[samigo]

Voted for Swift. Tough call between the King and the Maserati inspired Punto. Having driven the DDiS rocket for 40K KMs in just 1.6 years, the baby brings out tears in my eyes when I see the empty parking space.

[fiat_tarun]

I too was too young to be driving during the GTX days, but from what i've heard I so want to drive one. Among the current crop of cars, the Swift and Punto are FTD, but not hot hatches at all. Yet to drive the Polo/Skoda 1.6's but reviews are nothing great as well.

I feel a hot hatch has to be a free revving petrol... the engine note can make that car so much hotter !

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Voted for Swift.

There is nothing else in the small car segment that creates so much passion in me, other than this cute little hot hatch from Suzuki. Wanted to buy one in 2005, when i first saw it. Six years later - that dream is almost about to become true!

[vipul_singh]

It is difficult to get a true picture out of polls like this since not all of us have had experience with every one of the cars listed here. Nevertheless I voted for the Palio because it was the first car to bring the kind of performance it has to the hatch segment.
I have owned a GTX for 9 years+ now, and like the following things about it:

1) Grip around corners: I have taken the car to Uttaranchal many times. The car allows you to go unexpectedly fast around bends (even hairpins). In fact, on each of these occasions, I have chickened out before the car has.

2) Degree of control: Related to point #1. Even under emergency maneuveres, you feel in contol of the vehicle. Example, aborted overtaking manouvres on the *outside* of the bend (absolutely not recommennded, I know), when the surface if off-camber. Even under heavy braking, the car has ever felt out of control.

3) Steering feel: Enough has been said about this one, so I'd just add this: dead on-center steering feel is very difficult to achieve in cars. The Palio has it.

4) Road feel: The driver feels just the right amount of connection to the road through the chassis. There are many vehicles which isolate you from the road with a soft suspension setup, but not this one. Mind you, I am not talking about harshness, here

5) Niggling faults: The car throws up just the right number of problems / issues to get you into a relationship with it. Example: A few days ago, I discovered that one of the A/C vents had broken from the inside, which I fixed with araldite. Earlier, I found that the LHS front seat was squeaking. Took 30 mins to grease it properly. You really can develop this as a hobby!

6) Reliability/Dependability: Very reliable other than the niggling faults mentioned above. This car has given me the confidence to drive it to Leh (with no backup vehicle) even though it was 9+ years old with 100,000 KMs on the clock. Came back with zero issues

7) Design and Looks: I marvel at how the car can hold its own against much newer competition. To take inspiration from Clarkson: the newer cars are more striking, but not necessarily more beautiful

Summary: If I were to summarise my feeling, the car feels *alive* when you are driving it and when you are maintaining it (due to the niggling faults). I first read about the Japanese expression 'Jimba itei' (man and horse as one) in one of Alan Cathcart's reviews of the first Yamaha R1. I have never found a better expression for the Palio since

Somewhat off topic: Learnt on TTAC(?) a few days ago that FIAT has sold 2.5 million (!!) of the A178 Palios in Brazil alone. The reviewer also mentioned that having a Palio is like having cash in your pocket (you can sell it very quickly). Shows that a 'hero' in one market can be 'zero' in another.

Comparison with other vehicles in this price range (ones I have driven):

1) Polo: Feels more plated on the road than the Palio. But has significantly poorer steering feel.
2) Ikon: Bad driving position (offset controls), poor brakes. OK steering feel
3) i20 and Jazz: comparatively, 'dead' to drive'
4) NHC (I own one): An excellent appliance, not actually a car

[Shivank]

Originally Posted by vipul_singh

I have owned a GTX for 9 years+ now, and like the following things about it:

1) Grip around corners

2) Degree of control

3) Steering feel

4) Road feel

5) Niggling faults

6) Reliability/Dependability

7) Design and Looks

Summary

Comparison with other vehicles in this price range (ones I have driven):

1) Polo: Feels more plated on the road than the Palio. But has significantly poorer steering feel.
2) Ikon: Bad driving position (offset controls), poor brakes. OK steering feel
3) i20 and Jazz: comparatively, 'dead' to drive'
4) NHC (I own one): An excellent appliance, not actually a car

That's a detailed post. Thanks for sharing the experience. 9 years and still going. Even the 'tank' we compare it to will fall apart in 9 years.

BTW, you in Noida only?

I have spotted a similar looking 1.6 around sector-50 many a times. Whether it's you or someone else, I don't know, but most of the 1.6 I see are always kept in mint-condition by the owner. Also, it's one of the rarest breed to find around Delhi/NCR. Checked almost all of the classifieds online but not many are willing to sell this gem. :(

If you know any dealer or anyone who's willing to sell one, then please let me know through PM (don't post it here else some other guy will pick it ).

[Ravveendrra]

I own a GTX and have voted for it. Not that I do not like the Polo or Punto but frankly they are not a patch on the GTX.

I also like the 'push' of the Getz CRDi's stonker of an engine. If only they put in some strut braces and stiffened the chassis it would have been a good car.

[shivasuma]

Originally Posted by vipul_singh

2) Ikon: Bad driving position (offset controls), poor brakes. OK steering feel

The Ikon's steering is the best I have experienced, razor sharp and precise. The brakes & mileage (1.6) sucked though.

