I have been driving a Wagon R LXi past three years. It has done 30, 000 kilometers. This is the best car for city commute. I will tell you why shortly.
Height: It’s probably the tallest hatchback. That makes the sitting position quite high. When you seat inside you feel as if you are inside an mini-SUV. You get a very good view of road, which is so necessary in India’s chaotic city traffic. You don’t have to struggle at all to judge the narrow gaps through which we often have to squeeze through our vehicles.
Its straight and narrow body makes parking and other maneuvers an easy task.
The driver’s seat ergonomics is superb. You don’t have to bend to get in and out of the car. That again is a major plus under city driving conditions. During weekend shopping one has to get in and out frequently. Almost all other hatchbacks in its segment are low-slung. Getting in and out is a major nuisance, especially for tall people
The car slightly oversteers. That flaw is in fact a boon in city traffic. You don’t have to work the steering too hard to produce a zig-zag motion. I don’t even use my full palm and fingers to move the steering. Just a few fingers are enough.
It has large glass windows. As you must be aware that in India it is not enough to have a large windscreen. You need to look sideways too to move through chaotic city traffic.
Coming to the negative points, the car is not suitable for highway drive. It behaves properly even on highways if you don’t cross 90 kmph, change lanes gradually and slow down before sharp bends. But if you try to drive it like a sedan on highways you will have serious issues with body roll. It is just because of the body roll, I have bought another car, a Swift Dzire, for highway trips.
In the looks department it is not the best car. So if you want to impress your girlfriend, Wagon R is not the best bet.
The closest competitor to Wagon R is Hyundai i10. It may be a great car. But its ergonomics are not great. First the joint of A-pillar and roof is low and slanted that you are definitely going to bang your head for the first time if you are not too careful. It happened to me a few weeks back. The second problem is that the central console is so close to the driver’s seat that your left leg will repeatedly bang against it, till you get used to the super-cramped pit.