Hyundai Grand i10 Asta(O) 1.2L:Initial Ownership Review

The opinions here are not intended to offend anyone or tarnish another car brand. These are my views and opinions. I hope this review makes a prospective buyer’s decision a little easier, to go in for the Grand i10 or to choose another car. Also, hope to share thoughts and opinions with existing owners. I have tried my best to cover the good and the bad as best as I could. Feel free to raise an argument or share your thoughts. Please excuse amateur errors.

Background

I turned 21 a while back. Just got through with college, planning to start a new job. My trusted 4 wheeled companion for the last 3 years was a hand me down black Santro Xing. I learned driving in it, and it was around for a lot of firsts in life. It was my first car!

My plans for higher studies have been put on hold by me for the time being. My dad has been sort of thinking about getting me a new car eventually and I was thrilled. I imagined it would happen in due time. At one point, he was thinking a new Santro or Eon. I didn’t mind which car it was, as long as it was new.
In February, the Santro completed 132k kms with us, the last 20k kms was completely under me. I did pitch the idea of a used car to my dad. Looked up i20’s in the budget of 3-3.5L. I really feel pre-owned is terrific value for money. I have no qualms of driving a pre-owned car. Went overboard and thought about Civics also, in the given price range. But, my dad said no to pre-owned. He agreed that, it’s a great value proposition but if it turns out to be a lemon he didn’t have the time or patience to deal with it. Maybe sometime down the line I’d definitely consider going down the pre-owned route. 

Felt really bad, the day I handed the Santro, which was the same day the new car came. The driving position and the ease of ingress/egress was great in the Santro. I felt it had a really comfortable driver seating position. I got really used to the pick up at low city speeds. It’s really zippy. Used to whizz past everyone till 50-60 and then watch them zoom past after that. This peppiness and zip was something I missed in the new cars I test drove.

This new car was to replace my Santro, it was going to be ‘my’ car. It had to be a hatch. I though of spending not more than 5.5-6L. My yearly running is probably 6000 kms a year, which may reduce further. Petrol it had to be. I’ve wanted an i20 since forever. I really thought my new car was going to be an i20 Sportz. I have blind faith in Hyundai. My Santro has been very very reliable. It did not miss a beat in its life. I learned how to drive as a teenager and drove like a maniac. It’s seen its share of abuse and stood strong. And, It did not rattle at all. Even I wondered how it was possible. Service at Safdarjung Hyundai was impeccable. Used to see them once a year for routine service, they really took good care of my car and me. We got all the routine work done with them (clutch replacement, new ac compressor etc). My dad and I didn’t mind paying the extra bit for getting it fixed up at the ASS for complete peace of mind. I imagine whoever bought it is very lucky. Mechanically the car was sound, it had a lot of life left in it. Cosmetically needed some work. But it was time to move on. I wasn’t happy driving it anymore.

In mid-March, on a Sunday afternoon I told dad let’s go test drive the Grand i10. And so we went and I was bowled over by the smoothness of the car and the ride. Was a big improvement over the Santro and even the i10 in almost every way. Himgiri Hyundai gave a test drive in a car with the odo disconnected and I felt the car was really really slow and wasn’t responding. Was majorly dissapointed on that front. Test drive of i20 was not available that day. Discussed the prices of the Grand i10 Sportz and i20 Sportz and offers running on them and left. i20 had some 30k worth of benefits and the Grand i10 had none. No discount. At this point I had my heart on The i20 Sportz. My dad was of the opinion that if they share the same engine, and considering I have no use for the extra space, the Grand would suit me better. He didn’t see much value in the 70k difference between the Grand i10 and i20 Sportz variants respectively (1L on paper). I knew he was right and it made eminent sense but didn’t admit it openly. I did not like the way the Grand i10 looked, it’s just a dolled up i10. It’s to small etc etc. I just let it be at that and discussion of a new car was opened and closed the very same day.

In the following 2 weeks I spent much of my time reading and re-reading official Team-BHP reviews and ownership reviews from fellow members. Was specifically seriously considering only the Swift, Grand i10 and i20. I did not want to exceed 6 lakhs. I think more than that is an awful lot of money for a hatch. In the last 6-8 years, all car prices have gradually moved up into the next segment. 7 lakhs could get you a Honda City in 2006. One day I was day dreaming and wishing I was in the era of the Astra, Lancer, Cielo and type 1 Honda City when cars were downright good looking and I had 6 lakhs to spend. Sigh… 
I briefly considered the Amaze and Xcent, the top models were out of my mental budget, and the lower trims didn’t have the kit I wanted. Plus,a fully loaded hatch meant more to me than a mid model compact sedan. Damn what society thinks. I don’t get compact sedans at all. A sedan to me is something which is at least the length of a Honda City IMO. Also, I had no need for better rear passenger comfort and a bigger boot.

