Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   What Car? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-car/)

-   -   Car for family prone to motion sickness (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-car/266730-car-family-prone-motion-sickness.html)

I own a 2012 Ford Figo 1st gen diesel. I love this car and recently have done some fixes/upgrades (fuel injector replacement, LED headlight & 9 inch android unit). So I plan to retain this car for as long as it lasts but I am looking to add a new car with below requirements.

• Should be petrol automatic as my wife wants to start driving. Good ground clearance (>190mm); Sunroof is must (family’s only non-negotiable wish).
• Should not cause motion sickness to the passengers ( mainly for my wife ). My figo doesn't affect her (due to sedan-like setup and stiffer suspension?) while she faces this constraint in most other cars.
• Should be easy for my elderly parents to ingress / egress
• Budget should be below 20 lakhs. Looking at long term (~10 years) ownership like my current car.
• Usage will be a mix of city and highway. Distance to the office is 15 km one way. In the city, it should be easy for a new driver (my wife is 5’2” tall ).

Following are the cars considered in the order of my current preference

• Nexon Petrol AMT- Yet to do test drive. I like the road presence and features offered. Dark edition looks great. I didn't find the cabin space to be too different from my figo and I am worried about the ease of ingress / egress for my parents.
• Kushaq / Taigun - 1.0 TSI A T. Did a test drive of Kushaq and loved the ride experience. The cabin is premium and spacious enough but stretches the budget to above 20L in the top end variant that offers sunroof.
• Slavia / Virtus - Good ground clearance (SUVish level). 1.5 lakhs cheaper than its SUV sibling. Am sure it will have less body roll than an SUV and so motion sickness should not be an issue. I feel it would be difficult for a new driver to get used to the road view and length.
• Hyundai/Kia/Maruti CSUV options - Not considered due to soft suspension and safety concerns. Wife gets nauseated in Creta with city driving itself.
• Magnite/ Kiger - not comfortable with these brands as they could close operations like Ford in near future

Looking forward to your expert views and opinions on best car for my requirement

I’d suggest test-driving all these cars, as comfort is subjective and varies from person to person. Even someone else with motion sickness may have a different opinion compared to your own preference. Please test ride from the rear seats as well, preferably on a road with some twists and turns.

I had a similar requirement as my wife is extremely motion sensitive and our usual route includes ghat roads. We all are comfortable on our Kia Sonet. I test-drove the cars with my family multiple times for the same reason.

Also, about Kia vehicles, my understanding is that they have a stiffer suspension setup compared to their Hyundai counterparts. So it’d be worth test-driving. I’d say, test drive all the cars you listed; don’t rule out any of them based on what you have read.

I would suggest taking extensive test drives of the Virtus and Slavia, and pick the one which your wife find appealing. These are not really big cars, and hence the road view/length won't be much of a problem.

Great advice above! In addition, try to solve the motion sickness itself. There is loads of good advice on the car sickness thread. Last thing you want is to change the car, but hear the same complaints :).

Body-on-frame UVs and cars with wallowy suspensions are best avoided. You want something planted like your Figo.

Avoid the AMT as it will lead to a different kind of sickness :D, what with all the jerks.

Firstly, don't rely on short TD's. I don't think your wife will have immediate symptoms while sitting in any car, only long drives will let her DECIDE.

If possible check for rental cars, so that you can keep the car for 2/3 days and decide. Id suggest you may borrow your friends cars for 2/3 hours for atleast 3/4 days just to be double sure.

Or take multiple TD's at various dealerships.

That said, i have a few cousins from Bhopal who weren't used to Delhi's long hour travels and felt nauseated in just 15 mins. Surprisingly in our then brand new Zen they were comfortable and not in our Esteem or other cars.

Probable reasons for the same :
1.) Zen was the newest car in our garage. Maybe it still had the typical factory scent (essence).
2.) It had the lightest coloured upholstery as compared to other cars that we had. (Zen MPFi has light grey interiors as compared to carb's black)


Prefer cars that have the LIGHTEST coloured interiors, BIGGEST sunroof and LOWEST window line to make it feel as airy as possible.

My sister has this issue, and she finds it pretty comfortable in the Kia Sonet, but it may differ from person to person and do take a long test drive on each one of the cars with your wife (do check out the back seat as well) before finalizing your purchase, Other cars worth considering would be the Kia Seltos HTX IVT which also has a much stiffer suspension than the Hyundai Creta although with a smaller sunroof, Skoda Slavia, Honda City, Hyundai Verna and similar low-slung sedans, Perhaps even the stiffer i20 N-Line may also be considered.

If a Creta was not comfortable, I'd change one thing - Driver :)

I know of someone who can make everyone sick with a Ciaz, it's simply because of the way he drives in slow city traffic.

The 1.4 diesel equipped Ford vehicles can get quite loud inside in terms of NVH , I think any new Petrol vehicle would be a big upgrade and like I mentioned earlier , it's not necessarily a car problem.

I would recommend going for a sedan (Slavia/Virtus) since it would cause way less motion sickness (if any) compared to the other cars on your list.
The Nexon AMT gets jerky at times, hence would not advise you to go ahead with that in your case.

