I am looking to buy a new AMT car to replace my 9-year-old Hyundai Grand i10. My budget is Rs, 8 lakh (on-road price). I am confused between Maruti Suzuki WagonR ZXi Plus 1.2 Petrol AMT and Hyundai Exter HX3 AMT. The car will also be driven by my father, who is 70 years old. Both cars have a good seating position and offer easy ingress and egress. The WagonR offers better fuel efficiency, even with E20 petrol, along with electrically adjustable and foldable ORVMs, rear power windows, and a rear wiper. The Exter, on the other hand, has a more modern design, higher ground clearance, a reverse camera, and driver seat height adjustment. The car will be driven mostly in the city. Which one should I choose?

autocar.india

•1d

If you can stretch your budget, go for the Nexon CNG, as it has two key advantages. For one, as you mentioned, it has the bigger boot, and thanks to the dual-cylinder setup (as in the Punch and Exter too) lets you use most of the space effectively. Secondly, it uses a turbocharged engine, which addresses a big complaint with CNG cars, namely a lack of power. It also has far more space in the cabin which makes it a proper five seater, whereas the Exter and Punch will not be as comfy for rear passengers. The disadvantage, of course, is that even with a small budget stretch, you will still only get a mid-range variant of the Nexon CNG, but you should still get all the essentials. The Punch and Exter CNG will be available in their top-spec variants in your budget, and the Punch even gets an AMT option. However, this being your first car, we feel the bigger Nexon will feel like more of a statement while still keeping running costs in check. Yes, it's likely the Brezza facelift will get a dual-cylinder CNG setup, and it should launch before August, but how it will be priced remains unknown.

Tata Punch

Tata Nexon

Hyundai Exter

autocar.india

•7h

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

•1h

With 12-14k km a year, skip diesel and go for a petrol automatic or a strong-hybrid, and consider an EV only if you have home charging. At this running, the extra cost of diesel won't pay back if you keep the car for a couple of years only, and short city trips can be annoying for modern diesel filters. A good petrol will be simpler and smoother to live with, while a strong hybrid gives big savings in traffic without charging hassles.If she wants easy city use with very low running costs, and you can install a charger, look at the Tata Punch EV for compact convenience or the Tata Nexon EV for more space. If charging is a headache, the Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder Hybrid or the Maruti Grand Vitara Hybrid are the sweet spot for city-heavy driving, with quiet starts and excellent mileage. If you just want simple and affordable, a petrol automatic, the Maruti Fronx works well for mixed city-highway use.

Tata Punch EV

Tata Nexon EV

Toyota Urban Cruiser Hyryder

Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara

Maruti Suzuki Fronx