| TD of SX4, Civic, Octavia, Cedia and Verna-D
I am on the look out for a new car and am planning to make a booking after Jan 15th.
Purpose of the car is to commute between madras Bangalore 2 to 3 times a month.
My requirement is a fast, safe, economical car. I was looking at the Getz Crdi segment. A friend suggested that I should but a car with ABS/Airbags and it made sense.
I am also 6' and weigh 119 Kgs. I need a car with some serious leg room.
Car: Suzuki SX4 zxi
Dealer: BIMAL Whitefield road
Sales person was courteous and arranged for a test drive immediately.
There is ample room for the driver and the ingress and egress is very convenient. One does not have to crawl in and out of the car.
The seat adjustment levers and plastic parts were of very poor quality and loose.
The engine was a huge let down. It did not have the torque I was looking for.
So even though with ABS/Airbags/Climate control @8.2 Lakhs on road and offers very good value for money , resale etc , I was not impressed.
Car: Honda Civic
Dealer: Whitefield Honda
Sales person was courteous and arranged for a test drive immediately.
The moment I opened the car, I got the "wow" factor. Being a tall & fat person , I simply love the telescopic steering. It makes life so much easier to get in and out and have a comfortable driving position. Not to mention the fact that it makes the steering assembly very "cool"
The company's driver took the car out for a test drive and as it came out it scraped it's under chassis with a sickening noise.
I found getting into the car was a bit difficult due to its low profile. But, I found that a full grown adult could sit comfortably behind me even after I pushed the driver seat far back. Once inside, I felt that I was in a jet fighter rather than a car. The car performed admirably . There was perceptible road noise , but that could be forgiven because the car is just a beautiful piece of art.
Drove for 4 kms in the outer ring road and decided to make a u turn and had to cross a speed bump. Crossed the speed bump at 10 kmph and again scraped the bottom. Felt bad.
The engine is superb, response is admirable , the driver console is futuristic , and the car looks beautiful and performs like an angel. Only complaint I have is the bottom scrapping.
Even though priced at 13.2 Lakhs on road, I thought it was worth it as I could not put a price tag on a piece of art.
Walked out of Whitefield Honda with a new found love for the civic.
Car: Skoda Octavia 1.9 Tdi
Dealer: TAFE , St.Marks Road
Sales person was not courteous, not knowledgeable and arranged for a test drive after a protracted delay.
I have always loved the skoda Octavia . Thought of it as a superb car.
I was deeply disappointed when I realized that there is absolutely no space in the car. Once I push the driver seat far enough to seat me comfortably , the car becomes a 3 seater. I found the Getz to have more space than the Octavia.
Anyway, I took a test drive , The engine is marvelous. I think the ECU in the car does not allow the car to stall and no matter which gear you are in , if you remove your foot from the gas pedal it adjusts the engine rpm to a speed where it does not stall. That was a very nice feature. The torque in the engine pulls the car along like a locomotive. No wonder it gives 22 kmpl.
The electric mirror adjustment is kept in a very awkward place. The flasher and the wiper switches are reversed in position. The interiors were too dark and dull for my taste.
NOTE: The car given to me for TD was a new skoda (unregistered with testing plates ) and amazingly, the Speedo and the odo were not working ( disconnected ) . Is there some thing fishy here???
When I asked for the on road price of Octavia with ABS/Airbag and diesel, I was quoted 15.3 Lakhs on road.
I found this to be preposterous as I did not find any value in that car worth 15 Lakhs. It does not even have disc brakes in the rear for 15 L .
Car: Mitsubishi Cedia
Dealer: Southern Motors St.Marks Road
Sales person was courteous and arranged for a test drive immediately.
If I had to one word adjectives to describe the cedia, they would be "conservative", "traditional", "simple", "effective", "practical" etc.
The car is just PERFECT. Everything you need and nothing you don’t need. No flashy cockpit style console like the Civic, but a dull boring traditional instrument console, Superb and silent engine. Huge amount of room for the driver and the passenger, very nimble , solid feel to the doors, 4 wheel disc brakes, ABS/Airbags and a good Suspension.
I found the lack of climate control a bit disappointing.
I was impressed with the suspension the most. It gives a very comfortable ride and does not bottom out like the civic. Also the engine behaved to be more torquier than the civic even though on paper they have the same torque at almost the same rpm.
I was dong 50 kmph at 1000 + rpm in 5th gear and the car did not knock or complain.
The next thing I was impressed with was the amount of leg room available. Of the cars I tested only Cedia and the civic did not become a 3 seater once I sat comfortably in the driver's seat.
I must say that I was surprised by the cedia. at 9.3 Lakhs on road , it is great value for money . The only sticky point would be that it is backed up by Hindustan Motors.
Car: Hyundai Verna CRDI
Dealer: Advaith Hyundai Outer ring road
Sales person was courteous and arranged for a test drive immediately.
This car can best be described as an "out of control beast". And I mean that in a good way.
Let me first give the bad points about this car.
(1) The car becomes a 3 seater once I sit comfortably in the driver seat
(2) No air bag option
(3) Not a big fan of the egg shaped look of the car
Seldom do you drive a car that pins you back to your seat in the 1st to 4th gears. It has psychotic performance. It makes you grip the door handles with fear if you are not driving.
I honestly think that hyundai has redefined the game for small segment performance with the verna crdi.
There is no point elaborating on the interiors, climate control, gear shift or the audio. In front of this engine, every thing else becomes inconsequential.
WOW!!! WHAT AN ENGINE.
Conclusion:-
Even though I have not made a selection yet, I have definitely eliminated Skoda. I sincerely feel that one pays 2-3 Lakhs for the exclusivity it offers than any real value.
I have tentatively eliminated the sx4. The only positive I see with it is a good service network.
I am yet to test drive the optra magnum and the corolla. The optra magnum seems to suffer from the 3 seater syndrome too. I will add to this post once I do that. | 
25th December 2007, 22:44
....... No i am not a Optra salesman, i am optra user 
