[opendro]

Originally Posted by JayD

Shaju, the i20 1.4 and crdi is being launched tomorrow. I suggest you give it a try too.

Wow! Nothing would beat i20 with 1.4 90bhp CRDi. But be ready to shell out a huge price over and above the Punto price. I would say, 75K above Punto for similarly specced 90bhp i20 should be really worth.

[VahanPujari]

Originally Posted by opendro

But be ready to shell out a huge price over and above the Punto price. I would say, 75K above Punto for similarly specced 90bhp i20 should be really worth.

At that Price point, wouldn't i20 CRDI start competing with Linea then, atleast from Price point of view? A buyer generally identifies a car, its price & then checks at that price plus or minus 50K, what are other cars available.

[extreme_torque]

Test drove the Punto MJD back to back with the Jazz and apart from interiors quality and a little more interior space, there is no competition. With 5 people in the car with the AC on at full blast, the Jazz with the weedy 1.2 struggled to move unless given a hammering and full throttle treatment, Punto on the other hand was effortless at anything over 1700 rpm.
Suspension, ride and handling is different story altogether. The Punto just smoothered rough roads and potholes like they never existed while Jazz crashed and through and made all sorts of noises. I am really apalled by the suspension setup in the Jazz. Havent driven the i20 but I am not sure if it would match Fiat's ride and handling balance, let alobe bettering it.

[pmbabu]

Originally Posted by VahanPujari

At that Price point, wouldn't i20 CRDI start competing with Linea then, atleast from Price point of view? A buyer generally identifies a car, its price & then checks at that price plus or minus 50K, what are other cars available.

Well, that's where Hyundai's "value" comes in.

[VahanPujari]

Originally Posted by pmbabu

Well, that's where Hyundai's "value" comes in.

Hmmm. Would be very interesting to see the sales charts of i20 CRDi, if they price it some 50K lower than MJD Linea.
No, does that mean a pricing to be 8 L-8.5 L OTR for 1.4 i20 CRDi ?

[opendro]

Originally Posted by VahanPujari

At that Price point, wouldn't i20 CRDI start competing with Linea then, atleast from Price point of view? A buyer generally identifies a car, its price & then checks at that price plus or minus 50K, what are other cars available.

I take it this way. With 1.4 90bhp CRDi Hyundai engine, it will be 14bhp better than the Punto. That itself qualifies for another 30-50K premium over Punto. I'm sure, Punto would be priced a bit above its current price if they had offered their 86bhp multijet. Then another 30-40K premium for Hyundai brand (better finish, space, A.S.S. blah blah). I'm not trying to say that i20 is a better car overall. But surely, many people will pay 50-75K premium over Punto for a 90bhp CRDI i20 (again, I mean only similarly specced i20, not a tin box like the Getz CRDI).

[Vid6639]

Last week got a chance to drive the Punto Emotion Pack 1.4L Petrol. Had a nice long TD of more than 20kms to get a good feel of the car.

Most of the points have been covered so I'll post my observations.

- The rear legroom is pretty cramped as everyone has mentioned but the seat width is very good allowing people to sit 3 abreast pretty easily.
- Front foot well for the driver is cramped and your foot hits the dead pedal often while shifting. I got used to it later but still not to my liking.
- The clutch has ridiculously huge travel and the clutch pedal juts out by more than 2 inches compared to the brake and accelerator. I have long feet and it was a pain to lift the foot so much bring it towards me then press the clutch. This was a deal breaker for me. Just poor ergonomics. Short guys may not have the problem, but 3 of us who are just short 6" had the same problem with clutch and dead pedal.
- 1.4L petrol is nothing to write home about. Very ordinary performance. Struggled to reach 90kmph with 5 on board. Good for sedate driving.
- The engine sound note is very sweet. Loved the exhaust sound.
- Downshifting was super smooth in this car. 80kmph fifth gear, slow down to 70kmph and put it into second, rev match and its a breeze. No jerk and perfectly matches the lower gear. This was fun.
- Ride and handling. The 195/60-15 GT3's give up well before the chasis. This is one of the best handling cars I have driven. The ride is not bad either, a little hard but acceptable.
- Mileage is as expected poor. In that 20kms drive the needle visibly went down and the trip computer showed avg. consumption for the trip was 14litres/100kms.

Like I said good car but the clutch pedal placement and the lack lustre engine is enough reason for me to discount this car.

ps: The guy from prerana motors thought I was a fiat Palio 1.6 fan or a fiat club member since I knew so much about the car. Plus the TD I took him on, got him excited. He asked if I was a racing driver as he had never seen the car driven like this in earlier TD's. Usually people would just thrash the car but this was smooth still super quick and he didn't get scared. I did 130kmph with 4 on board but it took ages and involved redlining each gear.

[extreme_torque]

@vid... which car was the benchmark when you said the ride isnt bad?

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

@vid... which car was the benchmark when you said the ride isnt bad?

There was no benchmark. I am comparing it to cars I drove recently namely my Alto, my friend's i10, the i20, the new Laura, the Corolla Altis and my friend's Getz.

