[Ravveendrra]

From your list I would suggest the Cedia Sport and SX4 in that order. If I were you, I would also look at the Fiesta S and the Linea Emotion +.

Cheers,

[Ramsagar]

Look @ Cedia followed by Fiesta-S(This would change your mind).
SX4 is more of VFM kind with new variant.

[Guna]

Actually I like Cedia but I wonder if it really is a drivers car the various postings here seem to suggest. I know it is a rally bread car and no question about the wel-tuned suspension. But I was looking at the lap time and top speeds when Narayan Karthikeyan drove it on the track and the figures are not only bellow ANHC (that too aNHC with the stock tyre) but also worse then Outlander! I think 0-100 figues are marginally bellow ANHC but with the kind of torque advantage it has, you would expect it to do much better. ACI had concluded that it is not the drivers car they were hoping it to be.
Another weekpoint the ACI highlighted was the low rear seat.

[lancer_rit]

Originally Posted by Guna

Actually I like Cedia but I wonder if it really is a drivers car the various postings here seem to suggest. I know it is a rally bread car and no question about the wel-tuned suspension. But I was looking at the lap time and top speeds when Narayan Karthikeyan drove it on the track and the figures are not only bellow ANHC (that too aNHC with the stock tyre) but also worse then Outlander! I think 0-100 figues are marginally bellow ANHC but with the kind of torque advantage it has, you would expect it to do much better. ACI had concluded that it is not the drivers car they were hoping it to be.
Another weekpoint the ACI highlighted was the low rear seat.

That's because of the RE88 crappy tyres, and to an extent HM tunes the rear suspension soft for ride comfort.

[Pragmites]

Not sure of Tata A.S.S. for Fiat in Pune, I went to a showroom here for a test drive, the dealer took my contacts and promised to bring over a car as he did not have one at that time, but never actually bothered to even ring me back. IMO Tata showrooms in Pune atleast are not keen on pushing Fiat cars, so a little hesitant !

Hi
I don't know whether you went to Pandit or B U Bhandari to look at the Linea. My experience with BUB ( both sales and service) have been much better than the TASS reputation. In addition to my Linea, I just booked a Punto for someone close. Again, the experience was great. So PM if you need their number. They will bring the car to your place for a TD.

[kcnetid]

Originally Posted by Guna

But I was looking at the lap time and top speeds when Narayan Karthikeyan drove it on the track and the figures are not only bellow ANHC (that too aNHC with the stock tyre) but also worse then Outlander!

Now, I will have to test drive the ANHC. I didn't even drive the City when I bought the Cedia. Why don't you test drive the two and let us know your impression? I will be very interested. Not that I will change my Cedia but nonetheless, I want to know a 3rd person's opinion.

BTW - I attended the fateful F1 in USA when Narayan was 4th in the 4 cars on track - 2 Ferraris and 2 Jordans. I must have sunk USD 3k for the whole trip just to see Narayan come 4th in 4 cars. At least he 'scored points'.

[car-go]

Cedia is a bit higher priced than the SX4 (I currently possess). Have driven a Cedia - did feel like a driver's car (note that I ignored the soft suspension part as rally cars have that tightened up). My choice of SX4 was due to its high GC and the overall package as VFM.
As for ANHC, it seemed to scrape all the speed-breakers I was running through - even if I consider it as a revving-up driver's car, I really need to search for good roads to run it through (not to offend any HC lovers here - only my opinion).
I didn't look at Cedia and Optra for buying due to somewhat drab interiors (again my view only).
Given all the choices and options (features, ride, GC, ***, overall VFM), I would rank them as: SX4 -- Cedia -- ANHC -- Optra.
Linea again is quite good - felt a little claustrophobic inside, and *** in my city being quite bad (would cover my buying related research experience in some other thread).

[oss]

If you like Linea and don't have any reservations about buying a Fiat then you can wait till Jan/Feb'10 for the 1.4TJet.

Why don't you look at Altis-G, if you can stretch your 10+ budget by a lakh & odd.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by kcnetid

Now, I will have to test drive the ANHC. I didn't even drive the City when I bought the Cedia. Why don't you test drive the two and let us know your impression? I will be very interested. Not that I will change my Cedia but nonetheless, I want to know a 3rd person's opinion.

Well I might, out of curiousity if the time allows, but I dont have skills to make qualified judgements on high speed driving dynamics of a car. If I do drive, I may have few observations on the other aspects of the car.

[joy_swift]

I also faced a similar dilemma and used the following to choose my car.
Had a budget of around 8L.

1.ANHC - 1.5L more expensive than the SX4 and that too without alloys,would be almost 2L with alloys.

2.Cedia - Again this was more outside my budget.

3.Linea - I found the petrol to be underpowered and although was around 80K cheaper than the SX4,left that out.A new T-Jet engine on the way.Can be a good car then.

4.SX4 - I used to really like the beefy looks and the awesome 5 spoke alloys.Found the engine to be quite responsive.Negatives were the sound inside the cabin and the interior plastic quality.Have overlooked those in favor of the positives.Changed the JK to Michelin PRimacy and is a delight to drive.

