Team-BHP - Hatch Back Vs Sedan ( Ride, handling, comfort, Power, Space, etc)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hashim (Post 1997133)

Pros of sedan:
1. More Safety Most people are not agreeing on this point. could you be please more specific how?
2. Big car so you get more respect. OK "Image Quotient"
3. Driving Comfort and handling. Again How come ? e.g. i20 vs Dzire
4. More luggage space Right sir
5. Fitting extra fuel tank like CNG/LPG is not a problem with still luggage space left in boot. Yep, But loosing 2 & 4
6. Deep bass lovers can have large subs in big ported wood box in boot. wow

Cons of sedan:
1. Requires more parking space
2. Taking a U turn in narrow street means good exercise of both hands and neck.
3. Slightly less fuel efficient due to weight

So it all depends on our requirements, for some people hatch will make more sense and for others sedan.

My observation are in bold

Quote:

Originally Posted by vasoo (Post 1997239)

I have a hatch. I also bought a sedan because,

1. Need more boot space
2. More comfortable, especially for long distance travel How?
3. Feels more safe with more metal around
4. Generally comes with bigger engines and hence drives better More weight and Tail wagging also
5. Good and spacious back seats with center arm rest, audio controls etc Many hatches have better and bigger cabin than sedan e.g. Accent vs Punto
6. Snob factor
7. Looks better

Quote:

Originally Posted by MutantX (Post 1997529)

Reason why people prefer sedan is because of the riding comfort and simpley for the fact that they can afford one. Other reason could be the fact that they have parking space. :D

The reason why I didnt buy a sedan is because I cant park one. My parking space can accommodate only a hatch. I would have loved to buy a AHNC, but I cannot park in my garage!

@MutantX
Please could you explain how riding comfort is more in sedan per se ?
Many hatces are costlier than sedan e.g i20,Jazz vs Dzire,logan InigoCS

cheers

Quote:

Originally Posted by sanagg1 (Post 1998381)

My observation are in bold
1. More Safety Most people are not agreeing on this point. could you be please more specific how?
2. Big car so you get more respect. OK "Image Quotient"
3. Driving Comfort and handling. Again How come ? e.g. i20 vs Dzire
4. More luggage space Right sir
5. Fitting extra fuel tank like CNG/LPG is not a problem with still luggage space left in boot. Yep, But loosing 2 & 4
6. Deep bass lovers can have large subs in big ported wood box in boot. wow

1. Just because sedan will have more crumble zone both in front and back, in general sedan have big engine so hood is longer here I am not talking of some models of Maruti and TATA (K series, FIRE, TDI etc etc) cars which have same engines in hatch and sedan (with slight bigger bore) but general cars manufactured around the globe we can notice longer hood which gives more crumble zone in front and hence increased safety. Boot gives safety to back seat passengers by acting as crumble zone in case of accident. We cannot compare just two models (i20 and Dzire) and come to conclusion, in general big car means more safety!
For handling part, sedan wins. Good examples are OHC, Civic, Ford Ikon, Esteem, Baleno etc. Reason is that sedans due to their design are more aerodynamic. Fast speed turns, highway runs, sedan rule!

2. Yes typical older generation mentality but slowly changing for sure.

3. Driving comfort because sedan gives more leg room.
One don't need to carry luggage in lap in case it does not fit in small boot of hatch.
Sedans have bigger engine and hence AC work better, better cooling better comfort right?
Certain luxury features like central arm rest, better quality seats are found in sedans and other bigger vehicles only.

4. Please don't call me sir, I am not that old. :)

5. In hatch if we fit CNG or bigger LPG tank, boot space is totally gone.

6. Yes wow :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hashim (Post 1998445)

Yeah here we are comparing it with these new hatchbacks which has similar engines of the sedans. And latest hatchbacks are equipped with airbags which was earlier only heard of in high end sedans. So now the difference is getting narrowed down and its just the difference of higher boot space.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hashim (Post 1998445)

3. Driving comfort because sedan gives more leg room.

This also is model specific and cannot be generalized to all sedans & hatchbacks.

Europeans have hatches Americans have Sedans. But for India if your drive is 100% city then hatchback. If you have more than 30% of Highway driving, loaded with people and luggage then Sedan is the way to go.

There are very comfortable hatches that gives better ride quality than sedans. We associate the size of the car to the price of the car. Majority of the hatches in India are tuned for lesser price which gives us adequate ride quality. There are a few exceptions as well, but they are lot more costlier and we do not want to buy that. Typical mindset is, if I am putting down so much money I will buy a bigger car (read sedan). I know a few folks who bought Sedan for having a big car but never used its luggage space never even ventured into highways.

Size does initmidate people, but what does that do to us? we have to undergo that extra stress to initimidate others while driving in city. I would be stressfree driving a hatch in the city.

I have a sedan and a hatch and 90% of my city commutes is using the hatch and 100% of highway commute is using the sedan.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hashim (Post 1998445)

Effective crumple zone has nothing to do with length of boot or size of engine. In fact, large engines pose lot of challenges for designing effective crumple zones. You see, engines don't crumple easily. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigzero (Post 1997650)

I chose another hatchback ( this time a premium one ) after owning a hatchback for close to seven years.

primary reason: parking space, ease of use in city. A premium hatch combines this with highway performance, thats a good combo to have.

