Truly Earned Car of the Year Award!

Truly Earned Car of the Year Award!

I recently bought myself the Hyundai Grand i10. It was coming to me as an upgrade from the tiny Tata Nano which I had driven for bit more than 2 years. So, I was longing for more power, smoother ride and bucket full of creature comfort. Before zeroing down on the Grand i10 I had test driven almost every car in the segment. After about a month in my research I was clear in my head about what I didn't like in those cars that I test drove. All that was missing in those cars plus what I already had on my mind was found in the Grand i10. It definitely is a great package for the money. For 6.9 lakhs on road (PCMC) I have a car that has a balanced ride quality - not too supple not too sporty. A dashboard with enough buttons to keep the curious kind in me entertained through the rides. A music system that sounds just about right. Space enough to fit in 4 adults comfortably and haul a few mid-size bags. Hyundai's Kappa 1.2 petrol engine is just the right match for this car. Low end torque is so good that I sometimes wonder if it is a diesel engine. It takes no effort to get the car rolling from 0 in the first gear. To top it the gearbox is butter-smooth. Shifts are short and so precise - you can't go wrong slotting into the desired ratio. Clutch is feather light and travel is nominal. I am on the road for a minimum 2.5 hours everyday doing about 60 km on an average and never my left leg felt numb or in discomfort when stuck in traffic. The coolest feature in this car according to me is the key-less entry and exit. To enter the car all you have to do is walk to the door of the car and press the small button on the door handle - car unlocks and the ORVMs open up. While exiting press the same button and the car locks and the ORVMs turn back in. Also, the engine fires up with a push of the button. These are all the things that I like about the Grand i10. Now for the few things that I don't like or I think could have been better because of course no car is perfect... For the same price there are cars that offer automatic climate control but, the Grand i10 doesn't. It's not a deal breaker in any way because the manual controls work just fine for me. But having the luxury of fine tuning the temperature inside the cabin would have been nice. Front seats could have done better with some more lumbar support and side bolstering. Although the body roll is not unnerving I find my torso shifting when I take some tight turns and I sure feel some discomfort (not pain) in the back while driving for longer duration. The stock Asta (O) variant comes only with rear parking sensors that make really annoying sound as you close in to any object while reversing. A simple reverse parking camera with a small LCD screen could have done the job better. On my car I asked the dealer to install a cam and a screen and got rid of the stock system. Now the biggest question ever - What's the fuel economy? My car returns 14 to 15 kmpl which works just fine for me as my Nano returned 18 kmpl in the same driving conditions. I shift gears for every 10 kmph gained. By 50 kmph my car is rolling quitely in 5th gear. Yes, there are times when I am forced to overtake exceptionally slow moving vehicles and I tend to floor the throttle yet, the mileage doesn't drop by much. So, it's quite a competent car. To summarize... Price - 6.9 lacs on road in PCMC Engine - 1.2 liter Power - 82 bhp @ 6000 rpm Torque - 114 Nm @ 4000 rpm Fuel Economy - 14 to 15 kmpl Boot space - 256 liter Fuel Tank - 43 liter Ground Clearance - 165 mm Stand out features - 1) Key less entry and exit with automatic folding ORVMs 2) Push button start 3) Rear AC vents (individual control for left and right side air flow) 4) Separate charging point for rear passengers 5) Glove box cooling 6) Electromagnetic tail gate lock 7) Gear shit indicators to help derive better fuel economy 8) Extensively ergonomic dashboard design