[superbhikari]

A long aspiration of having an AT car at home got fulfilled this year end. My four year old Hyundai i10 Kappa Magna replaced with Hyundai Grand i10 Asta AT to cruise on the super-congested city roads filled with super-maniac roadsters.



Kms. covered in new Hyundai Grand i10 Asta AT - 200 kms.
Usage pattern - 10% Highway & 90% city (dense traffic)
Previous Car - Hyundai i10 Kappa Magna (White) - 2009 - 25000 kms

Need for replacement & Decision-making process -
Back in Feb. 2009 I purchased Hyundai i10 Kappa (1st Gen) Magna influenced with practicality factors over own comfortable ones. That time too i was eager to opt for an AT i10 but due to reasons like low resale, low FE, maintenance cost and long delivery times, i made a wrong choice to opt for manual transmission. I regret this decision, to an extent, over the years. We always use our other car Honda City ZX earlier & then Mahindra XUV 5OO for long and inter-city drives. The hatch is always restricted for city use. With the worse road and traffic condition in our city it was really a pain to drive even 4-5 kms in the city (frequent gearshifts between 1 & 2 and excessive use of clutch). My clutch overhaul costing 8k bucks has just been done. I drove the i10 25000 kms since 2009 and sold it to a friend at 2.5 lacs. The major cons in the outgoing i10 were - low FE (around 10kmpl in city), weak AC performance and unstable ride quality on highways over 90 kmph on stock tyres.

We were looking for an AT hatch since Feb 2013. Options were A-star, i10 and Brio. Mom and wife didn't liked the looks and space of A-Star and hence it was ruled out. Replacing an i10 with low FE with the same with ultra low FE doesn't seems to be a wise decision. Hence the last & best option was Brio. I didn't liked the exterior and interior (dashboard design) looks of the Brio. Low GC, tiny boot space and non-availability of Authorized service center in our city was a deterrent too. But Mom liked the design of the Brio as a compact yet spacious city car. I inquired about it but production of AT Brio was not clear till May-June due to few minor changes. I was looking Brio S AT since top-end AT was out of budget. And then around June, unfortunately Honda discontinued mid variant AT and offered Brio only in top-end variant which was out of our budget. Then Ritz AT was also launched. But higher price and lesser features against Brio ruled it out. News of Micra CVT came in. Hoped it will be priced decently atleast competitive to Brio. But loads of feature-loaded Micra CVT is priced way more than Brio. Nissan A.S.S. and ultra low GC of Micra along with the high price left us with Brio. Ownership reports on Polo GT TSI were amazing. It will truly remain a dream car for me. Had it been priced 1.5 lac lower i would have straight away bought it despite of costly VW A.S.S.. Disheartened.

Discussions on Team-bhp of Hyundai Grand i10 especially AT with tiptronic and diesel AT changed the mood. Soon Hyundai launched the petrol Grand i10. But no words on AT. Only info was that it will be launched in couple of months or so. What would it be- old 4-speed auto or 5-speed, with or without tiptronic, availability in top-end or mid-end too? Lot of questions left unanswered. Then, finally Petrol AT was launched in Sportz and Asta variant and priced around 40k to 70k less than the Brio. Excited. The price difference of mere 25k between Sportz and Asta relative to features only makes it fair to choose Asta.

But Why Grand i10 for i10?
1) All new exterior design especially beautiful rear.
2) Interior design is topnotch and spacious.
3) Good Boot space
4) Engine is good. Driving it's previous generation Kappa1 since last four years.
5) Weak AC? Hyundai took care of it by introducing one in rear.
6) Rear seat offers better comfort & space than competition.
7) Availability of Hyundai A.S.S. in the city.
8) 4-speed AT was a disappointment but introduction of Sportz mode (manual override/tiptronic) made it.
9) Low FE? It was a trade off. I know that my Kappa 1st Gen i10 always gave me low FE figures of around 10 kmpl. But my less usage and Kappa2 with Auto gearbox in traffic like in our city, made me hope i can extract somewhere near 9-11 kmpl.
10) The car rides surprisingly well more like sedan than tall-boy hatch. Feels very much stable even at high speeds on stock tyres.
11) True Keyless-entry and Push button start are welcome features but never a decision-maker for me.

