Laura and hardy

WHICH CAR?

I am a businessman based in Coimbatore. My work takes me out of town "" distances of about 100 to 150 km "" a few times a week. I love to drive and am a performance enthusiast. Though there is a Mitsubishi Lancer diesel and a Ford Ikon 1.6 in the stable, I need a car that delivers on performance, one that I can enjoy during my long drives. I want to replace the Lancer. Though the 1.8 turbo Skoda Octavia RS is tempting, frankly, the cost of petrol puts me off. I can extend my budget to accommodate the Laura, but it is a bit of a stretch... should I compromise and get an Octavia 1.9 TDI instead?

Ajeeth S, Coimbatore

The turbodiesel Octavia may have only 90 bhp, but its fantastic 21 kgm of torque at low rpm makes it a strong performer in its own right. However, the Laura, with about 10-odd bhp more and 25 kgm is better than the Octie when it comes to outright engine performance.

Besides, the Laura is dynamically well sorted and is a contemporary, new generation machine. The DSG gearbox is a superb match to the motor, but it adds up to the overall costs of the car. Though by no means inexpensive, the manual Laura is over a lakh of rupees cheaper! If you can afford it, we say go for the manual Laura.

High and low

I am looking for a car which is low on maintenance and high on fuel efficiency even with airconditioning. I will be travelling 30 km daily, and maybe 200 km on weekends. I have a family of four and am new to driving. And I am not too keen on Marutis. Can you recommend an appropriate car for me?

Anand Aggarwal, via email

We would have recommended the Alto, as it is a very good first car and meets your requirements of low maintenance and high fuel efficiency.

Since you are not looking at Marutis, you should try out the Santro Xing from Hyundai. It is a nice city car for a family of four and is good enough for weekend drives. It is well thought-out, extremely reliable as well as economical (even with the AC running).

Chasers

Hey BSM, got bitten by The Fast And The Furious bug. Am waiting to get my hands on the third part, Tokyo Drift. Meanwhile, any other neat car chase movies that you recommend that I watch? I liked Taxi, but was disappointed by the sequel.

Mihir Shenoy, via email

Don't miss the late-60s classic car chase movie, Bullitt, in which Steve McQueen driving his 1968 Ford Mustang GT chases the bad guys in a Dodge Charger R/T. Shot in San Francisco, this long chase sequence is the highlight of the movie.

Another recommendation is the John Frankenheimer-directed Ronin. Starring Robert De Niro and Jean Reno, this movie has two great car chase sequences set in French cities, with European machines like Peugeots, BeeEms, Audis and Mercs generally creating a scene.

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