[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by Amyth Prabhakar

Which one do you think is better. Should I go in for the tire change or
go and check at the Hyundai Authorised Service centre for suspension replacement? was there any dip in the mileage after your tire upgrade ?

Has anybody got it done ? Do they replace all the four springs or just tweak the existing ones ? My car has completed 14,000 kilometres and is still running under warranty period.

The tyre upgrade at 14,000km would be a lossy transaction for you since you will not get much for the existing tyres while the new ones at that size would cost a bomb. I dint hear you mention having any issues so far with the existing tyres as well. I would say use till 30,000 kms maybe to extract the value from the tyres. I would recommend the approach of checking on the springs at the Hyundai A.S.S for now.

[udiboy]

Congrats Amyth on the stunning looking car

I agree from an overall perspective, the Hyundai Verna does appeal if we can ignore a few shortcomings such as the ride and suspension. I also saw that you mentioned that the Vento has a 1.5 engine and I assume that since you mentioned it in the same breath as the polo, that the Vento lacks on performance. I have a completely different view on this and believe Vento tdi is the best diesel engined car this side of 15 lacs and the car truly is all about performance and nothing about goodies. Its 1.6 tdi engine is the best combo of FE and the in-gear acceleration time of this car has to be felt to believe; Out on the road it can easily decimate honda city D and the verna D and can also give the D1 segmenters a run for their money....The ride and handling is pliant as well - but the car cannot keep up with the verna on aesthetics and goodies such as rain sensing vipers etc etc...

[Amyth Prabhakar]

Originally Posted by udiboy

Congrats Amyth on the stunning looking car

I agree from an overall perspective, the Hyundai Verna does appeal if we can ignore a few shortcomings such as the ride and suspension. I also saw that you mentioned that the Vento has a 1.5 engine and I assume that since you mentioned it in the same breath as the polo, that the Vento lacks on performance. I have a completely different view on this and believe Vento tdi is the best diesel engined car this side of 15 lacs and the car truly is all about performance and nothing about goodies. Its 1.6 tdi engine is the best combo of FE and the in-gear acceleration time of this car has to be felt to believe; Out on the road it can easily decimate honda city D and the verna D and can also give the D1 segmenters a run for their money....The ride and handling is pliant as well - but the car cannot keep up with the verna on aesthetics and goodies such as rain sensing vipers etc etc...

I have mixed feeling though.

After test driving the latest polo GT 7 speed Automatic edition and the new 1.6L vento i agree with you.

But back then, when i bought verna the vento didn't quite stack up well for my consideration. It had 1.5L engine with no goodies. Hailing from the land of Audi's and BMW's ( the worlds best car manufactures ),Germany I had more expectations from vento.

I still vouch for verna

The vento outperforms the verna because it throws more power after the 1800 rpm range and surges ahead quickly. The verna on the other hand outputs linear power and gradually builds up speed. so if the verna is decelerated in the 3rd and 4th gear and made to pick up from there, it struggles a bit. The vento is a different beast altogether and marginally ahead by 2-3 seconds because of lesser lag than verna.

But however on a straight stretch, with linear power delivery, if are starting from scratch, the verna is a speed demon and can give enough nightmares to vento.

We dont race with these two cars where every fraction of a second matters. so i guess Verna with 2-3 seconds lag is OK as far as the overall package is concerned.

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by udiboy

Its 1.6 tdi engine is the best combo of FE and the in-gear acceleration time of this car has to be felt to believe; Out on the road it can easily decimate honda city D and the verna D and can also give the D1 segmenters a run for their money....The ride and handling is pliant as well - but the car cannot keep up with the verna on aesthetics and goodies such as rain sensing vipers etc etc...

As for the Honda City i-DTEC, I don't believe it can race against either of these. Possibly Honda did not want to even get into this race with the Diesel since the Diesel City has the lowest BHP rating of the 3 as well and Honda seems to have focused primarily on FE and must say they have succeeded as I am seeing a consistent return of 18+ kmpl in city driving. The number for 0-100 for the City is in excess of 14 seconds : URL.

