2020 – The shark joins the family

Introduction

I am not new to T-BHP, and have been here since about mid 2006. That is now 14th year with the site. That said, I have also had the good fortune to own many new and pre-owned cars (just due to my craze in cars). I started off with a Maruti 800 3rd hand car to learn driving in 2000, after which I moved on to Fiat Palio NV, a new Maruti 800 AC, the Swift VDI, Honda City pre-owned, the Ford Figo, Nissan Sunny, Honda Civic pre-owned, Maruti Ciaz, Honda BRV pre-owned, Tata Nano pre-owned, and Maruti Celerio. As you would see after the downfall or the news of FIAT not doing so well, I went with Honda or Maruti mostly with the exception of also having the FIAT MJD where possible.

You can read about some of my other cars here, here, and here

Few of these cars were petrol, and few diesel, but I have always been a diesel-head. I do not know what really made me change cars, but on a pure ROI basis, I would have spent as much as about 2-3 cars changing so many cars over this period. Of all these Maruti was no nonsense and I knew what to expect. Although they still were/are making tin cans with the probable exception of XL6. I was a 3 time Honda owner and have finally ditched Honda after a hattrick session of issues with these cars and my legs which I will detail a bit later.

Buying another car was just a routine affair for me after so many. But I was in a severe dilemma. After so many cars, I just wanted my legs to be at peace. Of all these the celerio and BRV were automatic petrols and the BRV was fantastic for ownership – it was such a fuss free car. But the issue of leg pains tormented me all over again. My thoughts that automatics will be better for legs were rubbish. The right leg was angled badly in automatic cars and this was hurting me. I had to go manual again. And diesel it had to be to leverage on the torque. Now the question was which one this time?

Criteria to own a car

I had to buy one more car. A car that would keep me happy for few more years without a change. I knew it had to be a diesel manual for sure as it put me at ease compared to the automatic as I had control over how to drive my car. It had to be value for money for the features given and it had to meet these criteria.

Leg space with far seat push back for driver seat
Ground clearance to avoid shitty potholes in Bangalore
Not too much body roll if possible
Tech gimmicks
Reasonably good mileage, torque and power
Complete VFM for the price paid
Good AC with inbuilt stereo supporting apple car play for my phone
I did not want to install any accessory this time extra barring a few I wanted everything in the car itself – fully loaded vehicle
Resale was a consideration but the lowest priority one

Too many choices in 2019

Given the great launches of 2019, I had the following options this time around without paying heed to any pricing bracket.

Nissan Kicks
Ford Ecosport
Tata Harrier
MG Hector
Kia Seltos
Renault Duster
Renault Captur
Jeep Compass
Tata Hexa
Nexon / WRV / Brezza / Ertiga
XL6, Ciaz 1.5D

I needed to be absolutely sure that any car I buy was VFM, and kept me cool during my 25km (total per day) commute up and down in Bangalore if you know what peak traffic looks like. So the ground rule was that any test drive had to be in similar conditions and if someone didn’t offer me that it was a no-no for me.

Now for elimination rounds. Ready?

Kicks

I took a test drive of kicks diesel and my opinion was that the pedals were a bit hard to press, but overall the engine was good, but the car was rather lacklustre even with its intelligence. The horrible part was the sub par below HD rear camera that put me off. Seating was for 5. Grey leather interiors were not so great. The music system was sub par. They were offering 0% interest scheme etc but the whole sales pitch was not really up to the mark. At about 17.4 lacs OTR Bangalore, this was not so much VFM. At 15 you could consider this. Moreover Kicks was fast approaching the likes of Duster, Captur, etc into oblivion in terms of dated designs. Kia almost smashed every other car out of the park with Seltos.

Duster and Captur

I had seen much of this already, and although these are the toughest cars money can buy honestly in that price range, the design was dead on arrival for me so I had to drop it. Even if I had bought these they would easily depreciate by 50% very very soon as I had enough experience with Ola cash my car, or Olx, or cars24, etc by now. So buying one of these means 5-7 lac of depreciation in 2-3y. Design and modernness and appeal was missing in 2019 to go forward. So no test drive taken.

Jeep Compass

Eliminated due to cheaper options with same engines available at lower price point such as hector, harrier. Also space was a concern.

Nexon, WRV, Brezza, Ertiga

All dropped because at about 10-12 lac-ish they either lacked features, or power, or space or something or the other. Only way to get more is to go to 15 lac + range. Initially I wanted to stop at 15 lacs, but later I made up my mind to go to 20 + or – 1 or 2 more lacs. As long as there was VFM. The VFM always ensured I listened to my mind than my heart.

XL6

New launch, only petrol, no diesel, so dropped although it was more appealing than Ertiga.

Ciaz 1.5D

Old hand, I already owned 1.3 ciaz, was very cool to drive. Took a test drive of 1.5D and was blown away by the drive. Absolutely scintillating engine and overall drive. Smooth like hell. But reserved judgement for a while more. I got this at 13.75 lacs. Which means it was tending to 15 already. Surely VFM with everything in place – leather seats, white led’s alloys, and what not. Strong contender for sure.

Tata Hexa

When the car was launched the Tata hexa was awesome. But once more new choices were available this car also seem to be getting obsolete with respect to design. It is not that it was an incapable car but the engine was a bit outdated and I was in two minds whether to go for it or not. I also perceive the car as heavy and was not so much to go towards the Tata brand. Their service network leaves a lot to be desired and after owning the Tata Nano I was not okay to go to Tata again with the exception being Harrier.

Ford Ecosport

The Ford EcoSport was an old horse again. It has sold very well since inception over multiple iterations. Even after so many years it was still not looking very outdated. My friend owned an eco-sport automatic and I have driven it multiple times. As long as you handle it with care it is a breeze to drive within city traffic. But the version I was considering was a diesel manual the same one the Figo came with. The dealer offered me a 12 km ride and the car performed extremely well. The engine was very potent and each and every functionality was well integrated within the car. I actually kind of like the sync system in the older car. The point is about finding what you want easily and Ford are masters at this. I did have some leg pain but that’s probably because I was driving the new Ford for the first time and it took some time getting adjusted to.

The Ford EcoSport was a strong contender in the buying game and at about 15 lakhs this was a very good machine to go for.

Tata Harrier

Even though I was concerned about the bulk of the car the Harrier was a worthy alternative at about 18.5 lakh. This was not the top end version. The dealer offered me a 12 km drive through peak traffic. I also took a shorter test drive around the office once more. The first thing you notice about the Harrier is its bulk. It is a real SUV but also one that blocks many parts of your vision with its thick pillars. When you’re standing next to vehicles in peak traffic, you don’t get a sense of safety and feel that you may probably hit the two wheelers standing next to you.

Gear shift and clutch seem a bit disconnected and although it easy to drive and powerful to the interiors lack finesse and Tata could have done better for a car this expensive. Of course there are eight speakers and the Harman stereo but I somehow felt the tech stuff could’ve been more cooler. It would not be wrong to say the hexa is actually better than the Harrier inside. Since the car seemed way too big for me and did not offer me VFM for the price I have to pay I decided to drop it.

Kia Seltos

This car has been grabbing headlines ever since its launch simply because it is a car with all the features anyone can ask for at this point in time. The point was not that the people did not have money but they wanted a vehicle which offered them more. In every possible way this car was good but I did have some things to pick on.

The doors wouldn’t open wide enough and the space in the middle row was just about okay if not great. This was a car where the clutch and gear shift were mated very well and it was a joy to use. The power is adequate for five people and the torque meant that you could putter around in city traffic easily. So this car was obviously in the list.

