Compact sedans are no slapstick comedy; they are
serious business. Therefore, we pit the popular Japanese youngster against the
latest kid from Korea
A little poking around in the virtual world
revealed 7,840,000 results when I Googled “best compact diesel sedan in India”!
Sounds quite impressive, though none of the results will give you a clear and
ultimate winner. Therefore, we decided to take this challenge and spend a
couple of days behinds the wheels of Hyundai’s latest sub-four-metre compact
diesel sedan, the Xcent, and Honda’s Amaze i-DTEC to arrive at a verdict.
The
Hyundai Xcent looks well-proportioned all throughout
Conservation is the theme with compact
sedans and these two here are no exception. There is hardly anything new on
these cars that will move you emotionally or make you fall in love with them.
These are simple hatches with an added boot, which has transformed them into
sedans; compact sedans to be precise. Will they be appreciated by the public?
Well, that is pretty easy to answer. The Amaze has already been in the market
for the past one year and since then Honda have sold 80,000+ of them,
suggesting that people have loved Honda’s conservative effort. The Xcent may
have arrived just now, but it is 80 per cent Grand i10, which rocked the
hatchback market upon its arrival last year. It has won many awards, including
ICOTY and Car India Car of the Year Award, which proves the design is loved and
appreciated by many across the country.
The
Honda Amaze has been made specifically for the Asian market, specially India,
as demand for compact sedans is very high
The above story somewhat applies to the
interior of these two cars as well. However, it is the Hyundai Xcent that
clearly surges ahead in terms of features and interior quality. It comes loaded
with multiple audio connectivity options, Bluetooth, push button start, dual
zone climate control, keyless entry, rear parking sensors and rear camera
integrated into the RVM. Plus the cabin of the Xcent has a very plush and
upmarket appeal because of its neatly laid-out but simple dashboard, soft-touch
plastics, good build quality and perfect fit-and-finish.
On the other hand, the Honda’s cabin looks
and feels good. The quality of material is decent and the beige theme brings
some class to the table. The space inside is also much better than in the
Hyundai, but there is only one thing that disappoints and that is the
dashboard. Tri-tone dash is a terrific idea for a snazzy sports car, but in a
compact sedan it reeks of communist design ideology. Simple round air vents, a
music system from early 2000s, dials for air-con and a subtle instrument
console might have looked great a decade-and-a-half ago, but for the current
day and age they just look outdated.
Cabin
of the Xcent is unchanged from the Grand i10 hatchback and boasts of top
quality materials and has easy to operate controls
The features category may have been won by
the Xcent, but the space and comfort department belongs to the Honda. The Amaze
has more knee-room at the front and rear and is on par with the Xcent for leg-
and head-room. Hyundai claim that the Xcent has the best-in-class boot space of
407 litres, but the Honda is just seven litres short of that figure.
Comfort-wise, I found the Honda seats to be better as they provided more
all-round support and good thigh support at the rear. This makes long journeys
much more relaxing. The Hyundai also has good and supportive seats, but in a
direct comparison the Honda is ahead of the Hyundai.
The
dashboard of the Amaze is exactly similar to the Brio’s. Its pushed into the
A-Pillars for excellent knee room
Look down the engine bay and you will find
a quiet, refined, smooth and small 1.1-litre three-pot diesel motor from Korea
go up against the mighty four-cylinder 1.5-litre diesel, developed for India by
Honda. This 1.5-litre engine is ultra smooth and refined, though the insulation
between the engine bay and the cabin is very poor. You can actually hear the
engine more while inside the car than by standing outside right next to it. The
Honda loses a point there for excessive engine noise filtering through into the
cabin.
