[chiradeep]

hi all

my responses to the hatchback and entry level sedan below

hatchback
already own one and this being the second car was not too keen....

Entry level sedan
personally do not like the looks of any of the entry level sedans - the verito (too boxy), etios or sunny. did consider the fiesta classic, but they are not selling too many of them and facing the problems of an out of production car (fiat palio stile..) wasnt too sure of repeating it

The quanto fit right in between the cost range i had in mind and the mini SUV lineage, which in my humble opinion is slightly more upmarket than an entry level sedan ...though this view is completely personal...no offence meant to any of the owners of the above mentioned cars...

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by chiradeep

Hi all

I booked the quanto on last Sunday...took it out for a test drive on Sunday before booking it. I drove the c8 version for around 5 km.

Yes I too am intrigued ad would like to know the reason behind your decision. Because as Sameer and Antz said, the only plus point that we can see for the quanto over the Premium hatches and entry level sedans is the higher ground clearance. But since the car is not a good highway performer, this ability is somewhat stunted as the car seems good only within the city. In that case unless one stays in a city full of potholes that a normal hatch or sedan cant adjust to, The Quanto really looses out. Just by compromising the higher GC (which really shouldn't matter to the city customer), one gets much better quality, ride, handling and even more reliability in Hatches and Sedans. Infact I am a bit confused as to what kind of market the Quanto feeds to.

If you could just list out the reasons why you feel it is better than the Hatches and entry level sedans (since you rightly would discard the third row) it would help us better in understanding the product more and the value it provides to the people.

[snan]

Quite an ugly looking vehicle (with semi decent specs) but I do hope this ushers in a process of getting more mini SUVs on the Indian roads. With the way the quality of our infra is going its not too far in future where we might need solid GC even to drive around in cities ! Hopefully Mahindra will refine this vehicle over the years to make it appealing for urban youths / those wishing to switch from a sedan

[akileshsri]

Originally Posted by tanwaramit

With this pricing and utility, this will soon be seen as replacements for Gypsy, Qualis etc for police forces across several states.

Buy a white colored Quanto, people in NCR know how much respect a white Gypsy gets on the road.

This is a strategic product. Under less than 100 crores, Mahindra has made a product that will bring more numbers, considering this will be built in Nashik in the Xylo line. The learning that Mahindra has got by developing this product is many. This is their first 3 cyl engine. This is the smallest engine in the world to have a 2 stage turbo. Now, they can think of using the same engine for their maxxi trucks by recalibration. I will not be surprised if the Bolero comes with this engine option in the future. One can also see the brand confidence that Mahindra has shown with this launch. Their confidence is just growing by the day ever since XUV was launched. Will be exciting to see their future products

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by antz.bin

Where Quanto trumps them is bad road ability though, so if you have bad roads on your travel routes, Quanto should be the better bet.

a. agree with your assessment on the hatches u listed

b. your point above should not hold IMO. Ertiga itself is barely a bit more planted than swift (and is so less planted than the duster). I doubt quanto would be awesome on bad roads. Will TD quanto once they start giving it for TDs at office - can't be bothered to take time out for it

[bblost]

I saw the Quanto and absolutely loved it. The seat is comfortable and the middle row is nice and wide.

Did not do a TD as I did not have much time.
Will plan for a TD along with my family.
If the TD feels good then after the customary 6 month cooling period for any new launch. I will get myself one.

I just wish they give a foldable middle row. I don't think the current variants allow this.

[CRtorquefan]

Originally Posted by YashD

Good first impression buddy, but you sure about the acceleration? I heard and even read that its pathetic plus good Ride! :O

As per Autocar India, it clocks 0-100kmph in ~17secs, which is quite good for a car of this size & eucalyptus-like height.
In-gear acceleration is also good to compete most of the cars of its size &segment.

[YashD]

I heard that the UV takes more than 20 seconds to hit 100 kmph which as a petrol head disappointed me after seeing the specifications of the car.

[sumannandy]

Here is a completely different viewpoint.

