The Gypsy’s light weight makes it better in the sand as it does not sink so easily. Otherwise, the Thar with its strong engine and power steering is a more rounded vehicle and has the economy of the diesel too. And that it looks absolutely smashing with a bull bar, fog lamps and XXXL size alloys and tires seals it for me.

Puneet, take a look at this comparison of both vehicles we did sometime back. http://www.cartoq.com/expertvoice/the-better-off-roader-mahindra-thar-or-maruti-gypsy-king/ The new Thar has AC too though.

I would go with the Thar. Simple advantages – robust diesel engine, power steering, AC and much better torque for off-road use.

The Thar now comes with AC and a hardtop (Optional), that makes it more sensible. Especially when it comes to fuel economy!

The Rio will soon be coming with a 1.3 litre multijet diesel engine that can be sold in BSIV (metro) markets. So far it’s only BSIII compliant – with a 1.2 litre petrol and 1.5 litre diesel. Wait for a couple more months for more feedback on the Rio.

The Rio starts at Rs.4.90 lakh for the GX variant and costs Rs. 5.36 lakh for the GLX variant. The Rio diesel is yet to be launched. The Petrol Rio has a claimed mileage of 13 Kmpl. Haven’t heard of any Rio’s with CNG or LPG, so cannot help you with those figures.

I believe in India, if an SUV and a sedan (same number of seats) are priced similarly, people would go for the SUV more than the sedan. Mostly because SUVs and their tall stance is more practical on bad roads, and secondly because SUVs may have quite a bit of boot space in the back. And SUV is more macho etc. sedans are considered more classy, so…[Read more]

thats exactly what these companies are trying to improve. by making these compact SUV’s they are just making a sedan more practical by making it taller and better ground clearance. in case of humdrum SUVs the spares/maintenance expense holds true but by making these mini versions simpler and smaller they are keeping all costs low. because they…[Read more]

true. duster will be slightly more expensive 2 maintain, but like the figo ford will make it relatively cheap.