MG Hector

This car was the dark horse among all cars and irrespective of the negative publicity it manage to gather, as a car it offered much much more at a lower price point. This car was sitting right higher than Ford EcoSport and slightly lower than the Seltos top end HTX+ variants. Ride quality was very good and I had a 12 km test drive of this car as well. The power was very good and the way it was able to handle potholes on the road was awesome. It had huge amount of space both for the rear passengers as well as for luggage and this was a selling point for me.

I preferred to go for the top end variant but the problem was this was going about 20 lacks. The second gear had an issue in this car and was not properly tuned so I did have a few instances where the car stopped in second gear. The fiat MJD with 170 bhp of power was very evident with this car. This car made the Harrier look pale in comparison. This car also made it to my buy list.

Finalists

Kia Seltos, MG hector, Ecosport and Ciaz 1.5D.

For a long time, I really wanted the 1.5 Ciaz again, but the thought of owning another Maruti again kind of made me look elsewhere. The XUV and Scorpio were out since they were old, outdated and somewhat not in my taste. The Verna did not even figure here because I did not prefer a Hyundai. So also the Venue since it was utmost a small 5 seater raised to a good ground clearance. Somewhat felt it was overpriced.

I booked the hector, second variant manual diesel. White colour. Paid 50000 bucks. I told him take your own time to deliver upto 5 months. I wanted the delivery to be in 2020. During the time I waited, I could not still give up on the others so easily. After a lot of reading about BS4/6 confusions for diesel cars and the fact I already owned Ciaz with a heavy heart I decided to let the 1.5D go. After driving the Seltos I came to appreciate the features a lot and for 18.9 lacs I was getting leather ventilated seats, Bose speakers, purifier, sun roof and what not. So I decided to cancel the hector booking and book the Seltos instead. By now it was November of 2019 and when I went to book it, they jacked the prices to 19.5 and at this price the HTX+ made no sense for VFM – my original criteria. Without a bit of thinking I dropped the Seltos as well.

Wild card entry – Mahindra Marazzo

That left the Ford Ecosport only on the list. Very capable and right in all sense of the word. I had carefully kept off MUV cars in all this search but this is where I called Mahindra and asked them whether they would give me a test drive of the marazzo and I got my 12km test drive upto my home in peak traffic. I checked for parking at my home and it was a bit tight. But still managed to feel that parking was possible correctly.

The car itself was a 120bhp 1.5 Diesel from the Mahindra stable and the first thing you notice is its super silent engine/cabin. On the test drive, it was not the star performer, but ticked many of my boxes on the list. The price was 18.6 which is why I had dropped it last year before the BRV. But here it was again this time at a whole lot lesser – almost 10%+ down on original pricing OTR. This was the M8 fully loaded model and for the value it was offering midway between 16 & 17 lacs, it was astounding enough for me.

Bonus is it was a 7 seater / 8 seater config possible. I opted for the aquamarine green and specifically did not want to go for loan, somehow managed to scoop up the money and made a full downpayment for the aquamarine colour – mid December. However a couple of days after payment was made, he said the colour isn’t available and there was a glitch on the facts he stated that car was there. This was India Garage. They offered me a white instead and he confirmed it was under transit. I had to make a choice. I opted for the 7 seater (2+2+3) , pearl white M8 top end variant of the BS4 marazzo which was on an irresistible offer price in December. The risk was with BS6 fuel on BS4 car but heck even BS2 vehicles still ply and there is nothing wrong with them and I trust the industry to find a way out.

There was a death in the family around Christmas so had to wait until that cleared up, so moved by registration to 1st of Jan 2020. So 2019 model registered in 2020. And no aquamarine, but Pearl white.

PDI and delivery

I had made the full downpayment and told him to hold the car until Jan 1st. He got it to showroom on Dec 31st, so my new year eve was spent checking it out at the basement of the showroom. Was looking good and waiting for its driver – me!!

On Jan 1st, called my fil, wife and kids (mom wasn’t able to come due to medical complications) to the showroom by 4pm. Car was getting cleaned and ready. Finished paper work which was minimal – no loan, full DP and nothing much to fill. Everything was done. Someone suggested to verify against TBHP PDI so did that. Was all ok. They gave me a bouquet and some photographs later, it was mine.

The car was finally mine – the gentle shark Mahindra Marazzo! This is where the story begins. Due to extreme paucity of time, I will need to update this thread in different parts. Please bear with me. For now I will leave you with a couple of photos. Enjoy!

MG Hector – the big boss

Introduction

Along with the current reigning king the Kia Seltos, the MG Hector has also tried undyingly to make an impact in the SUV market. Considering the sales of KIA which was hovering above the 10000 mark month after month since launch, the Hector did not do so well but has gotten off to a steady start with over 3000 units every month.

So how is the Hector as a car, and is it worthwhile to buy one if one has the budget is the course of the further discussion in this post. I will also speak about the sales a bit as we go along to analyse the car, the manufacturer and other aspects.

MG Hector – the car

Much has been said about the car by now since its launch. The fact that it seems British but its not. The fact that it is in fact Chinese (SAIC) and there is really nothing British about it, etc. We have by now come across all these comments in social media and news that people have started to perceive the car already in different dimensions.

The car in itself is a piece of art which I have not seen in a long time since the solid builds of the European vehicles that India saw during early and mid 2000s. It is also massive (perhaps due to offering a 7 seater in the guise of a 5 seater). It is definitely a looker and even if a year elapses, it would still hold its stance on the road. It is bulky, burly and would surely make people give way when driven. The reason it tends to look this good is due to the narrow DRLs on a huge body putting it in the likes of the fortuner.

Power

The car itself is mighty powerful as is evident due to the wonderfully crafted 2000 cc fiat engine. No doubt the engine gets gruff and noisy if revved hard and beyond 3500 rpm or so, but for normal cruises at high speeds, it is at best a purr and nothing more. The engine manages to lug along the heavyweight body without making any fuss.

Torque

The power and torque combination is at whopping 170bhp and 350Nm torque for the diesel manual version which is my only interest for this article. One expects that this would mean great low speed drivability but I soon found out this to be wrong. Unfortunately if I were to nitpick on something about this car, it would be the slightly hard clutch and improperly tuned second gear throw which makes it fussy in day to day stop and go traffic. No proper half clutch or smooth clutch and the need to constantly shift to first gear makes this car not a great one within the city. Again I am speaking about the diesel, but the petrol manual and petrol auto are better here.

Tech Gimmicks

Both Seltos and MG are selling crazy numbers because of the tech features they have on offer. People are always euphoric about something new that comes up in the market and this is most of the times the reason a person wants to go for a new car. MG Motors does not disappoint here.

The hector is an internet connected car which allows you to start a car or roll back the sun roof and set airconditioner temperatures, etc through the app on the phone. Maybe more things can be done as well – the manual will list all the features that can be controlled thus. Other than this the Hector lacks features like wireless charger, or air purifier that Seltos offers. But on the other hand it does come with many things you would expect in a car of that price (17-22 lacs on road Bangalore based on version).

Cruise control
Leatherette seats
Connected car features
Panoramic sunroof which is one of the best though it leads to heating of the interior during hot weather conditions outside

A huge entertainment system which through comes with resistive screen makes it a tad bit difficult to use, still has enough apps to keep you enthused
Powered driver and co passenger seats which in my opinion is a must in every car to allow to find a reasonable seating position

8 speaker infinity system which in my opinion again has a better sound signature than the Seltos’ Bose speakers – I felt the woofer in hector handled the bass very well and it did not sound so much disconnected from the rest of the sound elements like mid ranges, or treble notes. It definitely provides a closed theatre style setting which I liked a lot
Remote boot lid opener
Mood lighting
Electric foldable and heated OVRMs
LED DRLs, headlamps and fog lamps which are just wow in terms of lighting the road up during the night
17 inch alloys
Humongous boot – one can camp in there!