When I bought my first car way back my requirement was simple. Get a car that could go anywhere, with my friends and weekend luggage. The maintenance cost must be reasonable, so my choice was limited to Tata, Mahindra and may be Maruti only. But my budget was limited, so I ended up buying a used 4wd safari which I still use.

Top speed although touched a couple of times to 140kmph, the average speed I drive is 80-90 kmoh in highways, because that is the sane speed in Indian highways, anything more and you are inviting for a disaster.

If it was today, I would have bought a Quanto. I can take the car anywhere comfortably, with luggage and friends. Try that in a sedan. High speed cornering is not exactly my priorities.

At least 70% of the average car buyers would identify their requirements with mine (average buyers, not enthusiasists). Any day I would cancel booking of a hatch and go for quanto.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by sumannandy

Here is a completely different viewpoint.

When I bought my first car way back my requirement was simple. Get a car that could go anywhere, with my friends and weekend luggage. The maintenance cost must be reasonable, so my choice was limited to Tata, Mahindra and may be Maruti only. But my budget was limited, so I ended up buying a used 4wd safari which I still use.

Top speed although touched a couple of times to 140kmph, the average speed I drive is 80-90 kmoh in highways, because that is the sane speed in Indian highways, anything more and you are inviting for a disaster.

If it was today, I would have bought a Quanto. I can take the car anywhere comfortably, with luggage and friends. Try that in a sedan. High speed cornering is not exactly my priorities.

At least 70% of the average car buyers would identify their requirements with mine (average buyers, not enthusiasists). Any day I would cancel booking of a hatch and go for quanto.

Help me understand things here. Personally I find its interior space not FAR different from a Fusion. I mean, its all within the same 4m, right?

Lacking either a comprehensive TBHP TD or a mid term ownership, I don't see the evidence of it being vastly superior to a hatch back.

- Power to weight: Its wiped clean
- Driving pleasure: Its wiped clean
- Boot space: Swift disappears into ignonimous silence while the likes of Fusion match it
- Go anywhere capability: Only 10mm extra GC. That is awesome, but the AVEO UVA had 188mm. 188mm. The Fiat Punto matches it while the swift is definitely behind. Fusion is laughing away at 198mm!!

I refuse to believe that Quanto has any inherent engineering advantages that make it more robust. More weight != More safety (anyone remember the Bel-Air link a week back?)

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...lsar-lake.html - 4 up swift went up and came down happily. Done lots of other things as well. Of course, no vehicle is immune to stupidity or bad luck - but hatches aint bad these days.

Mind you the pleasure on highways is NOT just about top speed but roll-ons, which every single one of us loves to forget. I'm willing to wager the ginormous weight of the Quanto will keep it a slacker in the roll-ons and will enable the sedans/i20s of the world to drop it like a rock.

Of course, I am more than glad to be proven wrong if Mahindra finally gives me a test drive, or TBHP does their own. At the moment, I believe its been given far more credit than due. In no less part due to the rear mounted spare tyre that many folks offline found "sporty"!!

And of course, I hope the quality is up to scratch and customers aren't glorified guinea pigs as you can expect in a new launch of the Tatas. (the XUV itself had a fair share of niggles)

[jp1]

Originally Posted by sumannandy

Here is a completely different viewpoint.

.....
If it was today, I would have bought a Quanto. I can take the car anywhere comfortably, with luggage and friends. Try that in a sedan. High speed cornering is not exactly my priorities.

At least 70% of the average car buyers would identify their requirements with mine (average buyers, not enthusiasists). Any day I would cancel booking of a hatch and go for quanto.

Exactly same requirement I have , I would any day prefer a Quanto to sedan/hatch. Eagerly waiting for a TD to decide. Hoping that the 2nd row was foldable, that is a big disappointment for me.

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by sumannandy

If it was today, I would have bought a Quanto. I can take the car anywhere comfortably, with luggage and friends. Try that in a sedan. High speed cornering is not exactly my priorities.

I would seriously doubt the go anywhere claim, specially with full contingent and luggage. The car is otherwise also seriously under-powered for its weight. This would be simply amplified when loaded fully. Otherwise also I fail to understand the idea behind calling this a Compact 'SUV'. How can you make an SUV out of an MUV by just chopping the rear?

