[arjab]

My grandad once owned an 1954 Oldsmobile convertible, powered by Old's "Rocket V8", mated to a four speed "hydramatic" automatic transmission.

He used to get the car to pick me up from school and on the way back home, we used to go via Red Road, which is still one of the best pieces of tarmac available in Calcutta today.
In those days traffic was sparse. He used to stop at the top of Red Road, (near the Fort William gate, to those familiar with Calcutta), put foot on brake, press a little red button on top of the auto gear selector, and bury the accelerator to the floor.
To a 5 year old kid, what happened next was very difficult to understand. Till this day, I vividly remember, a relentless pressure in the small of my back and a feeling of a giant, invisible hand pushing me deeper and deeper into the front seat, so, so hard that I couldn't utter a word in sheer terror!!! A
And Grandpa finishing the quarter mile, smilingly looking at me and asking me, "so, boy, how did you find that aeroplane ride?"

That feeling has never been replicated ever.

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by arjab

He used to get the car to pick me up from school and on the way back home, we used to go via Red Road, which is still one of the best pieces of tarmac available in Calcutta today.

Your mention of Red Road brings back instant nostalgia. It is indeed one of the best stretches in Kolkata to test a set of wheels, and has been that way right through my growing up years in the city right up to today. Even though I have now moved to Bangalore (many years back), each time I go back to my hometown and to the High Court area, the Red Road and surrounding arterial roads never fail to bring a smile to my face. I can imagine what a really old school big engine like the one on your Oldsmobile would feel like on that stretch!

[reddevilgautam]

Bought a pre owned 2014 Octavia 1.8 TSI AT recently and have been thoroughly enjoying driving it. In sports mode, the car just amazing to drive. The surge and acceleration is crazy, and my benchmark is my previously driven Honda Civic. I generally drive in the D mode for higher fuel economy, but whenever I need to quickly overtake someone or have a clear patch of road, I pull the gear down to put the car in Sports mode and it shoves me back in my seat with just a slight acceleration. Its damn fun

[ashis89]

I can contribute with the most unique (hilarious?) name in this thread - a K10 powered WagonR. This car gives two distinct push (not shove) around the 2k and 3.2k rpm mark, more prominent if the AC is off.

Jokes apart, I feel the MJD plonked in Marutis in the first set of tune gave the most fun. I have experienced in both, the Swift and the Ritz. Apart from this, the M-Hawk powered Scorpio, the Accent CRDi and the Verna were also good at throwing you off guard if you are not careful with the clutch.

One of the best punches that I experienced was in a Captiva manual and I was sitting in the second row seat of a fully loaded car. I have felt some punch while driving the GLA and the Q3 but I hate automatics.

I see the Fiesta name cropping up and have read a lot about the famous 1.6L engine. I TDed the car and frankly, found the engine to be very free revving with a linear power delivery (I did take it near the redline in the lower gears). I have driven a couple of well maintained Civic (manual) and never found the engine to be any extraordinary across the rev range (covered few hundred kms within city as well as highway).

[GTO]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

BTW, Honda Accord V6 (2003-07), despite being automatic, gives same plane-on-a-take-off-run feeling. It spins wheels even in 2nd gear.

The next-gen Accord V6 with 271 BHP was even more insane. The acceleration was crazy. I was so tempted to buy it. But that temptation lasted until the first fast corner I attacked. It was a B-O-A-T .

Not to forget, the FE & RPM needles were inversely connected. Every time you redlined it, you could see the FE needle drop . In real time.

Still, very happy to see such mad cars being launched in India. Honda India in the last decade was a different animal compared to the Honda India we see today.

[Jeroen]

I still enjoy my Jaguar XJR. Supercharged 4.0L V8.
It’s 0-100 km/h is just below 5 seconds, which for a saloon is still pretty good. But accelerating from say 80 to 130 is really brutal. A V8 with a supercharger at full throttle is something that needs to be heard to be believed!




Jeroen

[AMG Power]

Originally Posted by GTO

Honda India in the last decade was a different animal compared to the Honda India we see today.

That is so true. Even the City had a high aspirational quotient for enthusiasts.

As the story goes - Honda were so passionate about engines that they would just go around building engines. And once they realised the engine was complete, they would go "Oh s**t, we need to build a car around this now!

[PrimeDrive]

Be it the assumption on cruising pleasure vibes, one can only wonder every machine has to offer 'Push back' feel.

But again, the Manufacturers! Their FE and cross-budget management to minimize the finances for building a budget friendly car. We enthusiasts to an extent are miffed with the same fact.

