santro performance on highways and ghats?

[sandeep joshi]

Hi
i am planning my first car and want your comments on performance of santro xing on highways and ghats .

I am going to use the car outside city and only on weekends since my office is hardly 4 kms from my house .
Usage will be for one long drive in 2 months(around 250 kms to my native which consist of 5 ghats of say 100-120 kms) and 2 short drives of 100 kms outside the city in a month.

so for highway and ghats sections how is santro performing in terms of control,stablity,power,driver seat comfort and milage ?

-
Thanks

[carZest]

Sandeep, I own a Santro Xing, and would say:
Control and Stability: very good
Power: amazing fun on the ghats!
Driver Seat Comfort: OK. Neck cushions would improve comfort
Mileage: Have got figures of 15-19 depending how much of the drive is ghat and how much of it is straight stretches

[Venkatesh.C]

Santro is a sensible car without doubt and I can confidently say that any Santro owner in the country will vouch for that. Same for the A.S.S. Since the car is all about Torque at lower RPM, it is very driveable in lower gears at lower rpms and higher gears. So, in ghat sections the car drives comfortably in 2nd / 3rd in lower rpms. You dont have to keep shifting and struggle to keep up the revs like in Marutis . I drive the Santro and an alto, while santro breezes through the Ghats, Alto struggles, I have keep her revs up and find myself constantly downshifting. Where alto shines is in the freeways, she does 110-120 in 5th and is pretty ok doing those speeds. and Santros really scream at those speeds and engine is running at a very high rpm. However, the engine is a gem and revs quite freely. Take a test drive from one of those dealers who are on the outskirts on a sunday and push the car to her limits and see for yourselves.
Mileage is also pretty decent and she keeps everyone happy. The only down side being the hard ride. She does not soak the bumps as well as other cars do.
Happy Hunting

[sgmuser]

My Dad owns a 2001 1l santro. We went to Kodai via Pazhani hilly road totally 5 in the car! No problem at all and not even once we felt its struggling. Gear shift is the best in class!

But highway ride is not so good as its shocks are tuned for city rides. Other than this, this one is a no nonsense, trouble free and solid car.

[aditya.86]

i own a santro 2006 model and would say that it is a very good performer on the highways in its segment....in the ghats also you wil never feel thats its struggling even a bit as the gear shifts are so smooth and make it fun to drive

[deep_bang]

Power wise Santro is a great car and has high ground clearance (which ghats in India require). However, on bad ghat roads, i found a heavier car like Indica/Swift/Getz may be better as Santro tends to roll.

[metropolis]

I own a santro from the year 1999 when it was just a year old...Since then all i have not faced a single trouble and i have to many far off trips and driven the car in most extensive conditions....Never even got the a/c unit serviced. It might sound surpursing but the piece of machine is awesome and still i love to cruise on highways. the best part about the car is
Backseat comfort (gives an Amby feel)
Wide Front view
High seating
Gearshift feel (A DELIGHT)
Easy on mantainence

Though the front seats are a bit tiring when you drive for long hours but still that can be a compromise against the other merits.
Its a good and decent car to own

[kutlee]

Too much body roll. Can't take corners fast. highways stable at around 100kmph. If you plan to do highways, change the bridgestones (they are made of stones!). One again i should say that body roll is horrible. Brakes are excellent for highways.
All personal opions based on 3 santros which i drive.

[VMG]

Santro is a very good car in both highways and city. Last week I had been to Trichy with 4 adults and laguage. driven about 90-110 km speed. got 14.75 kmpl ( done some local trip also in trichy). We really enjoyed and it is good one. I am using for the last 3 years. No problems.

[samirsarkar]

I own a Santro Xing 2004 (prior to the eRLX model). My observations :

1. Gear shift is like knife through butter....very smooth
2. If you are driving in 4th gear in the city (at around 40kmph) and suddenly have to slow down to 25 or 30 kmph, you do not need to downshift....reasonable torque.
3. The above does not apply if you have your AC on....the engine loses around 25-30% of power with AC on. I do not know if same is the case with the eRLX engine
4. Suspension is bad....the car will happily transfer every single jolt it takes on the road to your spine.
5. Body roll is moderate
6. AC is excellent.
7. Mileage is not great....gives me 12 kmpl in the city with 50% AC. Come to think of it, my other car, the Corolla with its 1.8 litre engine gives me 11 - 11.5 in the same conditions. Again, I do not know if the eRLX engine has improved mileage figures in the current Xing.
8. Hassle-free car.....it has hardly needed anything except for the regular service. Did not even require to change the brake pads after 32000 kms.
9. Great service network.
10. Seats are a trifle hard....this can be circumvented by using beads which will enhance seating comfort for driver and front passenger....also reduces stress for the driver due to acupressure effects of the beads.
10. Driving position is spot on.
11. Steering feedback is good.
12. Performance in the ghats is okay (not great) with AC on. Again this might change with the eRLX engine. With AC off, driving in the ghats is a breeze.
13. It performs to its potential on highways. SPeeds of 110-120 can be easily attained although the engine will get quite noisy at those speeds. The eRLX engine might have improved things a bit but I am not sure.
11. Overall, a very easy car to drive....you can take it anywhere and small turning radius.

[jaganm]

I find the car to be quite underpowered on the highway. It's comfortable maintaining a speed of around 100 kmph, but anything more is a struggle. To boot, the bumpy suspension does not inspire much confidence.

That said, it is a fantastic city car. Great pickup, smooth gearbox and good maneuverability.

[ashwin_seattle]

Well I own a Santro Xing eRLX back in India, and the car is a gem for the price. The gear shift is absolutely smooth, engine very torqueee, good mileage(13-14 city, 15+ highway), super cool ac, and nice seating position. Its very very fun to drive when i compare to my old zen, though zen was also a great car in its own right.
be sure to change the stock tyres, i changed them for tubeless rubber(165) and so fat there hasnt been a single rupee spent on the car.
Great to maintain, cheap spares(although not as cheap as an 800 or zen),spacious in its own right, and a evry rock star engine.
Sure it might have its shortcomings, but all the things listed above outweigh the minor blemishes.
Go for it.

[car_whizz]

Its a fantastic car for city driving. definitely amongst the top 3 of the hatchbacks. Comfy front seats. Adequate power for city driving. No maintainance hassels.
In highways here are some observations:

-Body Roll
-Bumpy ride for rear passengers
-You may feel it slightly underpowered on highways

In ghats

-No isssues

[PatienceWins]

If your usage is mainly highway, swift/ getz is the car you should go for.
santro is very good on city, but does not inspire confidence in highway..adequate power, but bad in terms of ride and handling. not much problem if you stay within 90kmph.

[mithun]

Santro is a bumpy city car.

For the ghats, opt for WagonR.