Stand apart

Since you are convinced about the Innova, go for it. Other than your wife's opinion that it belongs to the tourist trade, there's nothing wrong with this Toyota as a personal vehicle. We in fact highly recommend it because it is comfortable, safe, fuel efficient and enjoyable to drive too. Go ahead, spruce it up if you want to. The Tavera is not as refined as the Innova, while the Scorpio won't be as comfortable.  Diesel tops  I want to know which car offers better performance, pick-up, comfort and good fuel economy and is more fun to drive between the Hyundai Verna CRDi and the Chevrolet Optra Magnum TCDI. What are the top speeds of these cars? Which one of these is capable of going over the 200 kph mark?

Amrit Pal, via email

Frankly, both are great diesel cars for performance. Unfortunately, neithercan cross 200 kph in stock form. The Verna does 175 kph while the Optra, 185-odd kph. At those speeds, it is the Optra that has better composure and high speed stability. In fact it can go even a bit faster if tuned for performance. For that you will need the Pete's diesel tuning box (www.petes.in). It isn't currently available as the box is under development, but once on, expect power to go up from 120 bhp to 150 bhp and torque gets a boost as well. Then it should pretty much be capable of 200 kph. What we suggest is, go ahead with the Optra and then wait till the Pete's box is available. The combination will be brilliant.  Hill climb  I want to buy a midsize petrol car in the Rs 6.00 to Rs 6.50 lakh price range. The options are Ford Fiesta, Maruti Suzuki SX4, Tata Indigo, Mahindra Renault Logan, Chevrolet Aveo and the Maruti Esteem. I stay in a hilly area and my average running may not be more than 10 km per day. Please suggest a car keeping in view minimum maintenance and running costs, particularly mileage.

S K Bal, via email

For your needs, we recommend either the SX4 or the Logan. The SX4 has great ground clearance, larger wheels and 100 bhp on tap. If fits your budget, then the ZXi version is a good bet as it comes with comprehensive safety features and other creature comforts too. Though it is does not exactly fuel efficient, for your kind of driving, it is acceptable. If you are not comfortable with the SX4, try the Logan instead. In your budget, you can accommodate the 1.6 version, which is more powerful than the 1.4. Besides that, the Logan offers plenty of space inside and rides very well.