Overview
The fourth front You have bought a house and stacked it with entertainment and comfort gear your wife would allow. It’s now time to take the first step towards automotive luxury. And with the new Skoda Laura in petrol guise, you have four choices.
When you were younger, single and had only just stepped into the circus most companies call senior management, you would have invested the extra earnings in a comfy recliner and a home theatre system with a huge LCD TV to complement the setting. Now though, you are married, have kids and all the free time over the weekend is devoted to serving their needs including taking outstation trips. Through the week, there’s work and the recreational business meets at clubs to attend to.
What you need then, is a luxury car. A car that has space, is good to drive and be driven in, has a high pamper coefficient, and of course good snob value. So far, if you despised diesels or had a short commute, you had three petrol options - the maverick Honda Civic, the traditional Toyota Corolla Altis and the safe, Volkswagen Jetta .
Exterior & Interior
Space age design and an involving cockpit are the Honda's highlight.
Honda is great to drive two up, but more load and it loses it edge.
New kid on the block Now there’s a new kid on the block. Well, the Laura isn’t exactly new, but now it sports a new grille, a few new body parts, revised lamps and bumpers, and most importantly, new set of engines. Enough reason for the Indian marketing man to term the car as ‘all-new’.
It makes a slight drumming noise at lower revs, as if it were priming the driver for the oncoming opus. Rev it up and the engine transforms into a free revving orchestra with the turbo whine replacing the orchestral flute. It’s beautiful. The Civic is the best of the rest; it’s still a tad crude in comparison to the Laura, but it is a free revving engine that urges you to give it the stick.
No multi functional steering or climate control for the base variant.
Even with tall profile tyres the Laura handles pretty well. The turn-in is good and the body roll well contained. Steering responds well too.
Forced induction And, the Civic responds well when you do; the 100kmph mark comes up in under 11 seconds and it goes on to record a top speed of 188kmph. Both the Altis and the Jetta are slower on both counts, with the VW trailing the bunch considerably. The Laura, of course, pulls car lengths over the competition in a matter of seconds showcasing its forced induction advantage.
But, the Skoda goes on to completely demolish the competition with its excellent driveability.
Faux wood finish looks gaudy, but Altis sports the most equipment.
Altis is a competent handler, but could do with better steering feedback.
Rounding the bend The Laura has the dynamic ability to back its power packed performance. This low end version runs narrower and taller tyres compared to the more expensive L&K variant (which is only available in diesel guise), but even so, it offers decent grip around bends. The body control is good and electronic power steering is precise and talkative enough to keep the driver involved. Even over broken surfaces at speed, it maintains its composure beautifully. It doesn't get uncomfortable at slow speeds either, with only deep bumps getting the better of the car, helped no doubt by the tall profile tyres.
The Jetta is nearly as competent on both fronts. But, the same can’t be said about the Japanese competition. The Altis rides well at slower speeds and rounds squarish bumps better than the Skoda, but as the road worsens the Toyota turns jittery. It’s more pronounced at higher speeds. It also has an overtly light steering which offers very little feel. Overcome the approximation courtesy the steering and you will appreciate the car’s chassis and suspension balance on the twisty stuff. The Altis keeps its handling poise no matter how demanding the road. The Civic though is fun Delhiwith fewer on board, but is still nowhere as competent as the rest. It rolls quite a bit and with load on board, things worsen.
Staid interiors, limited equipment but good build and fit and finish.
The Jetta needs a bigger engine to exploit its handling potential.
Visually alluring The Civic is the best looking car though. And it is contemporary on the inside too – the digital speedo with blue hue, the artistic gear shifter and door handles, and the multi dimensional dashboard, all add to the car’s wellness coefficient. It’s also the most spacious. The Altis is short on rear knee room in comparison, but it more than makes up for it by offering the best rear seats in this bunch. It also gets an 8-way adjustable electric driver seat.