At the same time, I would add that the 0-60 acceleration differs from the Verna only by about half a second possibly which means they have ensured excellent driveability within city limits. On the highways the i-DTEC City can keep a smile permanently plastered on your face with its mileage numbers of 22+ even when driven at speed ranges of 100-110 kmph consistently (and that seems to be the sweet spot for this engine with very low noise levels). The Petrol city is the offering from Honda for speed enthusiasts which I believe you can clock 100kmph in the second gear!

[Amyth Prabhakar]

Hyundai Verna is packaged with 1.6L CRDi* VGT** engine which is very well tuned and refined without compromising on either power or mileage and has created a win-win situation for both.

* CRDI = Common Rail Direct Diesel Injection
** VGT = Variable Geometry Turbo

The engine outputs linear power ( 128ps @ 4000 rpm and torque of 26.5 kgm)and gradually accelerates and builds up speed. The linear power delivery helps in achieving 3-digit speeds ( 0-100 km/h) in close to 10 seconds flat or less.

Below are the pictures of the "Diesel Rocket Engine" . as described by most people.

It's very well laid out and neatly organised.

[Amyth Prabhakar]

The boot is very spacious ( 465 litres ) and looks sufficient for most travelling needs.The plastics are clean and nothing is left unfinished and comes with a luggage net. It also holds the spare wheel and jack.

The boot lid can be opened from the rear with the key or from inside by pulling up the lever beneath the driver seat which then releases it open.

The boot has a small lamp and lights up when the lid is open for better visibility in dark.

The tools kits have a VELCRO straps on them and can be stuck on to a corner.

Below are the pics

[Amyth Prabhakar]

User friendly Fold-able Key:

Its powered by a battery for centralised locking and unlocking. The keys don't work if the battery life goes down or the battery dies. But however there is provision to lock/unlock manually.









Dimmer Knob to control the Drivers console Brightness:



Fuse Box:





Fuel Tank Capacity: It can hold 43 lts of fuel and can last for almost 675 kilometres.









Cabin Lights and Goggles Holder:












Microphone:

Its placed just above the drivers head for better reception while talking over phone.




Automatic Climate Control Information console display various modes:















Floor Mats:

They don't move all around. They are held firmly by the hooks.



Dead Pedal on the extreme left:



Boot and fuel lid opening levers

[Amyth Prabhakar]

Music System with Remote and Aux Cable for iPod support:

USB's drives can be plugged in for music playback. I guess it requires the file format to be in FAT32 and does not recognise other proprietary formats. I dont know if it can read and play from bigger USB External HD's of size 500gb and above. I have never tried anything above 16 gb pen drives so far.

















Its the tweeter:




Power supply and on dash USB port:

It has a 12V power supply.







The driver information console displays a welcome message when ignition key is turned on and a Good bye message when switched off





Also showing below are the pics when everything is turned off








Reverse Camera:

It gives a nice audio-visual information while backing up



Cars Under-body in pics:

Shows the rear silencer and Rear suspension set-up ( Couple Torsion Beam Axle )














After Sales Service:

So far so good. Apart from the body damages and a bad ground clearance problem, I haven't faced any issues till date.

I guess the body damages are inevitable and very hard to find a single vehicle without any scratches on them.

The car has completed its first two free services.

The Service Breakup:

First Service:

Inspection,Washing and fixing problems if reported.
Cost: Almost Free expect for service charges plus taxes

Second Service:

Change of engine oil,Replacement of Oil filter,Diesel filter and Air Filter.
Wheel alignment and balancing.
Wash and Wax.
Cost: 7k

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by Amyth Prabhakar

Second Service:
Change of engine oil,Replacement of Oil filter,Diesel filter and Air Filter.
Wheel alignment and balancing.
Wash and Wax.
Cost: 7k

Did you move to a K&N Filter (it appears you did seeing the cost)? If you did can your share your experience if there is any noticeable difference after moving to K&N Filter? Did the mileage increase/drop and same with pick-up.

[Amyth Prabhakar]

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

Did you move to a K&N Filter (it appears you did seeing the cost)? If you did can your share your experience if there is any noticeable difference after moving to K&N Filter? Did the mileage increase/drop and same with pick-up.

The first service was at 1000 kilometre mark.

