[Redex]

Why bother about the "A" pillar. Many cars I see in India have dangerous tints or even "mesh screens" attached to the windows, some have stick on strips across the top and bottom of the windscreen
If the "A" pillar is an issue it may be the seating position or just poor design. Don't buy a car without test driving it !!!
Keep safe

[KryptonMonkey]

Originally Posted by teekranthi

I am currently driving Renault Kiger CVT. I am looking for another car for my wife. Kiger though ticks off all the needs, it has poor visibility because of its thick A and B pillars. Sometimes the A pillars are great at hiding even two wheelers if not very attentive. That makes me scared to hand over Kiger to my wife as she is a new driver. None of the car review websites cover the visibility part for all the cars. Can someone suggest a good beginner friendly car with great visibility and automatic transmission within 10 lakhs budget? I am okay with used cars as well. Thanks

This post from BHP-ian clevermax beat me to the punch. This adaptation and skill he mentions is essential, no matter what car you're driving.

Originally Posted by clevermax

In my opinion, one needs to adapt to the fact that cars will have thicker A pillars for safety reasons.

A glued-to-the-seat static positioning while driving isn't advisable, particularly in situations that demand a wider field of view before executing maneuvers such as turns. It's necessary for drivers to sometimes lean forward, and move their heads sideways to get a better look around, and also glance through the right-side window glasses for a comprehensive view. Check if your wife is doing this while driving.

That said, if you're hunting for cars, your wife must thoroughly test-drive each car on your shortlist (from the recommendations on the forum) before coming to conclusions. Also, do consider getting a car with driver seat height adjust. That helps to get into a good driving position as well.

I'll throw in my vote for the Honda Amaze CVT (new or used). Excellent visibility all around and a super-smooth automatic that's easy to drive for a newbie.

[Joe367]

Originally Posted by teekranthi

Can someone suggest a good beginner friendly car with great visibility and automatic transmission within 10 lakhs budget? I am okay with used cars as well. Thanks

I cannot think of any other car other than the MG comet in terms of visibility and beginner friendliness.

[ashking101]

Originally Posted by teekranthi

I am currently driving Renault Kiger CVT. I am looking for another car for my wife. Kiger though ticks off all the needs, it has poor visibility because of its thick A and B pillars. Sometimes the A pillars are great at hiding even two wheelers if not very attentive. That makes me scared to hand over Kiger to my wife as she is a new driver. None of the car review websites cover the visibility part for all the cars. Can someone suggest a good beginner friendly car with great visibility and automatic transmission within 10 lakhs budget? I am okay with used cars as well. Thanks

Dear Friend, Thick A pillars in modern cars is a common phenomenon. I've been driving my Kiger RXZ for more than 2 years. Initially I too had a little difficulty with A-pillar visibility which is typical when you drive any new car. But learnt the correct seating, steering positions and marked them with the marker (helps me restore my position easily, if my family/friends or service center change the settings when they drive my car). Later I also added the wind/rain deflector (the black one, on top of the windows) which might make people think that the A pillar has become further thicker. However till date I never faced a visibility issue in my Kiger.

You have a GNCAP 4 star rated car which was even nominated for the World Car of Year as well as Urban Car of the Year 2022. Your family will be safer in this car rather than in any tin can cars

We just need to find out the correct driving position; it includes steering wheel tilt as well as the driver seat height, distance from the steering and recline adjustments. And the rest is sensible driving. That's all.

So, just trust and give the car to your wife. Let her find the correct seating and steering positions herself. The more she drives, the more she will get comfortable with the Kiger

[NiInJa]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Check out used Honda Jazz options with automatic transmission. Think you should find options easily under 10L.

Just one word of caution, as I drive a Jazz, I can say for sure that the A Pillar blocks the driver's line of sight sometimes as the A-pillar is raked at steep angle . This can get a bit irritating at times, especially in rains and at nights.

taken from our own forum


https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...jazz-v-mt.html (1.5 years with my Honda Jazz V MT)

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by teekranthi

...it has poor visibility because of its thick A and B pillars. Sometimes the A pillars are great at hiding even two wheelers if not very attentive. That makes me scared to hand over Kiger to my wife as she is a new driver.

