[ranc]

Originally Posted by shatrughna

I have SX with ABS (Verna) and my experience has been other way round. While stopping/ slowing there is absolutely no problem but if suddenly floor the throttle in second gear car suddently pulls in awkward way , steers to heavily towards left as a drunken monk.

I dont know how it feels /seems from outside- does it really veers too much or is it just I feel, but it definitely has helped me a couple of times, overtake that bad taxi driver who thinks he can cut from left or that Best Bus driver who thinks who owns the whole road and suddenly steers right at full throttle in a sticky situation. Only care that I have to take is that I have to hold the steering tightly in straight line.

Shatru, You are right it is fatal to buy a Verna without ABS, the one I drove was without the ABS and hence the observation. As far as the other problem check your alignment, I am no expert but looks like an alignment problem.

[asr245]

Originally Posted by ranc

Guys

Only two cars in the sub 12 Lakh category that I have taken at a sustained 150 + speeds are Civic & Verna. Verna is the quicker of the two, I think I could easily cruise at 175 + but at that speed once I needed to break and the car just didnt know which way to go. Civic will easily cruise at 150 and is much well behaved in terms of handling at that speed.

I really really really doubt that Verna is the faster of the 2.. if you mean pick-up and not top speed (I am not sure about the top speed of the 2). Stock civic is faster than a stock OHC VTEC (I have driven both and tried the 0-100 dash in both). Civic clearly felt the faster of the 2. According to various mags I have read, the verna is a close 2nd to the ford fiesta in a 0-100 dash with NHC VTEC the fastest for the 3.

About breaking... driving the CIVIC at ard 130kmph (on highway between Pune and Hubli) I had to brake hard as a dog came from nowhere. The car didn't even twitch under heavy breaking at that speed. I was favorably impressed!

[androdev]

Originally Posted by karan561

The SKODA family is simply outstanding in the handling segment ... i personally own a Laura M/T ... it simply is awesome when it comes to approaching the corners at high speed ...

same here. in fact, i drive easy and slow and enjoy music on straights but accelerate hard on curves. of course only when the curve is empty and with visibility, because you cant expect other cars to stick to their lane on curves. Most cars do a Formula-1 style driving on curves.

B'lore-Mysore highway has some nice curves

More than sustaining speed, you should also consider the ability to come to quick stop from 150kmph without much fuss. ABS and 4 discs are a must?

[shatrughna]

I dont have idea about acceleration figures, but as Verna ad aptly puts it- "feel it", in Verna I have never felt it underpowered or struggling for power in any gear even on the upward slopes (read Khandala ghats). Albeit if speeds are less ( below 65), then soemtimes , I have to shift to 4th gear or sometimes even 3rd , to keep the momentum and overtake.

I had test driven Civic and Verna both before buying and can tell from purely driving point of view-the only consideration I had in mind- Verna felt better tahn Civic in that one area. Problem was that I had tested Civic AT- which may have tilted the decision in favour of Verna but while I missed a lot of features that Civic has, I have no regrets that I bought Verna and I am so happy with it on highways. It also meant a lot of cost savings - obviously.

One thing for sure, I would like to share with you all is that, ABS is a wonderful feature and its so confidence insiring, specially on twists and turn and more so when you are overtaking on a turn- its a boon.

[RROD]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

. I'm sure 150 shouldn't be a problem in the skoda rs or fiesta as they handle pretty well at high speeds..

I have a fiesta and i am glad to read this
I havent taken my car above 80 as it's still in it's run in period. The cars is so stable you never know you have reached 80 until you look at the speedometer.

[NIP]

i vote for DC Supercar

[sudhirlp]

Originally Posted by androdev

More than sustaining speed, you should also consider the ability to come to quick stop from 150kmph without much fuss. ABS and 4 discs are a must?

Layman question: Whats the recommended procedure for a quick stop at such speeds ? Just slam on the brakes ?

What happens to vehicles with / without ABS ?

What is the distance that vehicle will cover after complete break press ?

[Gangsta]

Originally Posted by sudhirlp

Layman question: Whats the recommended procedure for a quick stop at such speeds ? Just slam on the brakes ?

What happens to vehicles with / without ABS ?

What is the distance that vehicle will cover after complete break press ?

There is a big difference bet. the braking of ABS/without.

In ABS we can stear the car i.e the car will be under control while emergency braking.

Without ABS, Car will Skid here and there or in a straight line.

Cruising Cars mentioned till yet at 150 kmph have ABS. Else it is not at all safe to drive at this speed.

[EngineOil]

I did a Gurgaon to Pune trip last December in my Fiesta 1.4 Petrol. To be honest, the Skodas took the cake . On lovely GQ stretches, the Fiesta and I were doing 120-150 very comfortably. The highest being 175+ on the odo on NE-1 (Ahd-Vadodara).

At those speeds, spotted many a Skoda impatiently coming close-up. Gave them their due . I moved aside and looked on in admiration as they sped away!

[praveen_v]

Originally Posted by sudhirlp

Layman question: Whats the recommended procedure for a quick stop at such speeds ? Just slam on the brakes ?

What happens to vehicles with / without ABS ?

