Cars that got almost everything right

I can't help but wonder about a few cars, that got everything right, well almost, so much so that it literally hurts how perfect they would be if they had these, almost no-brainer elements.

BHPian autohead115 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I can't help but wonder about a few cars, that got everything right, well almost, so much so that it literally hurts how perfect they would be if they had these, almost no-brainer elements. Maybe this shows the broader market perspective and manufacturers' priorities.

My picks are the:

1. Tata Altroz - what a stunner of a car. If only, it had a proper AT, a torque converter would do, and the same engine tune as the Nexon, I mean TATA has both. Same with Nexon, the car is begging for a proper AT, and some refinement to its diesel motor. Still proud of the direction TATA is taking, solid build, and overall packaging is great. Long term, I am very confident in TATA, they deserve the success they have been seeing lately.

2. The Korean Twins - Why not build it slightly better? A new generation SUV that is here to stay a decade or longer, people are now aware of crash test norms, and just for the sake of principle, ethics, setting an example, they are obviously making good profits. Such great packaging otherwise. Just sigh.

3. The new Octavia - No panoramic sunroof, I mean come on, its obviously 3-4 lakhs overpriced, however, a car that is obviously near perfect when it comes to build, features, comfort, and fun to drive elements, how could they omit a feel-good feature when cars that cost 15 lakh rupees less have it. Atleast in the L&K, a big sigh!

Here's what BHPian Dr.AD had to say on the matter:

Whenever this topic comes up, I can not help but think of Ford Endeavour. They seem to be getting one thing wrong in each iteration.

The previous generation Endeavour had the nice 3.2L, 5-cylinder engine. But then it had a 6-speed AT that was quite poor in its performance. Not just that, it was slow and often could not find the best gear, it was also not very reliable.

In the current version of Endeavor, they gave the nice 10-speed AT, but removed the 3.2L engine option and gave only a 2.0, single-turbo engine. That was a terrible miss. Other than this, the Endeavour is a great vehicle. It has competent 4x4 hardware and it extremely capable on any kind of roads or off-roads, is has a quite comfortable ride on any road, looks great (has a timeless old school SUV looks), has great road presence and is quite well equipped with features and technology. If this current version had the 3.2L engine or the intentionally available 2.0 engine with bi-turbo, it would have been one amazing package! It got almost everything right - except that one thing in each generation!

Here's what BHPian sahil624 had to say on the matter:

The one car which comes to my mind is Renault Duster. It had everything going for it, great 1.5 K9k Diesel engine, mechanically sorted, incredible ride quality, good looking, even had an AWD variant. But, it’s interiors left much to be desired.

The Nissan Kicks (didn’t have any AWD variant) tried to remedy that folly, however, it was a total market failure.

Here's what BHPian Latheesh had to say on the matter:

For me it is Honda Jazz!

Current version, when they launched in 2015 - It had magic seats in top VX variant but they did not offer CVT in VX. V CVT had normal seats.

I was eagerly waiting for their facelift in 2018 for VX+CVT option. They offered the same variant, but removed magic seat from all variants.

For me Jazz with bigger engine + CVT + magic seat is a perfect city (+occasional highway) car and they have this option in all other markets.

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