The Heart Vs. Soul Debate

I have been on a hiatus for a while now ( quite a long one at that). Now that a lot of water has flown under the bridge, it is time for me to dust off the rust and get my social and personal life back of which this forum is an integral part, albeit in a passive way. Now with the niceties out of the way, I wanted to share a dilemma that I have been grappling with of late. A snapshot of the situation in my life is as pretty much similar to the song "Aint no sunshine when she is gone" from Notting Hill. The song in which Hugh Grant walks to his bookstore and time flies by with seasons changing,a woman goes from being a damsel to a pregnant woman to a young mother, the essence being that years go by and you are mute spectator to the changes around. It has been 5.5 years since we bought our Palio 1.6 Sport, in the time that passed by, multiple road trips have been completed, Northern states toured, moutains flattened and deserts traversed. On the personal front,we have gone from being DINKs to DIOKs, moved from Delhi to Mumbai, took up new roles within the organization,etc etc, you get the drift, right? And now comes the predicament, my Palio 1.6 is 5.5 years old and like most women, is ageing beautifully. Not that I have outgrown her, am still as much in love with her as I was on Apr 10, 2006, and she will remain with me for times to come. It is just that I will need something more bigger to do the road trips with a kid and the paraphernalia in tow. With our son turning 6 months old in the coming two months, we have decided to make him road ready and hence need a steed to do the duties on weekends away from home. Also tipping the scales towards a new car is my company's car lease policy which will allow me to save some money in terms of reducing my useless contributions to GOI. Now, comes the choice of cars....though the temptation to give into the Diesel bug is in the air, I don't think that I can never become a convert to the oil sippers. I love the free revving nature of the petrols and I believe that life begins after 4000 rpm.Also, given the fact that I travel most of the time and have cabs for local meetings, I don't need a diesel car. So, that elimination done, there are just two obvious choices for me....the Linea T-Jet and....the Laura TSI Active. Unfortunately, the Fiesta 1.6s is no longer around and the new crop of compact sedans, read the New Fiesta, the fluidic Verna and the Vento don't make the cut. Delving a little deeper into my choices: The similarities: I have driven both these beauties and enjoyed their poise, power and refinement every bit. Both are European and have the solid thunk we have gotten used to. Both are turbocharged petrols and provide all the adrenalin rush that I need. Both have very attractive price points in the respective segments- 8.5 L and 13.44 L OTR Mumbai. Last but not the least, both have notorious service networks. And this is where similarities end.... The differences: The Linea has looks to die for while the Laura is understated elegance. The Italian beauty comes loaded to the hilt while the Czech princess is just adequately equipped. While the T-Jet is a first in class, the TSI is in a different league altogether. The Choice: As many similarities and differentiators I may list out, finally it boils down to a Heart Vs Soul debate, the mind is out of the equation as I am planning to buy turbo petrols :).Heart says TSi where as soul says T-Jet. The price point of the Linea makes it a steal deal where as the Laura will make us tighten our budgets for the coming year atleast. While the T-Jet would be a complete solution which can be driven home, the TSI would be a WIP project, atleast for the coming year, with a list of must have upgrades which include 16 OE alloys and tyres, the RS spoiler, Stanley leathers and the usual add ons. Not to mention the additional lac to be spent on these. So, as my business keeps me away, i spend sleepless nights pondering over which beauty I will choose, and sometimes am calculating the cash flows while sitting in presentations.This is certainly a difficult situation to be in. It brings back memories of my teen years when a pretty lass who came in mid year during the academic session managed to spoil my nights and not to mention my concentration in lectures. Which way this will swing, time will only tell, but I have a feeling that it will be the beauty from Praha and I hope that my gut turns out this time. In the meantime,I welcome views!

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