[RaguHolla]

If only Indian road sense improves (including Authorities), I am would eager to downsize to cycle for everyday travel under 15km (on way)! Sigh!

[throttleking]

Originally Posted by sam_sant2005

You own one of the best luxury sedans in town, both class and power. Downshifting from Magnum is, to me, suicidal! Instead my suggestion is, go buy an Alto or if not an i10 for city use. With two cars your pride will further increase

I am sure it is suicidal I will miss those 120bhps madly. I am not considering buying a second small car, thats not "downshifting"

Originally Posted by smartcat

I am seriously considering "downshifting" from my 1.8 Petrol Optra LT to a diesel Grande Punto or i20.

Reasons why I'm thinking about downshifting:

- My "Big car" has only a driver airbag. Modern small cars have dual airbags, ABS & EBD. Some like i20 have 6 airbags.

- I do 15,000 to 20,000 km a year - so I need a car with low running & maintenance costs.

- My big car has comforts like sunroof & leather interiors. However, I can add a sunroof from Webasto and head to Stanley Boutique for some nice cow skin!

- My big car has electric gadgets like auto folding mirrors, 5 CD changer & 8 speakers. But who listens to CD anymore? Modern small cars like Punto/i20 have USB MP3 playback, and speakers can be replaced with new ones. i20's gadget list is truly mindboggling.

- My big car is a good looking car designed by Pininfarina (Italy). But nothing in comparison to the true Italian Grande Punto.

- My big car can hit 100 kmph in 11 seconds. But small diesel cars have better driveability.

- My big car has a big boot (405 litres) for highway runs. But small cars like Punto/i20 are not bad in the department (280 & 300 litres).

- My big car has excellent leg room in the rear. But I don't have friends or relatives who are 6 feet tall who will be using all that space!

- My big car gives me respect and prestige ("Hmm, looks like this guy is quite well to do"). But I have to shell out more money when traffic cops get hold of me. And street vendors rip me off by charging me 20% more when I take my car to do vegetable shopping

Agree with you, I am following your small car analysis thread, though the Punto is finding place towards the end, it is still on top for me.

Originally Posted by Fordmanchau

I think people who own a sedan sould stick to Sedans. A boot though occasionally used comes handy when you have to load the luggage. All car can seat five,even a M800 but if you need to pack people with luggage, then you need a boot.And that one time when your boot is utilised, you feel like you are blessed to have a car with a boot.I have utilised my Ikon's boot a lot many times. Though most times it's just me and my wife, but whenever we have relatives visiting and the boot is packed, we feel that we invested wisely in a sedan.
No downgrades for me to a hatch. It has to be Sedan. But can think of a hatch as a second car.

I agree with you on occasional use of boot, when needed, it is the best thing to have.

Originally Posted by mkh

All are only useful on the highway. I am contemplating moving to a hatch but the problem is that all the hatches are underpowered when it comes to having the occasional full 5 seated.

If there was hatch that could match the power of Magnum, for me decision would have been easier. Palio 1.6 or Fusion 1.6 or even Fiesta 1.6 (although Sedan) can not satiate my appetite after owning Magnum for 2+ years.

Originally Posted by sukrit7

why will it be considered a downgrade?
modern hatches provide as much comfort and safety as sedans,also lower costs and so much easier to park/drive in limited space. it's a sensible choice. I for one would probably get a hatchback once I sell the baleno

With the kind of hatches being launched and are available today, i am sure it is not truely downgrading. Everyone dreams of a big car, own one and then you start dreaming about another big car. That has been the mentality of of humans. However, believe you me after seeing the recent hatch launches, I started dreaming about a Hatchback, thats why this thread. Otherwise i was planning to upgrade in next few years to Fortuner or something similar.

Having said that, as many as 90% people will not recognise a premium hatch, for them small car is a small car. Doesnt matter if drive around 8-9 lac Fabia/I20/Jazz.

Originally Posted by sidindica

I got a shock in 2000 when my dad sent off his 1994 padmini for good and purchased a daewoo matiz. I just thought-big things come in small packages and just after experiencing the amount of legroom in the matiz, all my thoughts were quelled. nippy little fun to drive hatch, it was a marvel in interior packaging and served us for well over six figure kms before we replaced it with the santro in 2006. I simply hate the legspace on offer inside the santro as compared to matiz.

In our localities, maybe due to size constraints or parking problems, 2 people sold off their 8 year old accents for i10 kappas.

Sid, I think age old padmini to Matiz is an upgrade, I am talking about owning a truely big luxorious and powerfull car then down shifting to a Hatch.

Originally Posted by vinaydas

we have a Palio , an Innova and a Camry so concept of downshifting does not apply as we already have vehicles of different segments.
personally i don't feel either the innova or the camry a pain to drive in the city.
The Congested roads make even a biker to suffer in the city , so a few extra CM's of wheelbase really matter.
running costs are a different issue altogether.

Spot on, I drive my Jiju Petrol Innova around the city and on highways, have driven Ikon for a year and driving a Magnum since last 2+ years. I personally never found it difficult to drive or to park. Still i mentioned that as a reason to change from big car to small car, because many people find hatchbacks better and easy to drive and park.

Originally Posted by v&v

Real coincidence to find this thread. I am in process of down shift one of my sedan.