And then you say this below?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigzero (Post 1997650)

Oh btw the i20 is wider than a Verna and Fiesta, and I guess has a longer wheelbase too.

Aren't you contradicting yourself? How is a wider car with longer wheelbase becomes easier to use in the city?

Quote:

Originally Posted by tj123 (Post 1997675)

A hatchback makes more sense to own and drive as cities are getting congested ,negotiating bumper to bumper traffic is painful.
Parking a hatch in maneuvering tight lanes are a breeze with a hatch back.

A Swift is wider than Ikon or Esteem, so having a hatch doesn't automatically elevate you to decongested roads.

Having driven many vehicles, I do not really see a difference. However, there are two specific problems I have noticed

1) Having an SUV is a problem in many underground apartment parkings.
2) Having a D-seg car or large SUV means your car won't fit into any standard parking lot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tj123 (Post 1997675)

Small cars and having a good transportation system is the way forward, big car fascination is now a fad at least in the European world.

May be. Then, small car does not mean hatchback.

Overall this thread should be dedicated to those who do not own a Sedan and still scratching their head to justify why they have to hire a taxi every other day:uncontrol

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhiteKnight (Post 1998852)

Overall this thread should be dedicated to those who do not own a Sedan and still scratching their head to justify why they have to hire a taxi every other day:uncontrol

I think its the other way. This thread should be dedicated to those who own a sedan and still scratching their head as atleast 80% of the time they do not carry load in terms of luggage to justify the boot for which they bought one!! :D

Jokes apart, everyone knows why they bought a sedan or hatch and can justify their decision end of the day.

Majority posts suggest people buy a hatch for more boot space. My question is how many times do you actually use the boot space? If its at least once in a week then I feel its justified in having a sedan. Also majority of hatches have a very decent boot size these days. I travelled with my family of 5 (4 adults + 1 kid) for a round robin trip of 6 days (700+ kms) and the Vista offered me enough boot space. The only thing that was in the cabin was my child's bag since wifey wanted his things to be handy & some water bottles. Rest all was in the boot. I was thus happy with the space the boot offered. Cars like the i20, Figo, Micra and others offer even bigger & better shaped boots than my the Vista. So I dont think even this arguement holds any water.
Safety - You must be kidding yourself to believe that a boot means more safe.
Extra leg room - How man cm does that translate into? I also didnt find any difference in the leg space between my Vista & the Manza. The marginal increase in leg space in the Swift Dzire is so hardly noticable.
Social Status - Its ALL in the mind guys. However owning a car with a boot is a foolish way to show off your status symbol. How does owning a Swift Dzire instead of the Swift (hatchback) increase your status symbol? Imagine the mount of money that you are paying for acquiring that extra boot and then going right ahead & kill the beautiful lines that the swift has in that process? Has any one though of that?
Unfortunately how much ever me or any 1 else writes on this topic, the fact of life is this is India & people will always want to be 1 up then their neighbours/ friends/ colleagues & in some cases even their bosses (with deadly results of course).
Long live India & its people who believe in the false sense of a "Complete Car Feel" of a sedan!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hashim (Post 1998445)

For handling part, sedan wins. Good examples are OHC, Civic, Ford Ikon, Esteem, Baleno etc. Reason is that sedans due to their design are more aerodynamic. Fast speed turns, highway runs, sedan rule!

This is not true.
Body style/shape does have an impact on handling and actually lunging the overhang boot around doesn't help in terms of handling.

Please note that most of the successful cars on WRC circuit - where handling is one of the most important success factor - are hatchbacks (Citroen, Ford ). In fact, manufacturers like Subaru have moved from a Sedan styling to hatchback styling for there WRC cars.

Also, most of the Supercars (Ferraris, Lambos, Zonda) are hatchbacks. :)

I up/down graded from a sedan to a hatch-none the worse from it-actually I find parking space in Bangalore when many a sedan/SUV have backed away after umpteen tries. Hatch/Sedan-I feel the following count:-
a) The wallet
b) Individual fancies.
c) Practicality.
d) How many times do we use the Boot??-Though never posted on BHP have been on a No. of long drives-never missed a Boot.
Each to their own-but good debate-nice points brought out!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by vabs78 (Post 1999013)

Super cars and rally cars have suspension so advance that they cost about the price of a new car in India. So they are a different story all together. Rally cars almost fly over uneven roads and land without breaking anything. Even esteem was popular as rally car but not with stock suspension and without roll cage. We are talking of road cars. As I was talking about handling, think of making a fast corner in any modern hatch like i20, vista, WagonR, spark and take even any old sedan like esteem. Decide yourself which handles better :)

@Hashim,
the point I want to make is; it is not correct to make umbrella statement that "hatch don't handle as well as sedans". Lot more goes into making a good handling car. So lets not mix things together. Handling is a non-issue in hatch vs sedan discussion.

By the way, have you tried comparing handling of Alto and Esteem? You will be surprised to see how well Alto handles vs Esteem. Want more surprise? Try Daewoo Matiz.