Dear All,
couple of weeks back I took a very short test drive on
Grand i10, Sportz, petrol. I would hereby like to share my experience and have a few questions too.
As opinions formed from any TD depend on many factors including the ones that are hard to describe objectively, here is the context first:
Variant: Sportz, Petrol
Time: due to late arrival of Hyundai folks, I had only 10 minutes at hand before I had to run for other work.
Terrain: decently levelled tar road as usual, except for two short uneven patches I deliberately drove over instead of avoiding, just to get a feel of the suspension etc.
Opinions or observations would also depend on my
previous experience and expectations, I believe, so here it is:
I had driven a Hyundai Santro for around 35000 KM, including some 1200 KM on Highways and rest mostly on city roads. Little longer than last one year I have been driving a VW Vento TDI Highline, done some 12000 KM so far, including just about 1500 KM on highways.
Besides, I have driven rented cars, few thousands of KMs on German Autobahns, but due to the obvious differences of road quality, I would not let that influence any experience here.
My questions would be on the brakes, hence I add here, although you may know already too well, that Santro Xing, being an entry level hatchback, has nothing special on the brakes (typical front Disc and rear Drum) but decent enough, and the Vento TDI Highline has ABS (still Front Disc and Rear Drum, i.e. not Rear Discs like Verna).
Indeed, experience of braking would not depend only the brakes, but also on the overall body dynamics, tyres etc.
So, I knew upfront that I am not going to compare The Grand i10 with Vento (probably not with Polo either), but would expect better than the Santro for sure, i.e. the experience would be, I thought, somewhere in-between these two limits – humble Santro and awesome Vento.
I found the Grand i10 suspension really good, way above average in the segment, Steering extremely light for my taste but would be winner in usual city traffic, gear-shift feel as good as Hyundai can get you (really nice) and would not talk about the already heavily discussed interiors or features – those were pretty good.
The Brakes disappointed me, simply put.
Braking power or the ability to stop within a very short distance from a “high speed”, (I mean >60 KMPH as I am thinking City traffic), is not the only parameter I looked for, where the Grand i10 would do the job quite well. I am thinking of usual braking, e.g. when I see a speed breaker, or the spot I want to stop, or, most relevant example, a “bumper to bumper” traffic, etc.
It felt like something was biting the front wheels rather sharp and suddenly. There was no “progressive” or gradual feeling. A crude analogy would be if you broke only the front brake of a two wheeler hard while not doing anything with the rear! (You would never want to do it).
The car ‘pitched’ every time the nasty brake took the bite. I tried being gentler the next time. But then I felt I kept pressing the pedal within ‘free play’ only, i.e. not actuating it soon enough. And when it did bite, note, that I was hardly at 30 KMPH, the car did pitch, and stopped, of course!
Okay, if I drive someone else’s car, even the same make-model that I believe I am familiar with, I would feel some differences for few minutes. The ‘free play’ of the pedal differs, the greasing etc. depend on the quality of the ‘last service’ done and so on. What I took a TD on was indeed one of those ‘Demo cars’ that are slightly abused, and the way the Hyundai folks are catering to many TD requests per day, I am sure they have not maintained that piece of car well enough!
But how much of this experience I could I afford to attribute to my ‘feelings’ which may be wrong?
Or to the condition of the particular piece of car I drove?
And how much would be the actual problem, if any?
Can I assume that these would be initial niggles that would get better in later batches?
Or is the design itself is little weird?
The Hyundai person sincerely attempted to convince me that it is a powerful brake, and I failed to make him understand that it is not the power and rather the lack of linearity, and the body pitch that I was uncomfortable with.
Looking for answers, I read the original post from GTO again in detail. And even the preview one from .Anshuman.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GTO
We've never had an issue with the brakes of Hyundai cars and the Grand i10 is no different. The brakes work as expected in terms of pedal feel & capability. Although some might find the bite to be a bit too sharp, it's easy to get a hang of. Replicating an emergency braking manouveur from 90 kph, the Grand i10 stopped in a straight line without drama. It's important to mention that the i10's brakes feel superior to the LXi / LDi & VXi / VDi variants of the Swift (no complaints with the Swift ZXi / ZDi). |
.Anshuman wrote:
Quote:
While ABS will be standard on the top variants, rear disc brakes are not available on any variant. You'll see small drums at the rear instead. The brakes are well calibrated and stopping power is sufficient.
|
GTO touched upon the point, didn’t he?
Note, again, that I was not biased on this braking stuff by the review from GTO before I took the TD, rather came back and read again carefully after I took the TD.
So, it would be great if GTO could respond, or any of you who have taken a TD longer than my 10 minutes' scope, or already own one!
Is the brake way too sharp to surprise the car behind me for my “sudden” or abrupt slow-downs that you observe in a learner’s car?
Or, even if they were good with their reflexes, is it worth enough to get used to a ‘pitch’ feel, every time I brake?
Is the feeling of ‘pitching’ worth for the co-passengers whose reflex works later than the driver’s?
Or, am I asking for too much from a hatch without Brake-assist etc.? (Recall: I am not talking of Asta, but only up to Sportz petrol).
Kindly share your experience particular to this aspect. Also, it would be great if you mention the “yardsticks” against which you formed your opinion on the Grand i10 brakes.
Hyundai folks are insisting I take another TD. I hope to get some more insights from you before I do so, should I take another TD at all.
Thanks and Regards,