All these ride better than the Punto. However the Punto rides better than my Lancer. The lancer has good handling but at the cost of ride.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by vid6639

There was no benchmark. I am comparing it to cars I drove recently namely my Alto, my friend's i10, the i20, the new Laura, the Corolla Altis and my friend's Getz.

All these ride better than the Punto. However the Punto rides better than my Lancer. The lancer has good handling but at the cost of ride.

Are you saying the i10, Alto and Getz ride better than a Punto?

[coolboy007]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Are you saying the i10, Alto and Getz ride better than a Punto?

No way i think Vid wants to say i10, Alto and Getz ride better than a Punto. The ride quality of Punto is way better than the hatchbacks and small cars present, it can even challange some Sedans on the ride comfort.

Maybe, he wants to say that the ride quality of Punto is marginally or "just" better than the cars mentioned. I will be amazed if you mean Alto and i 10 are even near compared to the ride of Punto.

I have had a short hop in a punto and it gobbles potholes many times better than Alto or i10. The ride quality is similar to Linea i must say.

[ntrack]

Originally Posted by opendro

I take it this way. With 1.4 90bhp CRDi Hyundai engine, it will be 14bhp better than the Punto. That itself qualifies for another 30-50K premium over Punto. I'm sure, Punto would be priced a bit above its current price if they had offered their 86bhp multijet. Then another 30-40K premium for Hyundai brand (better finish, space, A.S.S. blah blah). I'm not trying to say that i20 is a better car overall. But surely, many people will pay 50-75K premium over Punto for a 90bhp CRDI i20 (again, I mean only similarly specced i20, not a tin box like the Getz CRDI).

Hyundai is really not concerned much with pricing, as they usually get to their projected volumes in India. Their major target is exports.
However, one can expect Hyundai to make a blunder of the pricing of i20 CRDi, as in the case of Getz. A reason why the latter bombed!

The Swift (petrol)was never as spacious as Getz & also did not have an FE to boast about, but its pricing & looks (part from it being a Maruti) were the 2 factors that left the Getz eating dust

As far as comparisons with Punto go, the i20 has better interior quality & marginally more space but is a less match for driving pleasure, looks, ride, equipment & price. Perceptions for VFM therefore, shall differ from person to person. In view of changing market dynamics, every car will have its niche!

[neotraveller]

Hasn't pulling seat backwards helped (as you said you have long legs)? Or are you used to being very close to the steering wheel when driving?

Also. the 1.4L 90 bhp engine should be one of the more powerful petrol hatches considering what the competition has in offer.
This engine is peculiar (I am telling you out of experience from my linea). It feels really constrained (especially in 2nd gear) in the initial weeks. After about 500km running, it has freed up and has good amount of pull.

Point is, in Linea it feels adequately powered. So same engine should be quite fast in Punto.

Originally Posted by vid6639

Like I said good car but the clutch pedal placement and the lack lustre engine is enough reason for me to discount this car.

[Vid6639]

If you notice all the car's I mentioned apart from the Laura are tuned with a soft suspension setup. They may not handle as well but sure do ride very well.

The Punto is tuned very well but it is on the harder side. I drive on the same road everytime and I don't really bother how well the car takes the potholes. I see how comfortable the passengers are in the back and how comfortable I am driving fast over a bad piece of road at a certain speed.

If the passengers complain of being thrown around or if I have to slow down considerably to take a bad patch of road then I would say the ride is not the best.

In case of i10, i20, Getz, Alto, Laura, Altis and Optra Magnum I never had to slow down nor did anyone complain. The i10 and Alto were not the best as faster speeds means they pitch a lot more.

For the Punto I took the same stretch of road as I do everyday at the same speed that I take in my Alto and I was told to slow down by the rear seat passengers as they were getting thrown around. I'm not talking crazy speeds, I'm saying 30kmph over a mud road which I use as reference for all the TD's.

Also as a benchmark for ride, the best for me is the Optra Magnum. That has a magic carpet ride.

The worst of the bunch was the ANHC closely followed by my Lancer.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by neotraveller

Hasn't pulling seat backwards helped (as you said you have long legs)? Or are you used to being very close to the steering wheel when driving?

I drive with the seat full back till it can go no more. Then the recline position is also adjusted to 135degrees. It's like sleeping. Noone can sit in the back when I drive. In my Alto to change lanes I look out of the rear window as that's where the seat is.

Also. the 1.4L 90 bhp engine should be one of the more powerful petrol hatches considering what the competition has in offer.
This engine is peculiar (I am telling you out of experience from my linea). It feels really constrained (especially in 2nd gear) in the initial weeks. After about 500km running, it has freed up and has good amount of pull.

The car I drove had done more than 3000kms. It was redlining wonderfully and sounded very smooth. It was sounding good and driving very well but when you look at the speedo you think you are going faster but it's not the case.

Point is, in Linea it feels adequately powered. So same engine should be quite fast in Punto.

Depends on your interpretation of fast. It was fast if you compare it to my Alto or the i20 I drove recently but I expected more.