[chaitanyakrish]

Hello BHPians,

I use an i20 IMT and its been a good experience since last 3 years.

As most of my drives are on highway/hills, I would like to add a sedan or a compact SUV with a good safety rating and will keep the i20 for city rides only. I had shortlisted Slavia 1.0 AT and New Nexon Creative + 1.2 DCA. I did the test drive of Slavia and its an amazing car however I had some doubts on the GC on hills/bad roads. Keeping that in mind, I am looking for a test drive of new Nexon.

Please suggest, which of them would be a better pick considering the highway comfort and GC on bad roads/hills.
Thanks

[bijims]

Originally Posted by chaitanyakrish

Hello BHPians,

I use an i20 IMT and its been a good experience since last 3 years.

As most of my drives are on highway/hills, I would like to add a sedan or a compact SUV with a good safety rating and will keep the i20 for city rides only. I had shortlisted Slavia 1.0 AT and New Nexon Creative + 1.2 DCA. I did the test drive of Slavia and its an amazing car however I had some doubts on the GC on hills/bad roads. Keeping that in mind, I am looking for a test drive of new Nexon.

Please suggest, which of them would be a better pick considering the highway comfort and GC on bad roads/hills.
Thanks

The Skoda Slavia has a GC of 179mm, which is pretty much the highest GC in the sedan segment and just falls 29mm short of the Nexon, which has one of the highest ground clearance in the Compact sub 4m SUV space, for instance, the Compact sub 4m SUV with the lowest ground clearance, the Mahindra XUV300 has just 180mm.

So, The Slavia should be just fine on most roads.

Now, comparing the Slavia 1.0 AT with the Nexon 1.2 DCA, the Slavia gets a 1.0 Turbo petrol-producing 114 bhp and 178 nm of torque mated to a TC AT gearbox, whereas the Nexon gets a 1.2 Turbo Petrol producing 118 bhp and 170 nm of torque.

The Slavia is a much bigger car, with much more length and better wheelbase, the boot is also much larger owing to the sedan body style, the car is much more sporty and handles much better than the Nexon.

So, if performance, space, and comfort are your priorities, the Slavia is the way to go, else, do try out the Nexon and if you are happy with the test drive, you can definitely go for it.

[IshaanIan]

As someone who has driven their Kizashi with a 155mm ground clearance and a longer wheelbase, over hilly terrain with rocks (off-road not even paved paths), I can guarantee that as long as you are wary and careful, a sedan is fine especially a Škoda since it would likely have a stiffer suspension that won’t compress as easily. That said if you like to bash on regardless then you would be best served by a compact suv of some kind.

[TheFonz]

Go for the slavia or Virtus, if you can stretch go for the 1.5 evo engine option, you will not regret it.

With Nexon my apprehensions mainly lie in the underpowered petrol engine and with a DCA transmission clubbed to the turbo petrol engine which is probably being beta tested on early adopters, I would advise to wait for a year and let Tata iron out the niggles and then go for the dca option if you can wait for that long.

[narayans80]

I would be more concerned on the unscientific speed breakers in the urban jungle, especially those concrete mini mountains. On the highways, investing some time on route planning saves the pain of negotiating really bad lunar surfaces, even if it means detouring some excessive distances.

I have not encountered sedan scraping on hilly terrain.

Having owned a sedan and 2 crossovers with unladen GC of 175, 205 and 215 respectively. I've put the GC to actual use negotiating flooded roads than actual planned drives on lunar surfaces on earth.

Also you need to prioritize your need for boot space versus bad roading ability. Boot space will always be a compromise on crossovers. I've never thought of taking 2 full size suitcases in my crossovers.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by chaitanyakrish

I use an i20 IMT and its been a good experience since last 3 years.

As most of my drives are on highway/hills, I would like to add a sedan or a compact SUV...
Please suggest, which of them would be a better pick considering the highway comfort and GC on bad roads/hills.
Thanks

Does your i20 scrape on the roads you travel on? If not, the Slavia won't either. But why the 1.0L instead of the 1.5L? And I do hope Škoda has good service support where you live.

[Bhokal]

Originally Posted by TheFonz

With Nexon my apprehensions mainly lie in the underpowered petrol engine and with a DCA transmission clubbed to the turbo petrol engine which is probably being beta tested on early adopters, I would advise to wait for a year and let Tata iron out the niggles and then go for the dca option if you can wait for that long.

Nexon turbo petrol engine is anything but underpowered. DCA has been in use in Altroz, we have not heard anything alarming about it about from the community.