Drive

The Hector offers a pliant ride and the passengers are cocooned from all the road undulations which is mostly due to the 17 inch alloys and good suspension. While the power and torque allow you to unleash the beast on the highway, in city roads the car still does surprisingly well and is well composed at lower speeds too.

Surprisingly I did not find any body roll in the rear row at all and it was mostly muted to some degree thereby offering passengers comfort. Many reviews so far have pointed out that the rear seat thigh support isn’t as good as expected with hector but the massive leg space between rear seat and front more than makes up for it.

Cost & Warranty

The cost of the hector is between roughly 15-22 lacs on the road in Bangalore and for this price, it is definitely a good buy in that segment. There are really no major competitors to this car in that price range. And no, Seltos isn’t a competition since it cannot compete against a 2000cc 170bhp monster with its 1.5 115bhp engine. The only real comparison would be with Tata Harrier which by the way is also a great vehicle but the proportions of the Harrier are somehow too big as compared to the Hector.

Also Harrier misses out on well implemented tech stuff that must belong into 2020. The unnecessary bulk, and the body roll in Harrier does not give it an edge. I also felt that the interiors were a bit lacklustre .

So then the next question about warranty and peace of mind. Hector has it covered until 5 years unlimited kilometres for now. So any part malfunctioning will be replaced without breaking your bank hopefully. That said there are reports of MG dealers harassing customers that the part going bad was due to customer’s bad driving habits. In these cases, the truth is only half told and there is no good way to find out what was really the case. By and large I feel MG would be bound to adhere to warranty terms if they need their brand name to remain as a good perception among buyers.

Mileage concerns

There have been a lot of reports about mileage concerns with Hector. This is mostly true for the petrol manual and petrol automatic versions. But with the diesel manual the car returned a respectable 9kmpl in very peak traffic and so it may go to 14kmpl on highways. This is good for a 2000cc 170bhp vehicle. The petrol mileages have been to reported to be terrible.

Should you buy the Hector?

Short answer: If you have the money then yes for its brute power, great handling and very safe body. You should not buy this for mileage or for the fact it is a Chinese vehicle with an Italian heart. Hopefully the warranty cover will bring some peace of mind, but a lot remains to be proven with respect to the way they handle services of the vehicle. Nothing is known about average service costs and so on.

Did you buy the hector? Are you planning to buy one? Let me know in the comments below.

The KIA Seltos – the drive, tech and pricing reveal

Introduction

As you would have already read in my previous post I had given you an overview of the Seltos, the latest and first creation of KIA for the Indian market. What is noteworthy of the car is its multitude of variants, the tech within the car and other cool features.

As there were many people waiting for the drive yesterday, it was difficult for me to get the drive yesterday so I was asked to come in the morning at 930am today which I promptly did though it was a tad bit cold and rainy in Bengaluru. Took me 10 minutes to drive there 10 minutes to test drive and 10 minutes back there. Neat eh ?

So what are we waiting for? Let us look at how the drive felt like…..

Drive (1.5 Diesel Manual)

I got the GT line Diesel Manual (115bhp, 250Nm) version. It was a keyless startstopentry model so settling was comfortable. The powered driver seat was comfortable to change positions until an optimal driving position was available. It takes a while getting used to but along with this and a tilt and telescopic steering – in a few seconds I was comfortable enough.

Camera(s)

Switching the car on needs a clutch press and its better to ensure car is in neutral and hand brake on before trying something like that. The last thing you want is for the car to lunge forward by mistake. Once the engine was on, I could access the cameras which showed me all sides of the car (360 degree view) which is well implemented in my opinion. There is also a side lane camera which gets activated by putting on the turn indicator (which by the way is on the most intuitive side as opposed to american cars).

The camera tech is awesome and it would be a boon while taking the car out of cramped parking slots. However on normal driving only the lane camera is more of use on regular basis.

Engine

The engine itself is extremely silent both on the inside and outside and once you are in the car with windows closed, you would barely heat the engine. It is astonishing as to how silent this engine is if you compare it to say the 1.3 MJD in Ciaz. No gruff noise, no fuss, nothing. Just purrs.

Heads up display

KIA offers you a heads up display which indicates speed and navigation details just beyond the steering. The display kind of merges with the road when you drive and its least intrusive. I felt the colours and fonts used in the display were brilliant and is helpful to the driver. However it can perhaps show many more things like mirroring a google map in actuals, or gear information, etc. Just the speed and road names as you drive is not so useful for a seasoned driver.

Sun roof and ventilated seats

The showroom guy did open the sun roof and it is like any other car. The usual sun roof nothing much to say actually. What I felt more good was about the ventilated seats in the GT version. Imagine having parked your car in a scorching place and your seats are hot, the ventilation option blows cool air on your bottoms keeping them calm. This would prevent a lot of sweat on long runs and is generally a good to have feature.

Drive

I took a route that did not have patchy roads save for a few broken areas. It was mostly a well tarred section of the outer ring road. It is easy to slot the gear into any level you need to. Except for the second gear where a bit of acceleration was needed, in other gears the car just pulled fine. Engine is smooth at all speeds and you can barely hear it.

The car also feels confident to handle and is particularly also safe inside. You can quickly accelerate to get away from the mad rush or just amble along in any gear smoothly. The car has both the behaviours. Passiveness or aggressiveness.

Annoying bits – reverse gear button, and clutch

If anything decides the drivability of the manual versions, it’s always the combination of gear, clutch, engine power and torque. And here while the gear and power are fine, the torque is not so forthcoming and car needs to be accelerated a bit. This is surprising since the torque on offer is 250Nm and even with turbo lag any diesel car will show some intention to move forward from low speeds.

Coming to the clutch – only one word – annoying. It is rubbery and has pushback each time you press it. This is not great for relaxed driving as it makes you lift your left leg often from its intended position. Maybe over use it will become subdued but it is a huge deal breaker for me. It can mean life and death on choked roads of Bangalore. I felt that the clutch was jumpy even in the Tata Harrier and with a 2.0 engine you can imagine how much inconsistency it will generate on the roads.

KIA, I really feel you need to work on the clutch to make it more reasonable.

The reverse gear slot switch is another annoyance. Maybe I am biased. But let me tell you my story. I was driving a Ciaz until July and an automatic BRV from then on until now. In the automatic, there is a button below the gear knob to move from P to N to S to D to R modes. Now in the KIA they have given the same button to move to R mode. The disturbing part about this is it can be easily activated by a button press. Very easily. So if you are in forward gears and by mistake you press this and slot to R instead of 1, imagine the disaster on the roads.

KIA please please make a change and put a ring like in the FIAT Palio, or Linea. Lifting a ring to put the car in Reverse mode cannot be done by mistake and it will save drivers a lot of hassle. Please look at implementing this in a different way.

I am hoping the automatic version would be a lot better to drive with the diesel and since they did not have it yet for the test drive, I cannot say for sure yet. I am hoping to drive it sometime in the near future.

A word on possible pricing

According to rushlane the prices were leaked at a dealer event for training people on the car. And I am reproducing it here with the link to the original article as well in case you want to read it. If you look at the pricing it starts at 10 lacs for the base petrol and goes upto 17 lac for the top end GT variants in diesel, turbo and automatic. Extremely aggressive as it can kill everything in the way of this price bracket.

(source: rushlane.com)

So now that you know everything about the KIA more or less, what version would you book, let me know in the comments section of this post.

The KIA Seltos – change is in the air

The KIA Seltos – change is in the air

Introduction

By now every youtube channel has screamed hoarse on their experience with the KIA Seltos the first SUV introduced by KIA in India. This is the first car rolling out of the KIA factory in Andhra Pradesh and a many of firsts for KIA as a brand in India.

