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-   -   A take on Boot Space! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/232741-take-boot-space-3.html)

Absolutely. Their variant management and generation management was disappointing though. I still remember the automatic was not sold in the top of line VX with magic seats but only as a V/AT.
That was SO annoying.

Back in that time I would have bought a Jazz JUSTfor the magic seats if they had given that with the automatic.

Very well said, and very true! Here is a prime example of how one bad idea can make good boot space on paper into a practically a useless thing: look at any recent BMW boot!

480l of boot space "on paper" rendered useless due to the spare tyre taking most of the space:


This is my 320d. On paper it has 480l of boot. But there is no place to keep the spare tyre under it. And so the spare tyre sits bang in the middle of the boot and takes away a lot of precious space (it is hard to capture this on camera; in reality the tyre takes away a lot of space than what it looks like in the photo). Once this tyre is put in the middle, the remaining space (regardless of what it would measure in volume), is so weirdly shaped that it is very difficult to even put two medium sized suitcases there. This is one of the most inefficient boot designs I have ever seen.

A prime example of how boot space on paper can be deceptive!

Indeed - Mahindra needs to hire some designers from Skoda superb team. I think the reason behind that may be to do with there one of the first and a best seller vehicle none other than BOLERO. It is a people mover - In interior of India - one can see people on roof, people clinging on to spare wheel, or whereever they can accomodate inside and on (literally) the car

So mahindra design team might have taken this "Voice of customer" pretty seriously in future design. This has set their design rules - dont give damn about bootspace - we just need to carry people not any luggage ;):coldsweat

Yes boss ! In my defence I am not trying to judge a car just by boot space in liters, but motive it to have this perspective as well, I feel good that this thread has actually got BHP community to share experiences, and opinions which may be helpful to fellow bhpians e.g. you can see a post from Dr. AD where BMW is putting spare wheel in the boot itself !

Manza is one great car, sadly it could not succeed.

Also, you are right Polo sucks in terms of back seat legroom, and completely agree with you about suspension potrusion, wheel well, loading lip, and also shape of boot needs to be accounted. There is an interesting post by bhpian Behemoth which is shared by Paragsachania earlier.

As of now my heart and head both are saying not to make new purchase. For me even selling my existing rides is emotionally tough as well, unless I can zero down for the car which can give most value for my money !

Thanks for the suggestion, it is indeed a valuable one.

My wagonR LPG has spare wheel in bootspace, and LPG tank where usually spare wheel should be - I have made lot of trips in early days of this humble car with 4 adults on board with lot of luggage and grocery in between Nashik and Pune - I have even kept grocery items on the sides of LPG tank.
So + 1 for using this space

Purpose of this thread to just start discussion about bootspace, good - bad, ugly all of them ... and comparison table just to compare in the segment.

Even I do not like anything kept on parcel tray, especially for polo since IRVM of polo with smaller rear glass it is already a stress to my brain while driving. I agree space management is important - it is ones logical IQ which can make optimum use or worst use of given space

Thanks very much Behemoth. I went through your thread after paragsachania suggested it. It is really interesting thread and eye opener for me. I am going to take measurements like you mentioned in your thread during my next purchase :)


Yes you are right I always keep my cabin bag lengthwise in Polo boot, and then my laptop backpack on top of it.

Out of the box but very good suggestion to take some frequently used luggage when you are at last stage of zeroing down car with 2 options in final round.

Thanks for correcting, after looking at THAR boot photo by Smartcat I was also thinking how this can be 600 ltrs.

Thanks for sharing this example !

My dad had an Eeco for 10 years. He bought it for the boot space :-p An absent loading lip, no protruding wheel arches, ample room under the seats as well. If bootspace and GC are your only constrains then you know where to lookrl:

PS - Yes I know it doesn't have any safety features except a seatbelt :Frustrati

Honda Amaze CVT sedan with 400 litre boot space seems the best in Rs 10 Lac budget as many CSUV and Hatchbacks are higher cost and have much lower bootspace while premium sedans and suv are all beyond Rs 15 Lacs :)

1 million rupees sounds a lot more than it actually is.

