[nikhilthegunner]

Originally Posted by akshye

While on the subject, I also like well weighed steering. Not non-power steering ofcourse, but I like steering that's balanced between feedback weight and power assist.

Why don't you consider the Nexon? I have the diesel one and I absolutely love the way it drives. Don't know about the petrol but that also won't be shabby. The petrol BS6 engine has received a power bump which should sweeten things. The steering weighs up nicely at speed and gives you good confidence. I won't comment on Ecosport as I've never had the opportunity to drive it.

Originally Posted by porsche_guy

Why is there no mention of the XUV3OO here? It has everything you're looking for. Amazing engines, 5 star safety rating, good service network and has enough space too.

OP has mentioned that he doesn't want Mahindra. Mentioning it would not contribute anything.

[GTO]

Your options are wide & open! Test-drive a lot of cars and buy the one that you "connect" with. Driving pleasure is a lot about "feel".

1. Ford siblings (Figo / Aspire) with that 1.5L TDCi. Fun on the highway, fun on the ghats, fun in the city.

2. Rapid / Vento / Polo 1.5L Diesel. Old, but timeless. Superb engine, top safety.

3. XUV300. Drive it. Meets your requirements to the T. It's more "Hyundai" than "Mahindra" frankly and will change your opinion.

4. Seltos or next-gen City, if you can stretch your budget. READ THIS thread - link.

5. Wildcard entry = Etios 1.5L. One of the most neutral chassis' I have ever pushed on a mountain road, sweet engine & gearbox, nice driving position....I really enjoyed this one. Ex-Mod MPower (who owns many fast cars in the USA) was also grinning after pushing an Etios on the Igatpuri ghat roads. Car has a 4-star safety rating. Looks old & ugly, but could turn into something decent with after-market rims, fatter tyres, a black roof etc.

[Sandeep500]

All the above choices given by GTO are very good cars for an enthusiast on budget.But I suggest you stretch your budget a little and get a XUV300. Modify it a little and it will give proper premium feel looking like a cousin of Evoque. It has good strong engine to satisfy a driver in you . I really enjoyed driving it once I got to drive it for a short drive.

[TheHelix0202]

I wonder why you didn't include the City, Verna, Rapid and Vento in your list? Surely much better than most of the cars in the said list?

Edit- regarding the Ford twins, the diesel is great, but not as explosive as the VW TDi. I mean, sure it picks up pace decently and reaches unmentionable speeds, it only feels half as fun / special as the TDi does. Your call.

[abhi1881]

Originally Posted by GTO

Your options are wide & open! Test-drive a lot of cars and buy the one that you "connect" with. Driving pleasure is a lot about "feel".

Thanks GTO, off topic, but I used this for my car buying in a different segment.

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by akshye

Contenders:

1. Polo 1.0L TSI (if it's 115 PS as reports suggest. Only hatch in my list)
2. Aura 1.0L GDI (yet to test drive. I drove the Venue 1.0L and did not like the handling)
3. Aspire (waiting for BS-VI launch)
4. City - 5th generation (waiting for launch. Yeah, it's over my budget, but a dream car!)
5. Seltos Tech line (I like the car. Not sure if the 1.5 NA is enthusiastic enough. Over my budget)
6. EcoSport (a car that is highly regarded as driver's car. But over budget)

Polo is simply too cramped
City is too overpriced
Ecosport really isn't all that fun to drive with its tall stance, short wheelbase and stiff chassis with no flex, you can feel the physics get to you. Not to mention the pretty boring petrol drive-train options it comes with.

