Honda vs Hyundai vs Maruti vs VW Comparison Track Test
And we have listened! For our latest track test, we have brought four petrol sedans - the Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Maruti Suzuki and the Volkswagen Vento. Now this reminds us of our February issue where we tested three of the aforementioned cars. And the results were pretty tight. The City just sneaked ahead of the Verna by two tenths off a second, while the Vento was a distant last, with a laptime that was two seconds slower. While the Vento has the most sorted chassis, its DSG gearbox would upshift at the slightest hint of wheelspin. As a result, at corner exits, the car would short shift at 4,000rpm, instead of revving all the way to the redline. When you’ve got only 104 bhp, you need to use all of it.
However, the Vento has been facelifted since then, with Verno also receiving a cosmetic treatment. And the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz makes its first appearance at the BIC - we know it’s got a pretty good chassis, although it’s down on par in comparisons to its three rivals.
Now, when you analyse the data from the test, you’ll notice a couple of things. First of all, we don’t have the top speed information and the telemetry graphs to share. Our V-Box shared at the last minute, forcing us to resort to stop watches. And before you scoff, remember that this method of tracking time was prominently used in Formula 1 not very long ago - so it’s quite a tried and tested way of measuring lap times.
You’ll also find that the laptimes are considerably slower than our previous test. But if you’ve followed AutoX for a while, you’ll know that the track temperatures play an important role in on-track performance. Typically, the hotter it is, the worse the performance is. So, considering that the previous test was in the chilly weather of January, the difference in lap time - two seconds, on average - was expected. The good thing is the consistency in results - both Verna and Vento were 1.8 seconds slower than before, while the City’s time was mysteriously down by 4.5 seconds.
It has the same 1.5-litre iVTEC engine as before, which produces 117bhp at 6,600 rpm. Although this time, it was a brand new car, suggesting it might be a case of not being run in enough. At 2:49.8, it was slowest of the lot. The tyres too - 175/65 R15 Michelin Energy XM1 - are the same as before. Yes, they are overtly designed to maximise fuel efficiency, but that was true as before.
For what’s it worth, the City feels the most racy car of the four. You sit low in a driver-centric cabin, while the stubby little gear level falls perfectly to hand. The engine as well has the most engaging note of the group. And while we are used to the mid-range grunt provided by the turbo-diesels, but revving an engine all the way to the redline never gets old - especially in this case where it pulls all the way to 6,600 rpm. The VTEC engine revs in a linear manner until 5,000 rpm, before shooting forward in a sudden spurt. It’s the most entertaining.
The steering is direct and the chassis is predictable. It encourages you to mishandle it; you can sense that the DNA of Honda’s performance car is buried somewhere in the chassis. It’s just that, in its trim, it is extremely difficult to extract it.
This is the only car that would howl at the exit of every corner, and you have to manage the wheelspin. And I, for one, would take the delivery of the car from a Honda showroom and take it straight to a nearby tyre guy, for a set of grippier rubber. Sure, it will sacrifice the mileage, but the performance would shown a vast improvement.
The next car on the list if the Volkswagen Vento, which is half a second quicker than the City. It’s the only car here with a forced induction motor - its 1.2-litre direct engine turbocharged engine produces 104 horsepower. And while it was an absolute godsend en route to the track, it encountered the same problem as the last time as it headed out of the pitlane. I had the traction control turned off - the situation might have been different if I had left it on. Although I’m sure that wouldn’t have done any favours to the laptime.
In fact, even when the traction control was turned off, the electric safety net was still on standby in the background, ready to jump in if the need be. Now, it wasn’t really required but it would still cut in and catch the brakes here and there if it felt the car was struggling for grip. With a car with 500 bhp, that’s still welcome. But one with one-fifth of the power, you really don’t want an electronic barrier between you and your machine - especially if you consider the fact that it has the best chassis in this bunch. The body control is impressive and the body roll in negligible. Don’t forget that this is, effectively, the same chassis as used in the most impressive car I’ve driven - the Polo R WRC machine.
