[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by johy

I have driven the Brio and it is pretty dull to drive.

Well; if bottom end is your thing, then Yes, the Brio is not up to it. This engine needs to be worked to get the best out of it. Still; I found the Honda a joy to drive. The profile of the car makes you want to drive it like a go kart and the chassis, suspension is cut out for it. I find the eps unit decent too. What hatch/sedan at the asking price does better? Ford Classic petrol? Oh yeah. A mid variant might be possible.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by johy

I have driven the Brio and it is pretty dull to drive. My 2 cents.

It depends on your definition of fun to drive. As sandeepmohan mentioned the Honda motor needs to be worked hard to extract the performance out of it else it is quite dull in lower rpm range.

The next best option is the Suzuki Swift but even there they have compromised performance for fuel efficiency.

[novice29]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

My suggestion would be to look at the Brio. It's got a really sweet 1.2L rev happy honda motor. Very chuckable thanks to compact size. It's not an out and out driver's car but is a brilliant car to drive in the city.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

I second Vid6639 on the Honda. It is brilliant. The engine needs to be worked but then who does not like to work a beautiful Honda vtec mill. It is in its element when you rev the nuts off it. The car has surprisingly good road manners for a Honda. I'd say its the best in the portfolio if driving pleasure is the priority.

I am slowly taking Swift out of the list as I am already driving one now (though not owned).
Brio seems to be a nice candidate. I took a TD sometime back and have some good feeling towards it. Its different from other Hondas I drove yet.
(No experience with City yet). Brio really gave me the feeling of a Go-kart and asked to throw it corners. It did a good job considering the size of the vehicle and that was nice.
Power is not there in a gentle tap on the pedal, but you need to pedal it to the floor. I got a feeling that we need to work on this mill to get the output, but thats always a good feel.

But one area of improvement I noticed is that, the ride on 'uneven/not so smooth' roads. It did not give the same good feel on such roads.
I am planning for one more TD of Brio now.

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

Just thinking out aloud here; Honda is all set to release the new Jazz in India and with the focus of pricing it as competitively as possible. Will this mean that you might be able to buy a basic Honda Jazz within the budget? This would be an extremely capable all-rounder

I wish they do this a bit early. I may be retuning to US by the time it gets released here. I want to close the deal at the earliest and looking at the current available options.
But this would be terrific option for someone who can wait a bit. Hope Honda wont price it too high. I am a bit worried since they have Brio in the offering that starts at 4L. Hope Jazz will come <5L for the base one.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by novice29

But one area of improvement I noticed is that, the ride on 'uneven/not so smooth' roads. It did not give the same good feel on such roads.

A light car with a firm suspension setup will result in this. It is a bit of a trade off which I quite prefer for our conditions where roads are mostly uneven. Two on board and a little luggage will improve the overall ride quality. In fact; the ride might end up being flat which is a really nice feeling and very confidence inspiring.

[novice29]

I almost finalised on a Brio and was about to book the vehicle yesterday. Below were the reasons.

1) Ford Classic base variant is not available (ready in the lot) anywhere in Kerala.
2) All the dealers in Kerala confirmd that Classic Petrol variant will take ~ 3 months of waiting, especially for the base variant.
3) Already using a Swift (P) and I dont want 2 in my garage
4) Classic's CLXi variant which is readily available has an OTR of 6.72L which somehow I feel not VFM compared to an Lxi.
5) Most importantly, Brio has acceptable driving pleasure. First time I am working on a machine to pull some performance out of it; but it was good.

Everything was going smooth and all of a sudden I got a call from a Ford dealer (300 KM away from my home town). He offered a White CLxi 1.6 at 6L OTR.
Dealer claims that the vehicle came to his inventory in May-2014 and confirmed that it is a 2014 vehicle.

Again its confusion! I test drove a 1.4 TDCi, the only available option for a TD. Nobody is having a 1.6 TD. I am pretty much impressed with everything except the power on tap which I hope wont be a problem in 1.6.
So what do you feel about Classic 1.6 CLxi at 6L OTR in Kottayam-Kerala?
Also what about buying a dealer who is 300 KM away from my home?

Note : I have 3-4 Service Centers within 50KMs of my home.

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by novice29

I almost finalised on a Brio and was about to book the vehicle yesterday.
Everything was going smooth and all of a sudden I got a call from a Ford dealer (300 KM away from my home town). He offered a White CLxi 1.6 at 6L OTR.
Dealer claims that the vehicle came to his inventory in May-2014 and confirmed that it is a 2014 vehicle.

Again its confusion! I test drove a 1.4 TDCi, the only available option for a TD. Nobody is having a 1.6 TD. I am pretty much impressed with everything except the power on tap which I hope wont be a problem in 1.6.
So what do you feel about Classic 1.6 CLxi at 6L OTR in Kottayam-Kerala?
Also what about buying a dealer who is 300 KM away from my home?

Note : I have 3-4 Service Centers within 50KMs of my home.

The 1.6 is a jewel. Normally aspirated motors of its kind will soon come to an end and I can guarantee you that you will not experience the same issues you did with the diesel, with the duratec petrol Try to buy a version with abs though.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by novice29

...Everything was going smooth and all of a sudden I got a call from a Ford dealer (300 KM away from my home town). He offered a White CLxi 1.6 at 6L OTR.
Dealer claims that the vehicle came to his inventory in May-2014 and confirmed that it is a 2014 vehicle...

Take the VIN and check yourself to confirm the manufacturing date please. NEVER take dealers for granted.

Is he giving any discounts? Anyway you can post the price break up?

Originally Posted by novice29

...So what do you feel about Classic 1.6 CLxi at 6L OTR in Kottayam-Kerala?
Also what about buying a dealer who is 300 KM away from my home?