They are entering the country when the market is heated up and the automobile manufacturers are suffering to sell cars. At a time when customer sentiment for buying is very weak. At a time when each car model looks obsolete within months. They have had many things going against them during the time of entry itself. Like the fact they had to even conform to changing emission requirements of the Bharat Stage 6.

The MG hector made quite a splash and according to some data available, they are having a waiting period of over 6 months and have temporarily stopped bookings owing to good request numbers. This is a good news for any auto manufacturer to have during this downturn. KIA has brought in the Seltos to compete against the many contenders in this segment including the good old XUVScorpio, MG Hector, Tata Harrier, Jeep Compass, Renault Duster/Captur and more.

While the Tata Harrier is struggling to sell without an automatic version, the Jeep has sold enough and its novelty is wearing off. These two vehicles are big and capable but are seen as off-roaders. Creta remains the undisputed champion of sales owing to it being a worthy contender to Duster and the likes of SUVs and it being introduced much earlier to the KIA. However even the refresh of Creta is not being enough to generate buzz in the market and Creta’s price and the fact its novelty is wearing off would pose a threat to its sales in the long run. The areas like service are those where companies like Tata, Hyundai, Mahindra and Maruti will do well owing to its many service centres and availability of quick response times and parts for the vehicles sold so far.

So the industry badly needed some fresh new vehicles, with pleasing looks, reasonably powerful engines, customisability, range of features as opposed to just segment first ones, needless to say leverage on the good service network if available, conformance to new emission norms to avoid bringing in a vehicle that was dead on arrival and an overall sense of belonging to the customer who would put down his or her money on the car. Enter KIA with the Seltos.

Though the advertisement campaign about being badass and having a meerkat was a lousy start by KIA, thankfully the vehicle itself has much going for it which you will read about down below. This goes to show that when the product speaks for itself, there is no need to add a gimmicky marketing campaign for it.

Look and feel

Like we always think and talk about, the looks for any vehicle is subjective and whether or not its good lies in the eyes of the beholder. That said being overly boxy like the Lodgy, or the Evalia if you remember such a vehicle existed in the market would be an obvious target for bad mouthing. Customers expect a stance that is at least near to being an SUV (height, macho looks, bulging wheel arches, claddings to show pedigree, roof rails, and curved and straight line elements that form a fusion to make the vehicle look good overall). The good part is the Seltos achieves this with reasonable ease and it will not be wrong to say that the design really catches the eye.

Exteriors

It is impossible to fault this vehicle for what it offers and it is pleasing to see it from any angle. The closest anyone else gets in terms of looks to this which is drool worthy is Fiat with the designs. For example the Linea looks relevant even today. It is all about freshness of design. The KIA delivers very well in that department. The minute attention to details is what makes this vehicle exemplary and no matter which version you choose there is something great in each.

The bonnet is high, the doors are heavy and there is an overall aura of the Seltos being a stable car. Yes, reassuring door thud included. The grill, the headlamps be it LED or halogen, the fog lamps each lend to its overall front looks which is extremely pleasing to the eye. You need to see it in flesh to understand what I mean and photos will do only that much justice!

Tyres/Wheels

As for the alloys, I would have personally preferred the BRV style design, or at least something rather than the boring 5 spoke ones. When the company is so good with designing almost everything perfectly even one miss matters. But having said that the alloys and tyres are robust and that is what eventually matters on the road.

The lower version gets 205/65 16 inchers while the higher version gets 17” wheels.

Rear & Boot

The rear is simple yet elegant and is almost EcoSportish with bigger tail lamps though. The chrome strip running in between adds extra flair to the car. To keep it simple about the boot space, it can swallow a lot of items and be rest assured it can cater to all your workload needs. If you know the Duster boot well, its similar here.

Interiors

The interiors for a vehicle really determine whether the sales continue or not these days and a bland interior just would not work with customers anymore. The Duster through its many years of existence was never going to have great interiors because elsewhere in the world it is an off-roader and not that cushy SUV for city travel. It requires ground up design to think and execute great interiors and this is exactly where KIA scores very high marks.

Steering

The steering is circular in lower versions and D-Shaped (like Toyota Etios) on higher versions. The 10.2 inch display and stereo system blows everything else out of the water. It is like working on a fixed iPad in the car. The 7” colour display cluster behind your steering itself is a leap in tech and it shows a lot of things like door status, fuel info, and many other as well.

Storage and gears/pedals

The storage bins in the car are large, especially the one below driver handrest, you can hide 4-5 mobiles or 5 wallets in there. The handrest itself is well laid out – everything looks and feels like a 20 lac car. That said, the steering on the higher version is leather wrapped and so is the gear knob.

The clutch was hard to operate when engine was not on, but I am yet to figure the reality in a test drive effort later on

Infotainment system

They look so plush and the 10.2 inch system complements that very well and does not stick out like a sore thumb as in the EcoSport for example.

There are also the 8 speaker Bose system which is a first in this segment. The side buttons for windows and doors are a bit clumsy and feel like low grade plastic. The whole dashboard layout, the system and its buttons and the buttons on the steering – everything exude luxury in the higher variants.

The navigation system is so huge and so well implemented it gives a multitude of information on the screen. It is so good to see as such and will be a delight to use as well.

Seats

I love vehicles that give me white seats with perforation. They just look grand and gives you a feel of buying a very luxurious car. KIA has done exactly that with their higher versions and no one will be complaining. This seating alone is enough for people to lap the car up.

The lower version gets dull finish fabric seats which are not too bad either frankly. While the front seats are bolstered and feel very safe, the rear seats are best for two people, the middle passenger if included will have to sit a bit uncomfortably and if he is like me at 5’10” it will not be easy for longer drives. At best someone short or a kid can fit in there well. This is the only gripe or nitpicking I can do about the Seltos so far.

Variants

KIA has provided so many engine options and variant options with different sets of features which will make it an exciting buy for anyone looking for something that fits their budget.

Engine options

There are basically three engine options

1.5 petrol churning 115 bhp, 114Nm torque
1.4 turbo charged petrol churning 140 bhp and a whopping 242 Nm torque
And a 1.5 Diesel engine churning 115 bhp and 250 Nm torque.

Transmission options

You must note that each of these engines further are mated either to a manual or automatic transmissions and under auto there is the dual clutch DCT and the torque converter models as well.

Colour options

The Seltos comes in Clear white and Glacier white, Silver, Grey and Black, and Red, Blue and Orange. This with and without dual tone options as well. And metallic and non metallic as well.

Variants with respect to features

There are 3 variants in tech line the E, K and X and two in the GT line, the K and X for now. There are also the normal and the plus versions with few features extra in each version. I will include a link to the feature list PDF here in this post later, but what you need to observe is the sheer level of combinations of features, engines that Kia is offering which allows them to play in a wide range of price brackets to cater to all audiences.

If you are on low budget the HTE is for you, if you are on high budget the HTX is for you. The plus is really if you want the additionals or not.

HT Base version

The base version still comes with 2 airbags, ABS and EBD, front and rear disc brakes, projector head lamps and rear AC vents. It loses out on the auto climate control, and other higher end features such as infotainment system which is advanced. It comes with basic system with 4 speakers still and will satisfy average car buyer without having the need to invest more.

HT Mid Version

The HTK comes additionally with rheostat, 8 inch system, with rear cam, 6 speakers with the system among other things such as external mirror electric adjust etc. The plus version to the mid version includes 16” alloys, LED DRLs, push button start, cruise control, sunshade, rear wiper, washer etc. Besides it also has folding side view mirrors

HT High end version

The high end version is where all the meat is. 17” alloys, LED all lamps (front, fog, drl, rear) , 10.2 inch system with navigation, air purifier integrated with arm rest, antiglare rear view mirror, leatherette seats and auto AC among other things. The plus version to this gives you sunroof, ventilated front seats, power driver seat, Bose 8 speaker system, and a wireless charger among other things.

