India's Most Under Rated Cars: Part II

Last week we brought you 5 under rated cars that are fun to drive. Today, we expand this list to include many more under-rated cars, in Part II of this series.

Tata Nano AMT

The Nano AMT is a brilliant city tool. It’s easy to drive, park, fuel efficient, and feature filled. The only reason why you don’t see more of this car on the roads is because it still suffers from the image of it being a “poor man’s” car. For the record, the Nano AMT costs more than 3 lakh rupees on the road, and is one of the best city cars that money can buy in India right now. If you can see beyond the Tata badge value and Nano’s image, the AMT equipped variant of the GenX version is a great buy as a city car.

Maruti Ritz

The Maruti Suzuki Ritz is based on the Swift platform, and is a far more comfortable car for taller passengers than the latter. Yet, it it the Swift that outsells the Ritz many times over. The Ritz shares its mechanicals with the Swift, and even goes one step ahead to offer a petrol automatic variant. The reason for many buyers overlooking this car is its rear end styling, which doesn’t appeal to all. However, the Ritz is a great alternate to the Swift, and you can save a bunch of money too as it’s 1. Cheaper 2. Heavily Discounted.

Force Gurkha

Most of the off road market is dominated by the Mahindra Thar, and arguably so as it has good after market parts support and an established ecosystem of sorts. The Force Gurkha is a great alternate for those who want something different from the Thar. The Gurkha is based on the Mercedes Gelandewagen, and is highly regarded for its off road ability. The vehicle also gets a hard top option, and features a torquey 2.6 liter turbo diesel engine with 80 Bhp-230 Nm.

Renault Lodgy

The Renault Lodgy is an Innova-sized MPV that’s priced much lower. Yet, the Toyota MPV outsells it many times over. It’s understandable that buyers flock to the Innova, for the vehicle offers space, comfort and bomb proof reliability. However, the Lodgy is a very capable MPV too, especially considering the big savings it brings to the table. The Lodgy is lighter, which means that the 1.5 liter turbo diesel engine in two states of tune (84 Bhp-200 Nm and 108 Bhp-240 Nm), does a much better job on it, in terms of both performance and fuel efficiency.

Maruti Suzuki S-Cross 1.6

The S-Cross comes a cropper if considered a compact SUV as the vehicle simply doesn’t have the looks to support. If you consider it as a large hatchback with ground clearance, the S-Cross ticks all the right boxes. And the 1.6 liter Fiat Multijet turbo diesel engine that makes 118 Bhp-320 Nm, endows this hatchback with some serious performance. The S-Cross is very quick, and handles well too. Ride quality is good, the fit and finish levels are the best seen on any Maruti car sold currently. The cherry on the cake is the sharp price tag of under 10 lakh rupees.

Tata Safari Storme

The Tata Safari Storme is a comfortable 7 seat SUV that now offers peppy performance. Tata has just upgraded the 2.2 liter Varicor turbo diesel engine of the Storme with more power and torque (156 Bhp-400 Nm). Apart from being a segment leader, the vehicle now drives much better than the Scorpio, and is also a much better highway cruiser given the addition of the 6th gear. Overall, the Storme 400 is better than the Scorpio in many aspects. Do test drive one to find out for yourself.