With no time frame for the new purchase as such. I made a list of my requirements.

Non Negotiable (In no particular order)
1. ABS
2. Driver Airbag
3. Reasonable Performance
4. Good ride quality and comfortable car 
5. Factory fitted music system
5. After sales service
6. Resale (In case I leave for higher studies within a couple of years) 
7. Reasonable feature list. No aftermarket fitments

Negotiable 
1. Rear passenger space
2. Boot space
3. Fuel Economy
4. I was not looking specifically at driving dynamics, there is only so much a 1.2L car can do. It was going to be a city car, may never see the highway. 
5. Bluetooth and Climate control and some more extras which I am not used to

Expectations
1. To be as reliable as my Santro was
2. Fill it and forget it
3. To never see the service center apart from scheduled service once a year

The Contenders:
A few months prior to March,had you asked me what my next car would be, I would have said either a grey i20 Sportz or a black Swift Zxi without batting an eyelid. I was swinging between these two cars in my head. 

Volkswagen Polo- My dad did tell me to check out the Polo. I gave it a pass. The only Polo’s I like are the GT twins which were way out of my budget. I would never be able to digest paying 6 lakhs and have a 3 pot petrol motor under the hood making a racket. I do like the Polo, it has nice interiors, amazing build quality and looks good too. My dad and I test drove the Polo 1.6 in 2011 before we bought our Honda City, it was bloody good. I somehow didn’t feel the Polo was the car for me. Also, a refresh was expected soon. In my friends circle there are a few Skodas and Volkswagens and they are extremely thrilled with them. I have a very high opinion of Skoda’s and Volkswagens. 

Fiat Punto-I have never experienced a Punto. I have read a lot about its handling, tank like build and characteristics. I don’t think the petrol one is the one to go for. There were good discounts running. Did not want to experiment with a Fiat. No doubt I do regard it as a great car and quite a looker. 

Ford Figo-Two of my best friends own Figo’s. One’s a diesel and one’s a petrol. I have driven both of them extensively. No complaints as such but no major compliments also from my side. Pretty decently loaded and competitively priced. It’s been around a while. Wanted to get something new.

Maruti Ritz-Well priced. But I find the car a little adult-ish. Plus, If I was buying a Maruti I would pay a bit more and get the Swift only.

Maruti Swift-I have regarded the Swift to be the ultimate car in the segment. I had a friend’s 2012 Swift Zdi for a couple of days a year back and I knew this had to be my next car. Among my friends there is a 2012 Zdi and Vdi and a 2006 Zxi. Great cars to drive. I ruled out the Vxi, it was too barebones.
On critical examination, I got horribly put off with the black plasticy interiors, the tiny boot. I sat in the back one day from Gurgaon to Connaught Place and back one day and it was horribly claustrophobic at the back. As a drivers car it’s great, no doubt. But as an overall vehicle I felt it was lacking. And the rattles oh my god, a two year old car rattled so much. Icing on the cake was my friend with the Vdi said (also the owner of a Toyota and Hyundai) told me to go for a Hyundai eyes closed. Thus, with a heavy heart the Swift was dismissed. I was willing to overlook some of the cons but couldn’t ignore a few. Also, it is way too common and a refresh was expected soon. The Zxi was priced about 25k more than the Grand top model ex showroom which wasn’t an issue as such but it broke my 6L barrier.

Honda Brio-I have driven a Brio a bit, very nice car to drive. Honda badge. Our experience with Honda has been great. But, I don’t like the way it looks from the back. I couldn’t imagine that rear growing on me anytime soon.

