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HomeOpinionDashboardA driver’s footnote — the best car of 2022

A driver’s footnote — the best car of 2022

I really liked the Mahindra Scorpio-N. It is a quantum leap forward for the domestic carmaker. But the car that impressed me the most is one of the first ones I drove in 2022.

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It has been an eventful 2022. There has of course been this happy circumstance of starting the ‘Dashboard’ column in ThePrint. But it has also been a year when I have driven some pretty fantastic cars. And while I can make a cogent argument that they do not make any truly woeful cars anymore, that cars of today are extremely reliable and even entry-level vehicles such as the Maruti-Suzuki Alto come with smartphone connectivity to touchscreen infotainment systems, some cars are clearly better than the others.

Of course, you have the state-of-the-art technology from the Germans. The BMW iX resembled a prop from the new Obi-Wan Kenobi series from the Star Wars franchise rather than a real car. And then there was Mercedes-Benz EQS, whose entire front panel was a screen that even those who drew science-fiction comics in the 1960s could not have foreseen.

These were not the only cars powered by flowing electrons that stood out. The Kia EV6 might be the priciest ‘Made in Korea’ car out there, but loaded to the brim with cutting-edge technology, and with quite amazing range, it was an amazing vehicle to drive.

Photo: Kushan Mitra

But it was also a year when the battle between full battery-electric vehicles and strong hybrids became more pronounced with a Japanese Hybrid onslaught. You had the new Honda City e:HEV, a superbly economical vehicle, and the new Maruti-Suzuki Grand Vitara and the Toyota Hyryder. In fact, Toyota is betting so heavily on hybrid technology winning in the short-term that the third-generation Toyota Innova, christened the Innova ‘Hycross’, has no diesel motor but a petrol-hybrid option instead.

And while fire-breathing monsters will increasingly become a rarity going forward, it is gratifying to know that they are still being made. Yes, they are not at all for the carbon-conscious and you do not need to hammer into me the fact that climate change is real, I know that it is. But it pains me to think about the fact that the five- and six-year-olds of today will not know what it is to have this symphony of noise and vibrations with the world passing by their windows in a seeming blur.

The Audi RS7 and Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG are among the last of their breeds and they are both utterly insane machines to drive. Just to think of the finely tuned weights of the pistons and pushrods burning through copious amounts of petroleum that part the air with a sense of brutality that will be forever unmatched by the electron machines. But it is what it is.


Also read: On Indian roads, it will be a Happy EV Year 2023 — Tata to Mahindra to China’s BYD


Experiencing the drive

More than just the cars, this has been a year of memorable driving experiences. Before the pandemic, most of those experiences were on foreign shores, but this year I have discovered and rediscovered new and amazing places in India. In May, I drove through Arunachal Pradesh — truly one of India’s last, unspoiled areas even though this was well before Xi Jinping’s latest moves there, the War Memorial in Tawang being a reminder of China’s past transgressions. And also the realisation that the Mahindra Thar is not the car I’d want to ferry three people and a lot of luggage.

Photo: Kushan Mitra
Photo: Kushan Mitra

Then there was driving from Bengaluru to Kochi via coffee and spice country in Dakshina Kannada and Wayanad districts down south where the joys of Thalassery Biryani became obvious. The way bus drivers drive in Kerala will give me nightmares for years to come, but the food there is spectacular. During the trip, Honda proved that despite India’s new-found love affair with SUVs, sedans still work. And yes, I even have a source for coffee beans from Madikeri now.

And lastly, seeing freshly fallen snow at Zojila Pass in Kashmir and driving to the Kargil War Memorial that overlooks the peaks where thousands of young men once fought the enemy was an experience of its own. This was undertaken on the new Hyundai Tucson whose ‘on-the-fly’ terrain modes proved that they’re not just some fancy add-on but actually work even on deadly black ice. This besides some of the other trips I have taken, and most importantly experiencing first-hand some of India’s latest infrastructure.


Also read: There’s a little bit of India in cars around the world today. It’s in the codes that run them


Best car of the year

So, what car would I select as the one that impressed me the most this year? And here is the thing, I really liked the Mahindra Scorpio-N; it is a quantum leap forward for the domestic carmaker. But if I had to give it to one car, it would be one of the first cars I drove in 2022 — the Kia Carens. And while you might find that bizarre coming from someone who drives around in 650 horsepower monsters on the city streets and the latest and greatest innovations in the world of electric motoring, let me explain why.

Kia Carens | Photo by special arrangement

A vehicle has to, above all else, be practical. There is no doubt that exotic vehicles are awesome to drive and narrate stories about. But let us be honest, despite record sales in India, not too many of you (or even me, for that matter) are buying Lamborghinis. Vehicles have to be affordable, and your car of the year has to be mass-market. The Kia Carens is. And as the father of a toddler, one who goes to pre-school, you realise that this is a perfect vehicle for the pick-up and drop, for carpools and generally just transporting kids around, not just toddlers. Multiple charging points, lots of space and an air-purifier, a strange necessity in today’s India.

Yes, it is not the most engaging vehicle to drive and the positioning of the air-purifier behind the driver’s seat can make it loud for the driver when you have to ‘really’ clean the air on bad days. But when I took the Carens to school the first time I had it for a few weeks, the number of parents who approached me to enquire about the car genuinely surprised me. Subsequently, as I’ve gone to school to pick-up or drop my son, I have seen the number of parents who own Kia Carens’ explode. The vehicle has been a sales success story.

2022 has been a pretty good year, with some excellent drives and fun driving. But as it closes, the car I think was the best of the year is the Kia Carens.

@kushanmitra is an automotive journalist based in New Delhi. Views are personal.

(Edited by Prashant)

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