I bet that ninety percent of those people out there contemplating a purchase of any of these cars would be driving themselves. These cars churn out about a hundred horses and are meant to be entertaining to drive. Besides, they should be reasonably fuel efficient and offer good accommodation. But how many of them actually deliver what they promise?
The SX4 created quite a stir when it arrived. Everyone and his neighbour soon needed an SX4 and customers queued up at Maruti outlets. Sales charts of past months show that it knocked off the Honda City from the top position among the upper mid-sizers. The hype has now somewhat settled down. People have started to consider the other products in the segment, which they once ignored. So has the SX4 got what it takes to be a good driver’s car? Or else which of the other cars will be the best driver’s car out there? Read on.
Now, buying a Maruti has one problem. They have a presumption that people will continue to buy their cars even if they treated customers like plague spreading rats. They get ranked high when it comes to JD power surveys, which I suppose is due to a customer crowd who doesn’t know better treatment is available elsewhere. Honda will make you feel like a king if you were to buy a City, even if it is the base model. Hyundai will set you a dinner and Ford will tell you bedtime stories. If you happen to purchase a Maruti, you will be filling up ‘customer satisfaction forms’ for the rest of your life, which no one will even care about, should you have a complaint. And you will see your new expensive Maruti car serviced alongside run down 800s and Omnis in the dirty garages which they call as service stations.
The SX4 looks butch and almost SUVish thanks to its crossover origins. The cab forward City, which looked strange and alien when it was launched, now looks contemporary and acceptable. The rest of the cars have more conventional looks with the Fiesta being too traditional. It is a design that will neither excite nor offend. The Verna with its long bonnet and stubby boot however looks smaller than it really is. The grill is not to most tastes though.
Inside, the City has the best utilization of space followed by the Verna. The SX4 is a four-seater with a narrow rear bench and high transmission tunnel. Fiesta has great seats spoiled by a slight shortage of legroom. Quality of interiors is where the Fiesta and City excel. The Verna’s fascia and steering, even though made of quality materials, does look decidedly cheap. The SX4 has decent interiors. But overall quality is poor with some switches having a “tending to fall apart any time” look.
All these cars produce similar power output. Yet they are so different when it comes to road performance. The City VTEC posted the best acceleration times in our road test followed by the Fiesta 1.6. The Verna was nearly two second slower. But surprisingly, the SX4 with the maximum power output was the slowest here due to obesity. To cross check our test results we referred to AUTOCAR magazine’s test data. According to them, the 0-100kmph times of the City, Fiesta, Verna and the SX4 were 10.66, 11.43, 12.07 and 12.10 seconds respectively.
Acceleration figures are only indicative. To know which of these cars is the most “fun to drive”, we drove them to the hills. The City was the easiest to drive. Its great performance will ensure that it will be the best choice for those looking for outright performance. It is the easiest to drive and rides really well. But it does not have the cornering prowess or the intoxicating sportiness of the Fiesta which has a slightly heavier steering and controls that is ( or are) great at speeds. This is a real enthusiast’s car. You must be a talented driver to appreciate the brilliance of its chassis. The Verna is a great cruiser and best suited or compatible for the highways with no special talents exhibited in the corners. SX4 on the other hand rolls, but grippy tyres see that it goes round corners really well. Its ride quality is not the very best here either.
When it comes to value for money, the Fiesta and Verna are right up there, but the SX4 trounces them by offering a lot of goodies at a mouth watering price. It comes with airbags, ABS, alloy wheels, climate control and a lot of similar stuff for a lakh less than the City VTEC. But it has a few real weaknesses which makes buying an SX4 for the goodies alone, look like opting to travel by the slowest airlines just because they serve tastier food. You arrive late, which spoils the primary purpose of the journey. Thus we classify the Verna as the best to be chauffer driven and the Fiesta to be the most sporty and entertaining out there. The City VTEC offers great performance, fuel economy, brand image, interior space & reliability of all the cars. So in our test we choose the City VTEC as the winner, even though it costs considerably more than its rivals.
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