We all use cabs and mostly its for long journeys (more than a hour). Increasing distance between places and high work load means that at some point of time in the month, we leave our vehicle keys and hop into a radio cab. India being a country where competition is always high means that there are plenty of radio cab operators. From Meru to Easy Cabs and private operators in between. So which is the worst cab for Indian roads? After having travelled in quite a few cabs, we think we have the answer.
Among the cabs we have tested, the worst was the Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire. The problem with the DZire is that it is not a vehicle to sit on the rear seat. However Maruti Suzuki makes people think otherwise by launching a cab specific version, called the DZire Tour. The old Swift and DZire had an inherent design flaw of rattling and most cabs are abused which means your DZire cab will definitely rattle your very bones!. Other problems of the DZire cab include the lack of rear power windows (the Tour is based on the LXi), no adjustable rear head rests and no rear seat arm rest.
However the major problem in the Swift DZire is the poor NVH levels. The engine is very noisy and the ride quality is pretty harsh, so you get thrown around on the worst of roads. At least I can’t sit comfortably in the DZire and do my make up. The rear seat has little space and the overall experience in the DZire cab is nothing short of disturbing. Just because manufacturers want you to believe it’s a cab, doesn’t mean it really is! Other cars which are equally as bad as cabs are the Swift and Esteem but since both of them are few in number, they don’t take top honours in the worst cab list.
Another cab which isn’t that good is the Tata Indigo and Indica. Quality is bad but ride quality is good and there is quite a lot of space. However the NVH levels are on the higher side and the power window placement is a joke (you have to literally bend to operate it and using a manual switch to open the window would be more convenient). Two cabs which we would like to remove from doing cab duties are the Chevrolet Tavera and Mahindra Xylo, both induce claustrophobia and offer a terrible ride quality for rear seat occupants. The WagonR and Santro are somewhere in between good and bad as their ACs are not that strong and ride quality is about average. The boot is almost non-existent since they are not available in diesel making operators plant a CNG cylinder in the trunk.
So which are the best cabs? There are quite a few actually but my favourite is undoubtedly the Toyota Etios. It feels as if it was designed and developed to be a cab from the onset. There is acres of rear seat legroom and the centrally mounted instrument cluster means you can keep an eye on the speed of the vehicle without having to move an inch. Boot space is good too so you can stuff a lot of your luggage if you are travelling out of the city and the diesel model is very frugal so everyone wins. Other cabs which we would rank highly include the Renault Logan, Toyota Innova, Nissan Sunny, Maruti Suzuki SX4 and Tata Aria.
Which is your favourite cab and why? Let us know in the comments below.
