[rajushank84]

Another example that comes to mind is a hardcore motorcycling enthusiast at my workplace, this guy does track days whenever he finds time (which is pretty much every other weekend), has dedicated track bikes with track tires, and he works on all his bikes himself. He has a whole range of bikes, from liter-class bikes to touring bikes he does cross-country touring on to off-roading on dirt bikes. His latest addition to his stable - and he calls it some of the most fun he's had on a bike - is a Duke 390. I know this guy is well off, and it is not out of budgetary constraints that he picked this bike. He could've easily picked a Duke 1290 instead, but he picked the 390.

It is not a matter of money, it is a matter of taste. When I say taste I don't mean that in a dismissive way, I mean different people find different things appealing, it is like burgers and biryani. For some people like me, it is not "smaller can be fun", it is more like "smaller is more fun". Give me the most expensive burger made by Ramsey himself (and I enjoy burgers), but it still won't come anywhere close to a bowl of Hyderabadi biryani, sorry. It is a little bit like that.

(sorry for the back-to-back post, lost my time window to edit the last post, just remembered this guy).

[amit_mechengg]

There are cars which you can own, but there are few cars which own you for the rest of the life. I can post 2 such pictures which are self explanatory.

[Dinesh_Malhotra]

Previously, I owned a Ford Figo 1.4. I kind of had a love and hate relationship with the car. I loved it for the way I could drive it endlessly across the turns and curves with 'speed'. Currently, I drive an Elite i20. It simply sucks in comparison when it comes to 'fun to drive'.

[advenk999]

Brilliant thread and topic of discussion!

I've always been a sucker for small, taut and agile cars over larger, luxurious and elegant sedans.

The balance between the shorter wheelbase, ride and handling paired with a creamy petrol/diesel mated to a fun throw gearbox seals the deal.

Owning the Swift petrol AMT and the Seltos DCT, I'd pick the former any day for its fun to drive and it's chuck-able nature. I'd pick up the latter for long highway drives and cruises. Come to the ghats and the Swift is an anyday winner. Heck, it easily outpaces my cousin's Seltos IVT that just cannot hold a candle in terms of agility.

Other cars of this class are the Figo 1.5S with its brilliant dynamics, the Palio 1.6 with its over revving nature, the Abarth 1.4 and the Polo GT TSI. The 1.6 GT TDI is another monster with its own story to write. Its only a dream for any enthusiast to have some of these discontinued cars back on the market. The GT TSI has now lost its brilliant 7 Speed DSG gearbox.

I do have my regrets on not getting my hands on the Punto Abarth on its final stages with its juicy deals and discounts. If you can look past some of the ergonomic issues like the seating position and ABC pedals, this one is a devil of its own!


Wish that our market gets more hot hatches in the coming years. Would definitely look forward to the Swift Sport, Hyundai i10/i20 N Line and so on. Its still a dream, yet hope for a miracle someday.

[warrioraks]

This thread reminded me of times with our first car - Maruti 800. It was mostly driven within city but even then after so many years, it is hard to beat the fun I had with it. The feedback from the car made sure that you made a strong connection as soon as you twisted the ignition key. Heck sometimes it made me feel like a pilot on the runway who could take off any minute if the engine had any more juice!

Have had some fun with Swift and humble i10 as well but nothing comes close to M800.

Sharing last click with the car just before we exchanged it for a Swift.

[German_clan]

In my opinion buying a used skoda laura, honda civic or a Volkswagen jetta. Provides the most bang for your buck.
Also these cars have timeless styling and are extremely luxurious.

Attached are the pictures of my skoda laura 1.9 tdi mt I bought for a mere 2.75 lakhs.

[BLUEK12]

I have always been the sole advocate for small, chuckable cars in my family as well as in my immediate friend circle. These kind of cars always gives you the thrills, are easy to handle in traffic and also can fit in almost non existent parking spaces.

I believe nothing else, even a Skoda VRS won't give you the rush that a peppy hatch will give inside the legal speed limits.

