Polo has the best ride and handling. None of them can be called good value for money

Rear-seat armrest – it’s a design issue, because if they fitted a rear-seat arm-rest, the seat back would have to be a lot thicker, and that would eat into boot space. Not worth the extra cost. As for rear AC vents – three hatches do have them. Look under the front seats of the Punto, i20 and Fabia, and you’ll see these foot level AC vents there.

Well, you can squeeze in only so much inside 4meters, unless of course you design something from the ground up. Two more words: cost cutting.

Two-wheel drive, is where only two wheels of the car are powered by the engine. This could be either front wheel drive (like most of the hatchbacks and sedans in India) or rear-wheel drive (most MUVs and high-end sedans, besides the Tata Nano – which is rear engine, rear-wheel drive). Four-wheel drive is when all four wheels are powered. This…[Read more]

4×4 consumes more fuel than 4×2. Its a difference of about 1kmpl or so.

VGT – variable geometry turbocharger. FGT – fixed geometry turbocharger. In a VGT, the vanes or fins on the turbocharger can change their angle, depending on the velocity it is turning at – this provides higher boost pressure at different rpms. FGT – there’s only one angle and a constant boost pressure. Fuel-efficiency is usually similar in both…[Read more]

VGTs are supposed to improve drivability and lessen the turbo lag. But in practice, exactly the reverse happens(especially in our national engine, the 1.3MJD). Turbo lag increases, drivability goes for a toss but the punch with the turbo on boost is stronger.

Two other critical factors need to be considered here – the weight of the car and the gear ratios. If the 180PS car is a heavy SUV, and the 140 PS one is a light hatch for instance, the hatch will win purely on power-to-weight advantage.

Well, this news hasn’t been confirmed by us independently, and has been attributed to ICB and a source of theirs. They haven’t said when it would appear in the market – but knowing Mahindra, it’s quite likely it would come out soon.

The tachometer will help you keep your car in the optimum rev range for fuel efficiency and power. In the case of the Ritz petrol, since peak torque develops at 4500 rpm, if you want to pick up fast, rev in each gear to this rpm point and shift up to the next gear. However, if you want fuel efficiency, then drive between 2,000 – 3000 rpm – your…[Read more]

The Maruti Ertiga ZXI does seem like the most value for money choice here, simply because of the flexibility of space that it offers. You can use it as a spacious five seater with good boot space or you could fit in seven people when needed. That’s what makes it a better choice here than the Toyota Etios V. The Etios is spacious, yet simple – but…[Read more]

No date for a launch, but given Maruti’s time-line of events, it should be out within three months, as we last heard of this end of April. http://www.cartoq.com/maruti-may-launch-cng-ertiga-but-no-dzire-or-swift-cng-yet/

The instructions about that emergency lock to shift the shifter out of P is there in the instruction manual as well. This kind of thing of the shifter jamming in P mode happens, sometimes, especially in the hills, if you park on an incline and the car rolls a little even after shifting into P. This happens because the “parking pawl” as it’s called…[Read more]

This does look like a problem with your brake pedal sensor – I think it can be easily fixed under warranty. Are you also pressing the brake pedal at the same time, when using the emergency lock?

Teflon coating is useful, but not long lasting. The effect fades off within a year, and a good wax-polish job is usually better. In fact, there’s an offer that one of our marketing partners is offering for cartoq members: http://www.cartoq.com/offers/car-cleaning-and-teflon-coating-at-shockingly-low-prices/ . That also is for Rs. 1500. The 3M…[Read more]