Hyundai i20-I thought, now that the Swift is out. It’s going to be an i20 yaay! It doesn’t come in black. That’s okay I guess. Read lots of ownership reviews. Reviews praised the CRDI a lot. The Petrol had some shortcomings. It was underpowered for the weight it had to lug around. The suspension and steering have been criticized a lot. I thought and thought and thought and wishfully imagined all this is fine,no problem, I have matured behind the wheel I don’t even want to drive fast, I am not going to drive on the highway etc. I was wondering if I could stretch and get the Asta. hmmm. I was being an idiot. Came back to reality, and remembered what my dad said, if the engine is the same just get the Grand, its a newer car. This was true,the i20 in its current avatar is a generation behind the Grand. An update was expected soon. And I didn’t want to regret buying a car which people would call under powered or get updated in a few months time. 
What I concluded from various posts and threads was, the Grand i10 is better in petrol and i20 is better in diesel.
This thread helped: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/hatchb…10-vs-i20.html (Hyundai: Grand i10 vs i20)

Hyundai Grand i10-It was a full circle. Started and came back to the Grand at the end. I wasn’t willing to accept it but everything was pointing towards it. It suited my requirements to a T.

The new car was on the back burner. In the last few days of March, my Santro had three punctures in a row. I was in desperate need of new tires. I conveyed the same thing to dad, and he said just go asap and book the Grand i10 Sportz. Hurry and get it over with. This was the 28th of March. Took two of my friends C & P, and landed up at Safdarjung Hyundai at 11 am. Asked about the offers, was told there was none. No exchange bonus nothing for the Grand i10. Took a nice long test drive. Drove it on side roads, slip roads, bad roads and the NH-8. The test drive vehicle was a Sportz model which was nice. Got a hands on feel of the mid variant. It felt good, it drove well. It seemed so much better than my previous test drive at Himgiri. Made my friends drive it. They had a good feedback too. Went and discussed the pricing, delivery time, booking amount etc. As of that day, a car not in stock could be ordered from Chennai in 8-9 days. Cool. Thanked the Sales person and left. I was really confused about the model to go for.

Model/Variant
This was the first time I was experiencing the Sportz. I knew it wouldn’t have airbags and ABS. What really upset me was, it was missing steering mounted controls and bluetooth. I looked carefully at the specs sheet, it didn’t even have a rear defogger. I had happily assumed the i20 Sportz and Grand i10 Sportz are somewhat comparable in terms of features. I personally didn’t find the Grand i10 Sportz to be good value for money. The only vfm models to me looked like the Magna and the Asta(O). Went home and had a talk with dad and Asta(O) it was going to be. My mom and dad didn’t really value alloy wheels and bluetooth as much as abs and airbags. 

Negotiations and Booking
The next day (29th March), I went with my friend C to discuss the pricing in all seriousness and perhaps book too. I was open to Grey or Black, and at my moms insistence consider wine red also. I was trying to get a deal, considering it was the end of the financial year and I’d buy it immediately. My sales guy said, it wasn’t possible and they don’t have the colours in stock. Got my Santro evaluated, got some discount on the new car and free seat covers. Went to Himgiri Hyundai, they couldn’t match  the quote for neither the new car nor the old one. 
Went with mom,dad and brother in tow the next day (30th March) back to Safdarjang, showed them the Grand i10 and the car was booked. Within 3 days the decision was made and car booked. Booking amount was Rs 10,000. Magically, the estimated time of delivery went from 8-9 days to 19 days, ie- 18th April. 
I asked for a number. Not a fancy number, like a decent normal one. Was politely refused, they said its become very difficult now. But out of sheer luck I presume, I did get a decent number. Also, wanted to transfer my 50% NCB to the new car, I was told ‘haan ho jayega’. More on the insurance later.

Dealership Experience
Dealership experience was flawless. It was a pleasure dealing with Safdarjang Hyundai. Special mention to my SA Manish. Gem of a guy. My first car buying experience was a great one, thanks to him. I would give the dealership a well deserved 10/10. Very big showroom, very good service facility. The first day I probably didn’t seem like a serious customer but a lot of care was given and I was attended to promptly and was offered a test drive. 

