Quote:
Originally Posted by shenbag63 Hi,
A friend of mine has returned from US for good after 7 years. After driving in US he wants to go for a car with automatic transmission. His budget is 12 lakhs and has short listed the following:
1. Toyota Corolla AT
2. Honda Civic AT
3. Skoda Octavia Petrol AT
His major requirements are ride, handling and performance. Fuel efficiency is not a major criteria.
Gurus, Please suggest the best one that will suit him. Thanks. |
Quite frankly I am in the same dilemma! My BIL was too until a month back, however he bought the Grand Vitara A/T. I am still trying to make up my mind.
I TDed all the 3 above and here is what I found (very briefly): Toyota Corolla H4:
Not sure if there was something wrong with the TD car or not, but I wasnt too impressed. The car looked good and all with good space overall. However the drive wasnt too peppy (as I had expected). And the steering was a bit too stiff/hard for my comfort. The interiors were sombre - not exciting. The rear view was the best. Car had 24000 kms on the ODO, and it was a company TD car. Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDi A/T (A/T no longer comes in Petrol - only diesel):
This was a complete damp squib! Quite honestly I had GREAT EXPECTATIONS with this piece of machinery but it came CRASHING DOWN during the TD! Maybe that was MY fault as I shouldnt have had such expectations. I am an absolute fan of German Engineering (used to own a BMW while in Australia) mind you. However during the TD I found that the car had a BIG rubberband effect. To make this baby move I had to pump the pedal all the way down, the RPM needle used to jump to 3-3.5K and only then did it move its bu*t. That didnt seem right! The car had only 35 kms on the ODO so it was brand new (probably another potential customer's.) As far as I had read uptil now that 250NM of Torque was available at 1400 RPM - but it surely didnt seem so. The interiors were not exciting but quite regal. Everything looked solidly built. However lacked the gadgetry (like in the Civic). Seemed a bit cramped from inside -although it looks quite huge from outside. All in all a damp squib. Civic 1.8V A/T:
Quite frankly - LOVED IT (comparatively speaking)! Needless to say the car looked fabulous. Very sleek and well contoured. The interiors were fabulous and exciting. Everything inside looks well built. The gadgetry is fabulous. The TD was the most impressive. The car FLEW the moment I pressed the accelerator pedal. Very good pickup (from a layman's point of view - comparatively speaking). The car had 1250 kms on the ODO and it was a company TD car. Have frequently read about people complaining about its low GC. We were 4 adults in the car and I made it a point to drive it at approx 70kmph over a fairly BIG speed breaker as well as reasonable pot holes - and mind you not once the car bottomed out. It simple flew/glided over them all. So quite frankly dont know what the others are talking about. Verdict:
From them all I'd put my money on the Civic. The best overall. However the only problem I see with owning a Civic in a city like Delhi is that its not a very intimidating car to drive - so I'd guess one will have to take the bullying from other rowdy car drivers. Other than this point I found the car fabulous.
Last edited by HSV : 17th November 2007 at 23:42.
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