Fun to drive yet fuel efficient cars sold in India in past & present

Nothing beats gen 1 Swift Diesel in the fast, fun and efficient category. One of the most fun cars ever sold in India, and consistent 20+ kmpl on diesel

BHPian DCEite recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Generally speaking, fuel efficiency and performance do not go together. Case in point is cars like Scorpio Petrol/Diesel, XUV 700 Petrol/Diesel, even the XUV300 TurboPetrol (mStallion motor), i20/Venue 1.0 Turbo, the Safari DICOR (old), Octavia 1.8 DSG, Tiguan allspace 2.0, Tiago/Tigor JTP Twins, Jeep Compass Petrol+Diesel, and so on. While all these cars are immensely fun to drive, yet they are fuel guzzelers.

On the other hand, there are cars which are fuel efficient, yet, fun to drive, like the new Verna Turbo 1.5L (more Fuel efficient than 1.5 NA) , Ignis K12B, Nexon Diesel, Scross 1.3/1.6, Ford Figo/Aspire TDCi, and so on.

Note: Not mentioning strong hybrids and EVs here just for the sake of keeping discussion only among petrol and diesel mills as Hybrids/EVs have are a different game altogether.

Do list out your favourite fuel sipper yet Fun to drive car (current or past, discontinued or still in production).

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

A clear "head as well as heart" car discussion. Some thoughts:

• Almost all quick diesels will fit here. Including some luxury German cars.
• Cars of the 90s & early 2000s were very light (no safety norms then) & didn't have strict emissions equipment. Many cars of that era would fit the bill, the one that comes to mind immediately is the 1st-gen City Vtec. Beautiful engine and quite fuel-efficient too.
• Turbo petrols are massive guzzlers when driven hard. Almost all of them.
• How can we forget quick electric cars that are also fun to drive . I enjoyed zooming in the MG ZS EV, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Mercedes EQS...
• Cheap (relatively), fun & fuel-efficient = Ignis! Am amazed at the kind of numbers being reported for this car in the sipper thread. Then, we also have Marutis like the Alto K10 & Swift.

Here's what BHPian Dr.AD had to say on the matter:

Well, both "fun to drive" and "fuel efficient" are subjective terms. There is no absolute definition of either.

However, with some subjectivity that is unavoidable, I would say my current car, F30 BMW 320d is both fun to drive and fuel efficient.

On fun to drive front, the car has all that I need - a low-slung RWD sedan with 50:50 weight distribution, a lovely steering, a fast and accurate ZF8 gearbox, and perfect ride and handling balance. The car is fun to drive on fast highways, hilly roads, sweeping corners (it loves cornering), and even on the scenic two-lane country roads.

And while doing all this, it returns somewhere between 14km/l to 18km/l on my typical highway drives (and on a couple of occasions, I got more than 20km/l). The car with a 2.0L diesel with 190hp and 400Nm, that I drive quite spiritedly, and yet returns such fuel efficiency numbers (and in the process gives a range of about 900km to 1000km) would be my entry in this thread.

Here's what BHPian Eddy had to say on the matter:

Nothing beats gen 1 Swift Diesel in the fast, fun and efficient category. One of the most fun cars ever sold in India, and consistent 20+ kmpl on diesel which enjoyed a lot of subsidy back then.

Here's what BHPian giri1.8 had to say on the matter:

Swift Diesel:

Enjoyable on the highway, efficiency never dropped much even with wide open throttle. Handling was good too. Could do 20kmpl easily even when driven hard on the highway.

Jetta TDI stage 1:

Never knew car could be this fast and efficient at the same time! Never drops below 18kmpl on empty highway even with aggressive driving. Biggest issue with this car is finding a worthy replacement within 40L.

Here's what BHPian Shreyans_Jain had to say on the matter:

Turbo diesels are going to rule this tread.

The diesel versions of all cars with the VW 2.0 TDi were strong performers while having good fuel efficiency at the same time. Everything from Octavia to Laura to Jetta to Tiguan to Kodiaq. As long as that engine was sold in India, it was THE powertrain of choice.

This mantle has now been taken over by Fiat’s 2.0 MJD. Every car with this engine is fast as well as fuel efficient. Jeep Compass diesel is the enthusiast’s car of choice, it also delivers 20kmpl on highways. Harrier, Safari and Hector are also similarly quick and about as efficient.

Here's what BHPian condor had to say on the matter:

The diesel Fiat's (Punto/Linea), the Ikon 1.4D are two that come to mind immediately. I had the Ikon, and should not have given it up.

Here's what BHPian shankar.balan had to say on the matter:

My lovely old 2011 Model Skoda Yeti 4x4 2 litre TDi Elegance manual used to give happily 21 on the Bangalore Madras Bangalore run. Lovely engine. Big regret that I did not use it enough in the 8 years I had it and sadly I sold it in 2019. In hind sight, that vehicle was a real ‘keeper’.

Here's what BHPian CoconutCar had to say on the matter:

I was taught to drive on a non power steering Maruti 800. That car was light, nimble and and accelerated quickly till 60 km/h. I had fun learning to drive on it in curvy rural roads which were empty and had ponds and lakes around. Fuel efficiency was always over 16-17 km/L.

Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCi Engine : very fuel efficient (16-17 in City, 19-20 on highway) and fun to drive car. I still have mine.

Renault Fluence 2013 - 1.5 Diesel had lots of torque. Fuel efficiency hovers between 15-18 KM/L. The car had great build quality and stability on roads.

Renualt's Diesel Duster are also great to drive. If driven calmly, they are capable of returning over 18/19 KM/L

Ford EcoSport S MT 1.5 TDCi - 4 years ago, this car was on shortlist to replace Fiesta. But didn't buy.

Fuel Efficiency - 16-18 city/highway mixed.

Around 2010, Skoda Fabia came with TDI Diesel in price range of 6-8 Lakh. That car was not very fuel efficient despite being a diesel, but it was not bad either. Handling and steering feel was similar to Fiesta

I think the formula is - Sedan/Hatchback car with decent body weight + Hydraulic power steering + Diesel Engine + a suspension that is neither too soft, nor stiff (it should not be tuned entirely towards comfort).

Here's what BHPian SoumenD had to say on the matter:

Fun+Fuel-efficient means primarily Diesels. All the yesteryear's 1.5TDIs(VW/Skodas)/1.3 Multijets on small cars like swift etc. Most examples given in this thread would have been phased out by now.

Pure petrols are almost always inefficient when you are having fun with them. Current crop of turbo-petrols even more so being ultra sensitive to the right foot.

I know you have asked to keep hybrids out of the discussion but in absence of diesels these days, only those can come close to being 'efficient' while giving you some fun. We don't have too many options yet but hope these become mainstream sooner as EVs are still far off considering out infrastructure.

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