The second was due at 10,000 kilometres or 12 months which ever was earlier.My vehicle had done 10,500 when I left it for second free service.
They charge for all parts that gets replaced and give back the older ones.

Yes, you guessed it right. There is a big check list that they routinely follow.
and the air filter was checked on it for replacement. Since they would have anyway done that, i asked them to replace with a better one. K & N.

These filters improves the air intake and help in better combustion and improves performance.

It has increased the overall power. but i am not sure by how much. As far as mileage is concerned it has just increased by just a kilometre in city, not much difference. and let me tell you, the ride to my office is bumper to bumper traffic and there is very little that these things can do to increase mileage in such conditions. I should consider myself lucky if it allows me to drive in 3rd gear at peak hours.
All these things have made me use the company transport

On highways, yes I see there is a dramatic change. The lag seems to have minimised even more and improved the pick-up, It zoom pasts other vehicles effortlessly. but I hardly see any change in mileage.It has increased by 1-2 km/l. There is not much difference even here.Now I get around 18 km/l with speeds of 100-120 km/h. But on highways I am different driver altogether. I push it to the maximum limit that it can take. you know..." The Man, The Machine The Street Hawk !!!" vroom vroom.....

[Amyth Prabhakar]

Hyundai Verna Fluidic Maintenance check list.

There are 3 free services.

1st free service @ 1000 kms
2nd free service @ 10,000 kms
3rd free service @ 20,000 kms

At present i have completed 14,000 Kilometres.
The next service for the car is scheduled at 20,000 kilometres.

[shinuak]

Originally Posted by Amyth Prabhakar

Improved features on the new 2014 Verna

• Stylish diamond cut alloys.
• New body colors.
• LED daytime running strips and projector head lamps
• Rear LED lights.
• Automatic headlights and vipers.
• Improved ground clearance and stiff suspensions.
• Rear center headrest removed as it was blocking the view in the rear view mirror

Good review Amyth. I had a question for you, since you already own the pre 2014 verna and commented on the new suspension setup. How much of a difference is there in handling and ground clearance. I know I cannot expect fiat/ford handling capabilities. But how does it hold itself together in a highway dash above 130kmph. Is it still nervous and bouncy at those speeds ? Can it be considered something similar to Rapid or at least "near-Rapid" level ?

[Amyth Prabhakar]

The modified seat covers.

The stock beige fabric is still intact underneath the All Black Perforated sporty seat covers.

Front Seats



Height Adjustable drivers seat and Height Adjustable Seat Belts





The Rear Seats and Fold-able Centre Rear Arm Rest









Rear door panel



Adjustable Front Driver's Arm Rest with storage space







Bottle Holders

Provision to hold bottles of various shapes and sizes.







Control Switches on Driver's door panel

ORVM control switch, Auto-down drivers window button,
front and rear passengers window control and lock switches.



Sun Pads.

Contains a small vanity mirror.







Cool Glove Box:

Sorry, This is neither a refrigerator nor a freezer. It just circulates the AC and keeps things cool in there. Not that effective though.

[Amyth Prabhakar]

Originally Posted by shinuak

Good review Amyth. I had a question for you, since you already own the pre 2014 verna and commented on the new suspension setup. How much of a difference is there in handling and ground clearance. I know I cannot expect fiat/ford handling capabilities. But how does it hold itself together in a highway dash above 130kmph. Is it still nervous and bouncy at those speeds ? Can it be considered something similar to Rapid or at least "near-Rapid" level ?

Hyundai seems to have taken the negative feedback seriously and have done a pretty good job on 2014 Verna I must say. The differences could be clearly felt after driving the 2014 edition.The ground clearance has become slightly noticeable when juxtaposed with the earlier version. Definitely the high speed dynamics, stability and bad road handling capabilities have improved. You will instantaneously know this especially if you have driven the older fluidic verna.
But if you come from a Vento, Rapid background I there is still some scope for improvement in Verna 2014.

[azhar915]

Originally Posted by Amyth Prabhakar

The modified seat covers.

The stock beige fabric is still intact underneath the All Black Perforated sporty seat covers.

Amyth, could you please let me know the price of these and place where you got the seat covers installed?
Also, don't we get the rear headrest covers as part of the set?