[Tanmay8488]

Greetings everyone on the forum, this is my first time posting here.

Before I start this post I would like to thank bhpian Motorhead23 for solving all the queries that I and others had regarding the Grand i10 Nios facelift.
I was thinking of getting the Nios turbo and thus I called up a dealership in my city, thankfully they had a test drive vehicle, not the Nios but rather the Aura. Both cars share the engine and the manual transmission like their Naturally Aspirated and CNG counterparts.

Unfortunately, the test drive didn't last too long as their TD route was too short but driving the car did plaster a smile on my face. Once I got done with the test drive the sales representative told me that the car has six months of waiting and is only made by order, this statement did not surprise me at all as I knew that this was a low volume variant for Hyundai so parallelly I started looking for Nios' elder silbling the i20 Sportz imt. The price difference between the Nios turbo and i20 Sportz imt was less than a lakh. After few days I went to enquire about the Sportz imt variant in the i20 and got to know that the six month waiting period was applicable to the imt and dct variants of the i20 as well. I took sometime to process this and then visited another dealership but their answer was no different.

The first dealership I visited was also a Signature Hyundai dealer which meant that they deliver the 'N-Line' models, the Tucson and the Alcazar Signature trim. I saw few i20 N-Lines in their stockyard which was located in the basement of the same premises as their dealership. Recently, I had spotted few brand new and unregistered i20 N-lines in my city and all of them were the top-end N8 variants which made me think that why is the waiting period less for the N-Line when compared to the regular i20 turbo models when both share almost all integral mechanicals like the engine and the gearbox except the steering and suspension setup.
The vehicles available in the stockyard were all N8 dcts which made me think that any customer who walks in a Hyundai showroom with an inquiry for an i20 automatic would be showcased and delivered either an N-Line or Sportz ivt depending on the type of dealership, the former would be the case with the Signature dealerships and the latter with the non-Signature ones and this is what I observed from the delivery trends and new cars I witnessed on the roads. Any i20 (Sportz or above variant) with a small badging on the driver side fender is either an ivt, imt or dct vehicle depending upon the engine of course. To further investigate I would look at the grill of the new vehicles, the turbo ones have a badging on them as well which makes them easily distinguishable. This was for the regular i20 whereas it is quite easy to identify an N-Line and differentiate it from the regular i20. I know that a lot of customers not just for the i20 but also for the Venue buy the NA petrol models rather than the turbo ones and I feel that the sales of Venue turbo petrol might have dropped as compared to the pre-facelift model as the facelift is available in more variants in the 1.2 Kappa trim.

All this chaos made me join Team-bhp, finally as a member and I posted my query in the Nios facelift thread, wanting to know that whether the turbo petrol engine would be carried over to the new model as well or not? as was being reported by many news portals. My rational behind reverting back to Nios was simple: (1) it was a manual which made it my first preference and (2) I thought that with the facelift Hyundai would certainly start producing the turbo model once again even for a short period of time which would provide me a window long enough to procure the car. A part of me also thought that the facelift would come with the imt but I was willing to take the risk. Later, bhpian Motorhead23 shared that the last batch of the turbo models was already manufactured and sent to the dealers and that Hyundai has discontinued the imt models of the regular i20 and was completing orders through the N-Line for any existing bookings of the same.

This piece of information led me to contact the two sales representatives at the two dealerships I had visited earlier and I asked both of them to send me the updated price lists for the Nios and the i20. To my surprise the 'Sportz Turbo' variant was still listed in the price list which I received from one of the dealers. Perhaps, this will change once the facelift eventually launches this month. Personally I do not consider this list to be accurate as the prices for Corporate edition are still listed which was discontinued officially unlike the diesel and the turbo petrol models. I am attaching the price list for reference:


This was the same case with the i20, both the dealerships have still listed the imt models.



I consider this sub and its members more reliable than the dealers as time and again whenever I have discussed my interest in these models I haven't seen much enthusiasm from the sales rep's end.