Major Turn-off-
1) Safety Features - no ABS and no Airbags.
Hyundai must have made Alloy wheels or some other features optional and included ABS and Airbags. These cannot be fitted after-market but alloys, parking sensors, etc can be. Bad decision for competitive pricing by Hyundai.
2) No ACC in a 6.7 Lac (OTR) car. Think it might be due to i20 advantage.
3) FE?

The lack of safety features was a major turn-off. I would have opted Honda Brio ignoring the price factor between Grand i10 and Brio but unavailability of Honda A.S.S. locally, Looks, low GC and usage of the car as strictly city car made me go with Hyundai Grand i10.

Booking & Delivery -
Booked Hyundai Grand i10 Asta AT Wine Red on 17/11/13 and got the delivery on 10/12/13. The car is very impressive and looks elegant in this particular colour to us. Silver was the second choice due to ease of day to day maintenance. Price - Rs. 6.7 Lac (OTR) + Mudflap and carpet given free.

Car Driveability -
It got me around 20 kms. of driving to get accustomed to driving an AT car. Gearshifts are flawless and butter smooth. The only gear change you can feel a bit is when gear upshifts from first to second gear, other gearshifts are too smooth to be felt. Engine is super silent & vibration-less despite of no damping in the bonnet. Driveabilty in city is a bliss. On highways, i always use to depress the accelerator fully while overtaking or raising speed on an open traffic-less stretch on MT cars which cannot be done now. i assumed that this 4-seed AT will be slow mover than my outgoing manual i10. But surprisingly, when drove with gradually depressing accelerator the car quickly attains triple digit speeds without visible struggle. The car is equipped with Sports Mode - in which driver can manually upshift and downshift the desired gears. In this mode the car will downshift automatically when rpms are dropped below a threshold level but do not upshift till you hit the red mark and the driver needs to upshift manually. I drove for a few minutes in this mode in the city but not extensively to comment further.

Ride Quality & Handling- The ride quality at high speed is stable and confident unlike my previous i10. The drive is more sedan-like than tall boy hatch. Too early to comment on suspension setup. Will update about it after experiencing more. Steering feels little heavier than the previous i10 but easy to maneuver.

AC- Unable to comment due to ongoing winter season.

Exterior styling, Overall build quality, fit & finish, Interior design & quality, Interior space and comfort-
Exterior design of the front is good but the best i liked is redesigned rear. Perfect. Hyundai has put really ugly looking broad black body mouldings on both sides of the car which spoils the side looks of the car. They may have body colored them atleast. Black interiors with right amount of biege at selected places gives car a premium elegant look, quality of interior is topnotch - way better than my XUV w8. All the placement of buttons are easy to reach and hence very ergonomically placed. Driver side window gets one touch auto-down feature. The doors doesn't gets auto locked when car moves. Adequate storage places. Rear leg space is good and the seats are comfortable for three medium built adults. Music system is decent and bluetooth phone pairing (max. 5 phone pairing can be saved) is easy along with excellent voice clarity.

The service interval of the car - 2 months -first free service, 10000 kms or 1 Year - 2nd free service and 20000 kms or 2 Year 3rd free service.

FE as measured in first 100 kms comes to 7 kmpl (40% city and 60% highway)

Other small things I liked about the car -
1) Day/night IRVM
2) Electric folding & adjustable ORVMs
3) Keyless entry
4) Boot lamp
5) Rear AC and additional phone charging point below rear AC.
6) Good quality spare wheel cover/boot base.
7) Cabin space & ergonomics
8) Sharp & powerful brakes.