[TheFonz]

Originally Posted by Bhokal

Nexon turbo petrol engine is anything but underpowered. DCA has been in use in Altroz, we have not heard anything alarming about it about from the community.

Regarding it being underpowered, I would say that it’s a personal feeling of mine.

With respect to DCA, you can go through the official review on this forum where it states that the dca in Altroz has 6 gears and the one of Nexon has 7 gears and also in Altroz it was mated to a NA engine whereas in Nexon it’s with the turbo engine, hence my apprehension.

[chaitanyakrish]

Just to give an update, I went with my heart and booked Slavia.
I felt Nexon a little cramped on space, I don't know, if any changes were made compared to previous Nexon.

[On4Wheels]

Originally Posted by chaitanyakrish

Just to give an update, I went with my heart and booked Slavia.

Good that you picked Skoda Slavia. It is far superior and spacious than Nexon and you will never regret about it.

Huh Ground Clearance! You will never scrape on road because this concern would be there in your head always despite the reality:

[Deep Blue]

Frankly, I feel this GC has been given undue importance, or maybe that my little town has good roads.
I had a first-generation Ford Figo earlier and now have a Skoda Octavia(the immediate previous model) which if I remember has a ground clearance of somewhere around 140-150mm. I have never really had any problem because of the ground clearance. True, I have scraped a few humps now and then, but the vehicle has run fine.
Unless you are going on serious dirt tracks on a regular basis, I feel the GC that is there on most of the cars available in India should not cause any problems.
Choose the vehicle you like and enjoy it

[Game_of_Roads]

The GC numbers on paper only tell half the story. Suspension setup, front and rear overhang and approach angle, all contribute to the likelihood of scraping the bottom. IMO we all get hung up on the GC numbers (self included) but some skill and awareness can make a car manageable.

The Slavia/Virtus are as good as they can get with sedans in India right now. 179mm + stiff-ish suspension and car decent approach angles make it easy to live with. I own a 1yr old Slavia 1.0 AT and coming from a 165mm Grand i10 it has been amazing. Scraped a bump only once so far, that too very lightly when I was a bit too fast with a fully loaded car and boot.

Another less obvious trick I have learnt more recently is to not go over a speed breaker or bump with the brake depressed, rather slow down a few metres earlier and let the car roll over the bump. Under braking the suspension is compressed further and will have lesser travel compared to a free rolling car. This is a significant difference in scraping vs not scraping especially in a sedan. It's a bit more difficult on an AT car due to the way creep is designed but so far I've been able to manage quite easily.

The 1.5 engine is an absolute beast and if budget isn't a problem (inducing a 2L DSG insurance deposit fund) that's the preferred option.
However as an owner of the 1.0 AT I can report that this is a cracker of an engine and is super fun in it's own right, especially if you are coming from a smaller NA engined car. It's a tiny little rocket that loves to revv hard, sounds good revving, is quick in Sports mode, and can easily hold 120+kmph without breaking a sweat. The only things you will have to live with is slightly more NVH (still great for a 3 cylinder engine) and mediocre mileage when driven hard (and also in bumper to bumper traffic with the TC AT). Otherwise the 1.0 engine is a really fun pocket rocket, and you can put the 2L+ savings into your trips

Happy motoring!

[tsi_niks1989]

Originally Posted by chaitanyakrish

Just to give an update, I went with my heart and booked Slavia.

Congrats on the booking, you made the right decision. Slavia or Virtus have ample amount of GC, the comparatively stiffer suspension also help. Compared to Nexon, apart from the 360 degree camera, I don't think you will miss anything in the Slavia.

Slavia will be better handler, comfortable as well as practical with humongous boot space for the long trips. Even the 1L TSI is explosive to bring a smile everytime you push the pedal . Also to add, the VAG sedans are at the top of the safety charts. It has been more than a year with the Virtus and it has never scraped or even felt like it would, have done lot of drives to hills and bad roads courtesy Pune.

[sanjayrozario]

Slavia has a GC of 179mm, which is decent enough for any type of roads. You can also look at the Virtus as an alternative.

I own the Slavia 1.5, so I'd suggest that if you can push your budget, do go for the 1.5 as it's powerful, and it'll be helpful on hilly areas. Nonetheless, if you still want the 1.0, don't worry as its specs are better than the 1.2 Nexon.

Slavia drives really well, is a safe, comfortable & spacious car, and if you drive with a light/medium foot, it'll give you double digit figures in the economy.

[fhdowntheline]

I hope you have booked the 1.5 TSI because I am not sure how much real world difference you will experience with the smaller engine given that you already have an i20 IMT with the 1.0 engine.