GT Line

Coming to the GT line, there are two versions currently with the space open for a lower GTE version maybe in future.

For the GTK version – you get everything that is in the HTX

For the GTX version you get curtain airbags, ESP, hill hold, vehicle stability, brake assist, multi drive modes and multi traction modes, and a 8 inch heads up display right above your steering which all exude sportiness quotient even more. Clearly the GTX is targeted for high end buyers.

In addition the GTX plus version gives you blind view monitor in 7 inch cluster display and a 360 degree camera.

Conclusion

With so many variants and features offered, in addtion to a pleasing look, confidence inspiring and safety oriented design, an eye for detail on the interiors, a separate sport line with turbo engines and matching interior features and tech KIA has sought to play to everyone’s attention and needs.

Without compromising basic safety, but with variants all over the Range other manufacturers will now be forced to offer more, or cut costs either way prompting them to accept defeat. What then matters now for KIA is only how good their service network can be and how much attention they pay to the customer woes.

Price

A final word on pricing. Official pricing will be out on August 22nd, but rumour has it that the ex showroom costs could vary between 10 and 17 lacs which when included with other costs would put it between 12.5 to 19.5 lacs in Bengaluru as the on road cost. This is sure to rattle every other manufacturer. But for KIA motors, Hyundai’s plan B will bring it the much needed boost in India.

I am yet to take test drive of this vehicle if time permits tomorrow so I will update that in a separate post.

Tata Nexon – the indica that shoud’ve been

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It is inspiring to believe a company like Tata have undergone a thorough transformation whose outcome is visible in a product such as the Nexon

Introduction

I finally had a chance to test drive the Tata Nexon top end diesel AMT mini SUV. Yes, the same one that has been making waves before and after its launch. If you know me well, I am a guy who would base reviews on everyday usability of the products that I test, and here it is no exception.
It is really inspiring to see how far Tata Motors have come in terms of being able to design a radically different type of product in their portfolio. Ever since sometime now they have set sights on good designs all the way from the Tiago to the Tigor and to the Hexa. The Nexon is the cream on the cake if I were to genuinely say so. So you do want to hear about what the car has to offer and I am going to take you right into that part of the review.
There have been many reviews written on this car and even videographed for the viewers by now. Yet they all lack in some part of the articulation in its truest sense.

Design elements

More than speaking about the exact nature of the design elements of the car, what I would like to point out here is more that the entire design is a refreshing change in the history of Tata cars. Every element of the design is chosen to make the car look unique within the portfolio. To say more about this I have to start somewhere among all the great bits. What made me fall in love with the car is its day time running lamps. For a car worth a little over 10L price bracket, the DRLs were in the league of cars more than double that price. For me I do not appreciate DRLs by merely looking at them standing in front of the car. What would more matter to me is if the car announces its presence in the rear view mirror of the car I am driving. In that sense, the Nexon makes all the right visual cues in a bold and deterministic manner.

Exterior

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The grille in the front is crafted very well and is very different from the typical tata cars we are used to. All the way from the front, this vehicle is SUV-ish be in looks or the way the pieces are put together. That said, the bumper, the bonnet, wheel arches – everything looks macho. Being in Bengaluru, one would know that for the rainy season where there is no differentiation between what is a road and what isn’t the need of the hour would be a vehicle with sufficient ground clearance to wade clear of that water and tyres to support that kind of driving.
The 16″ alloys make and imposing statement about the car and are available in two varieties the meek 195/60 and the more meatier 215/60 which blows competition out of the water. The tyres are safe and secure and would eat up anything thrown at it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But how do we know unless we put that to test, right ? So let us come back to more of those later. The sloping roofline to the back, the stright lines on the doors just make the car look gorgeous. The projector headlamps add to the glory during the night. The unladen ground clearance of 209mm is more than enough to not kiss every part of the road a sedan would otherwise. The laden clearance would obviously be lower, and the suspension should appropriately take care of that even if the car is laden with adults and luggages to the max capacity in real life.
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The ground clearance clearly puts it into SUV category and makes the car look all the more imposing. The plastic handles blend well with the overall scheme and does not make the car look out of place. Single tone and dual tone colours add more options and the colour choices themselves are smashing to say the least. I test drove the etna orange, but personal favourites on the roads are generally the moroccan blue, vermont red and even calgary white. I have never seen a silver so far, but sure have seen the glasgow grey which is also a looker. The red is my favourite though.

Interior

Step into the car and you would expect typical tata fare of the same old boring dashboard with addition of clock and the some dials. But let me tell you again just in case you did not read earlier – Tata has paid a lot of attention and has completely revamped the interior to an extent that you would not believe what you are seeing. The three tone interiors are soothing and are not contrasty like the Kraz edition. The AC vents are normal ones you see on any other car, and there is a harman floating console in the middle. The steering has been carried over from Tiago and Tigor, but for those who only know the indica, this steering is miles apart from the old Indica’s and by a very large margin. I will talk about this more when we cover the drive.
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The seats were not leather, but were cushy by tata standards, and I did feel that the thigh support could have been slightly better. It is not unmanageable but I do feel that over longer distances there can be some discomfort for those with legs longer than rest of their body – like me (the unfortunate bunch). There is a dial with different modes (eco, city and sport) which you can change on the fly and it mainly affects the gear change timings which are crucial for the experience of the said modes. Obviously the eco mode is tuned for mileage and the sport mode for driveability and power.
For safety you do get two airbags, ABS and EBD and a super rigid body structure. Just to drive home the point I have heard of Nexon’s having overturned on accidents on highways and everyone just walked out the door like nothing happened. You can be rest assured that Tata is among some of the companies whose main focus is on safety and reliability of the tensile structure of the body if not necessarily the parts.
The car has a generous amount of bottle and knickknack holders on doors and on the center of the front seats. I like the fact they have sliding doors to open up to the concealed storage areas. It is almost Civic-ish if I should point out. And that’s a good thing. It is like getting 20L premiumness in 10L. The central floating console is from Harman and there are 8 speakers, with Android auto and Apple car play – thereby finishing the exact need for an average user who wants music options. For more seasoned audiophiles an ICE would add more options to the experience.
Some nitty gritties – the door mats were looking a bit flimsy and I am a big fan of 3D or 4D door mats which keep all the dirt within and can be easily cleaned and disposed of. But maybe its just my nitpicking for some thing which is not such a big concern on the Nexon. I did find the rear view mirror a tad bit too small and the rear visibility is actually an issue considering the sloping roofline. It is slightly more claustrophobic at the back as well. The space in the front is good with height adjust and recline options for seats. The rear seat can fit 3 kids and one adult or 3 adults rather comfortably – and I mean realistically so. It is not an Innova, but it is not an Alto either.
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The boot is large and very reasonable for any weekend drive or airport luggage even, and it should not present any problem as far as Nexon is concerned. It is surely not a Duster in terms of boot space, but its not bad either! There is also push button start which is a welcome move.

Engines

Enough about the interiors, can we move to the engine now? The car comes with turbo charged petrols and diesels, one with 1.2, 3 cyl, turbocharged petrol with 110 bhp power and 170Nm torque – and the other 1.5 4 cyl, turbocharged diesel with 110 bhp power and an insane 260Nm torque at 1500 rpm. What this means in simple english is brutal power, extreme driveability due to torque levels whether you are talking about petrol or diesel variants.