The Quanto has a GC of 180 mm (as per reports online). In comparison, the Punto has a GC of 185-195 mm, the Swift has 170 mm, etios and Verito have 172mm and the SX4 (a sedan) has 180-190 mm Ground clearance (figures from Autocar). As rightly pointed out by Phamilyman, The Aveo UVA had a GC of 188mm and Aveo had 180mm.

I guess too much is being read into this ''go anywhere'' claim of The Quanto. While it does have a higher GC than most hatches and sedans, a couple of sedans and hatches do match its GC.

GC apart, for a vehicle to be a good 'go anywhere' vehicle it must be conducive to comfortable travel over long distances. I fail to see how that is possible in a car with a Power to weight ratio of around 60 Bhp/tonne(The beat diesel has a similar Power to weight ratio and is not exactly a favourite for highway travel) and bounces and rolls all over.

I was initially excited at the 100 bhp on offer, but one look at the kerb weight (1.6 tonne of a sub 4m car?) I didn't need any test drive reports to tell me that this would be one under-powered vehicle, a slow coach. That along with the reports that the ride and handling are nothing to write home about even discounting for the fact that this is a UV, has made it pretty clear (atleast to me) that this indeed is a confused product from Mahindra.

If I wanted a go anywhere vehicle specially with full occupants and luggage, I wouldn't buy this one. I would rather add up some more savings and go for a Duster instead.

[antz.bin]

@Phamilman, Vibbs:
1. The dynamically fantastic Punto comes with the Fiat's fantastic reputation of running away
2. Aveo / UVA don't have diesel engines, sell even less than Punto
3. SX4 is even more expensive than the more practical and equally powerful Ertiga

Everything has its drawbacks.

And since I have been in touch with so many M&M people in the recent past (Due to this issue. Thank you Mods for merging the topic where nobody ever goes.) I have been chatting up with them quite a lot about the Quanto.

The reason it will outdo all of those with similar / comparable GCs is due to the Ladder frame coupled with the short wheelbase and its Xylo lineage (which offers excellent ride on bad roads). If you head to Leh/Ladakh sometime, you will realize this fact much better given the fact that Xylos on the (lack of) roads there outnumber Innovas at least 3 to 1!! Nowhere in India have I seen more Xylos on the road than Innovas apart from Ladakh district of J&K(personal experience).

As for people thinking it is excruciatingly slow, the 17.7 seconds it takes to do 0-100kmph is *faster* than:
Fiat Punto 75hp 1.3 Diesel ----------17.84 secs
Fiat Punto 1.2 Petrol ---------------18.16 secs
Tata Vista 1.2 Petrol -------------- 18.36 secs

And almost as quick as:
Tata Indigo CS 1.4 Diesel-----------16.90 secs
Mahindra Verito 1.5 Diesel-----------17.15 secs
Ford Fiesta 1.4 SXI Diesel-----------17.48 secs

The real difference should show up when you load up each one of the above to full load. Thats when the Quanto will show its 100bhp muscles which will give it a better power to weight ratio than many in the above list.

[ranc]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Help me understand things here. Personally I find its interior space not FAR different from a Fusion. I mean, its all within the same 4m, right?

yes the length is same as fusion but what about the width of 1895 and hieght of 1800 +, has to be more spacious.

[CARDEEP]

^^^ @ranc you can only make people sit abreast in the car/SUV, not in tiers.

@vibbs & @phamilymans are putting up valid arguments, but, it has to be the decision of @sumannandy or any other buyer to go for a hatch or sedan or SUV.

To add on, a bigger vehicle immediately bring a feeling of safety & power, which a smaller & nearer to ground hatch or sedan cannot.

@antz.bin there are many people who have traveled to Ladakh in Ventos, Lineas & other sedans & even in hatchbacks like Nano (I read somewhere in the forum). IMO it more on drivers' skills & not on the vehicles' capabilities, unless the terrain becomes so difficult that you have to be in a 4X4 to move on.