Had a test drive of Ford Figo, Renault Pulse and Chevrolet Beat all diesel versions yesterday.
Felt the Figo’s clutch, steering and gear a bit hard. The TD vehicle clocked 9000 kms. Sales guy said new vehicle will be a bit smooth. But still I din’t like it. Long driving times in heavy traffic will be definitely painful.
From there I went for Pulse TD. I was literally mesmerized by it. Butter smooth gear and steering(electronic power steering). I previously had Hyundai Getz petrol. Pulse DCI is as smooth as a premium petrol car.
The sales guy asked me to check the car in rough bylanes. I was again surprised by the suspension and ground clearance. Coming to power, I had to slow down a bit in traffic, I was in 4th gear, but still the car pulled of easily without needing gear downshift(with AC on). Even in those rough and small bylanes, I was driving in 4th gear itself even in turnings and potholes. With 1500cc, this is the most powerful diesel hatchback. Even turning radius is small. Road view is very good with seats at good height.
Coming to reliability, I have heard of some Mahindra-Renault Logans clocking 4 lakhs kms and still going great with same Renault DCI engine. Coming to price, it’s 7.05 lakhs on-road(Hyderabad) for basic RXL version which comes with AC, electronic power steering, 4 power windows, driver side airbag, in-built music system, Tilt Steering, rear wiper with washer(no defogger), 14inch wheels, etc. Sales guy said a discount of 10k is possible. Passenger airbag is coming for 15k extra. So, after discount, with 2 airbags, it’s coming for 7.10 lakhs with nothing more to spend on anything. What else do we need for this price?
Top end model is costing 7.85 lakhs with dual airbags, key less entry, 15 inch alloys, etc. I felt top end is not worth that price. And ABS is not available even as an option, which is a shame for such a renowed company.
Chevrolet Beat is also very smooth almost similar to Pulse(w.r.t steering, gear and clutch) but lack of power is severely felt even on normal roads. And Figo is just 30k costlier than Beat in each variant.
I felt Pulse is the best diesel hatchback for this price. Even Swift VDI, costing 20k more than Pulse is much inferior in features and many other fronts compared to Pulse.
Only thing I am doubtful about is after sales service. I heard Nissan’s service has been very poor. Donno if Renault will be better.
Service intervals are once in a year and will be costing Rs.3500 for paid service. They’re providing 2+2 years extended warranty with road-side assistance within on-road price.