The other three cars only get manual adjustment, but compared to the Toyota, are more comfortable to be in. The Jetta and Laura seats in particular are supremely supportive. Skoda offers decent comfort at the rear too and revisions made to its insides – the new music system, steering and clocks – also add to the car’s ambience. The Jetta which still shares quite a few knobs, buttons and stalks with the Laura has the least inspiring interior here; it’s well built, well finished and comes with a decent assortment of comfort and safety features, but the Jetta does little to tickle your senses.
Engine & Gearbox
Honda Civic One of the better engines here, the Honda unit is a free revving one, and is coupled to an equally good box
It gets to 100kmph in just 8.4 seconds, which is just under a second off the 3.5-litre 275bhp Honda Accord V6's pace.
Skoda Laura The TSI unit is supremely torquey allowing the driver to use 6th gear even at city cruising speeds.
The one on test here has the stonking 1.8-litre turbocharged unit. It is the cheapest Laura you can buy and it shows on the inside. But, more on that later because with 160bhp and 250Nm of torque and a sound that has you holding on for support, the engine really is the highlight of this car.
Toyota Corolla Altis The 1.8-litre unit has poke but sounds gruff at the limit. Gearbox, like the rest, is a joy to use, nonetheless.
It is quicker in the 30-80kmph slog than the Toyota, the next quickest car as well as in the 40-100kmph and 80-120kmph runs. We love the way the turbo works – there’s a perceivable step up in performance at 1500rpm which gets another shot of double espresso as the needles sweeps past 2000. But, it’s not just the initial kick that makes you want the car; across the rev range, the 1.8-litre unit seems to ride a power curve which is nearly instantaneous and totally exhilarating. The only drawback is the slight delay in throttle response.The Altis’ 1.8-litre unit does feel up for the task, but again, it lacks refinement.
VW Jetta Weakest link in the Jetta package is the 1.6-litre engine. The gearshits though are positive and short.
The others don’t even come close – the Jetta’s 1.6-litre unit feels stressed in comparison when driven hard.
Dimension
Honda Civic (mm) |
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It might not be big on the outside, but the space utilisation on the inside is commendable indeed. Ingress/egress height however could be better though. |
The tiniest boot in the bunch and seats don't fold either. |
Skoda Laura (mm) |
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Big opening, no intrusion, folding seats and lots of space. |
Toyota Corolla Altis (mm) |
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Odd intrusions rob the boot of some luggage space. |
VW Jetta (mm) |
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Wide opening and foldable seats aid usability of boot. |
Scorecard & Verdict
Scorecard
Body: The Jetta wins round one on account of better safety than anything else. In terms of space, the Civic leads the way with significantly more rear knee room while the Laura has the most spacious and flexible boot of the lot. Quality wise the cars are pretty evenly matched while the Jetta and the Civic score higher for visibility. Laura rear visibility meanwhile is pretty poor
Drive: With direct injection and turbocharging, not mention a nearly flat torque curve and 160bhp, the Laura was always going to win the performance battle. But, what surprised us most was the engine's flexibility. One area where the other cars matched up with the Skoda was the quality of shifts of their individual gearboxes. These are equally good and fun to use.
Comfort: Given our previous experience with the Laura, we were expecting a less than supple ride. But courtesy its taller profile tyres, the new petrol version rides very well indeed. It also handles with authority. Like the VW, it has great front seats on offer and comfort equipment which is at par with the rest.
Dynamics: The Toyota manages to beat the Europeans under this head, even though by the slimmest of margins possible. It scores well for braking, manoeuvrability, directional stability and for grip while losing out only for its mute steering. The response is crisp, but the feel completely absent.
Cost: The Skoda wins, and wins by a huge margin. It pulls out an eight point advantage in the final tally. What's interesting to see here though is the pricing of all four cars, each in the Rs 13 lakh bracket. An indication of sorts of how closely fought the D-segmentbattle really is.
Verdict
The Laura wins this contest comfortably and for the senior manager dressed in a crisply ironed suit, it ticks all the right boxes. With that lovely engine and well sorted dynamics, it is brilliant to drive.It’s also spacious, has comfortable seats, a good ride and a big boot. To boot, it wears the Skoda badge, which unlike Europe commands nearly as much respect as the other three (if not more) in India. It’s the definite stepping stone to automotive luxury.
