[ashvek3141]

Originally Posted by contentedbloke

Guys can you also suggest if the Creta diesel AT is a good alternative to the petrol DCT? Considering that the diesel MT was great and I am unable to get a test drive vehicle for both ATs, I don't want to rule out diesel AT. I did read the official team bhp review of Seltos diesel AT which has given it very good reviews.

This would narrow down the choice to Taigun 1.5 DSG, Creta Diesel AT and Creta DCT.

If you aren’t inclined on the Tucson (which is great in the Diesel guise) then Creta Diesel AT should be your pick! It isn’t exactly FAST as the Turbo-DCT; but a close second I would say. Moreover, you don’t have to sweat over the Turbo+DCT woes in future. Not to forget the added advantage of FE’s with the Diesels.
Driving the Turbo DCT enthusiastically will possibly return 11-12 kmpl whereas Diesel AT will definitely return around 15-16 kmpl.

Maybe, you can check the Seltos D AT and take a call. Both are identical in terms of drivetrain. However, Seltos is a wee bit sportier in terms of driving characteristics.

[mohitd]

I swapped my 1.6S Ford Fiesta for the 1.4 Turbi DCT Creta around a year ago. And I couldn't be happier. The Creta leaves a smile on my face every single time I drive it. I upgraded to better tyres and it handles so much better. I would recommend to do a long test drive.

And if you can stretch a bit then the Octavia would be the ultimate drivers car in that range. It will tick all your boxes and some more.

[born_free]

Originally Posted by contentedbloke

Guys can you also suggest if the Creta diesel AT is a good alternative to the petrol DCT?

I drove Creta Diesel 1.6 Automatic BS4 for three years and took to it all types of Roads. It has seen some of the most difficult Roads In Himachal and Uttarakhand and was fun to drive and mid range kickdown is good for overtaking and climbing hills.

The current engine 1.5D is less powerful but produces similar Torque (250Nm VS 260Nm).

The only downside of this engine is that new BS6 with DPF can give you problems if most of your driving is in city at low speeds . If you can live with unreliability of DCT, it is better choice than diesel in my opinion. The TC on diesel engine has half second lag on kickdown which you probably would not feel in DCT.

I had to surrender the car as it was on lease. My next car would be Alcazar petrol automatic with 2.0 NA, 156 BHP engine ( same engine/gearbox as in Tucson). I don't need third row seat but due to lack of options settled on this. For me its a 4 seater car with bigger boot. You can consider this too as it has loads of features similar to Creta and better interiors.

[84.monsoon]

I would stretch and go for the Octavia. The build quality, refinement, power, looks are at a different level. The Style variant should cost around 31 lakhs in Chennai, so a bit of a stretch there from your budget, but well worth it. You get a tue blue Euro car with the same engine and gearbox as an Audi A4. Plus it is a new model and will age well, unlike the Tucson, which is at the end of its life cycle.

[tracerspiff]

Originally Posted by contentedbloke

Dear all,


Must haves:

- "fun to drive" automatic which is very smooth and responsive to the driver
- comfortable seating for 5 people
- comfortable ingress and egress (not too low) since I am six feet tall
- ICE with AA and AC and decent stock speakers
- FE to be atleast 12 in city (both my City and Innova give me only 10-11 within the city)

Any reason why Tata Harrier is not on the list ? I went through the same journey as you and booked the Harrier. For me, I needed space for 5 adults and Harrier has the most space. Harrier definitely ticks most of the boxes I ve quoted above. Happy hunting.

[contentedbloke]

Just an update - I test drove both the Creta Diesel AT and the Petrol DCT top end models today. To my surprise, the Petrol DCT actually seemed more responsive and eager to surge forward at lower gears than the Taigun 1.5 DSG! For the DSG, I still had to give a little bit of push to the accelerator and the response wasn't that instantaneous for speeds upto 30km/hr. However the Creta DCT just surged forward at lower speeds - I definitely wasn't expecting this.