What is the distance that vehicle will cover after complete break press ?

ABS makes a big difference under hard-braking/braking while cornering. Infact, ABS will not come into picture under normal braking.

Braking with ABS- Very simple, Brake hard and you can still steer to some extent without losing control

Braking without ABS - Not easy. Brake hard( you need to press hard enough so that none of the wheel locks-up, and this preassure varies on different surfaces) and keep the car absolutely straight. Try to turn hard and your car goes for a spin

[aaggoswami]

I think that Suzuki Baleno is also worth a mention.
We did 175Kms (Vadodara to a remote village near Bhavnagar) in 1hr and 10mins. This was when my maternal grandfather passed away.

Regularly kept it above 170kmph and in fact was kept in the 170-175kmph on the speedo. Really good.

The wost part was Braking. Our car was bought in end 05. So although the handling was good, the braking was worst and gave us around 3-4 close calls.

But the Skoda Diesel does taked the crown. Superb handling, superb composure irrespective of the surface, toruqey engine and really good chasis.

[abhijitaparadh]

I have a Civic, but I hardly take it above 120. I have taken it upto speeds of 150 once or twice in very early morning.
I personally feel, driving on indian roads at speeds greater than 100kmph is not advisable as you never know when a stray dog, cow or any jaywalking villager will come in front of your car, especially on the new GQ section. Mumbai-Pune e-way is a bit safer since it has fences on both sides.
In case of emergency, although the car will not twitch or slide under hard braking due to ABS etc, but that question comes only after you get a chance to apply breaks. as in high speed driving the reaction time decreases exponentially with increase in speed.
Sorry to be a bit pessimistic, but I feel such threads encourage high speed driving, which might not be safe always. Just a word of caution.

[Gangsta]

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

I think that Suzuki Baleno is also worth a mention.
We did 175Kms (Vadodara to a remote village near Bhavnagar) in 1hr and 10mins. This was when my maternal grandfather passed away.

Regularly kept it above 170kmph and in fact was kept in the 170-175kmph on the speedo. Really good.

The wost part was Braking. Our car was bought in end 05. So although the handling was good, the braking was worst and gave us around 3-4 close calls.

But the Skoda Diesel does taked the crown. Superb handling, superb composure irrespective of the surface, toruqey engine and really good chasis.

Baleno is not a good cruiser mate. As cruising at 150 kmph needs good braking + handling. If braking is the issue then it is out of this thread's leage.

Even Santro can reach 150 kmph speeds.

I havnt included my Accent with ABS in this leage even though it is capable of cruising at 150 kmph with good braking.

Even though i covered Jaipur - Gurgaon stretch of around 210-220 km with an ease in 1 hour 45 min. with an ease. No Close Calls. My babe stopped whenever i wanted to. Not fast as you did but still average speed of above 150 kmph and i never felt any handling issues with it.

[karan561]

Originally Posted by appuchan

I am trying to find out some of the fastest sedans/hatches made/sold in India. I don't really mean "top speed" figures, as many cars are not capable of maintaining those speeds for long. I also don't mean the ones which are heavily modded for off-road purposes like rallies, races etc, even though normal street-legal mods are fine. Of course, we can exclude the sports cars/coupes, fully imported cars etc.

While traveling on highways, I have found the following cars, seemingly and maintain speeds higher than 150 kmph(~100mph).

1. Skoda RS
2. Corolla
3. Ford Fiesta (not sure if these are occasional blips)
4. Mercedes (D-class? remember seeing some old-time politicians "low-flying" on roads in Kerala)

I am sure Beemers, Audis etc are capable, but not seen many to judge.

PS. I know this "street-legal" thingie on Indian roads is a thorny issue as many of us do break the rules related to permitted mods, max speeds etc frequently

As far as the Corolla is concerned it maintains speeds excess of 160 km/h with ease but you tend to get nervous at the corners, does not handle so good as the CIVIC or the OCTAVIA at speeds excess of 160 km/h , but around 140 km/h the handling is precise .

[asr245]

Originally Posted by abhijitaparadh

I have a Civic, but I hardly take it above 120. I have taken it upto speeds of 150 once or twice in very early morning.
I personally feel, driving on indian roads at speeds greater than 100kmph is not advisable as you never know when a stray dog, cow or any jaywalking villager will come in front of your car, especially on the new GQ section. Mumbai-Pune e-way is a bit safer since it has fences on both sides.
In case of emergency, although the car will not twitch or slide under hard braking due to ABS etc, but that question comes only after you get a chance to apply breaks. as in high speed driving the reaction time decreases exponentially with increase in speed.
Sorry to be a bit pessimistic, but I feel such threads encourage high speed driving, which might not be safe always. Just a word of caution.

Lets not make it a competition of how fast we can drive no matter how good the road. The time I touched 140kmph a dog strayed onto the road. I slammed the brakes hard but I knew I wasn't going to stop in time and hit the dog hard. I was shaken and had to take a break. BTW... had it not been for the ABS and good handling... we probably too might have ended on the ditch or hit the road divider. After that I always try not to exceed 100kmph while driving my dad's OHC VTEC or 85-90 while driving my WagonR.