FINAL RANKINGS This is the ranking of small cars that offer the best compromise between performance, driveability,

running costs, safety, equipment, practicality and price. The best allrounders of each small car sub-segment will be higher up the ladder. An imaginary perfect car would have got [36 x 7] = 252 points.
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Hyundai i20 1.4 Diesel --------------- 184 pts Skoda Fabia 1.4 Diesel -------------- 166 pts Honda Jazz 1.2 Petrol --------------- 165 pts Tata Vista 1.3 Diesel ---------------- 165 pts Fiat Punto 1.3 Diesel ---------------- 157 pts Ford Figo `1.4 Diesel ---------------- 156 pts Maruti Swift 1.3 Diesel -------------- 154 pts Maruti Swift 1.2 Petrol ---------------153 pts Maruti Ritz 1.3 Diesel ---------------- 152 pts Maruti Ritz 1.2 Petrol ---------------- 150 pts Hyundai i20 1.2 Petrol --------------- 146 pts Maruti A-Star 1.0 Petrol ------------- 139 pts Hyundai i10 1.2 Petrol --------------- 136 pts Fiat Palio 1.3 Diesel ------------------ 136 pts Skoda Fabia 1.2 Petrol --------------- 131 pts Fiat Punto 1.4 Petrol ---------------- 131 pts Maruti Estilo 1.0 Petrol -------------- 130 pts Fiat Palio 1.6 Petrol ----------------- 129 pts Hyundai Santro 1.1 Petrol ----------- 128 pts Chevrolet Beat 1.2 Petrol ------------ 125 pts Chevrolet Spark 1.0 Petrol ----------- 121 pts Hyundai i10 1.1 Petrol --------------- 120 pts Hyundai Getz 1.3 Petrol -------------- 120 pts Ford Figo 1.2 Petrol ----------------- 120 pts Tata Vista 1.2 Petrol ---------------- 119 pts VW Polo 1.2 Petrol ------------------ 118 pts Maruti WagonR 1.1 Petrol ------------ 110 pts Chevrolet U-VA 1.2 Petrol ----------- 106 pts Fiat Punto 1.2 Petrol ----------------- 100 pts Tata Indica 1.4 Diesel --------------- 94 pts Tata Indica 1.2 Petrol --------------- 90 pts Hyundai Getz 1.1 Petrol ------------- 89 pts Maruti Alto 0.8 Petrol --------------- 85 pts Tata Nano 0.6 Petrol ---------------- 83 pts Fiat Palio 1.1 Petrol ----------------- 78 pts Maruti 800 0.8 Petrol ---------------- 77 pts These snapshots give an idea about how each car performed in the parameters we considered.

Comments: - Hyundai i20 and Skoda Fabia diesel perform consistently well in all the parameters we considered, except obviously for the price. This means that although the cars are expensive, they are truly worth the price. Punto diesel loses out a bit on outright performance (0 - 100 kmph), but is the least expensive premium diesel car. - Honda Jazz 1.2 Petrol is similarly performs well in all the parameters - the only engine that is actually better than the Marutis. When you add the equipment, safety & practicality into the equation, Honda Jazz goes to the top of the petrol rankings.

- Tata Vista & Ford Figo diesels are Jack-Of-All-Trades-Masters-of-None value for money offerings. The Maruti diesels have a great engine & price (which is what many people really want). - Among the affordable petrols, Maruti engines simply blitzes the opposition. However, Hyundai i10 1.2 Petrol performs pretty decently. If you don't need the sunroof, you can get a proper dual airbags equipped version for Rs. 25,000 less. - Since this is relative ranking, VW Polo 1.2 Petrol performs rather poorly. But remember that when we bring in subjective aspects like looks, build quality, interiors etc into the equation, it could start making sense. Also, there is a huge price difference between the top end model & the base (or middle rung) model. So if you don't need airbags etc, VW Polo 1.2 Comfortline or Trendline might make sense. - Among the old gen cars, Hyundai Santro 1.1 offers excellent performance for a low price. No wonder it still sells 8,000 units a month. - As a city car (or a second car), Maruti A-star is the one to go for. If you are however looking for a VFM option, Tata Nano makes more sense. ALTERNATIVE RANKINGS: As many suggested, initial purchase price is paramount. So, assigning twice the weightage to price, we get a truly VFM car. An imaginary perfect car would have got [36 x 8] = 288 points
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Hyundai i20 1.4 Diesel -------- 187 pts Tata Vista 1.3 Diesel --------- 174 pts Skoda Fabia 1.4 Diesel -------- 167 pts Honda Jazz 1.2 Petrol --------- 167 pts Maruti Swift 1.3 Diesel ------- 167 pts Ford Figo `1.4 Diesel --------- 166 pts Maruti Ritz 1.2 Petrol -------- 166 pts Maruti Swift 1.2 Petrol ------- 164 pts Maruti Ritz 1.3 Diesel -------- 164 pts Maruti A-Star 1.0 Petrol ------ 163 pts Fiat Punto 1.3 Diesel --------- 162 pts Hyundai Santro 1.1 Petrol ----- 160 pts Maruti Estilo 1.0 Petrol ------ 158 pts Fiat Palio 1.3 Diesel --------- 154 pts Hyundai i20 1.2 Petrol -------- 152 pts Fiat Palio 1.6 Petrol --------- 152 pts Hyundai i10 1.2 Petrol -------- 150 pts Hyundai i10 1.1 Petrol -------- 147 pts Chevrolet Spark 1.0 Petrol ---- 146 pts Chevrolet Beat 1.2 Petrol ----- 145 pts Ford Figo 1.2 Petrol ---------- 141 pts

Tata Vista 1.2 Petrol --------- 141 pts Maruti WagonR 1.1 Petrol ------ 141 pts Hyundai Getz 1.3 Petrol ------- 139 pts Fiat Punto 1.4 Petrol --------- 138 pts Skoda Fabia 1.2 Petrol -------- 135 pts VW Polo 1.2 Petrol ------------ 126 pts Tata Indica 1.4 Diesel -------- 124 pts Tata Indica 1.2 Petrol -------- 123 pts Chevrolet U-VA 1.2 Petrol ----- 121 pts Maruti Alto 0.8 Petrol -------- 119 pts Tata Nano 0.6 Petrol ---------- 119 pts Fiat Punto 1.2 Petrol --------- 117 pts Hyundai Getz 1.1 Petrol ------- 115 pts Maruti 800 0.8 Petrol --------- 112 pts Fiat Palio 1.1 Petrol --------- 107 pts Analysis: All the important cars have around 160 -170 points, which basically proves that the entire "small car analysis guide" thread has been a big waste of time