[Santoshbhat]

Both are fantastic drivers cars and the T-Jet would probably come out as a more VFM proposition of the two. But my main concern would be the dismally low numbers fiat is putting up with their models. With the onslaught of newer models from other car makers, Fiat seems to have no answers and sales are dwindling to a few hunderds with each one of their offerings. If I were in your shoes, I would worry about the car maker's future in our country.

Originally Posted by Aroy

As discussed in another thread the TSi, requires higher RON petrol, which may be difficult to find out side metros. Add to that the extra cost of 95 or 97 RON petrol, coupled with low FE, driving will become an expensive proposition.

THe Tsi engine works perfectly well with 91 Octane petrol. Skoda officially recommends 91/ 95 RON petrol for the Laura.

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

2) Boot space (Again T-Jet has slightly more liters of space)

Bigger boot than the Laura! You must be kidding.

[mayankjha1806]

With Rapid in the market, would you want to try the Rapid as well. As per the reviews its got fantastic engine which may (or may not be) better then the Linea. It also will have more equipment (maybe not in the same league as the Linea but much better then the Laura, which does not have alloy wheels).

Do go through the Rapid review and ownership report of @Turbo_Head.

[ajay_satpute]

Originally Posted by Santoshbhat

Bigger boot than the Laura! You must be kidding.

Santosh
You are right. I was kidding. Laura has 560 liters vs T-Jet's 500 liters.

[Swanand Inamdar]

A choice between two of the best petrol engines, this side of 15 lacs? Wow, what a predicament. Choose a relatively cheap car, but one that has all the bells and whistles, or a better engined car, thats going to be bare bone. Hmm, if you do want to save some moolah, then yes, go the T-Jet way.

But, if you dont mind spending the extra 3-4 large, then get the Laura TSi. Engine to engine, the laura stands out by a mile. But if you look at the overall package, the T-jet might just win.

Why not have a look at the used market segment? You surely can get a well used Laura TSI for the price of the T-Jet too!

Better yet, why not look at the Rapid too? The TSi in the Rapid is supposed to be good too.

[ajay_satpute]

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

Better yet, why not look at the Rapid too? The TSi in the Rapid is supposed to be good too.

Swanand bhai, Skoda did not plonk the TSI in the Rapid, unfortunately. They have put the TPI engine from Fabia, tuned for more power. This was the first question I had for the reviewers, why not TSI? Such a gem of an engine.

[Swanand Inamdar]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

Swanand bhai, Skoda did not plonk the TSI in the Rapid, unfortunately. They have put the TPI engine from Fabia, tuned for more power. This was the first question I had for the reviewers, why not TSI? Such a gem of an engine.

Ajay, sorry my bad! Yes, they did not plonk that engine in the Rapid. Its the TPi from Fabia. Dont know what world I was in when I wrote that!

But that TPi isnt that bad either. It does the job and is still pretty fun to drive.

[mnemonic]

Many a thanks all for the inputs, it certainly helped me question my own self a lot more in terms of what exactly to I want in my next car.

GTO/Sandeep/Ajay- your views really made me look a lot closer at the T-Jet and I must admit there is a lot of cred to you recommendations.

Aroy- The Yeti was our first choice as I would retain my Palio 1.6 for those moments of madness that I so love. But unfortunately, even in the 4x2/110 bhp variant, it exceeds my budget by a mile ( Around 16 L OTR Mumbai with corp regn)

Now to what transpired over the past two days:

I am in Bangalore on work and a friend of mine owns a T-Jet which has done 9k kms and he offered me his car to spend an evening with to help me make up my mind. So, last evening I spent over an hour on the T-Jet and it was quite a comprehensive test as I had encountered almost all real life conditions:

- A very tight ramp at Salarpuria towers which in a Linea is just not possible without making a three point turn at every bend, I had four of those and it made me look like a noob in front of an alto that was trailing us. The turning radius is quite a pain at 5.5 mts.

- A slow speed run on the ORR till we hit some really nasty traffic near HSR layout, experienced driving the Linea under near crawl conditions and I must admit, it was quite easy to potter around. So, peak hour runs are not a pain.

- A high speed run on the 12 km long Silk Board-Electronic City flyover. Did manage to do some decent speeds, lane switching etc and I came off impressed. But truth be told, it is an exact replica of my Palio 1.6's behaviour, be it the weight on the wheel as you tug at it or the precision response to steering,liked it but not blown away. From an engine perspective, higher gears behavior is similar to that of my Palio but nowhere close to the Laura in which you can feel the throbbing even in 5th gear. I would compare the Laura's engine to an animal on a tight leash, just raring to go and keeps firing warning shots at you. There is a "More than meets the eye" feeling while driving the Laura while the T-Jet is more transparent, a " What you see is what you get" feeling if you will. So, that living on the edge feeling I am looking for in my car? Hell O Yeah!

- So capturing my thoughts at this moment, I am quite impressed with the Linea and it certainly is a worthy addition to my garage, but will it qualify as a big upgrade from my Palio 1.6, perhaps not ( purely from a driver's angle- creature comforts be damned). I am almost certain that I will end up spending 14 Lacs on the Laura TSI and add the bells and whistles when our bonuses come along. Make it "The TSI Project" if you will.....

