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Car and bike questions? We have the answers
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I am planning to buy a petrol car with a 1.6-litre engine and have narrowed my options down to the Ford Fiesta and Chevrolet Aveo. Which in your view is a better buy?
Sujan Mathew
The Fiesta is clearly the better choice and is much nicer to drive than the Aveo, which only scores in looks and styling.
I find that the car manufacturers use two terms to denote the power of a vehicle, HP and PS. HP signifies Horsepower, but what does PS mean? Also, what is the relationship between HP and PS?
G R Shankar Narayanan
PS stands for `Pferdestärke,' which essentially means `horse strength' in German and is a measure of power using the Metric system. HP is the power generated by the engine. However, the actual power being transferred to the wheels is lower due to transmission losses. In 1992, PS was rendered obsolete and some manufacturers used Kilowatt (Kw) as a measure of power while others continued to use HP for ease of understanding. Some still use PS to make the power `sound' more than it actually is. To convert HP to PS, simply multiply it by 1.01387, which makes the difference between the two about 1.4 percent.
Some time towards the end of this year, I am looking to buy a new car to replace my four-year old Wagon-R. Can you advise me on the car to buy, given that I have a family of four? Also please bear in mind my other requirements — my wife also drives, the car will be used for weekend getaways to the hills and so should be rugged and spacious. I do 20,000km every year, am flexible on the budget and don't mind either petrol or diesel. The car should be reliable, economical and have low maintenance requirements.
M P Singh
Go for the Ford Fusion petrol which has just been re-launched.
Write in with your queries towheels@thehindu.co.in
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