If anyone asks me which of the Rs 12-14 lakh SUVs they should buy, my answer would be the Chevrolet Forester. The Subaru on stilts wearing the Chevy plate, and complete with the boxer powerplant mated to a permanent all-wheel drive system, is simply the best on/off-road car money can buy in India today. I have given this suggestion to many, but most of them who nodded at me loyally are driving Ford Endeavours or Honda CR-Vs instead. Don’t ask me why. The quirky looks which sells Subarus worldwide has not been well accepted in our country, and unfortunately, even General Motors India has not pushed the case of the car that re-launched the Chevy bowtie in India.
Now, why am I talking about my favourite mountain goat in a comparison test that involves the Ford Endeavour and the Hyundai Tucson? Well the reason, dear reader, is simple, and marketing pundits would call this move ‘benchmarking.’ Well, it looks like I have to explain a bit here.
Look, after spending Rs 14 lakh, none of us are going to emulate Paris-Dakar in one of these machines. They are mostly bought to satisfy the macho man hiding beneath the paunch and grey hair. Nothing wrong with that too. But when you spend so much money on a four-wheel drive machine, you expect it to occasionally go over the ledge and get its socks dirty, right? And more importantly, emerge from it without having to hire a JCB. Lastly, even if it feeds on diesel, you’d want it to be quicker than a bus from point A to B, right? So the hypothesis before this test was to find out the machine that is closest to the Chevrolet Forester when it comes to on- and off-road ability and overall performance.
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