To dig further into the case I went to Hyundai's official website and made use of the Click to buy page to see whether I am able to book any of the models that I am interested in online. I couldn't select the Grand i10 Nios maybe because they already have updated the site with the details of the facelift but visitors can't access that page yet. When I selected the i20 I found out that there are no Turbo imt versions listed as an option on Click to Buy. The only turbo models listed for the regular i20 were the Sportz dct, Asta dct (which was already discontinued last year and is not mentioned in any of the price lists I have received), Asta (o) dct and Asta (o) dct dual tone. I have no clue what to make of this.

Coming back to the confusion these are the following conclusions I have made after thoroughly assessing the situation:
1. Hyundai has not communicated the dealers properly when it comes to the production and availability of the variants. I interacted with a few dealership personnel and they told me that their training for the new vehicles wouldn't commence until the launch day or sometimes it would start even after the car is already on display which makes answering customer queries difficult for them.

2. I believe that the Sportz and Asta imt variants have been secretly discontinued and the dealers haven't been updated about the same but this makes me think how did the dealers update their price lists? Hyundai surely must have given them the new ex-showroom prices for all the variants across models after which they add the RTO, Insurance, etc. to present the customer with the On-Road price. If so is the case then why didn't they let the dealers know that they have discontinued certain models and shouldn't take any bookings and orders for the same.

3. I am left with the following variants of the i20 turbo to choose from:

• Sportz Dct
• Asta (o) Dct
• N-Line N6 imt
• N-Line N8 imt
• N-Line N8 Dct

Sportz Dct is priced very closely to the N6 imt. N6 imt is pretty similar to Asta imt (as the infotainment was downsized with the update, both offer a sunroof) Asta imt, although its availability is a question mark in itself, would have been my pick as it was not much expensive than the N6 (which is based on the Sportz supposedly, but misses out on Climate control which Sportz got with the update last year). Asta imt would have missed out on Cruise control and rear disc brakes (as per the updated brochure, Sportz and Asta imt don't have cruise control but the N6 does get this feature ). N6 also lacks Led projector headlamps, and a rear washer/wiper.

Coming down to the most important question of all: Should I buy the Sportz Dct over any of the iMt variants? Even the N6 doesn't come equipped with all of the bells and whistles as it is an entry level variant for the N-Line which means that I am already compromising on many features that the i20 has to offer due to my budgetary constraints. Should I go ahead with the Sportz dct? Which one would be more fun to drive given the fact that it would not have the dynamics of the N Line? I haven't got a chance to test drive the turbo i20 and I don't think I will. Also I don't think that I would be able to stretch my budget for the i20 N-Line N8 Dct as no one from my family would allow me to spend 13.5 lakhs on an i20 as we already have the Elite i20 Asta (o) in our garage which was priced at 9.02 lakhs in 2019, some of them will even insist that I buy the 1.2 Kappa Asta (o) which is cheaper than all the variants I have discussed in the post. I keenly await reading insights from my fellow Bhp-ians.

Hope all of you have a wonderful year ahead!

[chaitanyakrish]

If the requirement is manual with the comfort of automatic, iMT is a good choice.
I use an i20 iMT and its very convenient.
My drives include city,highway,hills and never faced any problem.

[androdev]

Originally Posted by Tanmay8488

Greetings everyone on the forum, this is my first time posting here.

Welcome to the forum :-)

...Which one would be more fun to drive....

Buy the cheapest model with DCT + Paddle shifters. Beg, borrow, steal and lobby hard with family. Do whatever it takes. All other i20 models would be a segment lower in my humble opinion, only share the model name.

[yesssgeee]

I own an N6 iMT. The difference between normal i20 turbo and N line is pretty dominant once you drive them back to back. The sharper steering and a tight suspension is good for some enthusiastic driving. But standard i20 turbo's suspension is too soft for my liking. I'm lucky that the dealership that i bought my car from, brought i20 turbo asta iMT and N8 iMT for my test drives and I was able to drive them back to back on same stretch of roads.

