[flickr size=”center” float=”medium”]http://www.flickr.com/photos/motorbeam/49191571923/[/flickr]
The Kwid’s 800cc engine lacks punch, while the 1.0-litre has decent power
Performance – The Renault Kwid is offered with two petrol engines but these aren’t BS6 compliant yet. The 800cc engine has just about enough power for city usage and performance is far from exciting. On the highways, if you try to gather speeds or push the car hard, it feels out of breath very quickly. The 1.0-litre engine though is much more livelier. The S-Presso also gets a 1.0-litre engine which is now BS6 compliant and it is the same engine which does duty on multiple Maruti cars like the Alto K10, Wagon R and Celerio. Both the 1.0-litre engines have similar power and torque figures (67 HP/90 Nm and 68 HP/91 Nm) but when you drive the cars back to back, it is the S-Presso which feels so much more peppier.
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Both cars offer good driveability on city roads
The S-Presso’s refined 1.0-litre petrol engine offers better driveability and also feels more responsive to drive
Maruti’s K10B engine is a gem in a small car like this. It has very good driveability, likes to redline without creating a fuss and boasts of a responsive nature. Not that the Kwid’s engine is boring, but it doesn’t feel as responsive as the S-Presso especially in the top-end of the rev band. It is a huge step up from the smaller 800cc engine, offers good power for a car of this size but again tends to feel underpowered on the highways. If we had to pick a winner based on the engine alone, the S-Presso would take the trophy home. NVH levels on both the cars aren’t all that plush, with a lot of engine noise creeping into the cabin. The Kwid’s engine also sounds a bit louder at high RPMs.
[flickr size=”center” float=”medium”]http://www.flickr.com/photos/motorbeam/49191571633/[/flickr]
Both cars are available with manual or AMT gearboxes
Both the cars can be had with either a 5-speed MT or an AMT. The S-Presso has a very light clutch and offers slick shifts, meanwhile, the Kwid also has a light clutch but the throws are a wee bit longer. Nonetheless, both the cars are light and very easy to drive. The 5-speed AMT units on both cars feel jerky if you accelerate hard, but otherwise, offer very good convenience in city traffic and I think that’s what the target audience looks for anyways. These cars score high on fuel efficiency with similar figures, the S-Presso delivering 15-18 km/l while the Kwid delivers around 15-17 km/l.
