After going through reviews of cars in this site. Finally I had purchased i10-Era (1.1 irde) last month. Since this site has helped me choosing the car. I thought it is better to help others by writing the review.
Now let me explain you that we what the basis of this selection. I wanted a car which has following;
(1). Driving comfort.
(2). Best AC.
(3). Good visibility to road
(4). Reliability..
Since only 3 person would be traveling most of the time barring relatives occasionally. I wanted compact car. Since my regular use is going to office and within city driving a small car helps a lot.
As generally people do, I too checked with other user. I refrained from listening the advise from the people who did not own that car.
First I shortlisted the cars which were to be test driven. These were WagonR 1.0, Spark and Beat, Santro Zen estilo and i10. I did not go for kappa engine because it costing extra 27k and I found this much power sufficient.
Since I had to drive in congested road I refrained from bigger cars like Indica, Swift. A-star also got eliminated due to poor visibility to road. I was very serious to give try to Spark and Beat but company image stopped me. Their poor marketing also contribution in low sales. But since I am seeing many sparks. I really feels one can go for spark since it is compact and value for money vehicle.
Now coming back, I tried WagonR (New with K10B series engine). As usual box type look does not attract you at once. Actually I started liking old model once I saw new model. I took test drive for WagonR.
I found it did not have sufficient pickup though later salesman showed me pickup. Actually the trick is to rev up the engine and change gear. New engine would be giving better mileage as Maruti vehicles for mileage but not for comfort and luxury. Further I took test drive of Estilo. this also was with New KB10 engine. I found estilo powerful. Very good road view due to high seating but short peoples leg may not reach fully to clutch. Not much space in front seats and rear seats also bench type which does not offer comfort seating. Gear changing also not smooth but stickey type. I feel estilo is not worth of the price.
further I took test drive of Santro and i10. Santro is very good vehicle. Once we took test drive of i10 it seemed the most comfortable vehicle. technological i10 is improved car.
First the seating is very good, you get good view of road. Initial pickup is very good and gear changing to just like butter. AC cools within few minutes. Drivebality is superb. I have covered 250 km so far.
But since all cars have some problem this also has one. Last week my steering become hard. I gave to showroom. they rectified Electronics Power steering and it is fine. Fuel efficiency is not checked so far, because I real mileage come after 2nd service. One my friend who drive within city with AC on gets 14km/l. We got 16.5 with AC on on highway in one of my friend’s car. 4 adults with 2 children traveled.
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Verdict : If you are not very concerned about mileage this is the best car I found. I would write the fuel efficiency once I have my own data.
thanks