Boot space depends totally on the different needs of a person and also the car with the largest amount of litres might not be the most practical. They measure the litres with a liquid. Air.

The things you put inside won't be liquid. So boot shape, load lip, boot lid style(sedan or hatchback), etc play more important roles than boot capacity in litres.

For example, I can't carry as much stuff as in my Octavia, in the X Trail that I own. This mainly is due to the fact that the boot of the X Trail does not have a proper shape to hold things in place, and is also much shorter and shallower.

And after all that, it comes down to personal preference.

But at the the end of the day, theirs to their own.

Cheers
OctYFAN

IMO Boot space is an over thought feature. The more there is the more you'd want to fill it. During my Mumbai - Kerala trips, my honda city's 500 litre had stuff just because my wife and mother saw space in it. On the other hand I have misused my Chevy Spark by loading it with 20 cpus and monitors while shifting my office. Except for the drivers seat there was something or the other everywhere. Though it worked, in hindsight I have realised a car is not the place to move "goods". So unless you frequently travel with humongous luggage a regular boot should do the trick. But yeah, this does not apply to the XUV 3OO as that is way to little for the price paid!

Boot space is a tricky thing. Infact when I bought Octavia in 2016 boot space was never a parameter for buying a car. Then slowly the comfort of having a big boot started growing on you. It was a blessing in many situations like getting back from my native (Kerala) with all those extra things that your parents pack ��. Even during house shifting it came really handy, and also those multiple airport runs.
Last year I started thinking of upgrading to 3 series, but I just cannot think about living with such a small boot space. I did not find it worth upgrading to Superb, also the car is too big for my liking. Finally got some mods done on Octavia and decided to keep it for more years.
Hoping soon I will get out of the boot space obsession and will be ready to own a 3 series. For now I am super happy with Octavia.

As several people mentioned here, bootspace measured by the number of litres is quite deceptive unless you check the boot in person. Even in the XUV500 we fold one seat in the 3rd row and it's quite sufficient to carry luggage of 4-5 people. In some cars due to spare tyre, the boot space is unusable at most.
It depends on how you stack your luggage.

This is my car's boot loaded to the brim for a family of four with a fortnight's worth luggage. Car in question is a Ford EcoSport (without the cargo management system)with 352L of bootspace


Happy car shopping and hope you're able to pick the one which suits your head and heart.

Hi NickKhol123,

I completely agree with your concern regarding car safety. I would like to add rear disk breaks should be considered for car safety. Unfortunately in India car makes do not thing much about it. I am searching for an CSUV or sedan Car from past few months. Took test drive of most of CSUVs. Budget of 15 Lakhs. Could not find any with proper with the below requirements under 15 L:

1. Rear Disk brakes
2. Six air bags
3. Child isofix
4. Seat height adjustment
5. CVT or TC
6. Anti-lock breaks with EBD
7. EBS
8. Traction control
9. Rear parking sensors and camera

Now looking forward for Kushaq and Taigun.

This is a useful thread and a peeve for me too. Replying to several points here.

* Current car is Fiat Punto, it was bought with boot space as one primary consideration. (At that time, in my budget, the only comparable option was VW Polo.)

* It's going strong at 11 years, 95000+ km, has been on many outstation trips. But the time may come soon to think of replacing it. Boot space remains major consideration. Seriously considering Tata Altroz, Renault Kiger, among others. No way I'd get a Swift, Wagon-R, etc.

* About the volume vs compactness thing: depends on the luggage. For rail/air trips we tend to put everything in 2-3 suitcases. But for road trips it's 1, maybe 2 medium suitcases and lots of smaller bags. Those can generally be fitted into the boot without much trouble. This is a family of 2 adults, 1 child, 1 dog.

* But, seriously, manufacturers—why aren't you offering more boot space?

