Overview

Thinking of graduating to a sedan? Is diesel your fuel of choice? At the moment, the choice is limited to these three cars. All of them present a compromise in looks, performance, economy and utility. But which one strikes the best balance?

The logical step up for a hatchback owner is a sedan. And for good reason, because as the family grows and the salary swells, status and practicality take precedence over outright convenience of tackling busy city roads and diminutive parking spots a small car speciality.

Manufacturers realise it too, and therefore end up creating booted versions of their popular hatches. Tata did it with the Indigo and more recently, Maruti Suzuki has joined the fray with the Dzire. As for Renault, it introduced the sedan here first in the form of the Logan, but is now ready with the Sandero, a smarter hatchback of the latter.

Exterior & Interior

The Logan is well put together inside, but its design is boring and the look and feel borders on the cheap. Clocks are easy to read though

Proper sedan-ish looks are pulled down by a conventional design philosophy the Logan has no real design character

The real downside of strapping on a boot on an existing hatch design is the lack of homogeneity in the design. The Indigo, and more so the Dzire, are typical cases of oddity in this regard. The Logan in comparison benefits from being a sedan at the outset. But what it gains in proportions, it seriously lacks in style – it hardly has any design lines to talk about. And though Renault has changed the front grille for India to make it more enticing, it’s easily the most boring looking car of the trio.

Being a sedan at birth has its advantage though – the Logan has the biggest boot here, and also with the highest usability. The opening is wide and the intrusions inside don’t take away from the luggage space. The Dzire has the smallest boot space on paper, but thanks to a better, taller boot design compared to the Indigo's, it can hold more. The Indigo though suffers due to the rear suspension, which takes a lot away from the loading area. It is the only car here with folding rear seats, but again, it’s a huge challenge using all of its space. The Dzire has its drawbacks too: the boot hinges are sodeep when closed it takes good space management to close the boot with luggage stuffed in.

Dzire sports most upmarket looking interiors and offers the best driving position of the trio as well. Only car to get steering mounted controls too

This one's no better. In fact, the Dzire looks even more odd than the Indigo. Its boot is a little too stubby as well

Inside, it’s a similar story the Logan offers the most room and thanks to its biggish windows feels the most spacious as well. The shoulder room for instance is significantly more, which means sitting three abreast at the rear is no big deal. Also, the seat is designed such that it presents the three occupants with almost identical comfort.

The Indigo comes in next, but offers similar usable rear knee room as the Dzire, give or take one centimetre. The headroom is more or less identical too. But, it manages to seat three at the back in relatively more comfort than the Maruti. The latter is the narrowest on the inside with the least shoulder room and with seats so designed no real support to talk about, the odd bolstering for the middle passenger and, of course, the presence of an armrest it’s best that the fifth occupant be avoided.

Driving position is very odd the steering is set too high as are the pedals, which leave you with aching ankles

It's not the best looking sedan, especially in profile. The rake of the hood just fails to gel with the high boot line

Where the Dzire scores over the competition though, is in the way it looks and feels on the inside. The other two in narrowest on the inside with the least shoulder room and with seats so designed no real support to talk about, the odd bolstering for the middle passenger and, of course, the presence of an armrest it’s best that the fifth occupant be avoided. Where the Dzire scores over the competition though, is in the way it looks and feels on the inside. The other two in comparison feel as if they were built to a price. More so the Tata the quality of lastics, the fit and finish, and even the workingof various knobs and buttons just isn’t comparable to the other two.

Dzire’s level of equipment offered as standard is way better as well. In fact, the best place to be in the Maruti is at the front the front seats are most accommodatingin this bunch and come with genuine adjustment ability. Ergonomics again are top notch and it's also the only car here to get steering mounted controls for the stereo. Moreover, it gets both river and passenger airbags, an exception in its segment.

Engine & Gearbox

Mahindra Renault Logan Renault engine lethargic but supremely efficient

The Indigo is also the least fuel efficient of the three cars here. And that's quite a surprise given that it is the most recently developed engine here. Maruti comes in next with Fiat's 1.3 Multijet diesel, and witnesses a significant drop over the Swift hatchback ith the same engine. But it’s the Logan that’s way ahead of the competition on this front. It is also the most environmentally friendly car here. Add a 50- litre fuel tank to the equation, the largest here, and the Renault makes for a good long distance companion.

But, in terms of performance, it brings up the rear. It is the slowest accelerating car by a margin, and the driveability, especially on he highway, while overtaking is nothing to write home about. The Indigo isn't far ahead in motoring terms (taking an awfully long time in fifth gear roll-ons courtesy a tall fifth), but for sheer acceleration honours, it puts up a decent fight with the Dzire with less than a second separating the two.

Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire 1.3 Multijet is by far the best performer of the three

The Dzire is also the best handling car here – it’s nicely balanced and loves to be chucked into corners with aggression. Sporting a comparatively softer setup than the Swift translates into more pronounced body roll, which can cause some discomfort to the rear passengers. But, for the driver, thanks to the quick and responsive steering and a comfortable driving position, it's delightful, particularly in this company. The Logan too is a decent handler it has almost as much grip around bends as the Maruti, but it just isn’t as involving to drive there's too much weight transfer around corners and it feels a bit floaty as well. Steering is a bit detached as well.

Tata Indigo Indigo 1.4 Dicor is the least fuel efficient in this group

It's interesting to note though, that both cars use similar suspension and identical tyres but it’s the way these have been set up that makes the difference. The Renault in comparison is set for comfort and it rides superbly isolating its occupants with such finesse, it needs to be experienced to be believed.

The Indigo meanwhile, is somewhere in the middle it doesn't handle as well and the ride quality, though good, isn't at the same level as on the other two.

Dimensions

Mahindra Renault Logan (mm)
	Tata has a decently sized boot on paper, but with odd shaped intrusions
Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire (mm)
	Dzire has smallest boot that, thanks to its height, is more usable than Tata's
Tata Indigo (mm)
	Tata has a decently sized boot on paper, but with odd shaped intrusions