I have the 5th gen Honda City and my grandparents who are 80+ find it easier to get in and out of it compared to my compact suv.

Motion sickness also depends on how the vehicle is driven, take corners too fast and people will have nausea even in a car with the best suspension.
Infact my better half gets motion sick in the honda city and even in the A3 on curvy roads. The culprit is me, I tend to take corners too fast and also the speeds are a lot higher than when I am driving the thar or the nano. Infact she never had any motion sickness in those two cars.
I, myself am prone to motion sickness too but mostly if I am in the rear seat of a tall ladder frame suv. Xylo, scorpios etc on a ghat road? Nope, unless I drive. As a people mover, innova is best in that respect.

I took TD (albeit short TD only :sadface) of the cars in my top 3 potential candidates this weekend. Below are the updates.

:Frustrati I should have listened to your point but knowing AMT I still went ahead for TD since Nexon was the preferred option earlier. Only good thing to come out of this test drive is that Nexon is removed from the potential candidates.

Both these sedan were great to drive. The driver position and ride were like a crossover than sedan. Wife likes both. I was told that Virtus has stiffer suspension and Slavia is relatively softer but in the short TD, I couldn't find any differences. Compared to their CSUV siblings, they offer more space and are ~1.5L less pricey. Only constraint could be parking space. Still, they are now in my top 2 options

Also did the TD for Kushaq (second TD) and Taigun after driving the sedans. Wife felt nauseated in Kushaq; She had mild headache in the first TD as well last week (which she thought due to summer heat at that time). So Kushaq is now out of the list. In Taigun, she didn't have such issues. So Taigun is one of the potential options as it is more compact than the Virtus lengthwise.

Good to know. Now that I'm considering Slavia/Virtus, I will also TD the Honda City CVT before finalizing an option.

On Kia/Hyundai: I should have clarified better in my earlier post. The reason for not considering the CSUV options in them apart from my perceived soft suspension factor is their 3 star rating in GNCAP. I just think at +15L price point, a car should be at least 4 or 5 star.

No offence, but please take a hard look at how you are planning to make a major purchase based on a 10-15 min experience that could be a combination of variables apart from the car design itself i.e. road condition, traffic condition, personal health condition on the day, AC settings etc. I would venture to say that most of us never really experience a proper lengthy test drive that showcases all the dynamic behaviour of a car. It takes a few months of ownership even for an experienced driver to get to know the machine and its traits over a variety of situations. And add to this your spouse's specific condition that may or may not manifest on a given day depending on the above mentioned factors. Please narrow down two or three cars and do multiple TDs with your spouse over a month or so before taking a call.

Considering your requirements, sedans would be your best bet, although ground clearance would not be great, but they are more planted and stable than SUVs, hence the Slavia, Virtus and City would be good options, do take an extended test drive of the Taigun as Taigun and Kushaq are basically the same car, so there are high chances your wife may feel sick another day.

Salvia/Virtus Twins have AC issues here in NCR; I guess in comparatively cooler Bengaluru they should do okay. Please ensure that before taking the plunge.

I would also consider Hyryder S Hybrid. It has a very good suspension setup (far better than Non-hybrid one) Height Adjustable driver seat. Ultra Efficient and smooth e-CVT.

You must test drive the hybrid once before taking a decision.

All the suggestions given above are spot on.

Trust me, no matter which car you buy, motion sickness will always set in. Some cars will feel nauseous in 10 mins, some in 1 hour.

My car choices are also based on motion sickness factor. I hated diesel vehicle due to the smell and vibrations, and always made me feel sick. My first car was i20 petrol and that time I had chosen it because of light interiors and low profile. Anyway, it also caused sickness due to softer suspension.

10 years later I bought Safari, what changed, diesels are quieter, suspension is stiffer, white interiors and panoramic sunroof. Plus, I changed my driving style to be gentler.

All our long drives are loaded with Diesel, Avomine, Ondem, sickness bags, tissue papers, water bottles and disposable car mats. I can sense when anyone is car is about to get sick, they stop talking, start sweating and head falls and that would be the cue for a short break.

To avoid sickness always keep AC on and temperature lower, heated car will induce motion sickness faster.

My kids have full blown motion sickness, on doctors advise whenever we travel long distance, we give them anti-emetic medication. Also, in-spite of school being near we send them by school bus to slowly come over motion sickness, it seems to be helping, since these days on short distances they don't get sick.

Not to offend, but honestly, driving style can also contribute to motion sickness. Try taking a cab once to observe if they experiences motion sickness by booking an automatic cab and traveling with them. If they don't, you can adopt their driving style.

Avoid sudden braking, sudden acceleration, rash cornering, and playing heavy music at high volume.

When it comes to car suggestions, vehicles with CVT transmissions would be great. Look for cars with CVT transmissions, take a test drive, or even rent one for a few days during a long trip.

Another important aspect is to maintain a pleasant fragrance in the car. However, make sure your family members also like it, not just your personal preference.