Hello Autocar India. A few years ago, I owned a KTM Duke 390 (2014) but sold it due to heat, engine knocking and other issues. I now ride a TVS Apache RTR 200 4V (2024), but I miss the Duke 390’s quick overtakes and higher power. I commute by bike three times a week on a mixed city-and-highway route of about 40 km one way (Thane-Mumbai). I am considering upgrading to either the Duke 250 or the Triumph Speed 400, and I am also evaluating the TVS RTX 300. Which of these would be the better choice?

Within a Rs 15 lakh budget, your best option is the Kia Carens Clavis HTE (O), which comes with two engine options. As a family car, the 1.5 NA engine does the job. It is smooth and quite responsive in slow traffic. If you want a bit more power, the 1.5 turbo-petrol is a good option, particularly for highway runs and long weekend trips.The Kia Carens Clavis has a well-designed cabin with a spacious and comfortable third row, which is good even for adults.

Both these SUVs are closely matched, but the Hyundai Creta H has the edge thanks to a more responsive engine and a cabin that feels more upmarket than the Grand Vitara’s. The Maruti-Suzuki Grand Vitara has a marginally better ride and feels more composed over potholes than the Creta. Overall, we would choose the Creta as the better all-rounder between the two.

Don’t be alarmed by the video you saw. All electric cars discharge very fast when driven at speed. And a fast discharge also heats up the battery and motor, so to protect the hardware, the battery management system (BMS) cuts the power, which explains the 14% drop you noticed.Because of aerodynamic drag, speed is the biggest enemy of range, and there is an exponential drop the faster you go. For example, if you drive at 160-170kph, the batteries will discharge 2.5 to 3 times faster than if you were driving at 90-100kph.Even EVs with large batteries can lose charge at the rate of 1-2% per minute with hard and sustained high-speed driving.So if all you want is performance and don’t care about range, the Mahindra XEV 9e in Race mode is very quick for short bursts of acceleration to overtake and fast highway runs. But no EV will give you full peak power indefinitely at extreme speeds.It all depends on how the BMS is calibrated, but after sustained high-speed driving, expect a drop in power, which is normal for an EV and not a flaw of the 9e specifically.

The MG Windsor Essence Pro is spacious enough for four people, but it has limitations as a family car. Firstly, being an electric car with a moderate range, it's best as a city car and not convenient for out-of-town trips. Also, the boot isn’t spacious enough for a family of four's luggage on a long weekend trip.The Honda Elevate is the more sensible choice as a family car. It is reliable, efficient, very spacious, and has a big boot. With this Honda car, you can’t really go wrong.