[CARDEEP]

Mod Note: Team-BHP's Hyundai Xcent review has been uploaded at this link. Please continue the discussion over on the review thread!

IAB have managed a scoop by snapping the pic of the test mule of Grand i10 on Chennai-Vellore highway by Indian Autos Blog reader Dr. Geo Thachil. link to their report:

http://indianautosblog.com/2013/12/h...n-spied-108857

Let me get the pics on board for ready viewing of the TBHP users.

[swiftnfurious]

Great catch! But will this be good enough to unsettle Dzire's run? Going by Grand i10's performance, it was definitely NOT the Swift which took a beating. Now who's gonna lose their share - Amaze or Etios ?

Edit:: Guess this will be a Mar'14 launch.

Edit 2:: Which is the car from which the pics were taken - Dzire / City? The i10 sedan is looking much taller. Is it the window line?

[RSR]

Fantastic scoop! This means more choices and options for customers looking for a C1 segment sedan. This will be the fifth sub-4m sedan, after the Indigo CS, new Swift Dzire, Amaze & Verito Vibe. More sub-4m sedans are on the way, such as the Manza CS/Falcon 5, VW compact sedan and next gen. Figo/Ka sedan. The C1 segment also has 4m+ sedans such as the (Fiesta) Classic, Dzire Tour, Etios, Linea Active, Manza, Sail & Verito. The more, the merrier, I say!

Some observations:

a) The car is almost the same up to the C-pillar, as the rear door looks like the same as on the Grand i10 to me. This means the wheelbase would remain the same.

b) It definitely is a sub-4m sedan, no doubts about it.

c) Like other Hyundai sedans, the number plate is (thankfully) located on the boot.

d) As one would expect, the dashboard is the same. Even the front seats are the same, which means (sadly) no adjustable headrests.

e) This is not the top-end variant, going by the side indicator on the left fender and steel wheels with wheel covers.

I presume the engine options too would be carried over from the Grand i10.

The 83PS 4-cyl 1.2 Kappa dual VTVT is a good choice and should be ideally suited to this car as well. Hyundai should offer both the 5-speed manual and 4-speed torque converter with this engine.

The 71PS 3-cyl 1.1 U2 CRDi, on the other hand, could do with a few tweaks (as Hyundai claim the engine bay is not big enough for the 90PS 4-cyl 1.4 U2 CRDi). A slighter bigger turbo and an added intercooler, along with an ECU remap are required. Hyundai must equip the sedan with the 6-speed variant of the gearbox with suitably altered ratios, instead of the 5-speed one on the Grand i10. This should compensate for the additional weight while the increased horses & improved highway performance would surely help when positioned against the segment leaders (Swift Dzire and Amaze).

Hyundai should also strive to differentiate themselves from the rest of the bunch by offering 6 airbags on the top variant, and driver airbag + ABS as standard across the range. With their recent (unwelcome) change in attitude towards safety features, this may just be asking for too much. No harm in asking, though.

[ahmad.007]

Doesn't look much fluidic to me. I fear that it may not be as good as the Verna in the looks department (one of the USPs of fluidic Verna). But, its the cheapest sedan from Hyundai, so fingers crossed. I hope Hyundai gives this an ACC.

[zenren]

Looks more or less like the Amaze and I'm sure this is going to eat more from the Amaze and i20 pie than from the Dzire.

i10 or Brio hatches doesn't command the same status as a Swift which translates to the CS counterparts too and the reason is simple. There are 7 or 8 cars in Maruti stable including various Alto variants and WR/Estilo/AStar trio and Ritz that are cheaper than the Swift. Hence it is among the premium Maruti vehicles currently sold. It has many qualities that other Maruti vehicles doesn't have. Any cheapness or cost cutting that you see in Swift would be seen in any Maruti vehicle. So the owner is not too unhappy about it. All its disadvantages comes with the Maruti brand and not the Swift brand.

Its the typical human psychology. You'll be sad if you fail in an exam but you're sort of okay if everyone else failed too. However, if you are the only one who failed, its not going to be easy to digest.