Gearbox

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Since I took a drive of the AMT, there are a few things to talk about this version. I was particularly interested to understand how Tata has worked on the AMT gear box, the AMT gear lever and the likes of design elements. The gear level was small and looked awesome. It surely looks and feels like a 20L car here as well. The slotting is perfect and without a fuss.
If I had to nitpick about this a bit I was NOT a big fan of pushing up for manual gear up (in manual mode). I am so used to pulling it down for gear up in my celerio and this kind of feels counter intuitive for me and would also be similarly annoying for many other people. The thing is this for a pull down you activate only your hand, for push up you have to lift your arm from the arm rest. Again not a big grouse. Just a small one 🙂
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Driving characterisitics

I would like to jot a disclaimer here that I did not try eco mode since I did not have the time or opportunity on the road to check it, but my guess is that since it is going to be tuned for mileage, the power will be reduced and upshifts would be common. Having put that out of the way let us focus on the remaining two modes, the City mode and Sport mode.
When you hear about these modes, the first thing that comes to you mind is that Sport would obviously be more zippy and more enthusiastic to use and the city mode would not be. Well that is the case almost but we need to consider a lot of other parameters such as the traffic on that road, the speed with which you are driving, the throttle inputs, how many potholes on the road, whether it is a linear road or not, and so on. Every person’s test drive experience will be different so I am trying to give you a fair picture of how the car behaves on a general test drive.

City mode

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First off city mode – there is no lag on acceleration from first gear. The gear shifts after sufficient amount of acceleration happens about where you expect it. No much head nod for the passengers if you are reasonably gentle with the throttle. Breeze to drive it and wade through the traffic, no major issues and the car stays put exactly the way you expect it to. The light steering is a boon in city traffic and is easy to maneuver the vehicle. I did find one problem though – the steering is slightly tilted to one side at its normal position and it feels a bit odd. But that maybe just a one off case with this test drive vehicle and may not manifest on other cars. Time will tell.
The car does not downshift as well too soon and holds up being a diesel with enormous amount of torque (260Nm). This is sweet and even if it was a manual it would have felt very good needless to say. The 110bhp of power coupled with 260Nm of torque at as low as 1500 rpm has put the Nexon in a really sweet spot as far as driveability goes. Default rpm for idling is between 700-900 and just putting your foot on the pedal makes this figure jump to almost 1200 rpm which is just pretty shy of the 1500 rpm necessary for the torque to show.

Sport mode

As usual enthusiasts who want sport mode for the adrenalin rush would think this mode will really make you feel like god. On the contrary it isn’t so. All it does is hold a gear for as long as you really push it hard and the engine sometimes sounds harsh until it goes to the next gear. Since this is the first iteration of the Nexon, future tuning could make this mode more enjoyable in the longer run. That said, there is enough grunt in any gear for the car to sail through in sport mode. After using the sport mode and not finding an opportunity inside the crowded road to revv up substantially I had to switch back to city mode which left me at ease. City mode I would say is the default sport mode within the city. The sport mode thus may make sense on the highway to hold to fourth and fifth gears at low and high speeds completing the overall drivability quotient to a decent level.
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Tyres

A word about the tyres. For me tyres make a huge difference in the way a car handles almost as much as the chassis/frame. As I said before, the Nexon top end has 215/60 tyres which are really enough to handle Bangalore’s potholed road surfaces with utmost ease. Rains, water, mud, potholes, bumps – you throw anything at these tyres and they eat it with aplomb. You are safe rest assured with this kind of tyre profile. The occupants had very less notion of how many potholes I was passing over on an internal locality road.

Suspension

Just like the chassis, and tyres one another important aspect about any car’s drivability is the suspension setup. For a car like Nexon I did expect something like duster’s suspension, but unfortunately its not the case. Do not get me wrong, it is not bad, but its not the best either. It sure is not mediocre and does well in isolating road undulations to a large level and like I said before the occupants barely will feel anything at all. It is only if you push the car too much on undulated surfaces some bounce is felt.
The suspension is not a hit or miss, but Tata can work on this to make it more sturdier nevertheless. As such the car handles well on broken roads which is the worst nightmare for any passenger.

Variants

Click the brochure to know more about the variants of nexon and what you will get or not get in each version.
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Niggles

Every car has niggles and they just cannot get away with them due to persisting quality issues. The Nexon being the first of its kind is surely a batch meant for testing on guinea pigs and only future versions will bring about quality on the faulty parts.
A few things I noticed which fall into minor niggles category

Doors bit flimsy – European level thud not present
Rear visibility is poor but that is by design – there is nothing much that can be done about this
AMT could have had lever down for gear up – though counter intuitive for some people
Door mats could be of 3D or 4D variety

Conclusion

The pricing of the nexon in Bangalore is pretty competitive to say the Ford Ecosport or the Honda WRV. You can check the pricing of each version below
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The Tata Nexon is a genuine attempt by Tata Motors to bring a car that looks very upmarket to its customers at a value for money price range with substantial exterior and interior design elements and surprisingly low amount of visible niggles. This would mean that the engineering and design of the vehicle was well thought over and brilliantly executed. Pitting it right where the Brezza, Ford and Honda WRV is the Nexon sure has the necessary character and demeanor to march past its rivals with a class leading engine, good ground clearance and visibility, excellent space and a punchy drive. If you are looking for genuine value for money – this is the car to go for while at the same time keeping in mind that there is not much parts reliability information available yet. The safety of this car is well designed and is surely going to keep occupants protected in all situations on the road.
Good luck Tata Motors to set sales charts on fire and the numbers cannot be wrong!

Written with StackEdit.

The love and hate towards Polo GT TSI

(Image source: VW India)

Firstly its a shame that I took a test drive of the Polo GT TSI this late – nearly five years after its launch in india. Since then its price is steadily increasing north. Nevertheless finally I managed to get my hands on this hot hatch and I was rather inquisitive to see what exactly the heat is all about 🙂

Specificiations of Polo GT TSI

First things first some specs out of my way

1.2 litre petrol engine, 4 cylinders
105 bhp power at 5000 rpm
175 Nm torque at 1500-4100
< 5m turning radius
16 inch alloy wheels – so increased ground clearance
45 litre fuel tank

Features of Polo GT TSI that matter

When you buy a hatchback buyers are left high and dry with so many omissions that companies undertake just to cut costs. Take the example of cars like Celerio, or Alto, etc which give just one airbag, or no ABS or only ABS and no airbags, no wipers, no defoggers – the list gets endless. Some argue that it is done to price the car in one particular price bracket. But these are not luxuries anymore. They are darn necessities of life. Why should I feel that only me as the driver needs an airbag? Why not my co passenger? As a matter of fact why not 8 airbags, why only two ? In 2017 we must look at a proper and safe car even if it costs much.

Some of the features Polo GT offers is very admirable compared to comptetion. Some of them I personally appreciated were these:

ESP
Hill hold control for DSG petrol
Dual airbags and ABS
Cruise control (on a hatchback !)
Automatic climate control
16 inch alloy wheels – takes care of the ground clearance aspect for good

I fail to understand whether they offer the following – My feeling is they do not which is a bit of shame

Anti pinch one touch windows for all sides
Auto dimming rear view mirrors
Rain sensing wipers and follow me home headlamps
Navigation / Android auto and Apple car play

Drive experience

Coming to the drive itself, I took only a brief drive which had the following along the route

Traffic – stop and go
Broken roads
Bad road humps
Smooth stretches to accelerate quickly
Slopes

The car is seemingly quiet upon start and does not let you know what is waiting to do when you press the pedal. Once you want to move you have three ways to use the car – D mode (completely auto) and Manual mode with tiptronic gear shifts and sport mode.

