I drove this car POLO 1.2 diesel high end variant , which was purchased for about 8.5 lakhs. I do not own the car. I drove the car for 230 km non-stop. I touched a maximum speed of 160kmph and that is where I had pushed down the accelerator to the bottom.
During this 230km run on Hyderabad - karimanagar-Jagityal high way road , I drove at a constant speed of 140 and touched the speed of 160 kmph only for a brief period.
I found that A/C was very effective and the A/C has no impact on the speed of the vehicle. Gears are very easy to slot. The body roll is almost nill and vibration is almost absent. Brakes are very , very good. The car I drove was a very new one , purchased only one month back.
While coming( return journey ) I sat in the back seat. I found to my surprise that back seats are more comfortable that front seats, though leg room is strictly limited to the back seater. The dicky has enough, large space for a hatch back.
What I could not like: (negatives)
This POLO 1.2 ltre Diesel car sound creeps in to the cabin and it is very much there at every speed level, perticularly on the long journeys you have to live with this annoying , droning sound. It may be possible that some drivers or occupants might like it.
The third gear is the one , that gave me some problem to slot , some times on the high way drive and so I had to cancel and drive it in 4th gear. I must make it clear that at that speed ( when I tried ) I could even switch to second gear but not to third gear. So there is some problem with 3rd gear. But this did not happen every time.
There is one bigger problem. I shall call this as "over steer" problem. When you make a cut while taking an "S" shaped over take ( simply put you would be over taking in between to speeding four wheelers on the high way , that is overtake first car on the left and then over take a secone car on the right and then go to right lane ) I could clearly find that there was an "over steer " problem. The car is making a cut or "turn" more than expected and it might shock you or "surprise" you depending on the speed and turn.
I think it is giving a good mileage, though I did not clearly calculate . The speedometer etc., are very good. I am a six foot tall person and I felt that the dash board is very high , much more than I could feel comfortable. You may feel that you had "sunk" in to the driver’s seat.
But compared to swift , it is 1000 times better because in Maruthi Swift , you will have a lot of body roll . A lot means a LOT. Body roll can cause vomiting sensation, headache etc., to some people. And for some like me, the journey would be tiresome.