Price
Ex-showroom (Metallic)- Rs 542,605
RTO (Gurgaon Registration)- Rs 17,583
Logistics & Handling- Rs 6,990
Basic Kit-Rs 1,455
Insurance(with Zero Dep)- Rs 20,498

Total On Road- Rs 5,89,131

Less (Discount)- Rs 13,633

Net-Rs 5,75,498/-
Freebies- Art Leather Seat Covers worth 6,000

The Wait and Delivery
What was initially a 19 day wait, turned into 27 days. It was a big lesson in patience! My heart goes out to all the prospective Ecosport and New City owners. 
It was quite a bad time for me, I was preparing for my final exams and had presentations of projects and stuff. I was quite busy. I had completely forgotten about the car.
The car was supposed to reach the dealer on 18th April. It was delayed a few days. It landed at the dealer’s yard on Wednesday, the 23rd. Saturday morning I went with dad and got a draft made. Cheque wouldn’t do as it would have to clear first. Was hell bent on taking the car by Sunday latest. Went over on Saturday afternoon with my younger brother to see the car,and to do a small PDI and hand over the payment and the Santro. Reached the showroom, suddenly I ask Manish (my SA), can you give the car today. And he was like yes!! Quickly called dad, and asked if he minded taking delivery that day being a Saturday. I, myself don’t believe in all these superstitions. He was half-cool about it, he said it’s your car you can take it. So immediately my car was summoned from the yard. It came wrapped in the white sheets. Was washed, polished and prepped for delivery and seat covers were put. 
While this was going on, I examined the car with my brother. It had 19 kms on the odometer.The VIN number said it was an April manufactured car. Made sure to hand over the payment only after confirming that. Very last minute I know, but sadly didn’t get time before this to do the PDI.
Formalities were completed, dad came and signed. They framed and gave a picture of the handover and a box of sweets. They provided 3 litres of petrol and it supposedly had 2 liters already. The needle was still way beyond E. A quick demo of the car’s features was given. And I took off. Almost a month after making the booking. Straight to a fuel bunk and then home.
Early next morning, all 4 of us went to a Kali Baari and had the puja done and went out for a South Indian breakfast after that.

Service Schedule

First Service within 2 months. First Service is just a wash and general check up I believe

Second Service after 1 year or 10,000 whichever is earlier

Similarly, third Service after 2 years or 20,000 

Insurance
As mentioned, I was quite busy the 7-10 days leading up to the date of delivery, I couldn’t follow up with them about transferring my 50% NCB. At the time of booking they promised it would be taken care off. Then, it came my mind quite late that let me clarify about insurance. It seemed like either people don’t know about transferring insurance or they pretend not to know. I dunno.
After numerous phone calls, with the dealers insurance guy and my existing insurance company; HDFC ERGO I figured out the scene. I would have to go personally to the insurers branch office with the sale forms. Submit copies of Form 28,29,30 and provide a request letter for a certificate of NCB. This is necessary for transferring insurance. And it takes some 3-4 working days to process.
That would be cool, except my old car wasn’t sold yet. And I couldn’t sell it, I needed a car till the new one came. And, since I’d be selling it to Hyundai itself, we’d be signing on blank Forms 28,29,30. Till the car is sold to a party, I’l be stuck. It was not the dealers fault, it was a small lapse on my part too. I couldn’t have given up the old car sooner. 
Anyway, long story short, paid the full premium for the first year. I am after the guy to give me copies of Form 28,29,30. It’s been a month. It’s a fairly reasonable request no? I want to get the NCB certificate so that I don’t make the same mistake with our next car purchase which is in a few months. I’m going to go sit on their head when I go for the first service.
I will be using the Santro’s NCB on our Aveo replacement a little later this year, and I will use the Aveo’s NCB at the time of the Grand’s insurance renewal in the second year. Once bitten twice shy!
Do take care of these formalities in case you plan to transfer your NCB. You will save a packet if you transfer, and why shouldn’t you? You’ve earned the NCB. Noone is going to advise you to transfer the NCB, the higher premium you pay the more is the agents commission.

Second Thoughts
While waiting for delivery, I realised the official team-bhp review doesn’t run into as many pages as some other cars do. Is the car not as popular as the others? I read a couple of thread from page 1 to the last and all the -ve points caught my eye. Then a couple of posts about battery draining issues came up. People do criticise Hyundai’s a lot. I read opinions insisting that Grand i10 is from a segment below and doesn’t deserve to be in the Swift segment as it is too tiny. Beyond a point, I shut my eyes and ears and decided to wait and pen down my own opinions in due time. I was hoping like hell and praying I’ve made the right choice. Then, I started seeing a lot of Grand i10’s. Lots and lots of Sportz on the road,quite a few Asta’s and Asta(O)’s. Thank you universe. Faith was somewhat restored.