Without a jtp or abarth this becomes a little more of a "sensible enthusiast's" choice IMO. That coupled with the fact that you are coming from a WagonR, makes me suggest the Honda BR-V. I personally never really cared for the car until my friends and I hopped into a BR-V from Uber after a night of drinking in Bangalore. The car was loaded with 7 of us including the driver and what I noticed on Bangalore's poorly undulated road surface was; The car offered a strong ride quality even though it was essentially fully loaded. Never bottomed out over any rut and was quite honestly comfortable. Currently Honda is offering a 1 lakh discount on it and I believe it is a no-brainer especially if you are upgrading from a WagonR. The car offers a nice low-ish seating, well controlled road manners, seemed quite chuckable also and the 1.5 naturally aspirated petrol is an absolute peach. The BR-V offers better value than any new City or Civic in my opinion since I feel the City and Civic have taken a step back in terms of luxury and quality that they were once known for against their competitors. The BR-V on the other hand seems like a very honest offering from Honda and with the discount it is priced to perfection. Now I know many may not agree with me, but I urge you to please take a test drive of the car and let me know what you think. I've always had an eye for good deals and I have a sneaking suspicion that the BR-V is the ultimate deal as of now It is definitely more than its looks might suggest, that I warn you.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

That coupled with the fact that you are coming from a WagonR, makes me suggest the Honda BR-V. I personally never really cared for the car until my friends and I hopped into a BR-V from Uber after a night of drinking in Bangalore. The car was loaded with 7 of us including the driver and what I noticed on Bangalore's poorly undulated road surface was; The car offered a strong ride quality even though it was essentially fully loaded. Never bottomed out over any rut and was quite honestly comfortable. Currently Honda is offering a 1 lakh discount on it and I believe it is a no-brainer especially if you are upgrading from a WagonR. The car offers a nice low-ish seating, well controlled road manners, seemed quite chuckable also and the 1.5 naturally aspirated petrol is an absolute peach.

It's a good car, my friend has an automatic cvt. But the cost is way above 10 lakhs. My friend paid around 14 lakhs for it a year ago, for a discounted model that was 8 months old.

[porsche_guy]

Originally Posted by nikhilthegunner

OP has mentioned that he doesn't want Mahindra. Mentioning it would not contribute anything.

Why doesn't it contribute anything when it meets the requirements of the OP perfectly? Learn to look past the badge buddy

[akshye]

Considering many people (including GTO himself) are suggesting XUV300, I test drove one yesterday. Although I am interested more in Petrol over Diesel, they couldn't provide Petrol and I had to test Diesel.

The torque is too much and as the T-BHP review says, it's jerky (read unsettling) for passengers. I'll wait for the Petrol car to be available for test before I say more though. Thanks for suggesting this car!

[charanreddy]

My suggestion would be to consider a diesel , the money you will save with your running 33 kms one way daily translates to 25K kms per year and you will see significant savings with a diesel.

My other suggestion would be to not discount regional manufacturers like Mahindra and Tata, they have grown leaps and bounds in their product quality and you are assured of a presence in the market .

With the above , I would suggest the following.

1. Tata Nexon Diesel: top variant may be slightly above your budget but you have a lot of choices in the variants. I have lived with this for 1.5 yrs and 30K kms now and have only good things to say including the service experience.

2. Mahindra XUV 300: haven’t driven one but looks great and seems to fit your needs.

3. Hyundai Verna / Creta / Kia Seltos : the base variants falls in your budget but these are can’t go wrong choices.

4. Honda City Petrol: the quintessential aspirational sedan. Can’t go wrong and looks great despite its age.

5. Honda Amaze Diesel : ticks most boxes including comfort and space and most importantly budget . Gets the same engine as city in its diesel guise.

Personally , I would stay away from the Europeans (VW group, Renault ) and Americans ( Ford) : too much uncertainty in the next 5 years and unpredictable service esp. for the Europeans.

In the Maruti stable my only recommendation is the S-Cross. Looks great, feels solid and built to last.

[sechebe]

Originally Posted by akshye

My need:

1. I need enthusiast's car. I commute 33 kms one way daily, of which <10 kms is city, rest is highway. Performance matters! And I am not one who just wants fast engine. A car should have a good composure. The drive should inspire confidence. I'm not running a straight line drag race. Just acceleration/speed isn't good enough.
2. It must be a safe car. I have a family with a young child. Safety comes first. Period.
3. It should be reliable car. I wish to keep my new car for a decade. So I am considering the ASS, (possible) exit of brand from Indian market, etc.
4. Manual Transmission.
5. My budget is ~10L. I could possibly stretch a little. I'm not worried much about running cost. Peace of mind is more important than the cost.