Reason - Parking - At residence a big issue
Economics - Planning a diesel hatchback - Daily running 80-120 kms /day
Lower cost of maintenance and running cost.
My wify too want to drive around - A strict no no to my baleno and safari.

Of course my view of down shifting holds good if you own multiple cars, otherwise i am not in for it.

Of course if you have another big car in home, its not downshifting then. You get small car as your second car.

====

By the way I ripped my Magnum one more time this morning, ohh my god what a power.

Fiat please bring on the Punto Sports.

[v&v]

Originally Posted by throttleking

Of course if you have another big car in home, its not downshifting then. You get small car as your second car.

By the way I ripped my Magnum one more time this morning, ohh my god what a power.

Fiat please bring on the Punto Sports.

TK, downshifting mean for me is the car which i would be frequently driving. My frequent car is banelo, i want to downshift to a diesel hatch which will be extensively used in for city rides.

v&v

[JishD]

I downshifted from Astra to Palio 1.6 because of MAJOR parking issues in Mumbai. Then I shifted to Delhi and missed the carpet ride :(
On the flip side, I now have a pocket rocket which surprises everyone once in a while (even the fuel pump attendant )

[h@r$h@l]

Hello,

we currently own a Cedia & Wagon R. For our future purchase we are planning a mid segment Hatch (swift or figo) as our 3rd car and sometime next year sell off the cedia and go for a premium hatch such as Jazz or i20 diesel to full fill out occasional highway trips.

with the growing city traffic i would prefer a hatch and also with the options in premium hatch, they are as safe as a sedan. recently we drove to udaipur and back in a friends Jazz and it felt great.

Cheers

[agspins]

I am planning to go from not so big car Accent viva to anything from a Figo,Ritz to i20,which are technologically better to my present car as well as are spacious enough.

[lifeonwheels]

For someone like me going to a hatch from a sedan is very hard. As of now I need to carry my 9 month -old son's stroller wherever we go. A few months later there will be other baby stuff and add to it that I mostly have a couple of friends on weekends. So with 4 people and a baby on board I do not prefer having any luggage in the cabin. Also, I frequently undertake long-drives so a hatch won't just be able to do it for me.

Regarding parking, well even my wife manges to confortably drive the Cedia even in the most clogged streets during peak hours and doesn't complain much. Same goes for me. hence a hatch at the cost of a sedan is a complete no for me. However, a hatch as a 2nd car mainly for my wife to drive around is what I am looking forward to.

One more reason is that I can't think of any hatch which comes close to Cedia Sports in terms of performance. While Polo and Punto are good handlers their engine isn't a treat and about i20's handling, the less said the better.

[arun1100]

My dad downsized from a Padmini to a Alto!

[inreverse]

Nice Thread! In all my list of cars previously owned I never had a single hatch. I'm used to sedans and I can't downgrade. I guess my taste never really relishes on hatches no matter how hot they are.

Got married. Wify was a die hard swift driver, but now even she feels the difference while she takes my Linea for a ride

Sedan -> Hatch = Practicality
Hatch -> Sedan = Mentality

[MileCruncher]

I downshifted from Jaguar to Astra and then to Uno

[newcoolgadgets]

For me the ideal situation is having 2 cars in the garage. When I need a small car for short runs, I usually take out my Zen VXi. And when I have to do longer runs or have to impress a client, I take out the Verna SX CRDi.

But the irony is, that the 110 BHP, 240 Nm Torque monster, Verna SX, is cheaper to run than the puny 60 BHP Zen VXi !! So I wonder whether I am actually downshifting in terms of fuel economy when I am driving the smaller Zen.

What do you think?

[narayan]

Originally Posted by newcoolgadgets

For me the ideal situation is having 2 cars in the garage. When I need a small car for short runs, I usually take out my Zen VXi. And when I have to do longer runs or have to impress a client, I take out the Verna SX CRDi.

But the irony is, that the 110 BHP, 240 Nm Torque monster, Verna SX, is cheaper to run than the puny 60 BHP Zen VXi !! So I wonder whether I am actually downshifting in terms of fuel economy when I am driving the smaller Zen.

What do you think?

not really. dont look at fuel cost alone.

[jacksons]

By the way I ripped my Magnum one more time this morning, ohh my god what a power.

Fiat please bring on the Punto Sports

.
Fiat punto is coming on June 17, Check Punto test drive Thread By GTO.

[anilkalvani]

I believe in it for the simple reason(s). Main reasons bring parking in our building & traffic. We sold our Accent Viva 1.6 and bought an i10 A/T. And NO, i don't feel embarrassed that i got a smaller car because it was deliberate and a conscious decision. See the condition of our roads and the horrendous traffic, its not worth. Plus the nimble i10 with its light steering is a boon changing lanes in traffic from Andheri Kurla Road to Bandra West, its super convenient & the automatic is a lifesaver in traffic. For our Airport trips once or twice a year, we have the Logan (Which we will be selling soon). And when my wife & i travel then we always get Meru from the airport. I care a damn if people think of my image, sorry, i don't buy that argument. That shows their shallowness. As long as i am content within, its all that matters.

[FlyingSpur]

I did. And it's the best thing we ever did.

Accent to i20. And not a shade of regret. Took some convincing for Dad to take the plunge, but he agrees that it was the best decision we could have taken. All the comforts, all the equipment, none of the redundant bulk. Fuel efficient, and a looker too.