Initial Impressions
I’ve had the car for a month and have covered 700 kms. In the initial days, I turned an imaginary key by force of habit instead of pushing the button to start. After the first couple of hundred kilometres, the car felt much much better than it did on day 1. Low end is bad, it’s matter of getting used to.It’s only once you hit 2k RPM that it actually feels like you are accelerating. I am religiously following 2.5k RPM limit till the first 1000kms. The highest speed I’ve hit is a 90. It doesn’t pull up my apartments basement ramp in second as easily as my Santro did, also couldn’t climb Ambience mall’s ramp in second, had to shift to first. The size is actually good, I’m appreciating it very much. And, it is spacious enough on the inside. It’s well equipped, I’ve got quite used to the toys. I am very comfortable driving it now. New car jitters have gone. I took it for a drive from home till the Faridabad toll and back, to test the car on the curvy hill road. Performed reasonably well. No complaints, not extremely stable but good enough. Steering is bloody light, almost surreal. Brakes have a strong bite, I think I prefer them this way. It takes a bit to get the hang of it, they bite without pressing the pedal too much. Suspension and ride quality is good, was pleasantly surprised. AC is good. The rear vent does help. Power is adequate. It can go fast-ish if you want it to. Sufficient for city use. Gears are very smooth. As noted, on the day of my first test drive, the controls and pedals are super light. There is some steering feedback and suspension isn’t as bouncy as the i20 and the i10. I think Hyundai have taken a few steps in the right direction. There is some room for improvement in terms of dynamics. Build quality is good. The door shuts with a bit of a thud. Insulation is top class. The engine is silent, you have to look at the tach to know if the damn thing is on or not. Interiors are cheerful. Fit and finish is great! There is sufficient space at the rear.
The mirrors folding in and out when you lock/unlock is a small show in itself. The button start really really fascinates people.The key-less entry request button had two friends ask me if it’s a finger print sensor on the door. Haahaa. Another friend asked me, when did this car ‘Asta’ come out. 

Fuel economy
It’s a bit early to write about this. Back of my head rough calculations say 12-13 kms to a litre. This was my first tank up. This is with AC and not the most fuel efficient usage pattern. Very short drives of a couple of kms each time. I think it can do a little better. Will confirm in a few weeks time.

Equipment, Features and Toys

• Keyless Entry, is superb. It is pure key-less entry. The key fob is of good quality. I’m glad it doesn’t have those rubber buttons, not that you need to use the buttons on the key fob. The pure key-less system extends to the the boot as well. You need to press the button on the tailgate with the key in your pocket. Only the rear hatch will unlock and lock itself after its closed.

• There is a key inside reminder buzzer. Now,I am in the habit of not taking out the key fob from my pocket at all. I discovered, if you step out of the car and forget to turn the engine off (lol), it beeps. Also, if you switch off the engine and one of the windows has not been rolled up, it will buzz
• Car locks itself after 30-45 seconds if the key is out of range.Thank god, won’t have security guards coming to my house in the middle of the night anymore to tell me,”sir you forgot to lock your car”.
• Push button start is a nice touch. I miss turning a key. If you press it once music system comes on. Pressing it twice will switch on the blower. A third time will switch it off. Pressing it with the clutch will start the engine, pressing it again will switch it off. Only complain I have with this system is, if I’m waiting to pick up someone and I want to switch the engine off and keep the music running I can’t do it. Can’t switch off the car without interrupting the music. Car will have to be switched off and restarted in accessory mode for music to play. Ditto at long traffic lights.

• Bluetooth works like a charm, I do not know how I’ve lived without this till now. Once you get used to it, it’s very hard to drive without it. Usually I would make a phone call before I start the car. Now, I start the car and then I make a call. It copies your last called history. You can call your last dialed or received number without taking your hand off the steering wheel but you can’t scroll through your recent call history using the buttons on the wheel. You have to scroll using the music system’s knob. If you want to dial someone you haven’t called in a while you will have to take your phone out. I wish there was a way to compile a favourites contacts list or something within the system.

The bluetooth mic

• Music system is decent, sounds quite good to me. I have the option of bluetooth streaming, USB, CD, AUX and 1GB of on-board storage. The system screen shows the date,time and day. Front speakers are good. Not mindblowing but decent good clear sound. The bass as the front is good too! Rear speakers have little to no bass. 4 speakers are provided, tweeters could have been provided too.You can scroll the music files in the same folder from the steering controls, but you can’t scroll folders from it. I have plugged in a tiny 8 GB pen drive with some 300 songs in 5 folders and I have it playing on ‘all folders’ random.

