As you can see in the pictures around, what we have for a comparison are the BMW X3 and the Audi Q5. Both are mid-size SUVs or rather soft-roaders we would say, both are German, both are powered by 2.0-litre diesel engines and both are pretty new in the Indian market. The Audi Q5 has been around for over two years, but its 2.0-litre diesel variant came earlier this year. The BMW is comparatively a more recent entrant, having come to these shores about three months ago. Since BMW and Audi have been arch-rivals for years, the battle for supremacy still continues even in this case.

The Maruti Suzuki Alto has managed to sustain what could be termed as a car manufacturer's dream run and most of the credit goes to its good value at the puny price, something that no other car model has been able to achieve so far. The price is so low that it makes profits margins wafer thin. It’s no surprise that we haven’t seen a new car launch in this segment for close to a decade now. At the same time it says a lot about the Alto as it remains the largest selling car across segments for over six years. The launch of the Alto-K10 accelerated the sales further to 1.48 lakh units this financial year! This showed how the Indian car market had evolved as buyers preferred to shell out extra money for the K-10 version over the cheaper Alto 800 and Maruti 800. Indians are read to pay a little extra for a better, feature-rich product.

Team Gaadi comprising of Bobby Roy and Bunny Punia drove a diesel Figo across five states and 1800km : from Jammu to Pokaran in Rajasthan! Here is a summary of how the car performed and what the team went through...