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For me, necessity to own a car was rarely felt. My house is situated in an area where public transport facilities are very good. There are not one or two but three Metro stations (New Delhi, Connaught Place and Airport Metro Station) in the one km radius of my home. These are besides two train stations (New Delhi and Shivaji Bridge) and two Bus Terminuses. So, the idea of buying a car was always resisted by some corner of my mind which questioned utility of such a purchase.
However, I started feeling the need for a car, if not for intra-city movements then sometimes for inter city travels. So, I decided to have a look at all the cars with petrol engines (due to low running) having 1200 cc capacity. And after much consideration I concluded that my first priority was that car’s engine should be excellent. So, I shortlisted three engines (K-12, i-VTEC and Kappa) and consequently all the cars having these engines were considered. Now, Ritz was removed from this list because I could not digest design of its rear portion. Plenty of Swifts on the road combined with the feeling that its rear bench was claustrophobic reduced its marks in my scorecard. i20 was out of budget and i10 was small (1595 mm width) with even smaller tyres (13 inches) making its ride bouncy.
Meanwhile, Ecosport was launched and I went to Ford’s showroom (it was first time that I visited a car showroom). Ecosport looked tempting at the ex-showroom price of Rs. 5.59 lakh and I immediately increased my budget just for it and assumed (and I knew that this assumption was not correct) that its 1.5 lt engine was also good. But soon it was clear that to get 1.5 Petrol Ecosport, I was required to wait for around 10-12 months (even this timeline was not certain). Besides, there was every guarantee that its price will be increased and it did increase, from 5.59 L to 5.82 L. So, it was also struck out.
In November this year, Hyundai launched Grand i10 and it addressed some of the concerns that I had with i10. The width was increased from 159 cm to 166 cm. Tyres were now 14 inches. And some initial reviews stated that ride quality was improved. I studied many reviews on the net and also one of the articles published in the Autocar’s December edition which compared Brio with Grand i10. Overall, from these reviews as well as from my observations, I concluded the following:
Brio is more fun to drive.
Grand i10 has more space in the boot so good for a family.
Brio is better if intended for long driving.
Grand i10’s interiors are made of good material and look good.
Brio’s interiors are made of good material and look basic.
Grand i10 is feature rich car but then some features that I needed (seat height adjustment, steering mounted audio controls) were available only in the highest model i.e. Asta. And this model was quite expensive.
Regarding ride and handling, this is what Autocar (December 2013 edition) says about Brio and G-i10:
Driving dynamics is an area where these two have almost nothing in common. The Honda offers a well-rounded blend of ride and handling, which isn’t something you can say about the Grand i10. On unfinished patches of road, the Brio’s suspension feels reasonably meaty, restricting any excessive body movements and on the faster stretches too, it doesn’t let the odd irregularity throw it off balance either. But what is truly impressive is the precise steering wheel. The Brio isn’t just the better handling car here; it is one of the most dynamically accomplished hatchbacks across the segment.
Last thing that settled the matter for Brio was the huge price difference. The OTR price for G-i10 was Rs. 5.43 L (Sportz model) while for Brio (S MT), it was 4.78 L. A straight difference of Rs. 65,000. And I am not considering free accessories worth Rs. 4000 that I got with Brio.
So, having decided Brio, I booked the vehicle on 18.12.13. Got the VIN on 19.12.13. Inspected the allotted car on 20.12.13 that was a very short and practical inspection. The car was in a good shape and was November 2013 manufactured car. As everything was fine, I paid the remaining amount and on 25.12.13, got the car.
In these 7 days (of December 2013), I travelled 367 kms. In city, the mileage indicator of the car displayed around 14-15 kmpl. I had a travel outside city on NH-8. For this 310 km trip, the mileage indicator showed a very good 20 kmpl. While for the same trip, my calculation on the basis of number of bars in the indicator was 19.1 kmpl. I think I can take this lower figure of 19.1 kmpl as correct and this is very good considering that the first service is yet to be done. I am yet to calculate through tankful method.
However, I started feeling the need for a car, if not for intra-city movements then sometimes for inter city travels. So, I decided to have a look at all the cars with petrol engines (due to low running) having 1200 cc capacity. And after much consideration I concluded that my first priority was that car’s engine should be excellent. So, I shortlisted three engines (K-12, i-VTEC and Kappa) and consequently all the cars having these engines were considered. Now, Ritz was removed from this list because I could not digest design of its rear portion. Plenty of Swifts on the road combined with the feeling that its rear bench was claustrophobic reduced its marks in my scorecard. i20 was out of budget and i10 was small (1595 mm width) with even smaller tyres (13 inches) making its ride bouncy.
Meanwhile, Ecosport was launched and I went to Ford’s showroom (it was first time that I visited a car showroom). Ecosport looked tempting at the ex-showroom price of Rs. 5.59 lakh and I immediately increased my budget just for it and assumed (and I knew that this assumption was not correct) that its 1.5 lt engine was also good. But soon it was clear that to get 1.5 Petrol Ecosport, I was required to wait for around 10-12 months (even this timeline was not certain). Besides, there was every guarantee that its price will be increased and it did increase, from 5.59 L to 5.82 L. So, it was also struck out.
In November this year, Hyundai launched Grand i10 and it addressed some of the concerns that I had with i10. The width was increased from 159 cm to 166 cm. Tyres were now 14 inches. And some initial reviews stated that ride quality was improved. I studied many reviews on the net and also one of the articles published in the Autocar’s December edition which compared Brio with Grand i10. Overall, from these reviews as well as from my observations, I concluded the following:
Brio is more fun to drive.
Grand i10 has more space in the boot so good for a family.
Brio is better if intended for long driving.
Grand i10’s interiors are made of good material and look good.
Brio’s interiors are made of good material and look basic.
Grand i10 is feature rich car but then some features that I needed (seat height adjustment, steering mounted audio controls) were available only in the highest model i.e. Asta. And this model was quite expensive.
Regarding ride and handling, this is what Autocar (December 2013 edition) says about Brio and G-i10:
Driving dynamics is an area where these two have almost nothing in common. The Honda offers a well-rounded blend of ride and handling, which isn’t something you can say about the Grand i10. On unfinished patches of road, the Brio’s suspension feels reasonably meaty, restricting any excessive body movements and on the faster stretches too, it doesn’t let the odd irregularity throw it off balance either. But what is truly impressive is the precise steering wheel. The Brio isn’t just the better handling car here; it is one of the most dynamically accomplished hatchbacks across the segment.
Last thing that settled the matter for Brio was the huge price difference. The OTR price for G-i10 was Rs. 5.43 L (Sportz model) while for Brio (S MT), it was 4.78 L. A straight difference of Rs. 65,000. And I am not considering free accessories worth Rs. 4000 that I got with Brio.
So, having decided Brio, I booked the vehicle on 18.12.13. Got the VIN on 19.12.13. Inspected the allotted car on 20.12.13 that was a very short and practical inspection. The car was in a good shape and was November 2013 manufactured car. As everything was fine, I paid the remaining amount and on 25.12.13, got the car.
In these 7 days (of December 2013), I travelled 367 kms. In city, the mileage indicator of the car displayed around 14-15 kmpl. I had a travel outside city on NH-8. For this 310 km trip, the mileage indicator showed a very good 20 kmpl. While for the same trip, my calculation on the basis of number of bars in the indicator was 19.1 kmpl. I think I can take this lower figure of 19.1 kmpl as correct and this is very good considering that the first service is yet to be done. I am yet to calculate through tankful method.
Something Japanese are known for:
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