Question of the day: best petrol hatchback under Rs.6.5 lakh!

Rajat Mehrotra is looking for a petrol hatchback and wants the community to help him decide which would be the best choice for his needs. He drives around 1,000 kms each month and has shortlisted the Skoda Fabia, Volkswagen Polo, Hyundai i20 and the Fiat Punto.

Rajat has already mentioned that he wants to go the top end variant of which ever car he buys, hence we will take into account only the top-trim variants of each of the options we suggest.

The top of the line Skoda Fabia Elegance 1.6 MPI which gives a claimed mileage of 15 kmpl costs Rs. 6.18 lakh ex-showroom Delhi. It is powered by a 1,598 cc engine that produces 105 bhp of power at 5,250 rpm and 153 Nm of torque at 3,800 rpm.

The Volkswagen Polo 1.6 Highline too has a claimed mileage of 15 kmpl but is Rs.20,000 more expensive than the Fabia at Rs. 6.38 lakh. It too is powered by a 1,598 cc engine and this engine produces 104 bhp at 5,250 rpm and 153 Nm of torque at 3,800 rpm in the Polo.

The top end manual variant of the Hyundai i20, the i20 Asta (O) has a claimed mileage of 18 kmpl and is priced at Rs. 6.29 lakh which makes it cheaper than the Polo but around Rs.10,000 more expensive than the Fabia. It is sadly powered by a 1,197 cc engine that makes only 80 bhp of power at 5,200 rpm and 112 Nm of torque at 4,000 rpm. It is the least powerful vehicle in our comparison.

The Fiat Grande Punto 1.4 Emotion Pk has a claimed mileage of 14 kmpl which makes it the least fuel efficient vehicle on paper but in real world conditions its mileage is at par with the rest of the cars we have discussed. The Punto 1.4 Emotion Pk costs Rs. 6.01 lakh, which makes it the least expensive car in this list. It has a 1368 cc engine that produces 89 bhp of power at 6,000 rpm and 115 Nm of torque at 4,500 rpm. What car would you suggest for Rajat? Share your views in the comments section below!