Playing favourites

LET'S TORQUE

What do you need for a road trip, apart from a certain amount of bravery and a touch of madness? A car, of course. Over the last few years, a whole slew of new cars have arrived in our country "" big, small, exciting, dull "" and I've been lucky enough to drive a few of them during my jaunts (twelve, to be precise). I enjoy driving, so as far as I'm concerned almost any car will do, but I do have a few favourites.

My first ever trip was in a Tangerine Mist Siena 1.2, after which I drove a succession of Fiats. I loved them all, particularly the Palio (despite several, er, quirks, which shall remain unnamed). It was just the right size, rode beautifully and had enough handling prowess to be fun around bends.

Contrary to most rumours, it didn't guzzle gas either "" I never got less than 12 kpl in any of them. I haven't driven a Fiat in a while (how I wish they'd given me the stonking 1.6 GTX), but whenever I do I feel immediately at home. Next in line is the old City 1.5, in which I did a Delhi-Agra run in two hours flat. Man, that thing went like a fox with a hundred hounds behind it, and it handled too.

The new CR-V was almost as much fun during my Mumbai-Bhopal run. It handled atrocious stretches with aplomb and blew through the smooth bits without breaking a sweat, and it kept me well cosseted all along. I liked it so much that I stuck to it like a limpet even after I returned to Mumbai.

Bringing up the rear is the little Alto, which I drove all around Sri Lanka. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more cheerful, easy-to-live-with car and it handled absolutely everything the Sri Lankan roads threw at it. It also returned a frankly ridiculous 17 kpl all through, which was another big plus. What are my least favourite cars, you ask? I'd tell you, but I'd probably get in a lot of trouble.

joshua@business-standard.com