So I went with N6 iMT because I don't like the LED headlight throw of N8 variant(I intend to change my stock halogens to after market LEDs) and I'm not worried about missing out on auto climate control and rear wipers.

I was worried about longevity of DCT gear boxes in India. I happen to notice over 2 DCT gearbox failures of Kia and Hyundai cars over last 2 years from my family and friends circle.

So if you don't want to take that risk means, iMT is a great option to go with. Especially in N line trims.

[bijims]

Get the i20 Sportz DCT, if you are alright with its driving dynamics, however, the N-line is definitely the sportier car and could be worth a look at, but considering the DCT N-line is way out of budget, the IMT N-line is also worth a shot, But in my opinion, I would get the DCT for its sheer convenience.

[jaysheth]

Originally Posted by Tanmay8488

Greetings everyone on the forum, this is my first time posting here.

...

I keenly await reading insights from my fellow Bhp-ians.

Welcome to Team BHP

For all the study I did (around a year ago) and post test driving the i20 Asta O DCT and i20 Sports iVT, here are my 2 cents that might help:

1. Avoid all i20 IVT variants. During my TD there was so much lag and I had to press the accelerator really hard to gain little momentum. My sister has been using it for a year or more and the mileage is too, too bad! The mileage reported by her matches my TD impressions.
   
   
2. Be ready for some issues with respect to turbo petrol engines. If you select it, please follow the idling rule, and keep an eye on many fuel pump failures (you can search this thread for more). Many have reported on this forum, that after the fuel pump replacement things have been generally fine.
   
   
3. While I really liked the i20 Asta O DCT test drive, I am quite wary of long term reliability DCT for India weather conditions + traffic conditions in most cities. I therefore decided that I will never be at peace of mind while driving the DCT, as the stop-and-go traffic is only going to increase/worsen with passage of time, which is never a favourable condition with dry-clutch DCTs.
   
   
4. I was seriously considering i20 N Line N8 IMT for myself. Unfortunately Hyundai could not arrange even a single i20 IMT for test drive. None of the IMT variants were available for TD for months. I had to be content with driving Venue IMT instead. I loved the concept. I loved that my left leg was freed up from pressing and releasing the clutch, and I still had all gear control in my left hand. In my opinion, IMT would be incomparably more reliable than DCT, and if i20 N Line DCT and IMT were the only choices, I would go with IMT variant only.
   
   
5. Coming to N6 and N8 versions, though both are quite expensive (it is N Line afterall!), it is annoying (and criminal!) the N6 does not offer rear wipers & washers. I find it to be too useful to be mandatory for many weather conditions. Also, on paper cornering lamps look quite useful to me (though there are many fog lamps available today, e.g. IPH M617 tri-colour LED, that would serve much better than cornering lamps, if your car has a provision for fog lamps - I do not remember). Rest of the delta features in N8, including auto AC, smart key, projector LED, bigger and better infotainment (with Bose speakers), Smart Key etc. are good to have, but not a must have.

Hope this helps. Just to give a complete context regarding the similar dilemma I had, I would have almost gone with i20 N Line N8 IMT, if I were the only driver. But then thinking of my wife (an occassional driver), I decided for a full automatic. DCT being a strict no-no for me, I settled for Honda Jazz VX CVT while it is still being sold, and we are all loving it! In my opinion, it has much more peace of mind to offer as against any Hyundai with its 4-star global NCAP rating, 4-cylinder NA petrol engine and an extremely reliable CVT.

Just to be clear on the (absence of) bias though, I was a proud owner of Hyundai Santro Xing GLS for 13+ years, and while that was a lovely car, we cannot expect such reliability and long term fuss free ownership experience from turbo petrols and DCTs.

