[kisharchit]

Firstly, this is not the new Grand i10 but the older version.


Little History Class:


Let's get the introduction out of the way: I am Archit and I used to live in Bangkok, Thailand until July 17, 2013 where I moved to Delhi or Noida to be more specific for college and those who know me from before through Facebook or other forums will clearly remember that I had a Honda Civic in Bangkok.

It was just not the regular civic available in India. Mine had the 2.0 liter engine as opposed to the 1.8 liter engine available here. It had 155 bhp with roughly 200 nm of torque. It was pretty fast and I had learnt driving on it hence it had(still has) a very special place in my heart. The car is sold now because my parents also moved here.




As pictured above, that is my darling baby. But I had to leave it when I moved here. My parents were still there so they took care of it and I was not worried since my dad and now to a certain extent my mom too are somewhat petrolheads and they do take care of their rides.

[kisharchit]

How did this car make an entry to my life?

Little do people know, this car was always here in Delhi but was always overshadowed by its bigger garage mate, our grey 2010 December Toyota Innova V 8 seater.




This was our primary vehicle to roam around in. My uncle (chachaji) and his family used live in Delhi before hence they bought the Innova. This i10 was bought for my aunt to go to the nearby shops or drop the kids to school. The Innova was a great vehicle and I already knew it since dad had an Innova for himself in Bangkok too. My uncle used it fairly well and better part was that he maintained it superbly.

But twist of the tale, my uncle decided to move back to China (he lived there before he moved to India) and only my grandparents were to live here. Just for two old people, an Innova is too much so it was decided it had to go. Everyone was in favor of the i10 to go. But since my uncle bought an Audi Q5 4.0 TFSI in China (), he needed some of the investment back by selling the Innova.

So it was decided. We sold the Innova for just 8.5 lacs and it had only 43,000 kms on the odometer before we sold it. Now we realize what a big mistake it was to sell it for so cheap now we are in the market to buy a used Innova again.

Thus the only car in the house was left was this Hyundai i10 1.2 Automatic and this became my drive here in Delhi.

[kisharchit]

Now the focus on the car:

This car was bought for my aunty primarily for her errand runs. So the decision was firm that it had to be an automatic car. Now my uncle is a person who gets influenced rather easily. When he asked around which car is available in the hatchback segment that is automatic, his friends who themselves drive Hyundais just recommended the i10 Auto so thus my uncle just booked it in red. It was a surprise gift from my Chacha to my Chachi.

So this car: Hyundai i10 1.2 Sportz Auto cost us 4.8 lacs on road. Booked and Bought from Malwa Hyundai
extra 20K for the accessories which are the GPS system and the reverse sensors.

The car itself isn't so bad as it seems at first. Yes I do feel very cramped in it compared to the Innova and the Civic. And do pardon me for this but comparisons will occur between the i10 and the Innova and the Civic.

Let's start up front:



To me, it looks rather decent from all corners. I only dislike those black straps that my driver has added for some superstitious thing. In the pic above its raised up since the pic is taken right after a drive. Normally its hanging from the grille downwards. I would actually call it handsome looking actually though for me the best looking hatch has to be the VW Polo.

The rear is also decent looking albeit a little to straight back end but its alright. I like the big rear glass and the fact that it comes with a rear wiper and a rear reflector on the bumpers, very helpful for foggy and rainy occasions. The roofline is little high for a hatchback though I think its only me who feels like that after coming from a Civic which is incredibly low roofline.

[kisharchit]

The Interiors:

The interior design is quite plain. The steering is quite plain though maybe this is not the top end model. The plain steering is quite large I feel compared to the Innova and the Civic, though I must say the Civic has the best steering feel of the trio.

Build quality is good though. Much better than the Santro but worse I would say than a Polo. The indicator stalks and wiper stalks do feel that they belong to a hatchback but still I would rate it better than other hatchbacks. The Air Con controls feel solid too except the circulation modes which feels tad cheap.

Ingress and egress is fairly good in the car. The doors open quite wide and the windows are big for a bright interior. My maid feels much more at ease in the i10 than the last row of the Innova. :P Cubby holes do exist and there is one under the air con controls, one on either side of the handbrake, one glove box(which is small), two cupholders in front of the hand brake, and only two doorpockets in the whole car which are in the front two doors. Boot space is quite small. Here I feel Polo is quite good.

Though I would feel Hyundai has skimped on the quality of electricals used in the car. In 3 years roughly, the left power window switch has packed up. The dashboard charging point has fused. Electric power mirror adjustment had failed once. I mean come on these are things used daily basis, how can it just stop working...



The speedometer, tachometer and the dials are very clear and easy to read and the gear indicator is quite clear too.



The seats are hard but can accomodate a decent sized person in the front and that reduces the space in the back and make it tight for legroom. The fixed headrests are also quite annoying after coming from the Innova and the Civic.



The little car is packed with decent features I must confess. It has USB, AUX, all 4 windows have power up and down, electric adjust for mirrors and a rear wiper.

