I am a 44-year-old male with a right leg disc issue. My budget is Rs 10 to 12 lakh, and my height is 5 feet 10 inches. I will be driving mostly in the city. Please advise whether I should buy an automatic or a manual car.

Autocar India

•1d

You can consider the Maruti Suzuki Fronx or the Toyota Urban Cruiser Taisor in their top turbo petrol manual variants. The engine, despite being turbocharged, has hardly any turbo lag and offers good punch. It also comes with a light clutch and a slick gearbox, which makes it easy to drive in the city. Even on an open road or around a ghat section, both these cars are surprisingly fun to drive, and over bad roads, the suspension delivers a comfortable ride as well. For a turbo petrol engine, efficiency is also quite impressive. Overall, there is actually not much to fault here.If you want something that feels a bit more premium, you can look at the Skoda Kylaq, the Signature+ MT variant. The Kylaq is a fun car to drive, but the clutch is heavier, and you will feel more turbo lag. It will also not be as efficient as the Fronx turbo petrol, and the peace of mind ownership experience may not be as strong.

Maruti Suzuki Fronx

Toyota Urban Cruiser Taisor

Skoda Kylaq

Autocar India

•1d

It's a shame that the Skoda Kylaq's rear seat space is not quite up to the best in the segment, because otherwise it is a superb compact SUV that scores highly on most other counts. Of the other options, the Nissan Magnite, while capable and a great value for money, feels like a sub-segment lower in terms of quality, space and performance. The Mahindra XUV 3XO RevX should be your best bet because it offers both - performance and rear-seat space. In fact, it has one of the most spacious cabins in the segment, although the boot is a bit smaller than others. The RevX offers a good feature set as well, along with a few unique styling embellishments, and overall, we feel this is the one you should pick.

Nissan Magnite

Mahindra XUV 3XO

Skoda Kylaq

Autocar India

•16m

We would recommend sticking to the Maruti family and upgrading to the new Swift. The Swift, in its ZXI AMT guise, will fit in your budget and deliver your requirements. It is compact, which makes it easy to handle, and has enough power at 82hp for the city and the highway from the 1.2-litre engine.In terms of efficiency, the AMT version returns 12.7kpl in the city and 19.7kpl on the highway. The AMT is one of the nicer versions in the segment and makes light work of city driving. The ride comfort is good too, and the Swift is tuned for bumpy Indian roads. The ZXI will also get you a good kit like 15-inch alloy wheels, touchscreen infotainment with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless charging and rear AC vents.

Maruti Suzuki Swift