I have been driving a Hyundai Santro Xing for the past 21 years and am now looking to replace it with a similarly sized petrol hatchback. I need an automatic car that will be used mainly for city driving in Bangalore. My budget is around Rs. 10 - 12 lakh. Which cars currently available in India would you recommend?

autocar.india

•1d

It seems like you are looking for a fun-to-drive car, so with a budget of Rs 10 lakh and a clear preference for a petrol, manual, turbocharged car, a good option would be the Hyundai i20 N Line. The N Line comes with a peppy 1.0-litre turbocharged direct injection engine, which is really fun to drive, and the car has a nice sporty look to it as well. It's fairly well equipped with bits like a touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a Bose music system, a sunroof and a few more. The N6 version is just around the Rs 10 lakh mark, and with some dealer schemes, you could get the car for less too, so make sure you bargain.

Hyundai i20

autocar.india

•2d

The Hyundai i20 IVT is the best fit for this usage. With daily bumper-to-bumper driving in Bengaluru and occasional 200km highway trips, a petrol automatic is the right choice. The i20's IVT gearbox is one of the smoothest automatics in this price range, making it far more relaxing in heavy traffic than an AMT, while remaining comfortable on the highway.There is also no reason to delay buying a petrol car because of concerns around ethanol blending. Modern E20-compatible petrol engines are designed to run on E20 fuel, and there is currently no official roadmap beyond E20. The impact on ownership is limited to a slight reduction in fuel efficiency, and it is unlikely to affect the car's longevity or resale value if it is maintained as per the service schedule.At a budget of Rs 10 lakh, an SUV with a conventional automatic is difficult to find. Most options in this price bracket use an AMT, which is not as smooth or refined as the i20's IVT in stop-start traffic. If a higher seating position is a priority, the Maruti Fronx AMT is worth considering, but it requires accepting the compromises of an AMT.

Hyundai i20

Maruti Suzuki Fronx

autocar.india

•20h

The width of your parking space is 8ft, which is about 2.44 metres. That is quite tight for most modern cars, especially with the mirrors open. For example, a typical midsize SUV like the Kia Seltos or Hyundai Creta is around 1.8 metres wide without mirrors, and with mirrors open, the width can go up to around 2.1 metres. With an 8ft width, you'll have very little clearance on either side, especially if you need to open the doors, so you'll need to park close to the passenger-side wall to have enough space for the driver to open the door and enter/exit. The good news is that most modern cars have electrically folding mirrors, so you can fold them in before entering the parking space. With mirrors folded, the width drops back to the body width, which is usually around 1.8 metres for most SUVs and 1.7 metres for smaller hatchbacks and sedans. If you want a car that is genuinely easy to park in an 8ft space, you should look at smaller hatchbacks like the Maruti Suzuki Swift, Hyundai Grand i10 Nios or Tata Tiago. These are around 1.7 metres wide with mirrors folded and will give you more breathing room. The key is to make sure the car you choose has electrically folding mirrors and to get into the habit of folding them before entering the parking space.

Kia Seltos

Tata Tiago

Hyundai Grand i10 Nios

Maruti Suzuki Swift