Litre Class

Low-slung family sedans with 1-litre turbo power. The perfect recipe for fun?

- SIMRAN RASTOGI

Long live the sedan! With the arrival of the all-new Honda City, the refreshed Hyundai Verna and the Skoda Rapid, the mid-size sedan segment in India has some life breathed back into it. And in the case of the latter two, that life breath is squeezed, compressed and forced fed! With the Verna and Rapid sporting exceedingly similar 1-litre turbocharged 3-cylinder engines, separated by the choice of transmissions available, both are set to entice the enthusiast with 110PS+ power figures and the promise of wads of torque. But which one is worth the money? Bravely venturing into the new world of Unlock 1.0 in Mumbai, here’s the answer.

Styling

Sensuous sportiness. That’s what Hyundai calls its Donckerwolke-led design language that’s rolling out across its new cars. On the Verna, it might be the least polarising expression of it yet. What it brings is a larger grille, exclusively finished in gloss black for this Turbo variant, swept back headlights with a sharp LED DRL signature and sharper, simpler bumpers. The result of the facelift, compared to the outgoing car, is stupendous. Seen from the front, the Verna looks expensive, modern and simply put, fast. In fact, you’d describe it the same way when viewed from the rear, with the detailed LED elements in the tail lights, a gloss black faux diffuser, the honey comb pattern across the trailing edge of the bumper and twin-tip exhausts– the last touch quickly becoming the trademark of a Hyundai Turbo car. It all comes together to make the Turbo stand apart from even non-Turbo variants, which get a more elegant (if flashy) grille and bumpers.