Viva Voce

The Hyundai Accent Viva and the Honda City 1.3 go through our examination. Who's got the better results?

State your name and technical specifications. Please be brief. I am the Hyundai Accent Viva. I am a variant of the original Accent, which has been around since end-1999 in India. My chief feature is my compact notchback body, which is what makes me new.

Also I have a different grille and front-end treatment, ribbed rear bumper and body panels that are marginally different from the Accent. I have an engine that's borrowed from the Accent Tornado, which is a 1599 CC DOHC unit, that develops 103 bhp at 5800 rpm and 14.4 kgm of torque at 4500 revs. And I also have a solid sporty red colour option...

Any other feature that's special to you?

Yes, I come with an anti-lock braking system as standard. My tyres are Bridgestone Potenza tubed radials, 185/60 14" to be specific, around five-spoke alloy wheels. Besides new interior fabric and leather trim, I come with fog lamps and a rear windshield wiper. Oh, another thing very special to me is an ex-showroom Mumbai price of just Rs 7,06,000.

That's enough. Thank you. Next!

Honda City 1.3. Introduced in 1998, I received a minor facelift late-1999. I fit in the upper end of the C-segment...

A little slowly, please.

Yes, yes. The feature that's central to me is my engine. It's a 1343 CC four valve per cylinder SOHC unit that's good for 90 bhp at 6500 revs and a torque of 11.3 kgm at 4700 revs. Besides being refined and making me fairly quick, my engine is fuel efficient as well. But in spite of having a reputation of being a boy-racer of sorts, I'd rather not show off, which is why I wear sober colours. I come with Bridgestone S 322 175/70 13-inch radials as standard.

And how much do you retail for in Mumbai?

Rs 7,32,000 for the base DX model.

That will be all, thank you.

Case study

It's nice to see two lads well prepared for the examination. One is this ambitious, street-smart Korean, and the other is a suave Japanese who knows what its real strength is. So which is the better candidate of the two?

First, the Viva. This new car from the Hyundai stable is out to do what the Tornado version of the Accent couldn't, and that is be considered seriously as a sporty option. While the engine is the same, the Viva has been marketed to fit in a special niche, thanks to its notchback body and special colours.

Hyundai has loaded the Viva with attractive features like ABS, alloys, fog lamps, the works and given it an attractive price tag. At least, we know for sure that its marketing has been successful, as there were plenty of heads turning to watch our test vehicle