My monthly running is around 2,500 km. My budget is Rs. 10 lakh. Around 70% of my driving is in the city, and 30% is on highways. Kindly suggest a car with a good safety profile.

autocar.india

•2d

Pick the Tata Altroz for your trips. It stays flatter through ghats than the Punch and feels steadier than the i20, which helps people who get sick. On winding Konkan roads, side-to-side roll and float at the back are what trigger nausea; the Altroz sits lower and has a firmer, more tied-down tune, so there’s less sway in bends and less bobbing over crests. It is calm at highway speeds, too, so your family won’t be tossed about.A few tips for travel sickness: seat the most sensitive person in front and tell them to keep looking out and at the road and horizon. Motion sickness is caused mainly due to your body receiving differing signals, so if your are reading you eyes and looking down and at something steady, but your body is sensing motion. Thus, for people who feel sick its best to look out of the windows and not at a phone, for example. Also, if required, keep the windows cracked a bit for fresh air, which helps, and take short breaks more often rather than one break after a long drive. Eat a light meal and lime and ginger if you can, as it helps reduce nausea.

Tata Altroz

Tata Punch

Hyundai i20

autocar.india

•8h

Skip diesel for your short hops and get a turbo petrol automatic. Your 2-3 km stop-start runs are exactly what clog DPFs. A turbo-petrol will get you the torque you like while avoiding DPF issues.Under Rs 12 lakh, the Maruti Suzuki Fronx and Nissan Magnite are good picks. Both turbo-petrols have good low- and mid-range, and smooth automatics (torque converter in the Fronx and CVT in the Magnite). They are light to drive in the city, stable enough on Delhi-NCR runs, and will handle an annual hill trip without fuss.Under Rs 16 lakh, consider the Skoda Kushaq 1.0 and the Honda Elevate. The Kushaq 1.0 with the 6-speed automatic feels torquey, cruises all day, and climbs hills confidently. It’s compact outside but feels tight and secure at speed, which makes highway stints less tiring. One caveat: service reach and costs are higher than the mass brands.If you want an absolute zero-hassle over punch in the bigger bracket, the Honda Elevate automatic is calmer and super easy to live with, just not as eager as the Kushaq.

Maruti Suzuki Fronx

Nissan Magnite

Skoda Kushaq

Honda Elevate

autocar.india

•2d

Go for the Tata Punch Adventure S CNG AMT. It falls within your budget and comes with a CNG-AMT automatic powertrain, which will be very convenient on your city runs. The Punch also has a spacious cabin for four people; It's relatively compact, you get an elevated driving position, and it deals with broken city roads with ease. It also benefits from Tata's twin-cylinder tech, so the CNG tanks are placed under the boot floor, and you don't miss out on boot space. And despite that, you continue to get a spare tyre also. If you want something smaller and don't want an automatic, consider the Maruti Suzuki Fronx CNG.

Tata Punch

Maruti Suzuki Fronx