This is the screen it shows when the system is off

• Interiors are cheerful. Cabin is well insulated. With music on,even at low to medium volume, you won’t be able to hear what’s going on outside. Quality is great. Starting from wiper stalks to the steering wheel itself. No shortcuts taken by Hyundai on the quality front. Doors feel reasonably heavy-ish and close with a soft thud.
• The chrome on the gear lever gets very very hot in the sun.

• Steering controls are nice, puts everything at your finger tips. There are so many buttons. Initially it seems cluttered, but you’l get used to avoiding them while taking u-turns and all. I don’t like that you have to stretch a bit to use the horn.
• The leatherette covered steering on the Asta & Asta(O) is nice

The steering has nice contours and is nice to hold. The buttons are big

• The blue backlighting is nice. All the buttons light up at night, its quite cool. You can switch off the display on the music system if you find it distracting at night.

• A light flick of the indicator stalk will flash the indicators 3 times for lane changing. Flicking the left stalk upward will wipe once.

• Rear AC vent does help when you have people at the back. I keep it off otherwise.The car has a cooled glovebox, yet to see how useful it is.
• There are two power outlets, one in the front beside the USB & aux port and one below the rear AC vent

You can control the airflow and direction. It can be switched off altogether

• ABS and EBD and airbags. Safety comes first.
• Love the design and finish of the alloys, the clean silver looks very plain jane to me now. Suits the colour of the car. The spare wheel is not an alloy. Tires provided on my car are Goodyears. They are okay, I didn’t see any point in changing them. Wish 175 patch was provided.
• Rear wipers is a good thing to have, It has rained a few times
• Rear seat is a nice place to be in. Decent leg room, an ac vent. Window sill is at a good height. Not very claustrophobic. Rear passengers get adjustable headrests. Rear seat is not wide. Probably 2 people can sit in comfort, 3rd would be a squeeze. The  tunnel is not intrusive at all. Rear seat is not a split folding one.

• It comes with height adjustable drivers seat and tilt steering. The height adjustable seat is good for shorter drivers because the dashboard is quite high. At the same time the height adjustable feature is redundant for people who are taller than 5’8. More on this down below.
• The parking sensor is not a visual one. It’s a basic buzzer type. There are three types of buzzes it emits depending on how close the rear obstacle is. It works for me. Some people may find one with a distance indicator to be more helpful.
• It gets two trip meters, a engine run time,average speed and a very annoying gear shift indicator. There is no distance to empty and average fuel consumption.

• There are three ways to lock/unlock the car. Locking/unlocking the drivers door or the co-passenger door or pressing the lock button on the drivers panel all function the same way. The hatch is connected to the central locking system. Have to unlock the doors at malls, for them to open the boot. The fuel lid is accessed by a lever, it isn’t connected to the central locking system. When the car is switched off, the doors unlock but not vice versa. Wish auto-lock was there.
• The drivers window is auto down. Might as well have given auto up also.

The controls for the mirrors, windows and lock/unlock

• The glove compartment is big. Can fit a DSLR. I keep my wallet and phone in the cubby hole in front of the gear or next to the handbreak. The door pockets provide decent room.

That’s circular thing right there, is what you need to twist to switch on/off the air for the cooled glove box.

• Everytime my car cleaner cleans the car, the mirrors are obviously closed. There’s always dirt between the mirror and the door which he can’t reach or see. I have to keep a cloth in the car and clean this myself.
• The auto folding mirrors when you lock/unlock the car is quite cool.

• Blower gets kind of loud on 3 and 4, but I drown it with music. Summers is murder for a black car and black art leather seat covers. So far I am managing okay. Drive with all 4 windows down for 3-4 minutes with blower on 4. Then put windows up and ac on, on 4 then 3 then 2.So far AC is coping well in 38-40 degrees.
• Visibility is good, have a good view of whats happening around you from the drivers seat. No blind spots as such. I use all three mirrors. Outside Mirrors provide a good field of view. They are electronically adjustable and retractable. The rear view mirror also give a good field of vision. It has a night/day adjustment

• The rear seat belts can be tucked into slots when not in use to prevent them from swinging and rattling. Thoughtful touch.

• Boot is a very usable 256 litres. There is a light in the boot.

• There’s a master switch in the fusebox.