This is a great car for everyday use, and the facelift has done wonders. The cabin has the best quality of materials here, while the flat-bottomed steering wheel is also beautiful. Let me put it this way, while the Vento was annoying on track, it is the car that I drove home after the test.
Now, the Ciaz may have the least power of the group, but that didn’t prevent it from setting the second best time - a 2:48.9. The 1.4-litre engine - tuned for efficiency - redlines at about 6,3000 rpm, but sadly prefers if you shift closer to the 6,000 level. The clutch and the gear are extremely tight, and it slots into gear perfectly. And since it feels light on its feet as well, it turns into a corner beautifully.
The only trouble is that the tyres seem to get overwhelmed mid-corner, following which it tends to run wide. The basics of this chassis are brilliant - it goes exactly where you want it to go. The only trouble is that it feels under-tyres and under-engine for this performance-centric test.
And that’s why it is one-and-a-half second slower than the Hyundai Verna, the fastest car in the test. At 1.6-litres and 121 bhp, it is really a no brainer, even more so with the City struggling with lack of grip. The Verna has the most urgent power delivery among the quartet, and it’s got a buttery smooth driver line. The engine revs all the way up to 6,500, while the gear shifts are also particularly swift. Not that it is a track car, though. It’s the softest of the lot, making it skittish under hard braking. It also has the most body roll of the four cars.
For the latest automotive news and expert reviews, visit www.autox.in
Earlier this year, we took four compact sedans and five hatchbacks to the Buddh International Circuit to see which one got our pulse racing. The idea behind the track test was to see which one of your favourite everyday machine could plaster the biggest smile on a Sunday drive.
We are happy to report that we got a lot of feedback for that story, indicating that the common man does care about the ultimate performance of their cars. Many of you suggested that we should have used petrol cars instead. Firstly, the price of petrol has been falling downwards, subsequently sending its demand in the other direction. And secondly, the higher revving petrol engines are naturally more suited to a race track. And we have listened! For our latest track test, we have brought four petrol sedans - the Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Maruti Suzuki and the Volkswagen Vento. Now this reminds us of our February issue where we tested three of the aforementioned cars. And the results were pretty tight. The City just sneaked ahead of the Verna by two tenths off a second, while the Vento was a distant last, with a laptime that was two seconds slower. While the Vento has the most sorted chassis, its DSG gearbox would upshift at the slightest hint of wheelspin. As a result, at corner exits, the car would short shift at 4,000rpm, instead of revving all the way to the redline. When you’ve got only 104 bhp, you need to use all of it.
However, the Vento has been facelifted since then, with Verno also receiving a cosmetic treatment. And the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz makes its first appearance at the BIC - we know it’s got a pretty good chassis, although it’s down on par in comparisons to its three rivals.
Now, when you analyse the data from the test, you’ll notice a couple of things. First of all, we don’t have the top speed information and the telemetry graphs to share. Our V-Box shared at the last minute, forcing us to resort to stop watches. And before you scoff, remember that this method of tracking time was prominently used in Formula 1 not very long ago - so it’s quite a tried and tested way of measuring lap times.
You’ll also find that the laptimes are considerably slower than our previous test. But if you’ve followed AutoX for a while, you’ll know that the track temperatures play an important role in on-track performance. Typically, the hotter it is, the worse the performance is. So, considering that the previous test was in the chilly weather of January, the difference in lap time - two seconds, on average - was expected. The good thing is the consistency in results - both Verna and Vento were 1.8 seconds slower than before, while the City’s time was mysteriously down by 4.5 seconds.
It has the same 1.5-litre iVTEC engine as before, which produces 117bhp at 6,600 rpm. Although this time, it was a brand new car, suggesting it might be a case of not being run in enough. At 2:49.8, it was slowest of the lot. The tyres too - 175/65 R15 Michelin Energy XM1 - are the same as before. Yes, they are overtly designed to maximise fuel efficiency, but that was true as before.