* Are there any "liftback" sedans in India, where the entire back including rear windscreen lifts up? The biggest advantage of hatchback is that you can fold down the rear seat and really fill up the car (if there aren't too many passengers). A liftback sedan, with a 60:40 rear seat split, would be a good option for small families who may have lots of luggage.

When I wrote that I was thinking of the old Wagon-R. It appears that the current model has sharply increased boot space, mostly in vertical axis. I was taken aback by the figure in the first post, 341L, but saw a photo of a loaded boot and it's impressive. Still, for various other reasons (including looks!) I'm not tempted by it...

Wouldn't be fair to compare cars sold in the US with what we get here. What is termed as essential there is luxury here.

Boot space has never been a criteria during any of my purchases but yes, it would be good to have some decent capacity when the occasion asks for it. I find the 60:40 split folding rear seats to be very useful since it can can accommodate a lot more if the number of passengers are less. Yes, there is the risk of objects turning projectile in case of an accident. Another option would be to go with a roof carrier box, but not everyone likes that. Currently the boot in my 5th gen City is pretty good enough to take on for boot duties.

Perhaps this isn’t fashionable, but for overall value from hauling people, luggage, peace of mind reliability, maintenance, spares, whatever, nothing really seems to come close to the Ertiga. And the current version petrol is a decently peppy mill. I have friends who’ve driven all manner of luxury and 4x4 cars through the Nilgiris all their lives who were pleasantly surprised by it when they took it for a whirl. XL6 - dunno if the extra money is worth the so-called image uplift. It’s fundamentally the same car.

Having said which, man you’ll have to do a few TDs to see if anything can truly replace that Wagon R of yours. We had a 2006 Wagon R (bought from True Value in 2008) which we sold in 2016. And boy have we missed it. Sure it was barebones and had no bells and whistles. But that 1.1L 4 cylinder engine in that boxy body is the epitome of how the Japanese truly understand engineering and usability. This was to be my mum’s car for her return to driving after some 15 odd years and I hated that form at first sight, with a passion. I argued vehemently against it but my folks had been convinced by a close cousin who runs one of the biggest auto showrooms in Coimbatore. I always found it ironic that he would recommend it because he’s been into the racing scene for more than 30 years. But, dayummmmm, how he was right!!! That little thing was always so fun to drive in city with that ridiculous turning radius and pep just when you needed it. Light, manoeuvrable, quick and absolutely reliable. My folks traded it in for the nex gen Wagon R and honestly I wasn’t too involved and didn’t do any research, and have regretted it ever since. The horrible, puny 3 cylinder engine jettisoned all its charm. I understand yours is the LPG version but I’m sure the handling is the same. Ours packed in huge volumes of luggage though thanks to that boxy design. I’m told the new 1.2 is a gem, and if it handles anything like the old one, I’d just take it blindly. Having said all of which, if your Wagon R is doing fine just keep it because you’re getting virtually nothing for it in a trade in. Unless parking is such a challenge that it makes life impossible. We’ve just refurbished the better half’s 17 year old Alto and I’m still delighted at how it drives. Totally worth keeping it even if it becomes the third car the house.

Of course, if you can stretch your budget to a City, that would be great (how are people recommending the City to people even with a budget of 8L? What’m I missing??) but the Ciaz also has ridiculous amounts of space with a decent engine (the same one that does duty in the Ertiga). Enough has been said about how space design is as important so I won’t get into it. Skoda - fun, but think about how long you plan to hold on to it. If more than five years, it ‘might’ not be the one for you. Certainly more peace of mind with MS and Honda for sure.

It all boils down to how important is the boot to you. I am not sure of the issue you are trying to point out. On one hand, you have mentioned that cars in the US come with loaded features and you hardly have to think about it. You have safe cars in India, like the Nexon, XUV3OO. You are spoilt for choice in almost every segment. For every need there is a car, you just have to check what works for you best in terms of practicality. For my needs, the XUV has not taken a full boot luggage till now. For my family of 4, that is more than comfortable. I see people who complain about boot space in sedans like the City (which is big). It's just about what you need and what works for you.