Monsoons bring a smile to your face along with a reduction in the heat and humidity. However, rains also bring a reality check to how our road infrastructure copes with it. A few days back the non stop rain in Delhi for example made travelling difficult and not to mention needing a car with a decent ground clearance. While we clearly say that it is not advisable to drive your car through flooded roads, the very thought of this makes us look at cars with a good amount of ground clearance.
Hence, if you are buying your first car as an automatic hatchback, these two tall boys might do the trick. The Renault Kwid and the Maruti S-Presso are inexpensive hatchbacks with very good ground clearance along with being effortless to use in the city. These cars fit in everywhere and parking is not a chore along with hurting you less in terms of petrol consumption.
The Kwid in its facelifted avatar has a ground clearance of 184mm which is quite impressive while the S-Presso comes in at 180mm. Do remember that these are small cars hence the ground clearance along with compact design makes them handy on our roads. Sort of a mini SUV if you ask us. The Kwid actually looks like one with the way the design has been used thanks to the split DRL/headlamp treatment. It is an attractive car over the boxy S-Presso. Inside, both cars are surprisingly spacious and well equipped with basic safety features along with creature comforts you need.
The S-Presso due to the design feels more airy inside and the rear seat is impressive on headroom or even legroom. The Kwid feels smaller but where it wins is the equipment list with a bigger touchscreen and also having a rear-view camera! The S-Presso does come with steering controls while both offer smartphone connectivity along with Android Auto/Apple CarPlay.
Time to drive and both come with automatic gearboxes plus 1.0 petrol engines. Both make roughly the same amount of power and also weigh nearly the same. 68hp may not sound much but with less weight, the cars are fun in the city traffic. These two are built for the city or tiny roads where they fit in while the steering is light too. The S-Presso gearbox is smooth and it is quick enough while the Kwid also feels nimble with the gearbox being good enough for city driving. Highway use is also there and these cars are not bad but the city is the best place for these two.
To test the ground clearance we took these two on some really uneven roads or broken surfaces where both the S-Presso and the Kwid came out with flying colours. The good ground clearance and the compact dimensions, as said before, come in handy. Kwid prices start at Rs 3.3 to Rs 5.4 lakh while the S-Presso is priced from Rs 3.7- Rs 5.3 lakh. The Kwid looks better and comes with more features hence comes across as the more desirable car while the S-Presso is more spacious so might appeal to those who need a more practical car. That said, these two small cars are perfect for our concrete jungle.
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