Team-BHP - 100 BHP+ Diesel Sedan under 10 lakhs - Booked Verna CRDI SX (ABS), now under 9 lakhs

I am currently driving a 2006 Maruti Zen VXi, and it has given me 3 years of pure pleasure. I am now passing on the car to my wife, and want to upgrade to a sedan. Being a passionate car enthusiast, I want my next car to be 100 BHP or more, just so that I can show off the figures. But a petrol sedan is working out to be expensive as I drive over 70 kms a day and would rather pay a higher price for the car than pay for expensive petrol everyday. Now my budget is limited to under 10 lakhs and I am limited by the choice available. I have TD's several sedans, both diesel and petrol and am confused.

So far the 3 cars I liked are:

1. New 2009 Hyundai Verna CRDi SX - 8.99 lakhs OTR: 110 BHP, 240 Nm Torque, Loved the pulling power! Plus comes with all features including Climate Control, Alloys, CD/MP3 Player, except Airbags. BTW, I do not have the roads nor the opportunity to drive over 100 kms/hr, so don't care about high speed handling issues that some people claim the car has.

2. All New Honda City (ANHC) - 9.67 lakhs OTR: 118 BHP, Gem of an engine, Gearbox not very smooth (atleast the one I TD'ed), No CD player (I dont have the time to rip CD's to USB every week), No Alloys, No Climate Control (perceived luxury car, but no luxury features, so not VFM). Finally, it is a petrol and will be expensive to run. So, expensive car, with no frills and expensive to run.

3. Maruti Suzuki SX4 ZXi - 8.02 lakhs OTR: 102 BHP, good all round performance, not exceptional in any department, high GC, comes fully loaded with luxuries like Leather upholstery, Alloys, Airbags, Climate Control, etc. About 1 lakh cheaper than Diesel Verna, so may work out to be cheaper in the long run as I can use the savings for petrol.

Of all the above, I am inclined towards the Verna, as it the only one that fits my bill. But is it a good car or a bad car? What about spares availability and cost? And what about real life fuel economy? And resale value after 3 years? As you may have noticed, I do not want a car that is expensive to run. I want to finalize by September, so help me decide! please:

You put Diesel and Sedan in the thread title and you want 100+BHP. There is no choice. There is only the Verna.

The Verna gives great FE when driven sedately (20+ is not unheard of). It is a Hyundai, so A.S.S is generally good. The looks are pretty subjective.

A diesel version of the SX4 is supposedly coming. It will probably receive our national engine, the 1.3MJD. The SX4 is not the most economical petrol car in the world, so beware.

There is no other Sedan in the diesel segment that is as powerful as Hyundai verna plus a decent fuel efficiency. One of my friend had bought a verna 6 months back and it had done 10,000 kms. Majority of his drives are within the Chennai city and it gives him a FE of 16 kms with AC turned on.

I was talking to him last week and he told me that the car has not given him any complaints so far, except the suspension when driven on a highway.

Not sure about the resale value though. But being Hyundai brand I am assuming it should be good.

Even I have narrowed down to byu Verna Diesel replacing my existing Santro in 6 months time.

I am not able to understand why you are so particular about the 100 bhp figure.

If you are ready to come down on that figure, you will have better options.

Consider Linea Emotion Pk (Diesel) - Miles ahead of Verna in looks and brand image.

Even Swift Dzire Zdi (needs stock tyre replacement) will offer good VFM & driving pleasure.

They will be cheaper by a lakh compared to Verna even after necessary upgrades.

IMHO Verna CRDI is going down in sales and likely to be replaced in near future.

Thanks for the inputs, guys!

GTO, the Optra Magnum 2.0 Max looks very enticing to the driver in me, but the lowest end version which is in my budget does not even have ABS, Airbags, Alloy Wheels, or a stereo. Even if I forego the other features, a decent ICE will mean atleast 15,000 more after buying the car. As this will be my main ride for the next 4 years, I really want all those goodies. I really cannot stretch my budget beyond 10 lakhs.

Is the SX4 Diesel really around the corner; as in a couple of months? If yes, then I would prefer to wait and compare it with the others.

Can the Linea Diesel engine put out 100+ BHP with the Tuning box? Is a tuning box specifically made for the Linea available in the market? How much does it cost? Does it improve the torque too? What effect will it have on the fuel efficiency? And what about the warranty? As far as I know, the tuning box is very easy to put in and take out. Am I correct? Are there any other issues with the tuning box? I would like to explore this option further.

Thanks again for your suggestions!

SX4 would probably have the 90 BHP VGT version of the national engine- the same that does duty in the Linea. If you are not particular about 100 BHP, i would suggest the Linea- it is a good car to drive around. But watch-out for TASS and possible lower re-sale value (compared to a Verna).

If not the Verna, Optra Mangum it is- nothing else will meet your criteria, at least in stock. Check this for the Pete's option for Linea here- Pete's Automotive Products Pvt Limited - It takes the power output to 102 BHP (from 90) and the Torque to 220 Nm (from 200).

I have a Getz CRDi that runs the same 110 BHP mill as the Verna CRDi- go for it blindly, you will not regret :)

@newcoolgadgets
In defense of optra i would like to say that it has 4 wheel disk brakes and the optra is a much more stable vehicle compared to the verna and also verna doesn't have airbags
what i will suggest is that you take a TD of optra
all this i am telling you from my own experience i am also in the market for a diesel car which is good to drive . verna doesn't inspire confidence at high speed driving and from what i heard that the verna engine starts loosing power after 50k km and requires a rebuild soon after( i have only heard it and don't how true it is)
and as for Linea i would suggest a tuning box as it a small engine and its already producing 90 bhp so it may put further stress on the small engine

Since you considered some Petrol versions, what about considering:
1. Fiesta 1.6 ( even an S would cost only 8.2 lacs ) - great drivers car, Save 2 lacs and use it for petrol as u said
2. Chevy Aveo
3. Palio Stile
4. i20 1.4 AT
5. Mitsubishi Cedia Select LPG?? ( guess LPG fuel cost is very cheap )
6. Indogo XL grand

Some of these are great drivers cars, some of these are very practical and some of these are real VFM and light on your pocket,

Quote:

Originally Posted by newcoolgadgets (Post 1445998)

Thanks for the quick response, ImmortalZ. I was given to believe that the SX4 will be offered with a 100+ BHP MJD engine, to differentiate it from the Swift Dezire.

The SX4 sould come with diesel varient soon but its still hard to guess when. It may come with a 1.9 diesel engine of fiat or as ImmotalZ said or 1.3 national engine, Fiat again. If it will be a 1.3 then I suppose it will have a VGT which will help the car to pull out more than 100 bhp of the engine. The linea comes with a Variable Geometric Turbo on the sale 1.3 engine where the swift, vista, or the punto comes with a reular Fixed geometric turbo and pull out 77,75 and 76 bhp, respectively.

Taking your requirement in mind.. the Verna is the strongest contender. other option may be a Ford fiesta and linea. I havent driven either so cant comment on which one is better but I personally like the fiesta, looks sporty and a better engine.

Though I am not sure how the After Sales Service of ford or fiat may be may be in Nagpur. But most of us lovers and haters of fiat on TBhp love to debate on its after sales. Its very interesting to read threads after threads and posts after posts in favour of or againt Fiat's After Sales.