[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by NST440

I am unable to find a decent car , given the budget except the Rapid and the Vento. I may check out the XUV 3OO and Ecosport soon to understand why people go gaga over these two vehicles.

I’ll stick my neck out and say that Rapid/Vento won’t satisfy your itch. They aren’t that much better performers than the lightweight petrol Ciaz. And you’ll loose on space and comfort, things that are clearly important to you.

Again, same with Ecosport and XUV300. Both Ford engines are excellent but that weight means performance will be only a little better than your Ciaz. Ditto with XUV300. The diesel has great specs on paper but that doesn’t translate into that kind of go in the real world. I had similar requirements to yours, I TDed them both, and ultimately went all the way up to Jeep Compass which I found to be good enough. It is a hard fact, there is no car in that price range which offers significantly better real world performance than the petrol Ciaz (I was upgrading from City). All cars are more of the same and overall, just meh.

There are no simple and straightforward answers here. Your current cars are new and in great shape. Perhaps you will be better off doing the middle aged thing here by investing your money and finding joy in the returns. You can always revisit this after 3 years. Who knows, there might be some sharp urban EVs to choose from then.

[2000rpm]

Originally Posted by NST440

- Would not like to go the pre-owned way.

Since we are discussing mid-life. I can only bring reference to your point above and an ad targeted exactly to that. (mods this is posted here in light humour, please delete if inappropriate)

[NST440]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

I’ll stick my neck out and say that Rapid/Vento won’t satisfy your itch. They aren’t that much better performers than the lightweight petrol Ciaz. And you’ll loose on space and comfort, things that are clearly important to you.

Again, same with Ecosport and XUV300. Both Ford engines are excellent but that weight means performance will be only a little better than your Ciaz. Ditto with XUV300. The diesel has great specs on paper but that doesn’t translate into that kind of go in the real world. I had similar requirements to yours, I TDed them both, and ultimately went all the way up to Jeep Compass which I found to be good enough. It is a hard fact, there is no car in that price range which offers significantly better real world performance than the petrol Ciaz (I was upgrading from City). All cars are more of the same and overall, just meh.

There are no simple and straightforward answers here. Your current cars are new and in great shape. Perhaps you will be better off doing the middle aged thing here by investing your money and finding joy in the returns. You can always revisit this after 3 years. Who knows, there might be some sharp urban EVs to choose from then.

Well said and the same is resonating in my mind. Somehow, I have started feeling that your point does make sense and is relatable. Infact, I am in a tiresome phase of wondering what's right and what's not and seriously I am not relishing it one bit. All this searching and test drives have made me realise that even with 11 Lacs In hand, one cannot find a quick mover which ticks multiple boxes.

Their is one additional thing which is holding me back and it is the possibility of Rapid/ Vento being discontinued from the Indian scene by the end of this year which is the last thing I would want. Based on this idea, I am eyeing the possibility of may be checking out the Kushaq in Manual Base Avatar. Although, I am skeptical as o whether it would be priced aggressively and the base variant would be anyway near the 11 Lacs mark, however I believe in case if it does, I may repent any decision taken in haste. Please Skoda, surprise us.

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

Since we are discussing mid-life. I can only bring reference to your point above and an ad targeted exactly to that. (mods this is posted here in light humour, please delete if inappropriate)

Hahaha, interesting way of making a point I must admit. I have asked few of my friends to look for an immaculately maintained 2019+ vehicle , just in case there is someone as stupid as me who would be ready to sell one. That being said, I have had a horrendous experience with a used car (Tata Indica) which I bought for first and the last time in my life. It just loved the garage as much as a salaried class person loves a Sunday.

[iceman7]

Why not go the pre-loved car way and expand your options.

I would recommend a nice, pre-loved Punto Abarth to you. It's got enough power when you need it and should be a good fit for your height. To make things sweeter, you could turn it into a project car and bump up the power even more

Edit - Just saw that you don't want to go the pre-owned way. But if all else fails, pre-owned offers good options.

[deathwalkr]

Except for the last point, the linea t-jet would have ticked your boxes

Are they still selling them?

