[Kumaran93R]

I had a Figo 1.4 TDCi Turbo Diesel and drove it for 1.94L kms. Wonderful car with a fun and communicative steering, just let down by the lack of top end grunt.

Wanted to retain the same Ford traits of fun steering, great handling and reasonable service costs and got a Fiesta 1.6 S. It lacks the bottom punch of the 1.4 TDCi mill, but more than makes up for it with its 6.8k rpm redline, even better handling and better top end punch.

Now I'm looking for a turbo petrol which will give the best of both worlds.

[Jeevith]

Made the mistake once, bought the S-Cross 1.3 instead of the 1.6. But have course corrected with all my future purchases, Seltos 1.5 Turbo DCT (July 2022), i20 N Line ( October 2022) and the 1.5 Turbo Verna ( May 2023).

Like one of the comments mentioned earlier, the car is built around the engine. But even there, the best features (i.e., top end versions) usually come with the best spec engine only.

So yes, for a purchase that is made not so frequently, why skimp.

[ThatCarGuy]

Opted for "Overall happy with the engine choice". Basically, I have mostly driven "not that fun to drive" cars throughout, be it the Tata Indigo Diesel, The old Amby, or the trusted 1.2L i10 and i20 (fun to drive in the city, but can't call it a performer on highways). But then I got to experience my first brush with Turbo, the Ford EcoSport 1L, the EcoBoost, oh my, what a car, except for the occasional turbo lag. So decided that my next car would be a turbo engine.

So I got myself the Seltos 1.4L Turbo, GT Line, and never regretted even a single bit of it.

I only kick myself for not taking an Automatic instead of my MT, and all thanks to Bangalore traffic, do I even need to start on that?

[turbowhistle]

Originally Posted by shabih

I think fundamentally the answer lies in what your reference point is. For example - someone upgrading from a 1.2 MPI Polo to a 1.0 Virtus/Taigun may find punchiness missing from the engine in the initial revs (mostly where you'll remain in your day-to-day city driving). It will feel like a more powerful car once the turbo kicks in at slightly higher revs. So eventually you may not see what was the 'upgrade' here. For this group, a 1.5 ltr Virtus/Taigun will be a sensible 'upgrade'. Someone coming from a later model of Polo 1.0 MPI may find the 1.0 ltr Virtus perfectly adequate because their current car had a lackluster performance.

Bang on, this is what happened with us as well. We bought a 1.0 turbo petrol Venue in 2020 after having 1.2L i20 for almost 5 years. The turbo lag in first and second gear for Venue makes it a bit cumbersome to drive in city traffic where the car is used mostly and we miss the ease of i20 a lot. However things are good on open roads as the car has more than enough power for Indian roads once the turbo spools in.

Another factor is abysmal fuel efficiency we get with Venue, I have never seen anything more than 10kmpl in the last 30,000km and it goes down to 7-7.5 for city drives. More than once I have wondered if we made the wrong choice and should have just gotten the Creta instead.

[Sk8r]

When I bought my first car in 2018. I had a budget that could get me the Trend / Titanium variant of Freestyle Petrol or the "Base variant" of the lovely 1.5 L TDCi.

I went with the latter and added a good HU + speaker combo and I have never been happier with my choice.

[Toni]

I have been driving 3 cylinder engine cars below 1L most of life as my commute is always within the city.

The last car I had was Chevy Beat Diesel which was 936 cc. Althought it was a fun to drive peppy car, my current car 1.1 L - 4 cylinder Santro 3rd gen is way above it in bumper to bumper traffic and also very refined and smooth.

My next car will be definately above 1.1L.

[donlealdie]

I had the regret of not purchasing a 1.5L 110 bhp Duster in 2016, instead got myself a 1.5L diesel 85bhp ride. In highway drives he performs flawlessly but still the grunt for more power and lack of a 6th gear has left me wanting for more. Still not wanting to part ways with my old trusted steed and gonna keep him till the government says I cant.

[PN/P-]

Its a mixed feeling. For the most part the smaller engine is a satisfactory feeling, only sometimes in very specific situations it feels like a bigger engine choice would have been better. Overall, have always been happy with the engine choice because they are fuel efficient and was the cheape options to begin with.

