i10 Asta Automatic with Sunroof Hi BHPians,
I am Rahul from Trivandrum and I am a newbie at Team BHP. I am so glad and excited to be at team BHP and even more excited to tell you that I have bought a new i10 Asta Automatic with Sunroof on last Friday(04/12/09) from Popular Hyundai. Wonderful car with superb built quality, both interiors and exteriors. Three days of drive around the city was more than enough to convince me that the 1.2 Kappa is far superior than other hatchbacks in this segment. I used to own a Santro Xing AT 2004 Model which was bought in Feb 2004 from Hilton Hyundai at a price of 4.5 lacs(on road). It was a nice car and we have not driven it much. The total mileage at the time of sale(sold on 01/12/09) was just 32,569 KMs. Luckily we got a superb deal from an AT enthusiast and we sold it to him for 2.5 lacs. Many people were ready to offer us 1.5-1.8 lacs for our old Santro. But this guy popped out of nowhere and offered us 2.5, which to be honest was a mind blowing price for us. Dealer: Popular Hyundai, Trivandrum The dealer was very warm and had a courteous approach throughout the deal. The executives were professional and friendly in their approach and were patient enough to explain the whole car in detail at the time of delivery. That was something which I have not experienced when I bought my Santro AT from Hilton Hyundai. I have had a horrible experience with them. Anyways I will be posting about Hilton Hyundai's arrogant approach in the Dealership forum soon. Popular Hyundai was kind enough to arrange a poojari for the car puja at the time of delivery and they even took a snap of mine with the new car. It was an awesome experience, made me feel that I was very important for them. One probable reason would be the checklist that I have taken from Team BHP. I had taken a print of the same and was checking the car top to bottom with the help of Team BHPs checklist. This must have spooked them and made them think that I am no ordinary customer. Thanks to Team BHP for this. Drive Experience:
1. The Grey beauty was waiting for me at the delivery porch. Unlocked the car with the remote control key and the lights blinked twice. I was overwhelmed just by seeing that. Kept my excitement down, got inside the car. The new car smell was intoxicating, it gave me a feeling that I am going to trip for a while. I love the smell of new cars even though my folks hates the same.
2. Inserted the key and switched on the car. All warning lights viz Battery, ABS, EPS, Oil etc lit up telling me, Rahul i10 is ready for the takeoff. Felt the black leather covered 3 spoke steering wheel, a European car feel. Adjusted the steering to my height. Seats are really comfortable with amble headrest height. Glance the dash and I could see the SRS Airbag engraving on the passenger side dash and the steering wheel. Pulled down the windows from the power window console at the driver side. The driver side window is automatic and had to keep the other three window switches pressed.
3. The most exciting part(Sunroof). The sunroof controls are placed above the rear view mirror with 3 functions. Open, Close and Slide Up. Opened the sunroof and bright sunlight brightened the cockpit. The beige interiors was glowing and had a special look, thanks to the sunroof.
4. The center console with 2 Din integrated MP3 player gave the car a special look and feel. The black colored MP3 console stands out in the beige dash. The speakers are within the door and some light music from the FM with good bass was being played. The bass gave an extra ambiance to the interiors, for a sec thought I was at a theater. The A/C controls looked good. So far so good.
5. The Automatic Shift lever is just below the MP3 player and positioned in the center console. Was very comfy in holding the beige leather covered lever with P, R, N, D, 2 & L shift positions. Then i noticed the 12V outlet neatly tucked in below the A/C controls, woh that was something I did not expect. My excitement was about to blow out of the sunroof but held it back somehow.
6. All good to go, released the beige leather covered handbrake, placed my feat on the brake pedal. Started the engine and it came to life. The engine was humming with a light tone and no vibrations.
7. Shifted from Park to Drive and released the brake. The car started moving and slowly rolled out from the delivery area. Got out of the dealership and was onto the road. Double checked and made sure no vehicles were on the road. Pressed the throttle and the car responded quiet well, remember no vibrations so far, the car was sailing on the road with a light humming tone. After about a min or close to 2 min I was shocked seeing the speedo, I was cruising at 80 KMPH @ just below 2000 RPM. The climb from 0-80 was smooth like a butter that I have not even noticed it. Amazing!! I knew this is no ordinary engine compared to the Santro AT. The high torque 80 ps Kappa is powerful enough to overtake most of the cars on road and that too with ease.
8. Pulled up the windows and closed the sunroof. Time to check the A/C. Turned the blower to level 2 and switched on the A/C. Within seconds I could feel the cool air coming out of the vents and about after a min the whole cabin was cool enough. The A/C is far better and more powerful than what I have experienced in the Santro AT. Reached home after 15 mins and my excitement levels were still rising. I could feel the adrenaline rush for more. So took the car for another drive to the highway. This time I was cruising with the world behind me and reached my personal top speed of 110 kmph @2500 RPM, if i remember correctly.
I would definitely recommend this car to everyone who loves automatic transmissions. Ok, my excitement levels have not gone down yet. So I am attaching couple of pics. Enjoy BHPians.. More posts about my i10 experience later.
Last edited by tsk1979 : 8th December 2009 at 10:25.
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