This itch for one of them ended in having an Ignis 1.2 MT as my daily And trust me, in the city, the Ignis gives the Autoricshaws, who usually dominate the high speed city traffic scene, a run for their money (let alone the bigger, and more powerful cars) . And if not for the poor steering setup, I would've said it is the most thrilling urban hatch inside 10 lakhs

[SS-Traveller]

Smaller cars are always more fun to drive - whether cheaper or pricier, is less of an issue. Ah, for those smaller cars - my SS80s were probably the most fun that I remember - 1986-1988, and later, 2001-2003, both red. A Premier President & a Zen also created memories. A very fun to drive car was the Accent Viva 1.5 CRDi - till then, I'd never imagined a diesel could be that much fun. And till not so long ago, a first generation Swift 1.3 ZXi. A Thar is also fun to drive, especially when there's crazy crawling city traffic - it's very manoeuvrable, and the added advantage is that it can scare away competitors!

There's another nippy car I love driving in the city - my daughter's Toyota Yaris 1.3L 2006 2-door hatchback in Australia. It's not so much fun on the highways though - big engined SUVs race past, and this little car needs a lot of effort to keep up at 110 kmph.

Quick acceleration, agility and sure-footedness around corners, and not terribly expensive to maintain / service / repair - the classic parameters for fun-to-drive cars. Which is probably why a Mini is not much fun to drive in India - the service bills hit hard. If that were not the case, I may have bought a pre-owned example.

[naveenvenkatesh]

Fabulous thread. I remember how good the Swift was. We bought the first swift in Mysore, i think it was 2004-2005. Loved it to bits. It had the NA 1.3 engine. Was extremely rev happy and i have driven it extensively. Was a bit sat to let it go in 2014 when i had to go abroad for higher studies.

Originally Posted by ChiragM

• A hot hatch like the Abarth Punto will lead to more than most cars costing twice or thrice as much.

You can say that again!

However, after coming back, i just didn't have any interest in cars. But i was just in time to pick up the final batch of Abarths last May. And boy, what a machine she is. Munches miles with easy and gives such a pleasure.

[aamirbhat]

Oh the fun of smaller cars. No expectations no fuss. Just get in and drive as you wish. Reminds me of my old wagon R 2003. Had great time with it and was always satisfying. It is still with me .

[Deep Blue]

How I miss my first gen Figo 1.4. The stellar handling coupled with excellent steering feel and stability made it a super chuckable car. It did lack that punch a bit, but it didn't matter much. I sold my Figo last year and bought a long Octavia. While the handling is as good or better than Figo, Octavia doesn't have the superb steering feedback of the Figo. That combination made the Figo very special. If only I had garage space, I would have kept the Figo despite all the niggles I have had.

[John316_WRC]

I've had the good opportunity to drive many cars in India and Dubai, right from the mundane to the exciting ones. But among the cars sold India, the Punto is still my favourite car. By no means was this car perfect & my 1.2 petrol Active (2009 base model) was as basic as it got.

Now for the good parts. Best in class steering, even today I miss that feel and precision of that hydraulic unit. Great ride quality & the suspension damping was perfect. "The thud" upon closing doors can only be matched by the Polo. I've done numerous Bangalore-Chennai runs and not once have I felt tired. Even way above legal speeds the Punto would remain glued to the road. The throaty exhaust note was a joy to hear when you were pushing it. And finally the Italian looks, need I say more?

These pictures are on one of the many hairpin bends on Yelagiri hills in Vellore, TN.

One of the most undervalued and underrated cars, but the Punto is still the one closest to my heart.

[sid_hilldriver]

Could not agree more on the fact that one has lot more fun in smaller cars. The are so agile and gives more rush and grins for the driver. Also, the stance of smaller cars are much much better. Attaching pictures for reference.

[evil_grin]

Absolutely agree. Among all the automatics I test drove, the Polo GT TSI was way more fun in the city than the Skoda Octavia 1.8 TSI. While the Octavia is faster, the Polo feels faster. Plus it's more fun to chuck around. The runway ends very quickly in the city with an Octavia but a little later with a Polo. For extended highway runs however, the Octavia is more fun because there are less sharp twists on highways and the engine always has more reserve power for overtakes.

[shivasuma]

The best handling car I have ever driven has to be the Fiesta 1.6S. It was not too cramped and the size was the right, with the right boot size. It was like a leech and the best handling front drive car. Ride was a little stiff but nothing uncomfortable but boy, was it fun or what, with that perfect feedback from the steering. I nearly bought it but backed out because my dad thought investing in a "petrol" car was not good (even though my usage would be little less than 750kms a month as a second car) and my wife did not want to own the same car (I already had a fiesta TDCi).