Dislikes -
1) Weak OEM horn. Upgraded to Minda Dual Tone.
2) No Distance to empty indicator.
3) Uncomfortable position of the fuel lid opening lever i.e. below the driver seat.
4) No lamp for rear passenger.
5) No engine guard
6) lack of Airbags & ABS
7) Steering - only tilt adjust.
8) Limited range of driver seat height adjustment.
9) No ACC

I will keep updating this thread on the driveabilty of AT and FE in the future. Till then treat for your eyes -

Rear

No Engine guard below

Boot with lamp

Steel Spare wheel

Rear seat space with front seats at min. & max. positions

Rear cabin view

Dashboard

No ACC

ODO

Gear in Neutral and Sports mode

[Jaggu]

Congratulations superbhikari and thank you for sharing the initial reports for Grand AT. I recently drove the manual version and i have to say, was really surprised at the feel of the car. It definitely felt well built and sturdy and no way ward bouncing like the older hyundai's. Definitely a step in the right direction. This car is quite spacious also, which makes it a good option for people looking at a city hatch.

[KPS]

Thank you for sharing. Having owned and driven Santro AT, I upgraded to an i10 AT in 2009 till date. The i10 AT was a major improvement over the Santro AT. I am sure the i10 Grand is a major improvement over the i10, though I have not driven it yet.

One thing you will notice, at least in a place like Bangalore, these cars command good resale value. For my 2009 i10 AT which has done about 18K mileage, I have an offer of 3.5L. Comfort and convenience are on priority when one chooses an AT. Further most of these cars are used in the city on congested roads, hence mileage is not a deal breaker.

All the best and hope you have a great ownership

Cheers

KPS

[girishglg]

Congrats on your gleaming new auto! Must say this is one of the best colors that a Grand i10 can wear and it just looks super!

Also liked your decision making process and the reasons for choosing the car you now own versus the other options in hand. Hyundai has actually filled up a gap in the product range across the entire industry by offering a AT at this price point.

However they have skimped on some safety bits such as the mandatory ABS which is not very nice. At least they should have offered it as a option pack like the Toyotas do.

Nevertheless this one will serve you well with good creature comfort on offer inside with the ease of an auto. All the best and keep us updated regularly!

[pahwa]

Great review & congrats on your new acquisition. Your review has made me consider the Grand i10 for a soon due purchase of an AT. Mileage is the turn-off for me however.

I had a test ride today and felt this car is a complete VFM over Brio or A-Star AT.

[wilful]

Congrats on your wonderful new AT hatch! A very sensible choice. Like you, I also feel that Hyundai could have offered ABS & Airbags as an option. A major minus there.
Here's wishing you many miles of driving pleasure in the Grand.

[mints21]

Congrats dear for this beauty. Do not worry about the FE, this is probably because of your driving in congested area, I too own an i10 A/T (earlier version) and I am getting around 14 kms in my regular driving. By the way the day you booked this car was the day when I took delivery of my Grand i10 Asta manual in wine red colour. I had attended the launch of this car and I was so impressed after seeing it that I immediately decided to put this car on my buying radar. Read the review on Team-bhp and took no time in booking this car. I had no requirement of an additional car but my heart ruled my mind this time.

[jkdas]

Congrats!

From the official review -

Rear defogger, ABS & Airbags only on Asta trim level.

And I am sure the one I tested had these ( but then it was the manual Asta Option pack).

[extreme_torque]

Congrats on the car! Hyundai's automatics have never been fuel efficient. My friend's i10 automatic never gave him more than 9-10 kmpl in the city. I hope you had this in mind before buying the i10 grand.

[superbhikari]

FE update -
For last 300 Kms. (70% city & 30% Highway) without AC, The car gave 11 kmpl. ODO is now at 550 kms. 1st service is due next month.

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Congrats on the car! Hyundai's automatics have never been fuel efficient. My friend's i10 automatic never gave him more than 9-10 kmpl in the city. I hope you had this in mind before buying the i10 grand.

