Team-BHP - View Single Post - My mother's new car, i10! (Now 10k service done)

iraghava · 18th April 2008, 20:18

The car's now completed 4000 kms. Yesterday, I had to take it for my first proper long-distance drive in the car (same day 400 kms. round trip). Here's my impression of the same:

1. The A/C is bloody brilliant! Cools in no time & keeps it absolutely chilled. The fan is also pretty quiet. But the cooling is more effective when moving, when standing still with the A/C on, the cabin is not as chilled as I would like. However, given the intensity of the Sunlight in North India these days, a set of light tints is on order for the car & is needed.

2. The engine is pretty peppy & pretty eager to rev atleast till the 4-4.5k rpm mark (Didn't push more as the roads were not the best & didn't want to piss of Mum by raping her new car!). Performance is decent & you can easily maintain a cruising speed of 100-120 kmph.

3. Brakes are very, very good & pretty confidence inspiring.

4. Tyres - This is the first time I got to experience the B250's on a extended drive & on varied surfaces & the verdict is not good. I was extremely unhappy as the road noise from these tyres was very high & the grip too nothing to speak home about. I wouldn't be going for a new set of these tyres when replacing the stock ones but till then have to endure them.

5. Wind Noise - While on a whole the i10 is pretty quiet & comfortable there is quite a bit of road noise when the ORVM's are open. Their big size helps a lot when parking or dirving around what that also does is deflect a lot of wind & create quite a bit of noise especially when you have no ICE in the car

6. Suspension - On a whole has a very comfortable ride but up the pace on bad roads & the ride falls to pieces. The i10 like the Santro has a choppy ride when travelling at speeds on undulating or broken roads & even more so when there are poeple sitting in the back. It feels as if the suspension is running out of travel.

I suspect this is due to the stiffened rear suspension to compensate for the high COG of the tall design.

7. While on the subject of the tall design, I also do suspect that this car is going to have stability issues in strong crosswinds. While I've not been able to test the same but given the Santro's tendency to weave all over the road in crosswinds, I wouldn't be surprised if the i10 shares this fault too.

8. Gearshift - I really started admiring the lever's placement after this drive & realising how naturally the lever falls to place & makes for an intuitive shifting process. But yes, the shift is slightly notchy & does not have the delicacy of the Santro's gearbox.

9. FE - Is always a major thing for my mother (Not much for me!) and she's been very happy with the i10 in this regard. She's consistently returning 15kmpl with A/C which is 1-2 kmpl better than her Santro & this is keeping her quite happy!

Overall, very very satisfied with the car. Will update as the kilometers pile on!

18th April 2008, 20:18	#53 (permalink)
iraghava Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Bhaiyyaland Posts: 7,364	The car's now completed 4000 kms. Yesterday, I had to take it for my first proper long-distance drive in the car (same day 400 kms. round trip). Here's my impression of the same: 1. The A/C is bloody brilliant! Cools in no time & keeps it absolutely chilled. The fan is also pretty quiet. But the cooling is more effective when moving, when standing still with the A/C on, the cabin is not as chilled as I would like. However, given the intensity of the Sunlight in North India these days, a set of light tints is on order for the car & is needed. 2. The engine is pretty peppy & pretty eager to rev atleast till the 4-4.5k rpm mark (Didn't push more as the roads were not the best & didn't want to piss of Mum by raping her new car!). Performance is decent & you can easily maintain a cruising speed of 100-120 kmph. 3. Brakes are very, very good & pretty confidence inspiring. 4. Tyres - This is the first time I got to experience the B250's on a extended drive & on varied surfaces & the verdict is not good. I was extremely unhappy as the road noise from these tyres was very high & the grip too nothing to speak home about. I wouldn't be going for a new set of these tyres when replacing the stock ones but till then have to endure them. 5. Wind Noise - While on a whole the i10 is pretty quiet & comfortable there is quite a bit of road noise when the ORVM's are open. Their big size helps a lot when parking or dirving around what that also does is deflect a lot of wind & create quite a bit of noise especially when you have no ICE in the car 6. Suspension - On a whole has a very comfortable ride but up the pace on bad roads & the ride falls to pieces. The i10 like the Santro has a choppy ride when travelling at speeds on undulating or broken roads & even more so when there are poeple sitting in the back. It feels as if the suspension is running out of travel. I suspect this is due to the stiffened rear suspension to compensate for the high COG of the tall design. 7. While on the subject of the tall design, I also do suspect that this car is going to have stability issues in strong crosswinds. While I've not been able to test the same but given the Santro's tendency to weave all over the road in crosswinds, I wouldn't be surprised if the i10 shares this fault too. 8. Gearshift - I really started admiring the lever's placement after this drive & realising how naturally the lever falls to place & makes for an intuitive shifting process. But yes, the shift is slightly notchy & does not have the delicacy of the Santro's gearbox. 9. FE - Is always a major thing for my mother (Not much for me!) and she's been very happy with the i10 in this regard. She's consistently returning 15kmpl with A/C which is 1-2 kmpl better than her Santro & this is keeping her quite happy! Overall, very very satisfied with the car. Will update as the kilometers pile on! __________________ There is a very fine line between "Hobby" and "Mental Illness".