[foosa]

Hello,

I am looking to buy a new "small" car. I will be driving on highway 80% of the time and the rest 20% will be in the city. Distance covered will be about 2000KM in a month minimum.Maximum budget is 3.2L. Based on various threads in Team BHP, I have short listed the following options:

1) Maruti Alto Lxi.
2) Maruti Zen Estilo.
3) Chevrolet Spark.

I plan to keep the car for next 5 years and am not bothered about the resale value. Good after sales support is required. I plan to drive it myself, so driver's seat comfort weighs over rear seats. This is my first car and I had learned driving from an awful motor driving school in Delhi. I ruled out Indica due to reviews I read about quality of after sales service.

I still have a few doubts before I finalize.

1) How do these 3 fare on highways?
2) With news or rumors about GM's financial condition in US, should I eliminate Spark from the options?

3) Since I do not have the option for a covered parking, most of the time the car will be parked in the sun. What will be a good color to choose?

Please provide your advice or feedback on my queries.

Thanks very much,

Moosa.

[abhinav.gupta88]

1. The Estilo is better than the spark and alto on the highway.

2. I think it will not affect the sales / after sales of spark . or will it?

3. Colour depends purely upto you , However under the sun , i would pick a light shade like white , silver.

Why dont you consider the A-Star too.
Looks a good package.

[extreme_torque]

Infact its the other way round Abhinav... Alto is pretty good on the highway and so is spark.. I dont think Estillo with its high center of gravity will be any good on the open roads.

[sridhar24]

I think Hyundai i10 and also Maruti Suzuki A-star are good choice if you can strech your budget a little bit. Both Maruti and hyundai have good service back up too and both are brand new models and better than the the older ones in the segment.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by abhinav.gupta88

1. The Estilo is better than the spark and alto on the highway.

That's completely wrong. The estilo/WagonR on the highway are horrible. We went on a trip taking my Alto and an Estilo. The Alto can run circles around the Estilo on the highways. If I'm driving the Alto I'm in front and Estilo nowhere in site. When I got into the Estilo I was barely able to keep up with the Alto. Same goes for the WagonR. Both Estilo and WagonR have soft suspensions and high centre of gravity. They bounce around over broken patches and uneven roads.

I'm not saying Alto is good but it's good fun and more reassuring on the highway.

I would go for the A-star or the i10. Not any of the car's from your list.

[gemithomas]

At your budget i think you shuold seriously think about the Santro too. Its got enough power to handle highway runs too.

If you wanna stick to your list i would choose the Spark. Its great value for money.

[greenhorn]

foosa, tata service is not AS bad as its made out to be,Just that we whine about it a lot. Its better than, say skoda, ford or Fiat service! please do give the indica a try before dismissing it. they make excellent highway cars, better than any of what you have listed,. While the petrols give low mileage (13~14 on the highway) , the diesels will make the extra amount worth your investment, given your monthly running and diesel motors are tata's strong point

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by vid6639

If I'm driving the Alto I'm in front and Estilo nowhere in site. When I got into the Estilo I was barely able to keep up with the Alto.

I would say one has to be a very bad driver to have difficulty in keeping up with Alto in an Estilo. The straight line acceleration of Alto is peanuts compared to 1.1L cars.

Estilo/WagonR/Alto 1.1 will leave the Alto 0.8 dead lock, stock and barrel on highway. Handling wise, the Alto is much better compared to the tall boys, for obvious reasons. But how many times does a regular driver do hard cornering and drifting on highways?

A wagonR or Estilo can take occasional highways with ease, and no point comparing with an Alto, which is a segment lower.


Although for the requirement of thread starter, i10 Kappa fits the bill perfectly, and if not, it has to be Swit. Or else get an Indica Xeta if you can't increase your budget and travel 80% on highways.


Alto for a highway? You gotta be kidding me, unless you are not really bothered about not able to overtake trucks and buses on highway.

[greenhorn]

vid's alto is not stock , so not fair comparing it to the stock estilo

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

vid's alto is not stock , so not fair comparing it to the stock estilo

OhK! That explains it. Or maybe Vid drove an Alto 1.1.

[phamilyman]

indica turbo DLS if I may? Infinitely more car per car, at a lil more budget. Diesel joy rules

[Vid6639]

I have a FFE alto with a K&N and it easily goes past the Estilo/WagonR in stock form. I was talking about handling more than outright acceleration. I was able to keep it floored over turns whereas the Estilo/WagonR would have to brake. Very easy to pass them if I was behind as I had the momentum out of the turn.

On the highway even in stock the Alto is very good, only thing you need to know how to keep it in the powerband.

The WagonR/Estilo just do not deliver the same confidence. Even Akroy can testify to that after driving his Alto from Bangy to Kolkata.

I have an Alto and my friend uses a Estilo. We carpool to work and I drive even when we take his car. I drive my car for 2 weeks and drive his for 2 weeks. I know the Estilo inside out and there's no way i can drive it the same way I drive my Alto. I get scared to push the Estilo. Maybe I can push it more but I don't have the same confidence as in the Alto.

My other colleague has a WagonR and does Bangalore-Goa every second weekend. He's a hell of a good driver but hates the WagonR handling. He likes my car thanks to better handling and slicker gearbox. Space wise WagonR is better any day.

i10 Kappa and swift are way out of the budget of the thread starter.

I would say A-star is better buy. In my earlier post I didn't see the max budget. So I say choice should be between A-star and Spark.

[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by vid6639

I was able to keep it floored over turns whereas the Estilo/WagonR would have to brake. Very easy to pass them if I was behind as I had the momentum out of the turn.

Vidyut for christsakes stop comparing the alto handling with wagon r/estilo. Check their design before comparing them. I don't think even Suzuki would ever dream of comparing these cars handling in one breadth. Its like comparing the handling of a 911 to a Cayenne.

[theMAG]

Originally Posted by vid6639

I would go for the A-star or the i10. Not any of the car's from your list.

Add Vista to that list.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

Vidyut for christsakes stop comparing the alto handling with wagon r/estilo. Check their design before comparing them. I don't think even Suzuki would ever dream of comparing these cars handling in one breadth. Its like comparing the handling of a 911 to a Cayenne.

lol. Yeah I know but foosa wanted to know which was better on highway between the 2.

As much as I hate the Alto, the handling is it's only saving grace.