[GreasyCarb55]

Posting this on behalf of a friend.

A friend of mine is looking for a small, fun to drive and safe hatchback under 10L (on road Mumbai). We narrowed down the list to two cars and need help deciding between the two.

Hyundai Grand i10 Nios Asta MT and the Tata Tiago XZ+ MT

Maruti and Citroen were rejected due to safety concerns.

Are there any other cars that should be considered?

[GTO]

The Grand i10 Nios will provide the better driving experience (although its engine is showing its age); the Tiago's petrol engine is yawn-inducing b-o-r-i-n-g.

For a college student looking at a fun-to-drive car:

- C3 Turbo. Top choice for 10 lakhs. Very sorted car mechanically, awesome fun to drive, great suspension, lovely engine, sweet gearshift. Its the Octavia vRS of the 10-lakh segment.

- Tata Tiago Electric. Early exposure to technology for your Gen Z friend, EVs can be fun to drive, well-priced, safe.

- Maruti Swift. Lots of fun to drive!

- Altroz Turbo Petrol. If budget can be extended. But this engine is currently available only in the new "Racer" variant.

- Maruti Fronx Turbo Petrol MT. Will keep him grinning from ear to ear. Needs budget to be extended.

[nova.19_exe]

Originally Posted by GreasyCarb55

Posting this on behalf of a friend.

A friend of mine is looking for a small, fun to drive and safe hatchback under 10L (on road Mumbai). We narrowed down the list to two cars and need help deciding between the two.

Hyundai Grand i10 Nios Asta MT and the Tata Tiago XZ+ MT

Maruti and Citroen were rejected due to safety concerns.

Are there any other cars that should be considered?

If budget can be extended, then definitely the i20 N-Line! Tops the list of fun to drive hatches!

If not, then definitely the C3 Turbo, but do note that Citroen is still fairly new to the market, and you might have to deal with dealer issues or ASS issues.. But it's worth a shot!

[madhukarmohan]

If you are okay with pre-owned cars, there are good options. Most of the cars after 2021 are overvalued. Here are those great fun to drive cars from the last decade.

1. Ford Freestyle (and Figo) Diesel
2. Fiat Punto (Abarth and Aventura)
3. Volkswagen Polo (and GT)

[100Kmphormore]

The Freestyle would be my pick, especially that lovely 1.5 diesel minus the DPF nonsense

[quad_exhaust]

Being a college student myself I'd go for a used Polo. But, to each their own. Although I do agree that maintenance could be costly( for a college student) and some people aren't comfortable with purchasing used cars.

[DCEite]

What kind of "Fun to drive" element are you looking from the car ?

If your definition of Fun to drive is a petrol engine that can revv all the way to glory, look no further than a pre-owned Honda City I-VTEC.

If you want to buy something new, then your options are limited, mainly from the Maruti stable (which you already excluded). Think of Ignis/Swift/Baleno et al.

For Turbo petrols (if you like that kind of a fun to drive element where the Turbo kick excites you), you can consider the C3 Turbo / FronX Turbo/ i20 N-Line 1.0 Turbo. Although you will need to increase your budget by just a little bit.

However as GTO pointed out, an EV like Tiago would fit the bill here too. EVs are quick, agile, fun to drive and economical at the same time. Plus the Tiago is a safer vehicle than the Maruti/Hyundai/Citreons.

But I doubt an EV would excite an under 25 year old. Sure they are fast, but a bit boring at the same time as well (depends on your taste).

[GreasyCarb55]

Originally Posted by GTO

The Grand i10 Nios will provide the better driving experience (although its engine is showing its age); the Tiago's petrol engine is yawn-inducing b-o-r-i-n-g.

For a college student looking at a fun-to-drive car:

- C3 Turbo. Top choice for 10 lakhs. Very sorted car mechanically, awesome fun to drive, great suspension, lovely engine, sweet gearshift. Its the Octavia vRS of the 10-lakh segment.

- Tata Tiago Electric. Early exposure to technology for your Gen Z friend, EVs can be fun to drive, well-priced, safe.

- Maruti Swift. Lots of fun to drive!

- Altroz Turbo Petrol. If budget can be extended. But this engine is currently available only in the new "Racer" variant.

- Maruti Fronx Turbo Petrol MT. Will keep him grinning from ear to ear. Needs budget to be extended.

Thanks to all of you for the swift response.

EV's were ruled out as both me and him will likely be driving this car outside the city and into the ghats for weekend trips.

Budget is a strict 10L (I believe this was an extension of an original 7.5-8L Budget) so no Fronx Turbo, Altroz iTurbo or i20 N-Line sadly.

