Perfect value for money

This is my first car and the only other cars I have driven are the Swift and Indica. I have been driving only for about a couple of months (including my training) so I cannot give a comparitive review of this car in relation to other cars.

I bought my Etios less than a month ago and have driven about 700 km on it so far. My experiences are based on various city drives within Pune and Mumbai and one trip from Pune to Mumbai and back.

Exterior The car looks quite elegant from the front and side. The back is plain but not too bad looking either, especially compared to the cars in its segment, i.e. Manza and Dezire. It is definitely the best looking car in this segment.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) There is a lot of leg room in the car, which is one of the selling points of the car.The glove box is cooled and there are plenty of little crevices to keep bottles and other stuff. The music system is basic, so get something from outside if you want better value for the money you're spending on it. The look of the interiors however is strictly average. The top end model looks a little better.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox The pickup and power output of the car is absolutely amazing. Because of the fact that the car is extremely light, it literally takes off when you accelerate. Gears shift delightfully easily anything is better than an Indica I guess, but it felt better than a swift too.

The engine is a little noisy, especially during ignition; it almost sounds like a diesel engine. It is not that bad during the drive however.

I have got an average of about 13 kmpl so far with a mix of city and highway driving. Since I am a new driver, my first couple of hundred km were pretty shoddy and mostly in the lower gears with lots of stalling at signals and on inclines. I expect this number to improve vastly over time.

Ride Quality & Handling Noise leves are generally higher than normal. Vibration is also a little higher in the body. I had tried attaching a suction-held mapping device and it kept falling off because of the vibration. The vibration is not very evident when the car is in motion; most of the noise and vibration is during idling. Also, you won't feel the vibration on the steering wheel.

The car handles beautifully in heavy traffic as well as in high speeds. The steering is very light. If you're used to hydraulic power steering, you have to get used to turning the steering wheel a little more to make sharper turns. This seems to be a common thing about electric power steering. Surprisingly, despite its very light weight, the car is extremely stable at high speeds -- I have gone up to 160 km/h without even realizing it.

Final Words Overall, it is a beautiful value for money car. It has a few little niggles that a car afficionado may not exactly like, but personally for me it is not something I miss sorely because I have what I really want from a car -- superb reliability, lovely power and pickup. The servicing schedule also seems economical compared to other options, but the verdict is still out on that one for me.

Areas of improvement The NVH levels are certainly one area that needs to be improved. I'm going to get that looked at during my first servicing. Will post an update after that.

superb power and pickup, light steering, great leg room and boot spaceinteriors, noise and vibration during idling