Growing up, the streets were occupied with hatchbacks and complemented by the classy sedans. The sedans, once a touch of luxury, a joy to watch drive by, a treat to be in the drivers seat, have now turned into a nightmare, at least practically. I’ve grown up watching sedans as a rich man’s car, and loved most of them, the Honda City, Civic, Sonata, Lancer, all so iconic. In fact, I dreamt of having one in my garage at some point, but if I put myself in buying man’s shoe today, a sedan doesn’t stand a chance.
While sedans undoubtedly offer best in class comfort, powerful engines, a ton of boot space, they suffer in two major places, both of which Indian roads are notorious for; potholes and speed breakers.
Our roads have gotten worse over time, at least in the city, and it’s going to take a while to have this issue resolved. Unfortunately, the city is where most of your driving is going to happen and that’s where the sedan suffers and makes you suffer along with it. There are fanboys who still vouch for it, and blame poor driving skills for people not being able to use sedans. But let’s be honest, who wants to drive over the gazillion speed breakers at an angle at no more than 5 km/h so as to not hit the floor of your car and hear that dreadful sound of your car breaking in half. Not me.
Having a sedan still remains a dream, for the current roads however, a nightmare.
Our potholes stabbed the sedan, and the speed breakers pulled the trigger.
Nike, if you still want sedan – Check VW Vitrus or Škoda Slavia (or similar name)
They have ground clearance similar to popular crossovers like Creta.
Absolutely, but I wish the issue was solved at just ground clearance. Given our roads, we’d need better suspension with more travel that sedans don’t have by design. Wheel sizes are smaller, plus the approach and departure angles are slim as well, which don’t help it’s case. Although, I do love the Virtus.