A-pillars (indeed, all pillars) in any car cause blind spots, and it is essential for a new driver to learn to see around them. Unless, of course, one wants to see through them (14-year old girl finds a solution for A-pillar blind spots)!

[HowDifferent?]

I was reminded of of the old cars such as ambassador, premier padmini etc., where one could see the bonnet. The discussion during those days were bonnet not being visible in the new cars coming to the market.

This is similar, just a matter of getting used to the styling of new cars.

[speed79]

My experience with few cars with thick A pillar that I own/have owned - Vista, Storme, Punch and Hexa.
I have found only Vista's A pillar causing issues in visibility, while others three even while having even thicker A pillar than Vista's, do not cause visibility issues. The reason is that in Storme, Punch and Hexa the A-pillar is away from the driver so the field of view being blocked by A pillar is smaller than as compared to Vista. You can give Punch a try if it fits your requirement.

[Jeroen]

What helps in any car is to make sure you are sitting correctly, so not to close to the steering wheel. You should be able to have both arms at the 10 to 10 position slightly bend.

The further away you are from the A pillar, the less is becomes a problem. All about angles and distances!

Jeroen

[gauravdgr8]

I would suggest the Tiago EV to ensure the AMT/TC/CVT questions do not arise. Also it will keep your running costs down. Stay away from the Comet at all costs. The car is absolutely unsafe.

[Anonymous guy]

Originally Posted by Guna

MG Comet would be a great choice.
Under 10 lacs you would only get AMTs which are not very smooth. Also, most of the other modern cars have poor visibility with 'high set' dashboards where it is difficult to judge the corners of the bonnet.

Agree with Guna here, it is a great choice for new learners, she will get used to driving. You have to eventually let her practice on kiger as almost every cars now have thick A pillars for safety.

Safe driving to all.

[sid_sawhney]

Hi, I understand your concern. While all technical aspects regarding why A-pillars are here to stay, and why it is important to learn to drive with thick A-pillars have been addressed; i would like to share my personal experience with having my wife learning how to drive on the Kiger.

Our first car is the Kiger RXZ CVT and my wife has learnt how to drive on this car. Being an automatic, it was easy for her to focus on the road and not worry too much about the gears. In addition, the Kiger's seating position and good visibility makes it all the more easy to judge corners.

It was important for me to sit next to her while she was learning and keep giving her tips on what to look out for. Me being patient gave her confidence and she was fairly quick to pick things up.

So, if the fear of the a-pillar is the only thing making you buy the second car, then I'd say give the Kiger a shot and i think things will turn out just fine.

[thomahawk]

I agree with suggestions from other members; It is better to have your spouse get used to the car. Unless you both need a second car anyway, having her adapt to Kiger makes the most sense.

If you both need a second car, why not check Spinny (if there is one nearby)? Drive into a Spinny showroom and try out lot of cars from different brands (you can check their website to see the cars available). You can cover lot of cars that way. Do not make the decision without the primary driver (your wife) testing the car out in real road conditions - I did that mistake recently.

This might be - Kiger has a front parking sensor as an official accessory; not sure how it works - and if mounting it towards the edges makes sense. Also the constant beeping may not be worth the trouble - she might end up ditching the car altogether. A 360 camera system might be a better alternative. Nissan Magnite has one, wonder why Renault didn't offer it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbwK6adS54E

[antz.bin]

A car that is easy to park is a car that is easy to learn on. Parking is definitely the hardest bit to learn since you need to learn precise control sometimes having to be inch perfect.

I remember a very old Autocar India test about 8-10 years ago that had rated the Honda Jazz and the 1st gen Hyundai i10 as the easiest cars to park. I am not taking the pain to find this video so you have to take my word for it. Personally, I have driven a 1st gen i10 for a couple of hundred km in *old town narrow road city traffic of Ayodhya(Erstwhile Faizabad)* back when I had learnt how to drive and it was one of the easiest car I had driven. Autocar had rated the then Honda Jazz better than the i10.

360 degree cameras and rear view cameras are all nice to have but you need to learn how to park a car using just the 3 mirrors to be able to do it well.