Swift would be what I'd get, I'm pretty sure there as some dealers with some old 3rd Gen stock at good discounts but the NCAP rating and reputation of Maruti hinders it as his parents are quite adamant about that.

We might be able to push for the C3 Turbo as the even the top Shine Turbo variant is just 50k above the 10L threshold. But for that I'll have to convince my friend (the eventual owner of this car) first. He's not exactly a fan of French design.

Our original plan was to find him a used Civic 1.8 MT or a 3rd Gen City 1.5 VTEC but this fell through as his parents said New Cars only under any circumstances.

At this point, if I cannot convince him on the Citroen, it's gonna be the Tiago.

[Aditya_Bhp]

Originally Posted by GreasyCarb55

A friend of mine is looking for a small, fun to drive and safe hatchback under 10L (on road Mumbai)

Get the Baleno 1.2 Zeta.

More VFM than the Swift and i10.

[OpenRoads]

Originally Posted by GreasyCarb55

A friend of mine is looking for a small, fun to drive and safe hatchback under 10L (on road Mumbai)

Citroen C3 turbo would be the most fun to drive small car in its segment. It lacks a bunch of fancy features but if you can look beyond that then its better than the rest.

Swift or i10 nios would be my second choice. Both are equally competent.

Note: Safe driving trumps so called safety ratings. None of these cars have mentionable safety ratings. However if driven carefully they (Swift or i10) have stood the test of time.

[Doge]

Rejection of Maruti because of safety concerns and then considering a Hyundai is funny
The Nios is not a safe car, last i heard.

[Vibhav-Van]

Is he open to used cars?

If so, then a well kept example can be found for almost half the price.

I brought home a used Freestyle few weeks ago as a fun city beater car.

Requirements - Should be nimble, fun, have character.

The vehicle - Freestyle Petrol Titanium Plus, 2019, 35K run, single owner, very well kept. Paid around 10% more than the market rate, but I felt that was fine considering it was a good example.

It's been 5 weeks and I still cannot figure out how it has run 800 km only in the city.
All in all, a befitting garage-mate for my Slavia 1.5

[emkay.india]

Compact hatch and loads of fun to drive..

New: Look no further than Swift, either new or used.
Used: Ford Freestyle, Figo, Swift diesel

Both of them have excellent chassis and behave almost like point and shoot.

[G13BB]

This thread brought back memories of my Engineering days, I used to travel in BMTC (Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation) in the first semester with a student pass which cost a mere 1800 rs for an entire year (could travel only on the pre-specified route). By the second semester I had got my DL and with great difficulty, I convinced my parents that I would take our humble Tata Nano (which was lying in our garage unused) to college and they agreed (I was over the cloud as going to college in a car was something very cool and I had tried really hard to convince them). Coming to your friend's case, I must say he/she is very lucky as they get to drive a brand new car of their choice to college.

Before selecting the car, it is very important to understand a few things:

• Who is going to maintain the car? If it is your friend's parents, your friend should go for something that is dirt cheap to maintain and should not burden the parents in addition to the car buying cost and the educational cost itself.

• How far is the college? If it is around 10 kms one way, go for a petrol, if it is more, go for an EV. Diesel can also be considered if they are fine with it and if they stay outside the NGT region. Altroz diesel is the only option. Sadly no hybrids yet in your price range.

• Is your friend a true enthusiast? Or do they wanna be an enthusiast? If he/she is a true enthusiast, I would suggest stretching the budget and going for the i20 nLine.

• Is this car going to be used only for college and city runs or is it going to be the only car in their garage which does highway duties as well? If it is the primary car of the family, I would strongly suggest the Altroz for the 5-star safety rating.

If he/she is new to driving I would suggest the second-hand route, however, if they are confident enough, the new car feel is unmatched. Test-drive all the cars in your budget before finalizing. I would suggest taking a test drive on the college route in order to understand the most realistic scenario which would make it easier to take the decision.

Finally, all the best to your friend, let they find the right college companion, but let that not be a reason to bunk classes and go on long drives

[Raghuwire]

Originally Posted by GreasyCarb55

Posting this on behalf of a friend.

A friend of mine is looking for a small, fun to drive and safe hatchback under 10L (on road Mumbai). We narrowed down the list to two cars and need help deciding between the two.

Hyundai Grand i10 Nios Asta MT and the Tata Tiago XZ+ MT

Maruti and Citroen were rejected due to safety concerns.

Are there any other cars that should be considered?

How is Grand i10 not eliminated due to safety concerns? When Creta scored a low 3 star in GNCAP, how better will the i10 fare? Am i missing anything here?