Yes, I do have low FE in mind while buying but since it's ticking most of my priorities and usage pattern I opted for Grand i10 AT.

Originally Posted by jkdas

Congrats!

From the official review -


And I am sure the one I tested had these ( but then it was the manual Asta Option pack).

Rear defogger is present in Asta but not ABS and Airbags. It's there in Asta (O).

Originally Posted by mints21

Congrats dear for this beauty. Do not worry about the FE, this is probably because of your driving in congested area, I too own an i10 A/T (earlier version) and I am getting around 14 kms in my regular driving. By the way the day you booked this car was the day when I took delivery of my Grand i10 Asta manual in wine red colour. I had attended the launch of this car and I was so impressed after seeing it that I immediately decided to put this car on my buying radar. Read the review on Team-bhp and took no time in booking this car. I had no requirement of an additional car but my heart ruled my mind this time.

Thanks & Congrats for your new purchase.

Originally Posted by KPS

Thank you for sharing. Having owned and driven Santro AT, I upgraded to an i10 AT in 2009 till date. The i10 AT was a major improvement over the Santro AT. I am sure the i10 Grand is a major improvement over the i10, though I have not driven it yet.

One thing you will notice, at least in a place like Bangalore, these cars command good resale value. For my 2009 i10 AT which has done about 18K mileage, I have an offer of 3.5L. Comfort and convenience are on priority when one chooses an AT. Further most of these cars are used in the city on congested roads, hence mileage is not a deal breaker.

All the best and hope you have a great ownership

Cheers

KPS

AT cars in small cities like ours do not command good resale value in general unless you find a suitable buyer which values AT. People are more worried about FE & maintenance of an AT vehicle here.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by wilful

Congrats on your wonderful new AT hatch! A very sensible choice. Like you, I also feel that Hyundai could have offered ABS & Airbags as an option. A major minus there. Here's wishing you many miles of driving pleasure in the Grand.

I totally agree. Even in the case of the I 20 1.4 Petrol Gamma Engine Automatic, they have been super stingy and offered just one driver airbag. What are they thinking?
At least with safety kit, they should allow consumers to customize/ configure, wait for and pay for what they take.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by superbhikari

FE update - For last 300 Kms. (70% city & 30% Highway) without AC, The car gave 11 kmpl. ODO is now at 550 kms. 1st service is due next month. Yes, I do have low FE in mind while buying but since it's ticking most of my priorities and usage pattern I opted for Grand i10 AT. Rear defogger is present in Asta but not ABS and Airbags. It's there in Asta (O). Thanks & Congrats for your new purchase. AT cars in small cities like ours do not command good resale value in general unless you find a suitable buyer which values AT. People are more worried about FE & maintenance of an AT vehicle here.

Any update on the FE? I am looking at purchasing the Xcent, provided the automatic version comes with safety features.

Does Grand i10 suffer from FE issues like the good old i10?

[deetjohn]

Congrats! Grand i10 is a quality product inside out. I love the gearshifter for the AT. They should have made ABS standard at least for the AT variants, that's my only grouse.

[superbhikari]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Any update on the FE? I am looking at purchasing the Xcent, provided the automatic version comes with safety features.

Does Grand i10 suffer from FE issues like the good old i10?

It seems to be so far. I mainly drive it in city only with heavy traffic. It's giving 8-10 kmpl so far in the city with 20% AC usage. ODO as of now is around 1100 kms.

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Congrats! Grand i10 is a quality product inside out. I love the gearshifter for the AT. They should have made ABS standard at least for the AT variants, that's my only grouse.

Yes indeed the gearshifter is pretty smooth. ABS and Airbag are big omissions in this fantastic all-rounder car though.

[Rajeevraj]

Congratulations on the car. Good pics and report. One Question: I see a + - on the gear shift. Does the car have a manual/Tiptronic mode?