5.Fiesta - The best engine of the lot,almost fell for the Fiesta S but found it to a bit cramped(my perception).

Thus after going through everything,thought SX4 was the best of the lot(note ANHC to me is highly overpriced).

[kartho]

Hello everyone, thanks a lot for all your responses, I agree with most of you that ANHC is definitely over priced and also I am not comfortable with ignoring the GC issue – nonetheless, I might go for a TD just to share my comparison experience. I will surely take a look at Fiesta – S, but wont be considering Linea until the TJet variant comes out - and not sure of waiting that long !

I am getting a Cedia sports today finally for a TD, will post my experience right after. Unable to get the TD of the new sx4 still, as of now considering only these two options as Optra is quite outdated and need a break from the pricey Honda (never know, I might still end up with ANHC in the end after I TD the others… lets see)

[ABZ]

Kartho- Considering your budget and requirements, a Fiesta S will leave you with a drivers car plus some moolah for mods

[anuprav]

Best buy:

ANHC, fiesta, SX4. Linea is sluggish with poor interiors and poor plastic parts.

If you can wait till Jan 2010 then you will have more cars to choose from but again you will be confused.

cedia you will find less dealer network.

even I am also confused as I am also searching for a new car and the budget is 10 Lacs.

Do the TD and carefully see the quality of plastic parts and then decide which car to buy.

for you only petrol is recommended.

[kartho]

Hey Guys

Just coming back from a Cedia td - it was mind blowing ! one thing you cant compare with City or most cars with Cedia sports in my opinion and experience is the superior build quality, the car is rock solid and gives you the feeling like you are fully protected from the crazy drivers and roads of the city. We went over a few pot holes and very bad patches, the car did extremely well, in any speed you can negotiate pot holes or speed bumps, you start to feel like you dont have to give a damn to bad roads - the cedia is so good.

There was one patch during our drive where there was no roads and it was more like a huge ground with uncountable pot holes - really huge pot holes with all types of stones and mud all over, the guy from mits encouraged me to do a high speed ride on that surface to feel the ride quality and we did a few rounds like rally drivers in all speeds giving a damn to the pot holes which were as deep as 8 - 10 inches, you wont beleive it, the car absolutely had no issues and felt like the car was enjoying the ride more than us... when we finished the ride the brand new black cedia that he brought was returning like it was returning from a rally with mud all over

Back to the car - the feeling inside the cabin was terrific, absolutely no noise of the engine, one needs to get used to the car to understand if the car is on ignition or not. And no matter how much you push the peddle, the car never runs out of breath, you feel the car is keep on adding capacity on the run, it just never runs out of power, it reached 100 in no time and the shift was smooth, once we were at 100, still the car was stable and had a lot of power untapped... a reall pleasure to drive this car !

The centre panel is not something for people who are looking for something like the civic or cruze, its very basic, neat and simple. Just one multimedia touch screen with GPS & DVD/CD Player and the climate control knobs right below. If you pay more attention to ride quality than the interior looks, Cedia is not at all a bad choice and stands in a decent position with its nice black leather seats.

My favourite part of the car was the braking, never again you need to worry about your speed on the road, the disc breaks supported by ABS+EBD, gives you smooth and precise braking... infact i was amazed by the way it braked even at 90, less than a second to come to 20s - 30s and no jerk at all inside the cabin... so, it definitely can be considered even by people who are driven by unruly restless chaffeurs :-)

Coming to the back seat - i felt the thigh support could have been a little longer - the legroom is terrific all around the car and they could have afforded a little longer seat to give the cozy feel when you are driven around... but i guess its something you can get used to. The cabin space is huge, you can feel you are being driven in an expensive car... smooth, sturdy and no noise !

Rest all features are known to every one, the sporty momo steering and the oz wheels, etc... by any standards the cedia sports is a steal at this price.

I have a test drive of the ANHC & the new SX4 automatic tomorrow - although i dont see the point, i still think, i will give them a fair chance before my final decision

[d_payne]

^^ Hahahaha! Another innocent car enthusiast spoiled by a Cedia!

Welcome to the dark side, Kartho! I'm a Cedia Sports owner living in Pune and I can tell you that I love this car just as much as every other Cedia owner out there. It has been pure fun every single moment of my ownership - from going around potholes all around India to smashing the 200kmph barrier on the expressway with composure.

The 2009 Sports has that meaty steering wheel, the great looking leather seats and that gorgeous touchscreen audio system. The GPS is slow to operate though, and the stock-tyres aren't the best on the planet but everything else just outshadows these shortcomings.

If you want some more convincing: I've practically lived in the car for 10 days on Mitsubishi's Great Driving Challenge and come away more in love with the car!

As for Pune A.S.S at J Williams: they are quite competent and very good with the follow ups. They also arrange for a pick up and drop - something that office-goers can really utilize.

If you do decide on the Cedia, it'd be a joy to meet up another Cedia Sports owner here in Pune.

Cheers!
Payne