[kisharchit]

The Drive:

Coming to the drive, I feel the engine is really decent one at that. As mentioned before, the gearbox is just plain horrible. If this engine had a better automatic gearbox, the car's performance can seriously utilized because the engine is not slow. The gearbox makes it slow. This engine is best at home between 2000-3000 RPM because it has the most accessible torque in that part of the powerband. Bottom end is also quite usable in stop start traffic. Worst part of this engine is the top end of the power band. It is buzzy, noisy, and yet does not generate that much acceleration. This car is made for the sedate driver and not the hurried one. An overtaking maneuver also takes some planning and quite a lot of time. It will cruise all day at 70-80 but get above that and it struggles to maintain a bearable NVH level. It is a difficult change from the Innova which used to cruise at 100-120 all day and the Civic which was capable of much more.

The handling of the car is nothing to write much about. Being a tallboy, body roll does exist and steering has no absolute feedback. Plus the big steering does not aid in quick maneuvering or direction change. I have to brake much more before taking a corner in this i10 than I have to in my cousin's Santro. I would rate Santro much higher than i10 in steering feedback. The puny 155 section tires also squeel too much and are rather easy to run out of grip. Another reason which means this car is for the sedate driver. The suspension is stiff and ride is very bouncy. Sorry Hyundai but I must confess again, the Santro has a much much better ride that is easily noticeable even to a layman after back to back journeys in each. Just wish the suspension was tad softer because anyways the handling is not great now, might as well get some comfort for it.



The gearbox is so jerky on downshifts and really shake up the whole car when floored and the gear is flummoxed to choose the right gear. It is jerky on upshifts near the redline and the engine note too on the redline is horrible though being compared to the Civic which is a masterclass at the redline (VTEC Kicked in YO! ). This gearbox really brings this engine down. If it was a 5 speed gearbox, things would have been in a different league altogether but the 4th gear feels to strained above 80-90...


the picture above showing it crossing 10K kms

Kitna Deti Hai?

I get around roughly 10-12 kmpl with 100% AC on. The route comprises from Dwarka to Gurgaon which means its mostly on the NH8. It maintains a constant 80-100 km/h with occasionally going to 120. It is not great but it is still okay and acceptable.

Worst I have ever gotten is a rotten 6 kmpl.

Accessories Installed:
- rear sensors integrated with the IRVM.
- Map My India Navigator (dont know the model)



In conclusion:

This car is really really desirable. It is great VFM i must admit because the price on road came to 4.6 lacs in September 2011. I think it is purely built to be a city run about. It is not meant for petrol heads seeking pleasure behind the wheel. It runs out of breath after 100-110 kph so it is not meant for the highway too.

But it can seat 4 in decent comfort and it is got decent equipment for the price. I think I have a different type of respect for this car. The respect for the Civic was unthinkable. I loved it so much I used to take more care of it than I did of myself. The Innova was respected because it was used so much and it just did its duty without breaking a sweat. This is just living the job the Innova had yet a more difficult one because it is always constant compared to the Innova. But it has created a another space in my heart.

Currently the car is at 16875 kms...

PROS:
-decent styling
-good engine
-good equipment levels
-OEM Stereo is decent
-Switches have long lasting feel.
-Mirrors are very easy to live with.

CONS:
-horrible gearbox lets it down.
-tight space for 3 in the back.
-fixed headrests
-No ABS or Airbags
-Boot is reasonably small
-cheap electronics

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[kisharchit]

Got the battery changed yesterday for the first time. Got it changed to some Exide battery costing us 3200 INR.

was feeling the delay in startup and occasionally flickering of headlights at night. now all fixed.

[kingofmyworld]

LEt me be the first one to congratulate you archit. Congratulations on making it to TBHP and on picking the i20! Hope you have a great time clocking miles in it.

Off topic : You've always asked me to ride down to bangkok on my bike, Now that you are in india, why don't you drive down to hyderabad? :P

[kisharchit]

Originally Posted by kingofmyworld

LEt me be the first one to congratulate you archit. Congratulations on making it to TBHP and on picking the i20! Hope you have a great time clocking miles in it.

Off topic : You've always asked me to ride down to bangkok on my bike, Now that you are in india, why don't you drive down to hyderabad? :P

thank you brother. correction its not the i20 but it is the more humble i10.

OFFTOPIC: Yea man. Unfortunately could not materialize the plan. You can still ride to Delhi.

[blackasta]

Welcome to the i10 AT league.
I feel i10 is THE no nonsense regular commute vehicle one could drive in the city, and AT makes it even better. I have been enjoying my ride for close to 5 years now.
Very few issues, and regular maintenance every 6 months has kept in on road consistently.
Try to upsize the tires to 175/70R13 or 185/60R14 for a better feel of the road and a slightly stiffer steering.
Drive safe !

[kisharchit]

and the car is SOLD! waiting for the next car!