Hyundai XCENT vs Honda AMAZE vs Maruti Suzuki DZIRE 2014 in India

The Indian car market is very funny and the government policy is making it funnier. Some fine day you will wake up and realize that a popular SUV has a ground clearance that is suddenly goes lesser than a Hatch Back or may be you realize that a Head Lamp Beam adjustment switch is more important then ABS and Airbags and it way become a mandatory feature but one policy that car makers seem to have fall in love with is the sub 4 meter rule which lags the abiding vehicle enjoy tax benefits.

Now such a rule in the matured market would give rise to a spacious big Hatch Back but in India, it’s given birth to compact Sedans. The whole compact Sedan game begin back in 2008 with the Tata Indigo eCS but it has been capitalized by the Swift Dzire, join by the Honda Amaze in 2013 and now we have a new kid on the block, the Hyundai Xcent.

Compact Sedans are in the prettiest cars around, in fact with that cut short length they appear like millions of the Sedan race. Out of the 3 cars here, the Dzire looks the most imbalanced; the long nose tells you that it was meant for a small car and the boot look like an off record.

The Xcent despite being a Hyundai is a conservative but it looks smart and solitary, it can’t hold it’s ground against the good looking Honda Amaze.

Though based on the Brio, the extended platform and the distinctive styling fuels, tells you that the Honda has spent enough time to make this Design as balanced as possible and that makes it one of the better looking compact Sedan out there.

The most people are going to prefer these vehicles to their Hatch Back siblings because this is the Bada Gaadi or the Sedan but there are going to be quite a few people for whom the boot space is going to be the primary criteria. The Swift Dzire has 316 Liters of it, the Amaze has 400 Liters and despite its dominative size the Xcent has a class leading 407 Liters.

The interior of the Amaze looks good but the plastics don’t feel as good as the other two cars how ever the wide cabin let 5 adults to sit in the car without being too much of squeeze, the large windows add roominess to the cabin. The Swift can seat five adults too but the rear bench compromises on leg space, the interiors how ever best in the class in terms of Design and Built.

 The Xcent on the other hand is good enough only for four adults, the plastic feels as good as the Verna but the lay out is too sober and looks dated already but where the Xcent quickly redeems it self is the sure list of features. The most notable for this class are the Push Button Starter, Bluetooth Telephony and a Climate Control System with Rear AC Vents and Parking Sensors with the Reversing Camera. It clearly out classes the other two cars in this regard, what it also surprises is the way it behaves on the road.

Now we have very 3 different engine sizes here, the Xcent has a smallest engine, the 1.1 L 3 Cylinder Engine that produces a 72 PS of power 118 NM of torque, now the most important thing there is, this engine inside the cabin is not all that audible, you don’t get that typical 3 Cylinder verbal or the Diesel clatter inside the cabin, out side it of course in the exteriors you do hear that vehicle you do hear that engine. In terms of power delivery, it gives you very good low end and very good mid range, that makes it a very good city car add to it, the steering wheel which is very evaluated and you have a very convenient car for city use. And speaking of city use, the next vehicle that is Swift Dzire, I think has the best steering set up out of these 3 vehicles. In terms of engine, it gets the 1.3 L Multi Jet fiat sourced engine, it produces 75 PS of power and 119 NM of torque which tells you that it doesn’t get the variable geometry turbine, so it has the same problem that you face with the Swift, there is absolutely no low end parts, so driving in city you feel the need for better low end, you feel the need for more power in the lower ribs, about 2200 RPM though you suddenly have that big surge of power and torque, if you are out on the highway and if you want to pull overtake, I think the Swift has a very good engine out there and then when you move to the Amaze, at is where the numbers just climb. You have a 1.5 L i-Dtec Engine that produces 100 PS of power and 200 NM of torque but that certainly has the biggest engine out of the lot but then all that power and torque has been designed to be use for better fuel economy and not out right sprightly performance. The engine has restricted to about 140 Kilometers per hour of top edge and that helps it claim a fuel economy of about 25.8 Kilometers to a liter. How ever in the real world, expect something between 16 to 18 Kilometers to a liter from the Amaze, and for the Dzire it’s about 15to17 where as for the Xcent it is some how between 14 to 16 but all that power and torque, the Amaze too is a very good vehicle for the City and Highway use. How ever out of three if I have to pick one, the Swift would be the vehicle for an overall performance when it comes to City or driving on the Highway.

 Ever since Maruti Suzuki shifted from Mineral Oil to Synthetic Oil, the engine noise for the Multi Jet engine in the Swift and the Swift Dzire has gone down considerably. Speaking about engine noise, the Amaze which has the most powerful engine of the lot is also the noisiest of the lot. In terms of ride quality, the vehicle which I am driving right now the Honda Amaze that has the best ride quality, it soaks up all the undulations and all the portals that the Indian roads has provides you but then there is a lot of body rolling. Speaking of body roll, all the three vehicles that we are testing here have ample of it. The Swift how ever has a very good balance between the ride quality and the handling dynamics; it has a very European feel to it. A thing goes for the Xcent but then the small engine just marks it all. How ever all these three cars are going to be family vehicle and not going to be something that you want to take to the race track or for speedy driving to the twisters. That’s it, all the three vehicles are very comfortable unlike I said the Amaze has the best ride quality out of the three.

 Out on the Highway, the Swift feels the most stable out of the three, with no speed limits governing it, it is also more eager at Highway speeds and more powerful than the Amaze, the 195 Section tyres also give it better grip over all than the other two cars. Also feels the most stable under breaking as the other two cars with their skinny tyres are seems to way of a bit with the Anti Lock Brakes. Speaking of it, the Amaze goes high on safety as Honda offers ABS as standard fitment on all the trims of the Diesel Variant. Airbags are available only on the mid and top spec variants. The Dzire and the Xcent only offers ABS and Airbags on the top end variants. This coming from the top 2 car makers in India, I would have like them to be more proactive about such basic safety technologies.

Let’s sum it up then, in terms of the Exterior Design,is the Amaze is the clear winner. In terms of the Interior Design is the Dzire that is the clear winner and in terms of Features is the Xcent that is the clear winner. How ever if I have to pick out a clear winner out of these three that will be difficult, because you see all the three vehicles have different fore said that will attract different kind of customers, the Amaze is a very good family car and a great urban run about. The Swift Dzire on the other hand is for the individual whose yearly mileage is going to comprise of City as well as Highway commutes and the Xcent on the other hand is for the kind of people who are on a shoe string budget, who want a vehicle that provides more bang for their money. It is feature rich, it looks smart and is priced rather well.