Three good looking hatchbacks, all powered by 1.2-litre mills and manufactured by the best in the business – the Hyundai i10, the reigning champion in the segment, the urbane Ritz from India’s number one carmaker Maruti Suzuki and the newly launched and much talked about Chevrolet Beat. With options such as these, we are definitely spoilt for choice and also a little confused at the same time. This isn’t going to be easy, so grab your steaming cuppa and keep your senses focused as we speed ahead. The overall abilities of the three cars are almost on par with each other. Thus, even the slightest of advantage could have a major impact on the verdict.

Ford Figo’s exterior styling follows the global kinetic design elements that help harmonize the car with other models in the Ford global lineup including the Focus and the Mondeo. The tri-plane front end elements like the split line on the bonnet line up well with the top of the headlamps and combine well to give the car a sporty and aggressive stance. The front fenders with muscular wheel arches come with side turn indicators that blend into the starting point of the comet tail side treatment that goes through both the doors and into the quarter panel.

The engine of Nissan 370Z is a gem. This 3.7-litre V6 revs close to a giddy 7500rpm redline, with its max power of 333PS coming in at 7000rpm. It’s a smooth and willing engine and is happiest in the upper half of its rev band. This engine, designated VQ37VHR, has been voted the best engine in its category for ten years running and you can tell why. The valvetrain boasts of something Nissan calls VVEL or Variable Valve Event and Lift. The system works by regulating air pressure in the air intake depending on the inlet valve placement to prevent any negative pressure on the inlet side of the system. Nissan claims this is different to other systems since there isn’t a separate throttle valve to control pressure.

Toyota Landcruiser Prado is generally seen as a fresher, modern and younger sibling to Landcruiser. It is slightly smaller on the outside, though still bigger than most of the other offerings in this price bracket. True to its LC heritage, it carries a lot of muscle and flab all around, though it manages to look sleeker while still retaining its jaw dropping looks. We got one in Pearl white with tinted, no black glasses that gave it a typical Arab look - enough to make people take notice of you and get out of the way in case you happen to appear in their rear view mirrors with headlamps flashing. The Prado rides on wide and chunky 285/60 section Dunlops mounted on 18-inch alloy wheels with generous wheel arches, anoth3er trait picked up from the LC. The big, pulled back headlamps look fresh with the twin-barrel effect while the huge grille with vertical chrome slots can make toddlers shriek. But all this seems to work for the ones looking for an ego massage on the go. There is no ‘beauty’ in this vehicle – its styling is imposed by the sheer weight of numbers. Even with such proportions, how Toyota has managed to give it a drag co-efficient of just 0.35Cd amazes me! A cleaver feature is the twin-split tail gate wherein the rear windscreen opens up like a hatch which helps put in small luggage and shopping bags without having to open the whole tail gate and blocking half a lane on the right.