D-Mode

The D-mode is perhaps the best mode to drive this car in – it has precise understanding of the gear you are likely to be in and the dual clutch is just waiting to put the car quickly in to different gears just the way you expect the car to move about. If you are stressed out this is the mode to use and the car is always willing to work just the way you want it to and slices through traffic like butter. The chilling airconditioner also makes you very comfortable and long stretches of traffic jam would not be a bother anymore with the Polo GT.

Manual mode

The manual mode expects you to use the tiptronic transmission and for some reason VW have defined it in an anti progressive way – meaning we always expect + to be down and – to be up. In the GT its the other way round. for going higher you need to move the shift forward and for reducing gear move it backward. This is seriously counter intuitive and kills the joy of manual mode. If you want to know what I mean, drive the celerio AMT.

Sports mode

The sports mode is supposed to let you be on the same gear for a while longer to enhance pickup before gear change but it acts a bit sticky and just when you think it should be changing gear even on surges of acceleration it takes just that 1-2 seconds more which is disappointing. Again do not get me wrong here – its not unbearable – just could have been a bit more perfect. For the gears itself it does hold up pretty well and does not make you feel awkward. However it is still the D-mode i would prefer if you buy this car and it will never leave you feeling bad.

Ground clearance

All the reviews I see never really bother to cover this aspect properly. Somehow being in Bangalore for me this is one of the criteria to choose a car given the pathetic condition of our roads. Thankfully with VW deciding to give 16” wheels, the car did not even touch any of the most horribly designed road humps throughout the drive. I drove on them completely impressed with the way this car handles undulations on the road.

Body roll and suspension

The suspension is not exactly soft and more on the firmer side and hence you can expect slight body roll if you turn around corners sharply or go over real bad patches too fast. Again th car handles these bad patches well just that passengers inside may get pretty jostled at times.

Chassis and safety

This car comes with all the safety aspects you can think of – Dual airbags, ABS, ESP, Hill hold, etc. Most of all this is still the car with the reassuring european build even after a good 15 years since these cars started making in into the markets. Close the door and you get that reassuring thud which makes you feel safe at all times. God forbid you are involved in an accident with the Polo, you are bound to walk out alive for sure. Rest assured you are in one of the most safest car around.

Rear space

This sucks. No … Really. I mean it. This car should have been a 3-door car. Not a 5-door. I don’t know what VW were thinking when they designed this car for 5 people. Not even 4 people can sit properly if the front passengers are nearing 6 foot heights. The rest of them can forget enjoying sitting inside. The 2018 version of VW is much more roomy for this purpose. And its definitely a more spacious car. But you know how car manufacturers operate in India. They milk the consumers first for the old crappy products on sale currently and then bring in something new and make up a story that its so much more better than the older one and try to milk the buyers even more.

VW please do not fool people that this hatchback is the best for space and so on. No one will be able to believe it. Either bring the 2018 version out soon here for same price point or just dont mention space as a luxury element while advertising.

Fuel efficiency figures expected

I don’t go by ARAI figures or other such claims of mileage. Nowadays thankfully you dont need to go by the salesman’s word for mileage. There are systems that let you know the real time effeciency that the car is returning over a trip distance of a said number of kilometers. I did check the real world figures and it showed me 6.8kmpl for the Polo GT TSI. Agreed its a test drive car and most people always drive within 1st or 2nd gear. Its more of a performance automatic rather than something tuned for mileage. But even by extrapolated standards, I do not see this car giving anything beyond 10kmpl in city traffic.

If any of you are getting anything more than this, do let me know in the comments section and I will be glad to know how. There are cars that return 13-16/17 kmpl in hatchback category for petrol itself. So arguably the mileage figures of Polo does look a bit disturbing. Real world figures can touch a tad bit around 10 or slightly more. Do not expect anything more than this for an automatic vehicle.

Please do you research before blowing your money on a machine that burns your bank account at the petrol pumps often.

Conclusion

If you are looking at a powerful hatchback with an automatic transmission that steals the show the Polo GT TSI is for you. Safety and style are unquestionable and you get your money’s worth with this car. Rear space is a big disappointment and VW could have done well to utilize rear boot space for better rear space instead. However they chose not to do that due to not wanting to alter dynamics of driving.

The drive is powerful the car is nimble and makes you happy in stop and go traffic and your legs will thank you for the rest they get with the DSG gear shift. It is one of the most powerful cars in the category and it is there in the market for a reason. Driving enthusiasts. There is a waiting period of 8 weeks on the car and no discounts whatsover. That speaks a lot of where VW wanted to be with this car and they have been there since a long time now.

So if you do decide to invest on this car for the above reasons of power, ease of use – you will not be making a mistake.

Honda WRV first impressions and drive review

Introduction to Honda WRV

I had the chance to give my Civic for service at Dakshin Honda. During that time, I got a chance to look at the Honda WRV and drive the car. From a long time after reading many reviews and watching many videos, today I got a chance to drive the car personally. I opted for the Diesel version since I know a good deal about Honda’s petrol engines already being an owner of a Civic and a City earlier. The diesel engine is something new since sometime now and it was prudential for me to try it out.

Engine Options and Variants

As usual the car comes with two engine options a 1.2L petrol and a 1.5L diesel. The petrol is a 4 cylinder SOHC iVTEC engine at 1200 cc, churning out 90bhp of power at 6000 RPM and 110NM of Toruqe at 4800 RPM. The diesel on the other hand is a 4 cylinder DOHC iDTEC unit, at 1500 cc, churning out a 100bhp at 3600 RPM, and a torque of 200NM at 1750 RPM which is very healthy at least on paper. Among other features it comes with 16 inch alloy wheels which frankly in my opinion could very well upsize to 17 or even 18 inches.

On the variants there are two types SMT and VX-MT which I will explain a bit later.

Exteriors

The WRV has a muscular look, and while its sides are taken straight from the jazz, the front now sports a grill which has elements from the new Amaze, City, and BRV. Still there are few elements such as headlamps which are distinct and make the car gets its unique spot in the Honda lineup. The tail lamps are stylish too and unique in the segment. The overall exterior proportions are well rounded for a car of this category and no complaints in this department.

Interiors

Coming to the interiors, Honda has a few interesting things to look at. Firstly the dashboard is well made and feels plush and nice. The stereo system is very flat and does not stick out like in other cars. Blends well with the dash and its like a perfect fit. Though I did not get a chance to use the system too much, by the overall looks its a nice touch screen unit which does the job of what people look out most for – navigation, music, phone connectivity etc. However no Android Auto or Apple Car play – sorry, if you need these look elsewhere.

The seat space in the rear is phenomenal. Being 5’10” and keeping the driver seat at my comfort level, I could still sit at the back with quite some knee room to spare. There is one another thing Honda have changed since quite some time now. And that is the gear shift. The earlier shift was like a stick and was rather flimsy to use with a rounded head. The new one is much better and is a delight in terms of proportions and slots seamlessly into the different gears. The dashboard has more rectangular edges rather than circular and this is not necessarily so bad looking either. Its just left to the tastes of different users as such.

You can also notice in the images that there is indeed a dead pedal and Honda have thankfully not omitted it. Your longer highway cruises would now be better with that rested left leg. And yes needless to say top end variants will come with cruise control as well as steering mounted audio and phone controls. There are also lots of cubby holes in the car making it possible to store multiple things all around. The middle storage compartment has some Civic-ish cues as well though not as good. You can also notice a chilled cup holder next to the AC vent in the photos.

The selling point in this car is the Sun-Roof. No other car in its category provides this feature and Honda have done in offering this feature here. However the practicality of such a feature is questionable as driving with an open sun roof would surely affect the aerodynamics of the vehicle a bit. In Indian conditions with so much dust, pollution, mosquitoes, rains, and what not – this feature would best be in closed mode, rather than the other way round. Not a big deal breaker for sensible people – honestly.

Wouldn’t mind having it, but won’t die to have it.