To the point, the Swift with its 1.3 MD brought in the sheer pleasure of the 'push back' and revolutionized power drive. Minding the fact that many hard-core machines were still in existence.

Few other Slayers for me:
Polo GT TDI 1.6.
Verna 1.6 CRDi (Initial Pick).
Chevrolet Cruze 2.0 VCDi (Indeed a Rocket).

Hey manufacturers! Do you mind putting in few extra horses? No! We are here to satisfy the customers.
Contradicting, right!? :rolleyes:

[RJ2285]

Originally Posted by GTO

Other cars:

Abarth Punto
Octavia & Laura 1.8 & 2.0 TSIs
Mustang
S-Cross 1.6
Polo 1.6 GT TDI
Chevrolet Cruze (it's original tune)
Volvo S60 T6
Many modified cars (Jitu's insane 400 BHP Honda City is first to come to mind)

Why not the Polo GT TSI?.Last evening on the expressway in sports mode, Three of us were definitely ‘pushed into the seat’. Loved the sweet tone of the engine coupled with the phenomenal TSI-DSG Combo

A poor man's sports car

[daniel_sam]

I haven't driven many cars upwards of INR 10 lakhs.
But I owned a 2008 Verna CRDi VGT from 2008-2016.
Everything in the car was just ordinary or below average. Handling was - as they say- "boat" like.
But the turbo kick post 2000 rpm was too good.
Nowadays, Hyundai cars are much more linear in their power delivery. Something that reviewers appreciate.
But I really miss the turbo kick of the old generation Verna. Yea it was a bit difficult to get it into the power band while driving in city.
But it was really fun to overtake on single lane highways in Kerala which will be crowded most of the time.

[AdiSolEn]

I have to agree with folks that the turbo kick that you get in diesels is addictive! I love experiencing the kick in the original swift, where you put it in second gear and at around 2k rpm the turbo spools up and bang!

I have also driven the abarth punto and it gives the same insane rush!My Octavia diesel is however very linear in power and torque delivery, hence cannot be included in this list.

I was also able to sit in a Tesla model S in Germany, but as luck would have it, the test drives were closed for that day
The tesla would indeed be bonkers when it comes to acceleration!Nothing can beat a performance electric car in that department.

[NiInJa]

I have never driven high powered cars but have experienced them abroad. My colleague's Mercedes E class in Dubai did give me that feeling, he also had a re-tuned Nissan Patrol and boy it was powerful !

But when it comes to cheap Indian cars, one can try putting the Honda Brio in its 'i-vtec' band when its not loaded
I do it a couple of times whenever on highways and it is intoxicating, at the cost of noise and fuel efficiency. The car can put bigger petrol cars (Ciaz or other 1.4L petrol engined cars) to shame.

The 1.3 mjd also gives a similar feeling, but it does not last long. I would call it a cheap thrill.

[E = mc²]

Of the cars I have been through/driven, I'd vote for the W203 C220 - 141 bhp and 340 nm . Will give you that grin on your face every time you come out of the turbo lag zone. The car was a 6 speed manual and gave me that 'shove into the seat' kinda feel even with 4 other people loaded inside.

Quite an amazing car it was. I can still feel that sensational thwack when the car used to come out alive after 2000 rpm, as if it was launched from a standstill doing a 0-100 run. I can hardly remember overtaking a single car alone on the highway. One pedal to the metal bustle lets you take over multiple cars in one go .

[newtonMeter]

I think the mother of pushed back "Stock car" in the sub 30L category is the new Skoda Octavia RS 230.

[sandx]

From the cars I have driven, the experience of taking a swift for a spin on the Hyderabad ORR was the real push back feeling for me. It was a first gen swift vxi model. Coming from driving around in narrow small roads, it was an exhilarating experience when i floored the pedal albeit in a gradual manner. I briefly owned an esteem as well when in Pune and the expressway runs were fun in that too, still remember the old ads where it was advertised as both a rally and a luxury car. The Innova is a favorite as well, when i used to chat up cabbies who were one of the primary users, they vouched on the speed experience of the car. My trips in an Innova has been mostly as a passenger or as a driver within the city limits, but on a short free expanse of a road, the girth and the acceleration that i felt was intimidating as a primarily hatchback user. That said I used to floor my uncle's zen too and it was a nimble and a sure footed pocket rocket from the days gone by.

So here goes my list:

1. Maruti Suzuki Swift
2. Toyota Innova
3. Maruti Esteem
4. Maruti Zen

Waiting for an opportunity when i get to drive a real mean machine as listed in this thread.