Exterior Design

• I prefer the subdued toned down front look of the Grand i10 over the i20. No I am not a fan of DRL’s. I am glad they haven’t made it to the Grand i10 yet.

• Can be mistaken for an Eon from the front

• The car looks good from the side, the rear is much better looking than the front. The rear three quarters is the best way to see the car. I like the lines, and it’s well proportioned.

• Probably won’t win any beauty contest, but it’s looks and the big strange eyes and smiley happy face have grown on me.

• When I see the car parked next to a Santro Xing, Brio, Swift, Ritz and Figo from a few floors up. It’s a little bigger dimensionally than the Santro and Brio.Looked pobably same size as the Ritz. and a little narrower and shorter than Swift and Figo. In spite of this, Hyundai has made optimum use of available space.

• Build quality is good, it surpassed my expectations. It is no polo, but it is no tin can either. For some reason I find it better built together than a 3rd gen Honda City.

• Panel gaps seem even. Paint quality appears to be good.

• It wears it’s antenna towards the rear. It looks smarter.

• I am not a fan of the reflectors in the rear bumper. And I don’t particularly like the silver bits on the fog lights

• I find chrome door handles very very tacky and out of place on a car of this segment and price. The Sportz variant hasn’t been spared either

• Spoiler looks smart.The roof rail isn’t very noticeable on a black car.

• Ground clearance is a wee bit less than the Santro, but no issues faced. The Santro Xing stood a little taller than the Gi10

The Drive

• Motor is good, reasonably powerful. It is no slouch but wish it had more power. Seems to be fuel efficient if driven carefully with a light foot
• I’ve got used to the light steering, I miss it in other cars now.
• Turning radius is average for the segment.
• Initial start from a traffic light is slow, once you cross 2k rpm in second you can gun it. Bottom end is poor.
• At city speeds it’s a great performer. I haven’t exactly ventured on to the highway but on test drives at a 100 it seemed reasonably stable.
• I have taken gentle sweeping curves on the Faridabad highway a little beyond TERI at 80, it wasn’t great but its wasn’t very bad also. Hyundai have definitely taken some steps in the right direction. I felt reasonably confident. It’s only at this point that you miss a heavier steering. You have to keep a firm hand on the wheel.
• The suspension is more comfort oriented. The ride is good. I’m okay with the trade-off.
• There is a slight dip in power when the ac compressor is running, though not as apparent as it was in the Santro Xing.
• Tank capacity is 43 litres. Gives it a good range.
• It doesn’t have rear discs, in spite of this the brakes feel really good to me.
• Clutch and gear engagement is butter smooth.
• There is a bit of body roll. A little on the higher side in my opinion.

The Good
Safety features
Equipment 
Great engine
Great ride 
Good looking
Comfortable
Service backup
Upto 4 years warranty

The Bad
Narrow tires
Rear speakers
Fixed driver seat head rest 
No dead pedal
Horn 
No Auto Lock
Initial pick up
Reported battery drain issues


The Ugly

The height adjustment lever is an ergonomics failure. One day my mom borrowed my car and later I was going to lower the seat for myself and I realised it’s better to do it with the driver door open.There’s not a lot of space between the lever and the door. If you share your car, its annoying I would imagine.

Dead pedal and adjustable head rests are missing in the front. Even the Santro had them. I love how the front seat headrests are not ajustable but the rear ones are. If they were planning on giving fixed head rests, the least they could have done is provided taller ones like on the Etios Liva. 

In other cars like the Honda City, when you raise the seat the entire thing rises with the backrest and the headrest and all. In the Grand i10 only the seat base rises. The height adjustable seat is almost redundant for me, I can choose to sit high and have no support behind my head or sit low and have support behind my head. I am 5’8. Also, It took me a while to find a comfortable driving position for myself. 

The MID is a joke. I don’t care what the engine run time is or be told which gear I should be. I’d prefer a outside temperature, average fuel consumption and range!

The doors unlock on its own when the car is turned off. How hard could it be to have it to auto lock when it is started ?

In the Middle
Driving dynamics

An optional sunroof would have been nice.

Climate control could have been offered on the top model.

The flap opening closing cubby hole in front of the gear in the Xcent could have been given on the Grand i10 also. 

Issues
From day 1, I have to keep the steering tilted slightly to the left to go straight.Very very slightly. You can make this out at speed. It’s a little off centre. Is it normal? Or is its just been aligned with the steering off centre. Shall get this checked at the first service.