[//M]

For me the top 3 contenders would be as follows:

1. Fiat Palio 1.6 GTX or Palio S10 (looks hot in canary yellow)
2. VW Polo 1.6
3. Hyundai Getz CRDi

[Turbokick]

Some of the important points worth considering :

- First of all diesel v/s petrol. If we don't go by numbers then nature of both fuels are quite different. Palio/Polo and Getz are 100 or more bhp hatches. If mid range is concerned Getz will blow the petrols out of the equation. Ingear or real time acceleration is much stronger. If one loves revving, diesel isn't the ideal choice. Cars like Swift petrol or Jazz can be absolute joy(thanks to low NVH and free revving nature) even if their performance is just decent.

- GTX didn't have emission limitations. It would be interesting to see how the euro 4 approved version of the same engine can perform.

- Handling can be subjective. Swift is more chuckable,figo's steering is brilliant and fiats have stable ride quality. Again Swift's highspeed stability isn't as good as europeans,Figo's overall handling somewhere in between and Fiats arent agile in city.

- Great engines but cars not meant for track : i20 CRDi, Zen and Jazz comes under this category. Not exaclty hot cars but have hot engines

- Car is performance ready but engine isn't : Figo and Punto. They have middle of the road performance. Punto deserves the Tjet or the 1.6 litre Multijet and Figo needs more powerful fiesta engines.

- Hatchbacks that missed the list : SR-V and Fusion. Thanks to the saying 'Out of sight,out of mind'. Literally

- One more interesting proposition : i10 Kappa 2.
O-100 in 12 odd seconds (Autocar timing). Only NEXT to Polo in terms of outright performance (among the current breed). Ok handling isn't great.

- City car and ease of driving : Santro. Super responsive engine,light controls and good visibility. Santro can be effortless and fun in city.

[Shivank]

Originally Posted by Turbokick

Some of the important points worth considering :

.......Santro can be effortless and fun in city.

Actually, each and every point (barring the 'Handling is subjective' part) mentioned by you perfectly explains the different attributes of these cars. But, take no offence, those points will suit a motoring magazine column better than this thread.

This thread was started to find the car with right mix of everything in it. Not only mix but that comes with a feel-good-factor as well. That's what altogether makes a Hot Hatch I think.

[dhanushs]

Originally Posted by vipul_singh

2) Ikon: Bad driving position (offset controls), poor brakes. OK steering feel

Sorry for going off topic, but cant hold it back.. Mann.. you feel the iKON steering to be OK?

I completely disagree.. Its FTD even by current standards! I'd rate the feedback to be EXCELLENT.

May the one you drove had bad ball joints, and saggy front suspension.

(offset controls)

To drive enthusiastically, you just need evenly paced pedals, nice chunky and well placed steering, well positioned gear lever, and nice supportive seats with good recline angle and hieght. Out of these, what did you find offset?

[Turbokick]

Originally Posted by Shivank

This thread was started to find the car with right mix of everything in it. Not only mix but that comes with a feel-good-factor as well. That's what altogether makes a Hot Hatch I think

I personally feel it is difficult to compare cars mentioned in the thread in terms of fun to drive factor out rightly. Every car has it own strong points and different nature. Its as difficult as choosing the 'best hatchback' which is again a subjective thing.

But if you still ask me to choose :
1. Polo 1.6 (Petrol)
2. Getz CRDi (Diesel)

[vijaycool]

I voted for GTX. 10 years old and out of production, hatch market is buzzing like never before yet it leads the competition. This car really deserves . This shows the product quality and performance of this car. There is one rare breed of GTX SP(Airbag and ABS) Well ahead of the times and market shooed away as unnecessary extras. GTX had more feature than the cars in the current market.
What I like about this car:

1. 1st gear . Its short and jumps ahead of the signal
2. 3rd gear. can pull from 1k rpm all the way to 120 kmph. Easily touches rev limit 7K rpm
3. delicious steering feedback
4. factory fitted wide tyres and alloys.
5. very very good acceleration above 4K rpm. The gear box is so closely spaced and if you are in wrong gear it will run like tortoise. So many vdi's vanish if I use proper gear selection and many run past me if I am in wrong gear.
6. Very rev friendly and the sound is music to the ears.
7. stiff ride quality and smoothes greatly above 80 kph.
8. Chilling A/C even in the hottest chennai climate.

What I dont like:
1. very poor brakes. This can be addressed by replacing linea rotors and caliper.
2. Poor FE in current scenerio. I am getting 8.5 kmpl
3. HL can enter moisture. This is a problem with all palios
4. Costly spares
5. Average looking plastic compared to todays standard but it doesnot rattle.

Regards,
Vijay

[Swanand Inamdar]

Tough. Very tough. Thats like choosing between Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid .

Well, IMHO, the all time favorite hatch has to be the Palio 1.6 GTX. 100BHP! Awesome steering, great handling! What more would one want in a car!

In the currently sold lot, its got to be the Swift. Has the looks to kill. Has an amazing engine. It just ticks all the possible boxes for a hot hatch.

[ethanhunt123]

One and only one - Swift. It has everything going for it - good handling, powerful engine, good FE (see Palio GTX !), Maruti service network, low overall ownership cost, high resale, stunning looks etc etc. Palio GTX might be the original hot hatch in Indian market but Swift meant it became affordable and accessible to non-enthusiasts as well (Palio had bad FE, horror stories at service & costly spares).