[saikishor]

I might be the only exception here, but if I had a chance I would have suggested my parents to buy the 1.0 Diesel Beat over the bigger 1.2 Petrol Beat.

Back in 2010, the diesel wasnt launched when we bought our Beat. The petrol motor feels like a dud when compared to the competition. It doesnt rev freely at all and coupled with the tall gearing it makes matters worse.

Credit where it is due, top end performance is great, as my car still touches 160kph even after 13 years and even the refinement of the petrol motor is unmatched in the segment. Clutch feels really light compared to other cars.

Those were the positives. Coming to the negatives, the petrol motor honestly feels like a dud when compared to the diesel. It doesnt excel in the mileage department, has average driveability and useless top end performance which is useless for most.

So yes sometimes I do feel our car was a diesel version, especially after looking at those droolworthy mileage numbers, tank range and the mild turbo kick in.

[Zippy_wheels]

Originally Posted by shabih

I think fundamentally the answer lies in what your reference point is. For example - someone upgrading from a 1.2 MPI Polo to a 1.0 Virtus/Taigun may find punchiness missing from the engine in the initial revs (mostly where you'll remain in your day-to-day city driving). It will feel like a more powerful car once the turbo kicks in at slightly higher revs. So eventually you may not see what was the 'upgrade' here. For this group, a 1.5 ltr Virtus/Taigun will be a sensible 'upgrade'. Someone coming from a later model of Polo 1.0 MPI may find the 1.0 ltr Virtus perfectly adequate because their current car had a lackluster performance.

Sorry but my experience has been very different. I had the polo 1.2 mpi and switched to virtus 1.0 AT. Pickup wise Virtus feels punchier even at low rpm's. Tap a little and the comparison becomes meaningless. The upgrade is not just the engine - for me it is the space, the features (rain sensing wipers, auto+ led headlamps, sunroof, infotainment etc. ), and the extra power that makes it a big upgrade. Polo was not really that comfortable due to lack of space, stiffer suspension etc.

[Joe367]

We bought the 0.8L Kwid when it was launched. Although 1.0L option wasn't available at the time, we had also shortlisted Alto K10. We didn't go for k10 as I wasn't a fan of it's design and it offered less space inside. It's my first car and I didn't have any idea on how much small differences in power figures changes the overall driving experience. It is very difficult to drive around with four passengers and AC- even in cities. Always wished it had bit more power to compensate for the loss from having the AC on.

[Gummybear]

In 2007, I got Hyundai GetZ prime 1.1, while 1.3 litre variant was also available. Performance was fine as it was mostly driven with in city limits (office commutes) and with one or two occupants. Only few occasions when it felt bit underpowered was with full load (5 occupants and luggage).

[aayusht]

voted: Mixed experience. Mostly fine, but with occasional regrets.

Back in 2009 December, I bought my first car - a Hyundai i10 with the 1.1L iRDE engine. It was the cheapest Hyundai i10 and among the cheapest entry level cars besides the Alto, Eon maybe a few more.
I had chosen it over the Ritz Lxi and the Hyundai i10 Magna with the 1.2L Kappa engine.

Couple of times, I could feel that the iRDE engine was struggling on expressways and had the thought that the 1.2L might have been a better choice albeit a little more expensive.

I am sure that in hindsight, many would have the wishful thinking - "If only I could have stretched my budget just a little bit more to guy the more powerful engine", but i reality, it might actually be difficult to stretch the budget.

[rarcar]

I bought the Fiat punto 1.3 MJD 10 years back.

Overall I am very happy with the car, however there are times when I have felt, I should have gone for Linea or 90HP.

[thedragonreborn]

12 years ago, when my folks had their hearts set on the Etios twins, we ended up with the Liva. Having driven the full of buzzing bees 4pot in sedan, the Liva is positively mediocre on the highway. A more than gentle slope is enough to defeat it and you can never pack it to the gills using the excellent space on offer.

Learnt a valuable lesson and when looking for a reliable beater, I picked up a sparingly used 1.6 S-Cross 6 months ago. It now is my go-to work horse even on the Mumbai-Pune runs, over my Hexa. Stonking performance, often giving more powerful models a run for their egos