Good luck in finding your car and have fun

[yd_gli]

The Polo is a good choice but not the GT. Get the Highline TSi which costs a lakh less if I am not mistaken. Post delivery take it straight to a good tuner and get it remapped (stage 1 or 2), Borla exhaust upgrade and a set of Euro spec coilovers. Then add in some sweet rims with stickier and wider rubber. The car will be a hoot to drive and nothing under 35L will come close.

[drsingh]

Grow a pony tail , get golden Aviators , and drive around in a blood red Scorpio. A young 'companion' is optional.

It seems to be the antidote to 'midlife pangs' of men rebelling against Domestication over the past 15 years!

Maybe things have changed a bit, Thar for Scorpio etc.

But a Rugged SUV and Sunday 'offroading' and Nature trails exploration remains the gold standard to break monotony for men.

[PrasannaDhana]

Your requirements scream Skoda Rapid 1.0 TSI Rider plus AT

It's as comfortable as a ciaz(may be a little lesser), good on space, nice driving dynamics and a great engine with enough power to keep you happy.

And it's extremely value for money too.

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by NST440

I also feel that in case I am not going for the Rapid or Vento AT due to budget constraints, wouldn't it be better just to go ahead and get the base rapid rider/ Vento Turbo trim rather than the Ambition/ Highline variant. Any cosmetic additions can be done at a later stage, although it shall be missing the ever important steering mounted controls which I am unable to fathom with for a car that otherwise has basic necessities well covered, including the Auto AC and rear defogger to name a few.

The minute I read through your post and noted the need for that "zing" factor yet wanting a value proposition I had only one car come to my mind , the Skoda Rapid TSI that a couple of others have already recommended and you have meandered to above.

I would suggest picking up the Skoda Rapid Rider or the Rider Plus if you can stretch. The denefit is that while it's definitely not as spacious as the Ciaz you would not loose out much in terms of boot space and rear legroom with a huge dollop of ""Zing" in the bargain. The only thing I would suggest to pay attention to would be the service aspect which would be a different experience from Maruti. If you are okay with that (service itself seems to be improving) I would suggest you give this car a good assessment.

Another miss from the safety perspective is the absence of airbags in the rider and rider plus variants with airbags included only from the Ambition variant.

Drive on,
Shibu

[ynike99]

I'll go against the turbo petrol tide, and suggest you the Venue/Sonet, or Ecosport (Unsure of Fords Indian plans though) in Diesel manual guise. Diesels are fun as well, and its extremely practical both in city and highways due to lowdown torque(below turbo zone)and fuel efficient too. Modern Turbo diesels(Especially 1.5) hide the lag really well. Do check out these options. I am 6'1", and I can understand the what you feel in Polo, it just doesnt fit.

[911CarerraS]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Your requirements scream Skoda Rapid 1.0 TSI Rider plus AT

It's as comfortable as a ciaz(may be a little lesser), good on space, nice driving dynamics and a great engine with enough power to keep you happy.

And it's extremely value for money too.

I couldn't agree more.
Rapid has the perfect engine gearbox combo and is really fun good to drive .
You can't go with it
It's VFM quotient too is very high

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by shibujp

Another miss from the safety perspective is the absence of airbags in the rider and rider plus variants with airbags included only from the Ambition variant.

All variants have dual airbags as standard.

[purb_du]

Just did a 400 km round trip on my Polo tsi manual and trust me it was a fantastic drive through a mix of fast highways, broken country roads and some twisty hills. It never felt out of power except for a few overtakings when the speed dropped due to more traffic ahead.

But yeah couple of complains. The windows squeak on uneven surface and the seats are not the best for long drives. I am about 5' 10" and feel a bit cramped especially towards the footwell. And unlike on the Hyundai Verna where I could easily do a 600 km stretch, I did feel a bit stiff on my lower back even after taking breaks.

Otherwise its a terrific little everyday car which is so nimble in the city and yet gives you that big faaast car feel out on the highways.

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

All variants have dual airbags as standard.

Yep. I too found it strange given all the talk about safety and so on. As per their brochure which i checked after your correction. However their site does not agree. Check out the screenshots below.

Rider


Rider Plus


Ambition


Drive on,
Shibu

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by shibujp

Yep. I too found it strange given all the talk about safety and so on.

Shibu, the driver airbag was mandatory for all cars since a while now. You must be aware of that. The co-driver side airbag has been made mandatory starting April 01, 2021.