For what’s it worth, the City feels the most racy car of the four. You sit low in a driver-centric cabin, while the stubby little gear level falls perfectly to hand. The engine as well has the most engaging note of the group. And while we are used to the mid-range grunt provided by the turbo-diesels, but revving an engine all the way to the redline never gets old - especially in this case where it pulls all the way to 6,600 rpm. The VTEC engine revs in a linear manner until 5,000 rpm, before shooting forward in a sudden spurt. It’s the most entertaining.
The steering is direct and the chassis is predictable. It encourages you to mishandle it; you can sense that the DNA of Honda’s performance car is buried somewhere in the chassis. It’s just that, in its trim, it is extremely difficult to extract it.
This is the only car that would howl at the exit of every corner, and you have to manage the wheelspin. And I, for one, would take the delivery of the car from a Honda showroom and take it straight to a nearby tyre guy, for a set of grippier rubber. Sure, it will sacrifice the mileage, but the performance would shown a vast improvement.
The next car on the list if the Volkswagen Vento, which is half a second quicker than the City. It’s the only car here with a forced induction motor - its 1.2-litre direct engine turbocharged engine produces 104 horsepower. And while it was an absolute godsend en route to the track, it encountered the same problem as the last time as it headed out of the pitlane. I had the traction control turned off - the situation might have been different if I had left it on. Although I’m sure that wouldn’t have done any favours to the laptime.
In fact, even when the traction control was turned off, the electric safety net was still on standby in the background, ready to jump in if the need be. Now, it wasn’t really required but it would still cut in and catch the brakes here and there if it felt the car was struggling for grip. With a car with 500 bhp, that’s still welcome. But one with one-fifth of the power, you really don’t want an electronic barrier between you and your machine - especially if you consider the fact that it has the best chassis in this bunch. The body control is impressive and the body roll in negligible. Don’t forget that this is, effectively, the same chassis as used in the most impressive car I’ve driven - the Polo R WRC machine.
This is a great car for everyday use, and the facelift has done wonders. The cabin has the best quality of materials here, while the flat-bottomed steering wheel is also beautiful. Let me put it this way, while the Vento was annoying on track, it is the car that I drove home after the test.
Now, the Ciaz may have the least power of the group, but that didn’t prevent it from setting the second best time - a 2:48.9. The 1.4-litre engine - tuned for efficiency - redlines at about 6,3000 rpm, but sadly prefers if you shift closer to the 6,000 level. The clutch and the gear are extremely tight, and it slots into gear perfectly. And since it feels light on its feet as well, it turns into a corner beautifully.
The only trouble is that the tyres seem to get overwhelmed mid-corner, following which it tends to run wide. The basics of this chassis are brilliant - it goes exactly where you want it to go. The only trouble is that it feels under-tyres and under-engine for this performance-centric test.
And that’s why it is one-and-a-half second slower than the Hyundai Verna, the fastest car in the test. At 1.6-litres and 121 bhp, it is really a no brainer, even more so with the City struggling with lack of grip. The Verna has the most urgent power delivery among the quartet, and it’s got a buttery smooth driver line. The engine revs all the way up to 6,500, while the gear shifts are also particularly swift. Not that it is a track car, though. It’s the softest of the lot, making it skittish under hard braking. It also has the most body roll of the four cars.
But then, as always, we need to remember that these cars are built for normal roads and not race tracks. We simply put them in extreme conditions to check their potential to perform. And all of these cars have done well in their own way. Verna is by far the quickest car - and by quite a big margin, while the City is fun to drive. The DSG gearbox in the Vento isn’t as obedient, but is a great car outside the premises of a race track. And finally, all cars, except the Verna, can do with a bit more power.
The real thing that I take from this test is the sheer joy of extracting every bit of performance from these petrol power sedans. Sure, the modern diesel cars are quite refined and punchy, but nothing feels as good as revving a smooth petrol engine above 6,000 rpm. And, I, for one, am quite happy to see a resurgence of petrol powered cars - and, to that extent, none of these motors disappoint, For the latest automotive news and expert reviews, visit www.autox.in
Enjoy your ride
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