The Diesel AT was also quite responsive to drive - I was apprehensive that the may be a lag, but I would rate this as almost 85-90% as good as the DCT in terms of response. In fact, I would state that the Taigun 1.5 DSG and Diesel AT were almost on par (maybe Taigun was 10% quicker). The only issue which the SA also pointed out was that we can clearly hear the engine being raised when we are accelerating from a complete halt - this is only for maybe 1st and 2nd gear, and goes away once you cross say 20km/hr speed. However, the engine is sweet to hear and so this sound didn't bother me even though it is noticeable.

In terms of mileage, the display showed an FE of 7 km/l on the DCT while it showed 14 km/l for the Diesel AT. For someone with heavy usage or looking at long term maintenance costs, the Diesel may make better sense.

Also, I felt that the brakes of both vehicles were little soft. After being used to an Innova Crysta and a Honda City, where breaking is almost instantaneous when the pedal is pressed hard, I found that Creta took some bit of time to come to a slow halt. Not sure if this is due to the brake quality of test drive vehicle or this is because of disc brakes on all wheels. The Sales agent also advised me to double pump to achieve immediate braking.

There also seemed to be a bit of body roll when I test drove today - felt a slight floating sensation which I didn't feel when I test drove the Diesel MT in Chennai couple of days back. Not sure if this happened because today I drove primarily over a concrete road with regular joints.

Also, wanted to pointed out that I havent considered Seltos since I feel the huge number of creases and cuts on the body give it an alien shape whereas the curves on the Creta are more fluid - I understand this is highly subjective and polarising!! And all the feature not available in the Creta but available in the Seltos can be purchased aftermarket (360 camera, front parking sensors etc). The only real difference is the colour choice in Seltos and the better quality of interior finish, but I can live with that.

So, to conclude this post, I am heavily leaning towards the Diesel AT considering long term reliability of the gear box and the fuel efficiency it brings.

Originally Posted by tracerspiff

Any reason why Tata Harrier is not on the list ? I went through the same journey as you and booked the Harrier. For me, I needed space for 5 adults and Harrier has the most space. Harrier definitely ticks most of the boxes I ve quoted above. Happy hunting.

The Harrier seems to be a great vehicle as per the Team BHP reviews. But its too large for me which is one of the criteria I mentioned. That's also the primary reason I haven't consider the Hyundai Tuscon which is also a superb vehicle from all counts (though the looks seem a little dated).

[lemedico]

Perhaps a pre-owned Mini Cooper, that's definitely fun and since you already have two people movers in your garage.

[GreasyCarb55]

If you can stretch your budget by a few lakhs - Skoda Octavia 2.0 Style

If you absolutely have to stay below 28 lakh OTR Chennai:

• Hyundai Tuscon Diesel (The best SUV here)
• KIA Seltos 1.4 Turbo (you lose some FTD factor)
• VAG Tiagun/Kushaq 1.5, get the MT if you want to avoid potential DSG problems and if you get the DSG get extended warranty (You lose 5th passenger comfort, 4 adults + 1 kid is okay but 5 adults is stretching it)
• VAG Slavia/Virtus 1.5 - Slavia 1.5 MT would be my personal choice but to each their own. Same advice as the Kushaq/Taigun, get the MT if you want to avoid potential DSG problems and if you get the DSG get extended warranty.

[robby0707]

Are you open to the pre worshipped route? If then, the previous generation octavia 2.0 tdi is the perfect car for you except one thing that is proportions. At the same time as an owner of a Tucson and octavia, i find it it easier to park the octavia rather than the Tucson because the Tucson is quite a large car actually and it is even wider than the Innova crysta. The octavia diesel will give you a minimum fuel efficiency of 13 kmpl however you drive and highway drives can return upto 23 kmpl ( as on MID). Also let me warn you that the Tucson even in its diesel variant is not very efficient in city drives.