The best enthusiast choices (according to me);

Hatchbacks

1. Polo 1.0 TSI - 110ps - as Skoda Rapid @Auto Expo was displayed with this state of tune)
Good torque of ~200NM. Mod potential to extract atleast 130ps/230NM with a remap (many examples overseas).
Better still if VW launches 95ps tune in lower trims (Will be more VFM and refined than JTPs), it still can be remapped to get 130ps, when you need more oomph.

2. NextGen Hyundai i20 1.0 TGDi - 120ps/172NM.
If you want an all New, feature loaded, spacious hatch with good poke in stock tune.

Mini 'SUV'

Mahindra XUV300 Sportz 1.2 TGDi - 130PS/230NM
Safest (NCAP), Widest, Rugged, Well handling, Luxurious mini 'SUV' which is now more powerful.

Sedans - No good turbo-petrols with exciting enough poke to weight ratio and transmission/ECU tuning. Honda City (NA Petrol) is an expensive safe choice which may not excite you as much as the turbo-petrols listed above, but will perhaps outlast all of them.

Happy Motoring.

[PrasannaDhana]

If you like cars to handle well, please add Hyundai to the "absolute no" list.

I think Figo S diesel will be the perfect car, or the freestyle titanium + with 6 airbags. Ford service costs are lesser than Maruti. The 1.5 diesel is a very frugal mill too.

Polo is overrated, specially when you think of the trade off you have to make between handling and practicality. It is more cramped than your Wagon-R. And their A.S.S aren't great too.

I would also suggest top end Altroz diesel. I have been reading from initial drives that it is a very sorted car. And hey, it's 5 star rated!

People suggesting Honda City, do you realise the BS6 new versions will overshoot his budget by 2 lakhs atleast?

Rapid 1.0 is a great option too, but again, it might be a little over the budget. Moreover, it is a gamble when it comes to Skoda after sales and service.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

I'd put Honda at the top of the list. I'm biased to Jazz, but it is a CVT and not BS-VI. But the paddle shift is there.

Amaze and City come in BS 6 versions. You may want to check out the Altroz too - first month sales / deliveries are in 5k range.
Any reason not to consider EVs? Except for MT and budget the Nexon EV meets all your criteria.

[pedrolourenco]

My picks

Originally Posted by akshye

[*]Aura 1.0L GDI (yet to test drive. I drove the Venue 1.0L and did not like the handling)
[*]Seltos Tech line (I like the car. Not sure if the 1.5 NA is enthusiastic enough. Over my budget)

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

i10 Nios TGDi

Originally Posted by porsche_guy

XUV3O0.

Originally Posted by GTO

2. Rapid / Vento / Polo 1.5L Diesel.

3. XUV300.

4. Seltos [/url].

If I was in your place I would go for the Nios Turbo.

5. Wildcard entry = Etios 1.5L.

I was told by the dealer it's discontinued.

[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by akshye

Well, it's hard to explain. It's a personal preference. I love driving. It's an engaging activity. And I feel auto shift makes one lazy. I'm not saying auto box owners are lazy, but that's just my perspective. No offence to rising popularity of auto boxes.

I was in same position like you last year, even though I had an even lower budget of 8 lakh. I wanted a petrol+manual gearbox+enthusiast combo. I finally bought tiago JTP after running behind an old-gen Figo S diesel briefly. If I had to make same decision today, I would have waited few months for GT TSI with 6-speed manual to compare with JTP, watched JTP fade into oblivion in front of my eyes, sucked-up and paid premium for GT TSI. I feel new GT TSI will retail for around 9 lakh ex-showroom which would bring it within your budget.