The front seats also have rear pockets to place those magazines and possibly even a Macbook Air or so. The rear has ample space for occupants. The floor height is slightly raised for middle occupant, so it would be a bit uncomfortable for longer journeys and one will need to switch places frequently. You can also notice a quarter glass after the C-Pillar which adds to more roominess and light within the cabin.

Drive

I specifically wanted to test drive the 1500 Diesel as I had never driven a Honda Diesel before. Given I own a Civic now which is 1800cc, I did not want to drive the lack lustre 1200cc petrol of the WR-V. So diesel it had to be and diesel it was. A few things about this drive

The test drive route was long enough for me to test most parts of the driveability but short enough to return to base soon as well
The engine is noisy – there have been reviews about the Honda’s noisy diesel engine in its other cars such as Jazz, Amaze, City etc and here its no better. If you buy this variant the noise comes along with you
The steering is butter smooth – even better than the city or the civic I would say. Its an absolute joy to use in whatever condition of traffic. It is so sensitive, responsive and accurate that you really don’t have to try too much to manouvre
In the showroom the clutch of the WR-V was very hard in stationary state of the vehicle so I was dreading whether it would be as hard during the drive as well but I am happy to say that the clutch was super soft and easy to use during the drive and rest assured you will not get a pain in your legs so soon with this car
There is no automatic variant yet, but if news reports are correct then Honda might bring in the 1.5L variant mated to CVT just like in the city pretty soon
There is a 2 month waiting period on this car now already

Engine and NVH

And now to the drive. Well I hate to say this – but the diesel engine – is a disappointment. Coming from driving a Nissan Sunny which is known for its young at heart and roaring to race character, this WR-V engine seemed to be mostly tuned for more mileage and subsequently that meant removing the driving oomph from the car. This is more of a Point A to Point B engine. Sometimes I felt this was worse than an automatic Jazz. I am not sure what Honda was thinking here but people do not buy diesel just for mileage but also for proper use of the higher powered engine. If you have driven the Nissan Sunny Diesel, or the Scorpio or XUV diesel, or even Figo or Ecosport diesel – that level of urgency, revv happiness, and response is sorely missing. I double checked many times just to clarify this doubt and this car shows no urgency for acceleration on this variant.

Accelerating this engine makes so much noise inside the vehicle that one wonders what is all that damping setup doing in the car. Engine noise will filter through easily and its not a great experience as such. Just for comparision – you cannot hear the Civic engine inside the car. Apple to Orange comparision really I agree, but its a Honda to Honda comparison at least.

Torque

The grunt is there. But not the acceleration accordingly. I even went real slow on higher gears to check the torque. The torque is disappointing too. Beyond a point – say about 10kmph the car starts rattling begging for clutch to be held. This is quite where the Nissan Sunny shines through – low end torque. Even the Civic manages upto 5kmph on petrol engines without stalling. Honda sure has to rework on this tuning to improve it to a better state of tune if they want the torque to be managed better.

Suspension

The suspension in the WR-V is spongy. And it is really spongy. You go on a road hump or a deep pothole with speed and this car throws the occupants either sideways or bobs up and down. That is quite normal on any car, but the whole point is that this jumping about does not settle down so easily. Even with 210mm of ground clearance you still fear it will go all the way down to scrape the bump. And that is definitely not a good feeling. For a comparison I do not get that feeling with my Celerio, or even for that matter with the Duster too. I wouldn’t say Scorpio is great in that regard but there are some smaller cars that can put WR-V to shame.

Agreed this is not about making the suspension rigid but rather soft and luxurious. But it is seriously not helping in WR-V case to achieve what is desired. So its best you drive this car slowly and steadily. If you want road worthiness and suspension awesomeness go to a renault showroom.

Steering

One word : Awesome. Period.

Airconditioning

This is one department for which Honda is well known for and in the case of WR-V it is no surprise that the air conditioning is super cool. Chills you to the bone and pretty quickly. Well done Honda.

Tyres, Ground clearance

The tyres are stable and can be upsized as well by another inch or two if needed – so lots of customization possible here. Ground clearance is good enough to ensure vehicle does not scrape anywhere.

Pricing & Conclusion

The asking price for top variant is higher than Ford Ecosport by almost 75000-80000 and touches nearly 13 lacs on road. Ford provides 6 airbags which Honda offers only two for instance. There are so many features others offer which Honda may not have. The car is steeply priced no doubt and the going points for this car is mileage, space, ground clearance, feature set and steering – though not necessarily a punchy drive. You can download the brochure here.

In the long run this car would keep you satisfied and won’t get damaged due to bad roads in and around city. Highway trips won’t be exciting but rather sedate as the car would likely pick up speed at steady speed and does not like to be revved. Honda should quickly fix the pedal press versus response time problem in order to make this car even better. They can focus on better damping of engine noise within the car as well and provide an option to have sporty suspension as well which is slightly more rigid.

If this car were to have its top variant at 10 lacs this would have been the best value for money in the market so far. But Honda is like any other company and after all it has to price the car either slightly below or slightly above its competitors. So it has decided to be in the 10-12L bracket.

Still this is a car that will keep you happy even though some parts of the experience is slightly disappointing or not upto the mark. If you have the money and want a car that has mostly everything – the WR-V will not disappoint you. But at the end of the day it is a car, not an SUV or even an MUV for that matter. The traits of an SUV are great suspension, handling abilities and punchy engine – Honda has some catching up to do in this departments.

And without an automatic variant – its one star less again for the final ratings.

Details of Ford Edge showcased in LA auto show

Ford showcased its latest Edge SUV featuring 2.7 L ecoboost engine in LA auto show last year. This would be the 2017 model for the USA. This should have been the next level of EcoSport for Indian market as well hovering around the 16-20L margin. One may expect Ford to launch this model if the need arises. The Edge comes with a bold exterior design, with all leather seats, ambient lighting in the underwell, an array of wheel choices from 18-21″, sun roof.

In terms of technology the car comes loaded with sensors around the vehicle to make passengers aware of what is nearby while driving. The Ford Sync software goes upto 3.0 version which has the same goodness of the older voice based technologies, but also includes suggestions of what’s nearby etc for the driver. System assisted active park assist is a much needed feature. 180 degree front camera, sirius satellite radio, adaptive steering which adjusts to the way driver drives, and cross lane assist are some additional features.

The engine comes in either 2.0 ecoboost or the regular 3.5L Ti-VCT in the USA. There is also a 2.7 sporty ecoboost engine available. This engine comes with 315 hp power and all wheel drive options. Auto start stop in traffic means better fuel efficiency and automatic decision making on when the engine is on and off. There is also a six speed automatic featuring paddle shifters and cruise control feature. Huge cargo space options, individual tyre pressure monitoring system, foot operated lift gate are additional goodies.

Further options for trailer tow packages, and a compelling 5/5 * rating makes it a good buy.

The car is rated at 21 – 29 MPG, and costs upwards of 28500 USD.

Ford Ecosport new model launch pictures from LA auto show end 2016

As we all know, Ford has launched its latest EcoSport model in India now, Of all the things we come to expect of the Ford Ecosport, the touch screen navigation system and cruise control are noteworthy. Below are some pictures from the Ford booth in the LA auto show end of last year showing this new model. For more information you can visit Ford India website

Ford displays new versions of Fiesta, Focus, Edge in LA Auto show

Ford launched and displayed their latest models of the Fiesta sedan, the Focus and Edge hatchbacks in the LA auto show recently.

With refreshing looks and colours, these cars are evolutions of their previous generations and it is expected that the Fiesta sedan would make its foray into India at some time.

With reasonable pricing and no nonsense driving DNA ford will continue to impress drivers and make their mainstay products more affordable for general city driving use