Note : I have 3-4 Service Centers within 50KMs of my home.

You can buy a car anywhere and service it anywhere as well! But atleast till the free services are over, try to stick on to the same dealer / A$$ from whom you bought the car.

[khoj]

What a see saw from Brio to the Fiesta Classic.

If Brio is giving you 'acceptable driving pleasure' close the deal, though one wonders in which universe the Brio has managed to do that

The Fiesta is not just about the engine, it the way the car is built from the ground up. The chassis, the power train, the suspension setup, the driver seat's geometry w.r.t. the pedal and gear lever placement all come together to give one a helluva ride with a smile pasted on the face as one handles the curves.

There is a decode your VIN thread, confirm the VIN if it is 2014 great, if it is 2013 get the dealer to bring the price down and maybe you can bring the vehicle home for 5L.

Cars unlike vegetables and fruits do not rot away (at least not in a year of standing in the lot) even when fully exposed to Sun and rain, they are after all built to handle the vagaries of weather & not all of us have covered garage space.

As for buying from a dealer 300 or 30 Kms away what is the difference. He is selling & one is buying. It is just that the first ride home is a bit longer which in my dictionary equates to more fun time. I do not say this as an armchair consultant. I myself have done this twice having bought a Swift from Poona and registered and driven in Bombay and if that were not enough a couple of years later bought a Fiat in Bombay and drove it to get it registered and currently using in Dilli. In both instances it was the availability of ready stocks that led to these purchases. Infact while buying the car from Bombay negotiated with the dealer and got half of my travel & hotel expenses adjusted in the final price of the car and yes in case you are wondering the car was made in the previous calendar year than the one in which it was bought. Just make sure you check things throughly, ask even the silliest of query that crops in your mind and negotiate like crazy. Car dealers (even they do not show it) are overeager to see each and every vehicle in their lot drive away as soon as it is billed to them and right now it is a buyer's market.

Originally Posted by novice29

I almost finalised on a Brio and was about to book the vehicle yesterday. Below were the reasons.

5) Most importantly, Brio has acceptable driving pleasure. First time I am working on a machine to pull some performance out of it; but it was good.


Also what about buying a dealer who is 300 KM away from my home?

Note : I have 3-4 Service Centers within 50KMs of my home.

PS In case you are ok with pre owned get yourself a Cedia. This car is the mothership when it comes to driving pleasure. Again, I have one so not shooting blanks here either. Ciao

[fiestarry]

Buying a used Fiesta S or SXi would make better sense than waiting for a Fiesta Classic. Why not search the used car market ?

[supremeBaleno]

novice29, what did you finally end up buying ?

Originally Posted by DCEite

I suggest you take a look at something like a Liva 1.5 L (Not the cross) - i guess should be within 6.5 lacs and is fun to drive as well. Though not too good in terms of overall quality, but still.

Might be a little late in the day, but the Liva1.5P is indeed a FTD car. When it was launched I remember doing a TD and was impressed - felt it to be almost like the Baleno I drive.

Originally Posted by novice29

Brio top variant is the only one with an ABS and it comes around 6L OTR here in Kerala where it overlaps with the Amaze. For most of us, big vehicle means better profile. It's a phenomenon I see from my childhood and nothing changed yet.

Depends on what one's priority is. If someone prioritises their and family's safety, why would profile & perceived snob-value matter ? Instead of blaming the manufacturer or thinking of societal opinion, folks like us with exposure should take the step to choose cars with safety build in. More so when the idea is to get a FTD car, which in all probability will be driven accordingly and thus statistically being probable to need the safety features more.

[novice29]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

novice29, what did you finally end up buying ?

Apologies for the delay in response!
Bought a vehicle only for its engine, suspension and steering; overlooking everything else .
Its a Ford 1.6 CLxi at 6.3L OTR.

Clocked ~2.5K KMs in 3 Weeks and getting used to the vehicle.

Another case of heart over mind!

Note : Earlier I asked an opinion about same variant @ 6L OTR. It was a white vehicle and I have a soft corner towards black. So had to spend 0.3L for the black one (different dealer).

[supremeBaleno]

Good choice with the Fiesta1.6. Not many FTD cars available for that kind of money.
Why does the black color cost 30K more ? I thought all colors cost the same (unlike MSIL where non-mettalic colors are few thousands cheaper).

Guess this model does not have ABS, airbags, which would have been nice to have. Drive safe.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by novice29

Apologies for the delay in response!
Bought a vehicle only for its engine, suspension and steering; overlooking everything else .
Its a Ford 1.6 CLxi at 6.3L OTR.

Clocked ~2.5K KMs in 3 Weeks and getting used to the vehicle.

Another case of heart over mind!

Note : Earlier I asked an opinion about same variant @ 6L OTR. It was a white vehicle and I have a soft corner towards black. So had to spend 0.3L for the black one (different dealer).

Congrats! I can see that smile on your face whenever you are behind the wheel. I own a 1.6 sxi for the past 7 years, and I've been smiling all though!

Do take care while braking, as your car does not have ABS. Even with ABS and EBD, I sometimes feel the brakes lack bite, but they actually do even at high speeds. It is just the feeling, not the reality. This is accentuated by the 'drive by wire' technology that holds the revs for a few seconds even after you release the throttle.

I am not sure of the non-ABS models though.

[Karthik1100]

Mods, kindly delete this post. Sorry!

[Karthik1100]

^^ Well said!

Being a hard core Fiat fan, I bought a Fiesta Classic clxi 1.6. Whatta fantastic car this is.. Smile while driving is guaranteed.

Congratulations!