Practical New Cars Galore
This month we have four first drives, out of which two are all-new and two are facelifts with new features and mechanical updates.
The first car I drove was the Citroën C3. The C3 looks more like an SUV but Citroën are calling it a hatchback. The C3 drive was held in south Goa an apt location for a small car drive. The C3 will go up against cars like the Maruti Suzuki Swift. The ride and handling are very good as one would expect from Citroën. We drove both the engine options: the naturally aspirated and the turbocharged engine and both performed well. If one has not driven the turbo engine, they would not find the car underpowered. The turbo car is fun to drive and has good bottom-end and mid-range performance.
The all-new Mahindra Scorpio-N has grown in size with a bold and commanding look. The suspension set up is very good as it gobbles up all the bad roads, pot-holes and speed-humps as if they don’t exist. There is a little body-roll but it’s nothing considering the sheer size of this SUV.
The Hyundai Venue was one of the best sub-four-metre compact SUVs in the country. Now Hyundai have taken it up a few notches even further with the facelift and improvements in the ride and handling department.
With Hyundai upping the game with the facelift Venue, Maruti Suzuki have brought out a revamped version of the Brezza. The Brezza has grown bolder externally with a blunt front end and a sunroof has also been added for the first time. They have also improved the ride and handling of the compact SUV.
EDITOR – ASPI BHATHENA