In case of Brio/Liva, it is the cheapest Honda/Toyota available and Amaze/Etios is just the bigger brothers. Cost cutting you see in these cars are typically not seen in any other Honda/Toyota. You go to the service center and you have the smallest car there. With the whole concept of CS originating from the sedan-status and ego of an average Indian, his ego would certainly be hurt to see him being the poorest guy in that service station with a car that others may not think really deserves to be associated with that brand.

Hyundai's situation is not too good, but its not as bad either. i10 has Santro and Eon as smaller siblings but there are enough high end Hyundai cars too to make it just an average car with enough disadvantages on its own.

Anyone planning on an Amaze or Etios might reconsider the i10 sedan but Maruti would still have enough loyal followers to ensure their counters are ticking consistently.

Originally Posted by RSR

Hyundai must equip the sedan with the 6-speed variant of the gearbox with suitably altered ratios, instead of the 5-speed one on the Grand i10. This should compensate for the additional weight

Do you really expect it from Hyundai? They gave the same 1.2L engine for i10 and i20, though it was clearly underpowered for the heavier i20. I don't think i10 sedan would be much heavier than i20 and hence don't expect any changes that Hyundai didn't consider for their premium hatch (petrol version) coming in for a cheaper car that is built to cost.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Which is the car from which the pics were taken - Dzire / City? The i10 sedan is looking much taller. Is it the window line?

Its the current generation City, which does have a relatively low seating position compared to other cars.

[blacksport]

i10 Grand is one of the better looking cars around. With this boot-job, am afraid, we are going to have one more hideous car on the roads. As if Dzire, Amaze and Vibe wasn't enough. The govt should remove the 4m rule asap.

[nik_kapur]

Another awkward styled car that will rule the market !
Looks a lot taller than the amaze and dzire and the overall feel of the car should be better than the Maruti and Honda.
Great scoop nonetheless.

[RSR]

Originally Posted by zenren

Do you really expect it from Hyundai? They gave the same 1.2L engine for i10 and i20, though it was clearly underpowered for the heavier i20. I don't think i10 sedan would be much heavier than i20 and hence don't expect any changes that Hyundai didn't consider for their premium hatch (petrol version) coming in for a cheaper car that is built to cost.

Do I really expect it? Why not?

In fact, if I were to buy a Grand i10 sedan in diesel guise, I would definitely expect at least a 6-speed gearbox with a slightly tweaked 1.1 CRDi, if not the 90PS 1.4 CRDi due to space constraints in the engine bay.

I mentioned the 6-speed manual only for the 1.1 CRDi, the 1.2 Kappa will continue to get the 5-speed manual, which suits the petrol engine perfectly on the i10 & Grand i10.

Hyundai already sell the i20 with the 1.1 CRDi (tuned to 75PS) with a 6-speed manual in Europe, alongside the 1.4 CRDi:

http://m.hyundai.co.uk/new-cars/i20/technical/6

India gets only the more powerful engine, of course. This alone proves that the i20's 1.2 petrol was more of a compulsion to fall in the lower tax slab, than any intention to deliberately provide an underpowered engine. By the way, I found the refined 1.2 petrol on the i20 (facelifted version's 84PS dual VTVT) adequate for most purposes. It's not an expressway scorcher, nor is it a pocket rocket like on the smaller (and lighter) i10, but even on the relatively heavy i20 it's actually better than the 1.2 petrols powering some other large hatchbacks.

It's not too much of a stretch for Hyundai to offer Grand i10 sedan with a slightly tweaked 1.1 CRDi with a 6-speed gearbox, both to differentiate it from the hatchback, and to compete better on the performance front with the Swift DZire, Amaze etc.

In fact, this is the most logical thing to do, if the 1.4 CRDi does not fit into the engine bay. I hope Hyundai don't disappoint on this one.

[ganesc]

Nice scoop there. Going by Hyundai's current design standard, we can safely assume that this is going to look good at least when compared to the most awkward looking Dzire gen 2 and okay'ish Amaze. They will anyways price it in the same price bracket as the other 2 and this might be a trouble to Amaze while in feature comparison as Hyundai is known to load it well.

This might replace the accent and become the cheapest Hyundai sedan sold here. Looking forward to further pictures and specfications.

