capability to carry five. I believe that in its hey days the M800 could be seen with 8 persons in the rural belt!

4. AC. The AC is much better than my Esteem (recently replaced with new system, as R12 is not available), at par with the Baleno. I have based my views of AC based on my experience in Delhi summer. With two smokers and set in fresh air mode the car still cooled up excellently in rush hour traffic, without loading the engine much.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by Aroy

For me a car is a transport, meant to carry me from point A to B, safely and predictably. All I require is that there should be no surprises or break down. For last twenty years I have been a fan of MUL cars. The reason is simple. The cars are well designed and do not break down easily. The service is available every where, so are the spares. The resale is excellent. What else do you require from a transport. Yes if you want an extension of your ego, then MUL product is definitely out, and you have to have some thing which a million others do not.

That said, in my K10

1. I point and the car steers to it. I bought the K10 for short trips to crowded places - markets. The steering is effortless. It may be that at high speeds there is an under steer as reported, but then you adjust to the car and it behaves predictably. As long as the steering is not unpredictable it is fine. I have taken the K10 to 110 on the Gurgaon Expressway and never felt the steering waver or "vague" or mushy.

2. Handling. Not having driven Figo, I cannot comment. Having an Esteem for the last ten years I am basing my comments on that. Yes, my son's Baleno handled like a dream at 140+, but then I do not drive that fast. Yes it jumps more over rough roads compared to the heavier Esteem, but then it is very light car.

3. I said that with only one/two persons the leg room is a lot, as you can push the front seat way back, much more than my Esteem! An added advantage is that with rear seats folded, there is an enormous "boot space". This I sorely miss from my M800 days. The K10 is definitely a two seater, with capability to carry five. I believe that in its hey days the M800 could be seen with 8 persons in the rural belt!

4. AC. The AC is much better than my Esteem (recently replaced with new system, as R12 is not available), at par with the Baleno. I have based my views of AC based on my experience in Delhi summer. With two smokers and set in fresh air mode the car still cooled up excellently in rush hour traffic, without loading the engine much.

No where did you mention that you are judging Cars which aren't manufactured any longer.

And I would advise you to try out few other Cars from different stables before coming to a conclusion & drawing a line.

Originally Posted by Aroy

for K10
- Handling. K10 handles superbly. The stearing has no complaints.

Point to remember is the cost-of-ownership. Here MUL wins hands down, be it maintenance costs or the resale value. The K10 has a service interval of 10k km. I have yet to go for the first oil change!

All in all for a single driver, K10 gives superb performance, excellent legroom and one of the best AC this side of 8L.

[rohan_iitr]

I can understand that most people are passionate, sometimes even over-passionate, about their cars. But lets talk sense and not make lame remarks like these, they don't contribute any value to the discussion.

Originally Posted by babuchand

I am 5' 11'' and I drive an alto LX 800cc with ease in both highways and city and am quite happy with even the highway performance it gives. It has enough power to weight ratio to even compete with Swift in 4 lane expressways cruising at 120kmph.

Originally Posted by Aroy

I believe that in its hey days the M800 could be seen with 8 persons in the rural belt!

@ babuchand - Let your friend buy a car that suits his reuirements, please don't shove an Alto down his throat just because you also happen to have one.

IMHO, Alto is a very good car, but would not be suitable for a 6 foot tall and heavily built person.

Also, for highway trips, it would be better to have a bigger car with more cabin space and boot space.

There are a lot of other options in this price range - WagonR, Beat, i10 and Ritz. Let him check out all these car and decide himself.

Ask your friend to fix his priorities, whether FE and TCO are his priorities or space, comfort and safety. Decide accordingly.

Rohan

[A350XWB]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

I can understand that most people are passionate, sometimes even over-passionate, about their cars. But lets talk sense and not make lame remarks like these, they don't contribute any value to the discussion.

+1 to that.

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

IMHO, Alto is a very good car, but would not be suitable for a 6 foot tall and heavily built person.

Also, for highway trips, it would be better to have a bigger car with more cabin space and boot space.

Alto is a good car in it's own rights. But apart from the power to weight ratio and kmpl, I don't think it can provide anything else, better than a Figo. Alto K10 would be a good urban runabout. But at highway speeds, it not at all feels as planted as the Figo (I have driven both).

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

There are a lot of other options in this price range - WagonR, Beat, i10 and Ritz. Let him check out all these car and decide himself.

Ask your friend to fix his priorities, whether FE and TCO are his priorities or space, comfort and safety. Decide accordingly.

Rohan

Totally agree with this comment. If your friend's priority is space, comfort and safety, there are better options than the K10.

[im_srini]

Originally Posted by babuchand

One of my friend is confused between Alto K10 Vxi or Ford Figo EXI as his new car.
+ for alto K10 VXi
- 80k cheaper
- 15kmpl in city compared to 12kmpl for Figo
- 20kmpl in highway compared to 15.5kmpl for Figo

I've got a 3-month old K10, in the 4,500 Kms I've driven it, it has returned a consistent 14.x Kmpl in the city & 24.x Kmpl on the highway (100% A/C).

Originally Posted by babuchand

His usage per month will be 300km in city and another 200km on highways.

If this is the mileage the car is going to see, the 80K you save with the K10 should be worth ~47 months of fuel costs.

Originally Posted by babuchand

the comparison between 2 segment comes because K10 VXi has breached the gap between segments with mouth watering offering both in tecnical and feature front.

If you ask me, its not the K10 that has breached segments, rather its the Figo that has breached them - for the price, you get quite a lot more car. Sure, you won't be winning a lot of stop-light GPs, but around a corner, at speed, the Figo will make you smile - everytime.

Originally Posted by babuchand

But why we are looking at figo is my friend is 6' and is heavily built and space in alto is a constraint if a tall person sits behind him.

Choose the K10 only if A) you're looking for a commuter car for nipping & tucking into traffic, B) fuel consumption is extremely important, & C) the car would be driven alone almost all of the time. The Alto is a very small car, you're constantly rubbing elbows with your passengers, rear-seat "comfort" on long drives is questionable (its so pointless I've removed the rear seat in my Vx completely !), & the boot isn't anything to write home about. Feature-wise, the K10 gives you just power windows & fog-lights, there's little else. Food for thought: the very same Alto we have here was available in the UK with ABS (I recently bought the Alto's ABS pump & other brake components from eBay-UK for ~400 GBP). How difficult is it for Maruti to provide ABS in the K10, even as an option ?

Rant aside, if its just between the K10 & the Figo, I'd pick the Figo - you get a lot more steel around you & the car is more interesting to drive. If low running costs are important, I'd pick the regular Alto-F8 instead, you'd at least save a lot more money & still retain most of the other advantages of the Alto. The only thing the K10 gives you, that the regular F8 Alto doesn't, is a peppier engine - choose the K10 if that's what you're looking for