2018 gave us chills through our spines and catered to our horsepower hungry stomachs unlike anytime before. A new tagline of Super SUV chalked by the Lamborghini Urus, a Porsche SUV that’s better than a sportscar, this year’s Indian Car of the Year, Tata’s performance oriented cars and a Hyundai hatchback more popular than any of these cars combined are our top picks for 2018. Happy new year!
Lamborghini Urus:
What a mental Lamborghini this is, not to mention the size of it. The Urus is Lamborghini’s first production SUV. Weighs in at 2.2 tonnes, wait… and also does a 100kmph sprint in 3.6 seconds thanks to the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8. Power figures? A whopping 642bhp and an earth twisting 850Nm of torque. How is that for a Performance SUV?
Porsche Cayenne Turbo:
The last few months at evo India were quite literally Super SUV kinda months. The Porsche Cayenne just made them better. It is amazing how the Porsche wizards have emulated most of the 911’s character in their flagship SUV. “No sportscar I know can maintain the relentless turn of pace that the Cayenne Turbo is capable of, out here in the real world of broken tarmac, patchy roads, ruts, potholes and bumps” said ed Sirish Chandran. We did not believe it until we got behind the wheel!
Maruti Suzuki Swift:
Launched in February 2018, this is the ultimate fun haver hatchback and the new gen (Three generations, we have them covered here) still packs that element in it. The Swift has been a favorite for 13 long years, and has now earned the 2019 Indian Car of the Year award. While we are all about numbers, where the all-new Swift excels in is the popularity. The third gen Maruti Suzuki Swift, achieved the fastest ‘one-lakh sales’, in only 145 days. It is fun, sporty, economical and now convenient too, with the added option of an Auto Gear Shift (AGS) transmission. No argument here about engines. The 1.3-litre diesel mill is heavily tried and tested, and extremely fuel efficient. The 1.2-litre K-Series motor has been refined, certainly not as punchy as its first gen G13B Motor but balances power and economy very well.
Tata Tiago and Tigor JTP:
Go faster Tata cars launched, a result of a partnership between Jayem Auto and Tata Motors. The Tata Tiago and the Tigor have been given more joy, more torque and more performance. A major revamp, aesthetically and technically, the cars use the Nexon’s 1.2-litre 3-cylinder turbo-petrol motor which dishes out a 112.4bhp and 150Nm of torque. Both are capable of a 100kmph sprint in 10 seconds and top whack of 170kmph. Priced at Rs 6.39 lakh for the Tiago JTP and Rs 7.49 lakh for the Tigor JTP. Mouth watering? We thought so too!
Hyundai Santro:
The Hyundai Santro started the ‘tall boy’ trend in the Indian car market and our ‘junta’ absolutely loved it. The peppy car was spacious, had an airy cabin and the engine was refined. And Hyundai’s decision to bring an entirely new car was equally well received by our crowd as more than 23,000 units were sold out in the first two weeks after its launch! What’s special about the refreshed Santro are the segment first features, that also set the Santro apart from its rivals. That includes a 17.63cm touchscreen that doubles up as a rear-view camera, voice recognition, speed sensing auto door lock and rear ac vents.