[Max]

Isn't it possible that this car is based on i20 and not i10 grand?

Originally Posted by RSR

The 71PS 3-cyl 1.1 U2 CRDi, on the other hand, could do with a few tweaks (as Hyundai claim the engine bay is not big enough for the 90PS 4-cyl 1.4 U2 CRDi). A slighter bigger turbo and an added intercooler, along with an ECU remap are required. Hyundai must equip the sedan with the 6-speed variant of the gearbox with suitably altered ratios, instead of the 5-speed one on the Grand i10. This should compensate for the additional weight while the increased horses & improved highway performance would surely help when positioned against the segment leaders (Swift Dzire and Amaze).

Hyundai should also strive to differentiate themselves from the rest of the bunch by offering 6 airbags on the top variant, and driver airbag + ABS as standard across the range. With their recent (unwelcome) change in attitude towards safety features, this may just be asking for too much. No harm in asking, though.

Keep dreaming. 6-gear box is not going to come in 4 meter sadan and if its going to be extension of i10 grand then it will be exactly same engine and specs with little bit better interior and bigger boot. End of story!

Btw, have you test driven i10 grand? Its a wonderful car, add a boot to it and you just killed Honda Amaze and dented Maruti Dzire sales. 6 air bags will be asking too much, it will just add to the cost. However, I think we now need a law for air bags, ABS, EBD to be made compulsory. As far as costs are concerned they will come down dramatically once volume will increase. Lets put air bags in place of that fancy ICE.

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by Max

Isn't it possible that this car is based on i20 and not i10 grand?

Nope. Look at the window lines from the rear door from the scoop snap. Perfectly resembles the Grand i10 and not the i20.







Besides, if this is going to be sub-4m sedan going by the speculations, the Grand i10 fits the length. The overall length of the Grand i10 is 3765 mm whereas the i20 is at 3995 mm.

Another sensible option for probable customers waiting for the Dzire with lengthy waiting periods. The Grand i10's equipment list is pretty awesome (for instance, the rear air-con vents which is a segment first for a hatch).

[amrisharm]

found this rendition of what the i10 Grand compact sedan might look like. Does it look similar to the above pics?

There is another thread on the i10 Grand CS running on our forum as well with more pictures:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...d-sedan-3.html

Pic source: http://www.cartoq.com/2014-compact-sedan-launches/

[CARDEEP]

Picture (s) abhi baaki hai mere dost (s) (courtesy IAB & OD... ir appears that IAB did not upload all the set of pics in their original scoop):

















IMO, Hyundai is trying to gradually increase their market share by following the trends rather than defining/ creating segments. But, as usual their vehicles are packed with features,& this sedan in particular will handle neutral like the Elantra, which is good in theory.

Lot of us have been complaining of missing safety features in updated models of the Hyundai vehicles, & as I have posted in another thread, I feel they are doing so because-
- One the cost of providing these safety features (6 airbags in Verna Diesel AT) take the cost in prohibitive/ next higher category, where the buyers obviously consider cars like Laura (/ Octavia)/ Jetta/ Elantra over a Verna; &
- Second, the competitors are not doing so (lame reason, but, a costly top end variant is at times good reason to make buyers move to other brands, which appear costly, till the time features are compared).

[ad3952n]

Hi all, this car shall surely do wonders to the sub-4m category of sedans. I believe that eCS by Tata and the present gen Dzire will face tough competition and incase a diesel variant is launched simultaneously then even the sales of Hyundai's own i20 and even the VW Polo's sales may as well be hit.

thanks

AD

[procrj]

Originally Posted by CARDEEP

test mule of Grand i10 on Chennai-Vellore highway
Attachment 1177761

Is that a spoiler??

Originally Posted by amrisharm

found this rendition of what the i10 Grand compact sedan might look like.

Might not be the same as someone pointed out earlier, the rear window lines of the test mule are exactly the same as the Grand i10 where as the one you shared look very different.Plus the rear overhang on test mule looks longer than that of the CS rendition

All in all this reminds me of the first gen swift desire with its ugly & bulky rear appendage. Someone really needs to take the sub-4m rule and burn it to ashes.