Good luck with whatever you finally choose! Keep us posted. Welcome once again to Team BHP!

[07CR]

I was in similar dilemma for a Sonet iMT vs Sonet DCT. Selected the iMT, because of the three reasons-

1) Still get the convenience of automatic
2) No compromise on reliability front. DCT vs iMT, iMT is way more reliable.
3) I didn't like the response times from the Sonet DCT. Not sure if it's the same case with I20.

[greenhorn]

Earlier last year i was in your same shoes, and i was told by both dealers in my city that the turbo i20 vanilla version was discontinued, and only nlines were available. They were too pricey and i went with a used car instead. Sometime later last year i saw someone post here that they were able to get hold of one of them.


If you ask a dealer they'll still say the same thing so this whole thing is a bit of a mystery. If you're willing to wait, it might be worth it.


Personally i didn't like the IMT. For me i need either full auto or full manual. IMT felt half baked and the worst of both worlds

[OpenRoads]

Originally Posted by Tanmay8488

Greetings everyone on the forum, this is my first time posting here.

Dear Tanmay,

Welcome to this wonderful community. I can see that you have poured your hearts content into the post which made me read it thrice to understand and segregate the confusion from conclusion or question.

What I gathered is you went to test drive a manual Nios and ended up confused between automatic (IVT and DCT) i20 for reasons unknown (is it because of price difference?). Definitely there is pricing and features comparison to make it a beautiful 'Raita'.

Here are my 2 cents..

Think of parameters like budget, features, brand, transmission etc..
Then prioritize these parameters to your liking. Like which one is the most important and then start filtering.

e.g.
1. Budget - Say I can spend 10 lakhs on a car. However I can stretch it to 13 lakhs since my heart will not listen to my head.
2. Transmission (Manual/Automatic) -

a) I am driving a manual for long but I want to drive automatic since there is too much traffic in my city.
b) I like my car with a stick since I love the control etc.

3. Features - Bells and whistles.. falana dhinkana.

Based on your priority change the order of these parameters.
Now each parameter would have many sub values.
E.g. Transmission - Manual, AMT, IMT, IVT, DCT (since you are into i10 &20)

So if your scenario is a manual then there is not much to it and pretty straight forward. However if its automatic then here the thing.
1. AMT - You badly want an automatic but do not want to cross the budget. Listen to your head.
2. IMT - You want to drive a manual but just don't like pressing the clutch. And you are optimistic that in near future the IMT chip and you will work in unison.
3. IVT - You have matured into a sedate driver and don't like jerks and love a smooth ride.
4. DCT - Eat my dust kind of feeling(conditions applied depending on the engine power). As good as a manual. However you don't care if in near future that transmission failure might cost you additional 1.5 lakhs after warranty ends.

So here is the bottom-line- If you love driving then go for DCT because IVT will not come close. However if you are ok with changing gears then IMT is okish (but not an automatic at all)

Note: I have been driving a manual i10 for past 12 years and it has been pretty amazing journey. So thumbs up for Hyundai.

[Takumi Fujiwara]

Hey Tanmay8488,

This indeed is a fairly confusing scenario. I would solely be talking about the transmission aspect of this discussion. I think it is imperative for you to decide what it is that you want most from this car? If you want quick shifts then I highly recommend the DCT. However if you are looking for a more fun to drive experience which may include shifting up and down through hilly sections and corners, the IMT will surely be a treat! I personally own the i20 NLine N8 IMT, and I do have a blast shifting through the gears around corners, however it is clunky and does not shift very smoothly from 2nd to 3rd and so due to the extra added mechanical components to the shifter. The IMT may also almost certainly be slower than the DCT in a straight up drag. But one thing to note is that the DCT does not let you hold the revs as you please, I have heard of instances where owners of the DCT variant say that the DCT upshifts automatically even when on sport mode. (In order to increase the life of the engine I believe. Hope this helps