If I were to throw some light on my rationale- I believe that though I like the Linea now, I will grow over it in a year's time and start lusting after the Laura TSI, which is likely to cause immense strain emotionally and financially. So why postpone the inevitable, might as well face the reality ( tighten purse strings) now!

[ajay_satpute]

Originally Posted by mnemonic

GTO/Sandeep/Ajay- your views really made me look a lot closer at the T-Jet and I must admit there is a lot of cred to you recommendations.

Few things to add:

- Your concern regarding turning radius is valid, Laura's is 5.1. Infact all Fiats have this problem. Punto's turning radius is also one of the highest amongst hatchbacks.
- If you go for Laura Active,at-least you will have to add the following features from the market:

1. Floor mats (about 1-2k max)
2. Alloys (there is no limit here "Shauk badi cheeze hey")
3. Front Fog lamps (Skoda might charge a hefty amount for this. Honda charges 22k for fitting fog lamps on the base variant)
4. Leather Seat covers (Again no limit here.)

- I have experienced the turbo kicking in on the T-Jet post 3-4k RPM and it keeps moving and moving and more even in the 5th gear. Yes, it might be less neck-sapping compared to the Laura, but that's the tech spec. We are comparing 114 horses to 160 horses and a 1368 CC engine to 1798 CC engine. But, do you really need that extra power? You should know the answer.

All said and done, if you are going to lust over a Laura passing by you on the road, then buy the Laura. No point in "Owner envy over neighbor's pride". Forget the logic, listen to your mind. Thats most vital over a long run.

[Aroy]

With Yeti you may not need any "Extras", while with Laura base edition you will be down by 1-2L, in the end it may be cheaper to get a Yeti! As some members have noted, the discounts on Yeti have now reached 1.5L, and I think by December end it will touch 2L (Economy tanking!).

Best of Luck - what ever you buy.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

I have experienced the turbo kicking in on the T-Jet post 3-4k RPM

This does not sound right. In the multitude of road tests I did with the T Jet, the turbo starts to kick in as early as 1700rpm. It is surely not the meat of the turbo. However, you do feel the start of the rush. This also allows for the car to be driven very easily in traffic. I took the car to a low 40kmph in 5th gear without a hint of engine stalling and then gradually built up speed all the way to 130kmph in the same gear.

I won't and can't comment on the Laura. It really is sitting at another price segment, has a larger engine, way more power and superior build.

[ajay_satpute]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

This does not sound right. In the multitude of road tests I did with the T Jet, the turbo starts to kick in as early as 1700rpm.

Sandeepmohan, you are absolutely right. My bad, did not frame it right. I wanted to say that the turbo kicks in early and stays there for a long long time.

[v.anand]

@mnemonic, completely agree with your choice of Laura TSI.

I was in a similar situation, a little more than an year back. Decided to retain Palio GTX and get another car as an upgrade. Performance wise, didn't find Altis and Civic to be much of an upgrade too but liked the steering feel and gear-shift on Civic more than others. Then came Laura and it really did challenge my skills and made me relearn how to drive a faster car much more than the rest.

Palio GTX is one tough car to replace performance-wise and Laura was a revelation. T-Jet hadn't launched then but nothing other than TSI could satisfy me then.

Good luck with TSI.

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

1. Floor mats (about 1-2k max)
2. Alloys (there is no limit here "Shauk badi cheeze hey")
3. Front Fog lamps (Skoda might charge a hefty amount for this. Honda charges 22k for fitting fog lamps on the base variant)
4. Leather Seat covers (Again no limit here.)

Correct me if i am wrong the Active comes with some basic music system as well, and upgrading that would be a real pain (courtesy Skoda accessory additions are quiet expensive). Also how much would be fixing fog lamps cost? Sometime back i read (When in between Lauras had fog lamps missing) that Dealer said something like 50K+ to put in fog lamps.

What else is the difference between Active and Ambient (Not sure if i spelled it right)?

[ajay_satpute]

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Correct me if i am wrong the Active comes with some basic music system as well, and upgrading that would be a real pain (courtesy Skoda accessory additions are quiet expensive). Also how much would be fixing fog lamps cost? Sometime back i read (When in between Lauras had fog lamps missing) that Dealer said something like 50K+ to put in fog lamps.

What else is the difference between Active and Ambient (Not sure if i spelled it right)?

Yes, Active comes with a Skoda music system with 8 speakers. No Aux, USB, etc. But the system sounds pretty good. As I mentioned in my previous post, these companies rob you for fitting OEM fog lamps. For Honda City, the cost is 22-25k (as per the info I got on 20th Nov from Crystal Honda in Pune). I am sure Skoda's charge will be atrocious.

[antz.bin]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

Yes, Active comes with a Skoda music system with 8 speakers. No Aux, USB, etc. But the system sounds pretty good. As I mentioned in my previous post, these companies rob you for fitting OEM fog lamps. For Honda City, the cost is 22-25k (as per the info I got on 20th Nov from Crystal Honda in Pune). I am sure Skoda's charge will be atrocious.

Yeah I read the missing foglamps saga... some dealer quoted a charge of around 6 lac for retrofitting fog lamps citing reason that the entire electricals would need changing since everything is wired to the ECU.

Sometimes Skoda dealers behave in the most absurd manner.