Exter AT vs Fronx Turbo AT: Highway worthiness & driving experience

The AMT that Hyundai has provided in the Exter is not as smooth or fast as I hoped, however, Maruti's TC on the Fronx was sporty enough for me.

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I drove a Fronx Turbo Automatic and Exter Automatic on the Gurgaon Faridabad road. For those not from NCR: The road is a 4-lane one, with good long curves, straights, and speed limits higher than those inside the city. My intent was to check the highway worthiness of the cars and whether either one would make me smile through the driving experience, rather than the features or price.

I know there isn't a direct comparison between the both, but I hope it will provide a good point of reference for what the Exter is really good for.

For reference, I have a 2011 Hyundai i10 1.1L.

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Driving position

Exter's was upright, with a very good view of the surroundings and a visible bonnet. I am 5'10ish and I had raised the seat up to around half of its limit. My left leg wasn't fully happy as the centre console felt a couple of cms wider than it should have been, but not a big issue. The overall position felt good for navigating through the mountains and the cities.

Fronx was more low and sporty in comparison. The steering has telescopic adjustment and I could use it to sit in a relaxed, laid-back position, with my arms in a relaxed position.

Engine

We had chosen the 1.1 engine in the i10 very consciously. In the city, it is a joy, as I love to push small engines around. On the highway, it is too lethargic and made me miss a 1.2. But Exter's 1.2 didn't feel like a satisfactory improvement. I still had to push it more than I expected, even from 40 to 80 kmph. In my i10, which is slower, I could at least enjoy seeing the rpm needle climb, but the fad around digital screens ensured that I didn't have that pleasure either.

The Fronx, on the other hand, felt like it had just enough juice; neither too much that I wouldn't enjoy pushing it, nor too less that I would have to keep pushing it always. The lag is not much, and I felt that I was almost always in the power band or close enough to it at cruising speeds.

Gearbox

Exter's AMT is not as smooth or fast as I had hoped. From my previous test drives of AMTs, I learned to shift up with my foot off the accelerator. But the gearbox was slow in the sense that I needed to lift off for a few more moments than I do when shifting in a manual, which sounds like an obvious thing for AMT users, but now I understand that this takes away from the sportiness, even if you can adapt to it. The paddle shifters were great, but the slow gearbox makes them useless for a sporty drive. Interestingly, I tried to shift through the gears with my foot off completely, both up and down, and then the gear shifts were incredibly smooth. The good part was that you can keep the gearbox in manual mode and drive with one hand; let the downshifts happen on their own, and use the right paddle for upshifts based on your discretion.

The Fronx is another level ahead and most importantly, I enjoyed going through the gears. I have driven Hyundai DCTs, and this TC felt sporty enough for me to notice the difference. The smoothness was acceptable. I also enjoyed the fact that if you lift off the accelerator in the auto mode, there is a decent amount of engine braking as the revvs go down gradually. I did not check this behavior in Exter.

Suspension

Compared to Nios i10, the Exter is much improved. It is softer, but not wobbly soft. The hard edge has gone away considerably. But the Fronx way again way better. I was uncomfortable in the Nios i10, comfortable in the Exter, but relatively oblivious to the road in the Fronx. At high speeds on curvy roads, in the Exter, my right foot was cautious and I braked early before the turns to slow down from my highway cruising speed. I could feel a bit of nervousness when I was close to triple-digit speeds. But in the Fronx, I had to brake only because it was not my car. It felt stable and could take a lot more. This means that on the actual highways and curvy roads, I will have to brake and accelerate significantly less in the Fronx. Both cars did well under a bit of panic braking too.

NVH

Fronx felt much more silent due to higher engine power and more ratios, therefore lower rpms, but the cabin itself felt decently insulated. I couldn't hear the usual horns and autos cluttering about as much as I am used to. There wasn't enough traffic when I drove the Exter, but the engine itself gets relatively more stressed and louder. Both sound ok, but on the highway, I like having a better balance between the music and outside noise. Fronx's tyres are a bit loud though.

Overall

My need is a minimum 50% highway drive. Exter will do the job, but Fronx is significantly more enjoyable, has better dynamics, and is easier to push. Most importantly, if I cruise at 100 kmph in the Fronx, I think I will feel less tired than after cruising in the Exter at 80kmph. The Exter is not fun to push around, whereas the Fronx has all of the basic automotive requirements much more sorted.

In the end, I'll say that the Exter felt like a small, practical, city MPV and the Fronx felt like a sporty crossover that is fairly enjoyable to drive.

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