Summary Posts and Topic bellow :)
The Honda City Petrol Automatic goes up against the Volkswagen Vento Automatic in a battle of the petrol automatics
Automatics are definitely catching on. With congested roads and insufferable traffic, automatic cars seem to be the answer for hassle free driving. And, the latest in the ever increasingly portfolio of automatic cars in India is the New Honda City AT. But to see how good it is, we have the Volkswagen Vento TSI for comparison - both good cars; both with modern, refined and fuel efficient drivetrains; but only one winner.
Efficient automatics, meanwhile, is a recent occurrence. Going back in time, the older generation automatic transmissions were a far cry from the new-age auto boxes, which struggled to cut a niche in India. This, of course, was also because the technology back then wasn’t up to the mark. Most old-school automatic gearboxes were slow and cumbersome; these guzzled fuel; were inefficient; and as a result were expensive to run compared to manuals. The only reason why anyone thought of buying an automatic car back then was because of their inability to let go of the clutch pedal, correctly.
The new Honda City diesel meets the updated Hyundai Verna diesel, its fiercest rival. So, which car wins? Read on...
The new Honda City is already a success having sold more units in its first month since launch than any of its predecessors ever managed. And to do so at a time when the automotive industry isn’t in its pink of health makes this feat even more commendable. But then, the City was always a popular model and when a new generation of a popular model arrives, it always manages to do well. We call it the honeymoon period. The real challenge for the new Honda City now will be to keep this momentum going. And to do that it must first prove to be a better buying proposition than the current king of the mid-sized class – the Hyundai Verna.
The Hyundai Verna is a good looking car, both inside and out. And, this is also partly the reason for its success. It looks modern and racy; upmarket and showy. And, now with its newly designed 16-inch alloy wheels and LED garnish for the projector type head lamps, there’s a hint more freshness to its design. Even otherwise, the Verna’s well defined lines and detailing, good proportions and a swopping roof line have always helped it give an added dose of visual drama missing in the competition.
The Hyundai Grand i10 is good. No doubt. But, is it better than the popular and fun to drive Maruti Suzuki Swift? We have the answer.
The biggest talking point about the Hyundai Grand i10 has been its small but efficient diesel engine. But, that has no bearing here, because this, is a petrol comparison. Nonetheless, even in petrol guise, the Grand i10 has redefined a few rules in its classbe it space, equipment or the value for money proposition. Then you have the Swift; it is the default choice or anyone looking at buying a hatchback, and it has been that choice for years. So, even though the Grand is good, it must have the wherewithal to beat the Swift for it to keep the moment it has currently gathered.
But, looking at the two cars parked in front of me, my eyes keep moving to the Swift. I still can't believe that even though the Swift is the older car here, it still looks better. It looks young, dynamic and less oriental than the Grand. The Swift's design is less busy and apart from that long-ish hood, I wouldn't want to change anything about the car's styling.
In case of the Grand, I'd like to give it bigger 15 inch wheels to begin with, and a slightly tauter skin. The Grand follows Hyundai's Fluidic design philosophy like the Verna and the Elantra. And even though we like the way the latter two look, this design philosophy doesn't work as well on the small car.
With Mercedes-Benz bringing in the super hot A-Class and BMW entering the class with the 1 Series, there's been a sudden influx of cars in the luxury compact segment. We pit the two against each other to tell you which one rules the roost
The luxury hatchback segment has pretty much been a debatable class taking into consideration the fact that a buyer intending to spend a sum of around Rs 30 lakh is more likely to opt for a larger sedan. Manufacturers like Fiat and Volkswagen have tried to get things going with the 500 and the Beetle but haven’t quite been able to achieve the results that they would have hoped for. Having said that, there has been a paradigm shift in thought especially with the customer becoming more brand conscious and aspiring to be associated with a name that we usually relate to more premium cars. With this realisation and fully aware of the potential that the segment holds, manufacturers have been trying to focus their energies into making a break in the segment. Mercedes-Benz was quick to make its debut with the A-Class and BMW too swiftly followed it with their 1 series. We pitch these two cars against each other to find out which one is the king of the ring.
The new 2014 Honda City is a few days away and we gives you a quick comparison between the older third-generation Honda City and the new 2014 Honda City to tell you what is new
To start of with, as we have mentioned earlier too, the new Honda City looks like an evolution of the old Honda City in some ways. Although the basic silhouette may appear to be the same, there is not one single body panel that has been passed on from the old car to the new one.
If you want the best diesel compact SUV on offer in India, which one would you go for? The choices aren't many but the fight for the crown is close, so we break it down for you in this comparison test
In one corner, you’ve got Ford’s EcoSport TDCi, that’s taken the Indian car market by storm and ruffled a few feathers across segments, be it hatchbacks, sedans or MPVs. In the other is the Terrano dCi 110 PS. The Nissan is everything what the Duster is but does it wearing a dapper outfit. Now you have a dilemma, the city-cool EcoSport or the urban yet rugged Terrano.
While the EcoSport diesel has 91 PS on tap, the Terrano has 110 PS so does that give the Terrano it’s edge? It does, yet loses it as quickly since it is about Rs 3 lakh costlier than the EcoSport. There’s more though to these two cars than just power and price, and before I start sounding like a politician, let me start by telling you why these cars are catching the fancy of every Indian car buyer around the Rs 10-12 lakh mark.
The 2014 Bentley Flying Spur, the new one, is more or less of a direct rival to the 2014 Rolls Royce Ghost, even if the latter is more expensive, and it addresses a different clientele.
MotorTrend’s recent comparison of the two reveals each model’s strong points, though it does push one forth as the superior luxury cruiser – the Rolls, though it too is plagued by faults that cannot be overlooked in its price range.
Both cars are put through the standard set of acceleration, quarter-mile, braking and figure eight tests that the magazine has gotten us used to, and here the two are evenly matched, though the Bentley is ever so slightly quicker to 62 mph or 100 km/h: 4.3 seconds versus the Roller’s 4.4 recorded time. However, it does lose out in the quarter mile, despite the faster acceleration.
The McLaren 12C is a pure-bred supercar, with only two seats, a better, simpler name than before and over 600 hp. The new Porsche 911 Turbo S is none of those things, and is heavier, all-wheel driven, less comfortable and slower.
However, Chris Harris thinks the two could be called rivals, at a stretch, especially if you option up your Porsche and/or get a discount on the McLaren; get an approved used one even cheaper is a third way.
He is so convinced that the two are rivals that he’s made a video trying to explain the point – it may just be an excuse to hoon some cars on both road and track, but as long as it’s both entertaining and informative in its own right, we’ll look the other way and not nitpick.
BMW launched the 4-Series and 2-Series nameplates as part of its plan to differentiate coupe and cabriolet models from the models they’re derived from – in this case the 3-Series and 1-Series, respectively.
My opinion (feel free to disagree) is that the 2-Series Coupe is a more significant improvement over the 1-Series Coupe than the 4-Series Coupe over its predecessor, the 3-Series Coupe.
We’ve seen many reviews of the all-new Mercedes-Benz S-Class lately, and the unanimous opinion is that the new luxury sedan is a class above all of its competitors. However, when it comes to luxury cars, things are not that simple to classify. Nowadays, traditional luxury sedans face stiff competition from other luxury vehicles as well, like SUVs and four-door coupes.
This is why AutoExpress decided to test the S-Class against a traditional rival like the Audi A8 (albeit the pre-facelift model) and against a vehicle that theoretically belongs to another segment, the Land Rover Range Rover.
