[GTO]

A budget car that doesn't feel cheap! Maruti should really take lessons on this from Hyundai. Just spent the Sunday with the Santro - took it to Lonavla & back. Good quality cabin. Compliant ride (but not plush). Smooth gearshifts. Neutral handling. Steering is light in the city & weighs up at speed. Spot on ergonomics. ICE has very nice sound quality for a budget car. Air-con is chilly. 4-cylinder more refined than competition's 3-cylinders. You really need to work the engine & gearbox though if you're in a hurry. Performance is not effortless. Low-end torque is strictly average. Passes the 2nd-gear speed-breaker test, but just about. I would've liked a stronger bottom end. IIRC, the previous-gen Santro was peppier at low revs.

AMT (which I drove earlier in the week) was impressive for an AMT. Not as smooth as a torque converter, but not jerky like the Maruti & Tata AMTs either. Would say the AMT isn't a deal breaker at all at this price (this is coming from someone who hates AMTs). Hyundai is really committed to offering all-round quality.

Love driving such small & light hatchbacks down the Lonavla ghat.

[KK_HakunaMatata]

Spotted my first Red Santro today morning (infact spotted the same Santro yesterday night as well). I was just next to it in the signal and it took me more than a couple of seconds to make out that it was the new Santro from side profile, it strongly reminds of old i10 and the rear too reminds of the old i10 leaving the tail lamp designs. Couldn't see it from the front.

Frankly I just felt like, Ok, this is the new Santro and didn't feel any kind of Wow for the new car, which I had felt when I was spotting the new Tiago's on road. This is just from the looks of it.

KK

[speedmiester]

Drove my colleague's Santro AMT yesterday.
It is leaps and bounds ahead of competition. Hyundai has really upped the game in the budget segment, the switchgear, the fit and finish is much better than the competition.
AMT is smooth and is not as bad as the competition.

All in all Hyundai has a winner in Santro.

[rohan_iitr]

Originally Posted by GTO

A budget car that doesn't feel cheap! Maruti should really take lessons on this from Hyundai.
Attachment 1819688

Thanks for the short and crisp review.

How does it compare to its nearest 4 cylinder rival - ignis, especially in the AMT avatar ?

Rohan

[amtak]

I haven't driven the Santro AMT yet, but if Hyundai launches it with Asta (o) AMT, I might just pick one for my spouse.

[VTec_KickedInYo]

Took a test drive of the new Santro MT. Here are my few observations based on a 4 km long drive:

1. Performance is just about adequate, doesn't struggle but definitely lacks low end punch. Engine is quite refined, way better than the 3 cylinder competition in terms of NVH

2. Really missed the steering height adjustment, I'm a guy with a slightly hefty build and I felt the steering was too close to my thighs

3. Build quality felt good. Leaps and bounds ahead of the Marutis, one can pretty easily feel it

4. Interior quality is pretty good & feels nice. Finished well all around. The placement of power window switches felt awkward at first, but not all that problematic, improves the cabin space

5. I found the ride quality to be just about average by Hyundai standards. Felt a little bouncy, don't know if tyre pressure was a factor

6. Excellent quality ICE, placed at the right position and very responsive. Sound quality is decent, though the Tiago will beat it hollow

7. Overall cabin room is impressive, easy ingress and egress. Thigh support is adequate, though adjustable headrests (or slightly high fixed ones) for rear seat are sorely missed. Headroom is also pretty good

Though it ticks all the right boxes for the masses, I do feel the Santro is rather on the expensive side, especially when considering the price difference with it's elder brother, the Grand i10. I test drove the i10 just after the Santro and the superiority of the car was immediately and clearly evident. The car will sell pretty well though considering it offers much more than the Celerio and WagonR. I just felt that if one is considering the Asta variant, the person should definitely have a look at the Grand i10 and accordingly decide.

[motorworks]

I was speaking to one of the Hyundai dealers in Bangalore and the executive mentioned that Hyundai has actually taken the feedback about the missing passenger airbag, especially in the AMT variants and the passenger airbag could be added at least in 2 more variants from sometime early next year.

I do not know why Hyundai has to wait for a feedback. They should know this by now. For about 6 lakhs on road in Bangalore you get the Swift Lxi with dual airbags and ABS. Sure, there is nothing else in that car, but then a Santro Sportz variant in the same price probably carries a few extra features but no passenger airbag!

Hyundai should have taken the lead and actually made dual airbags standard. They could have easily let go off that useless rear AC vents which anyway I think would be just a blower.

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by motorworks

I do not know why Hyundai has to wait for a feedback. They should know this by now.

Even when they do a market survey before the launch and collect feedback (not proper feedback mostly), they never learn.

Read this section "A note to Hyundai (if you are reading this)" in this post:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...ml#post4393791 (The next-gen Hyundai Santro)

[RaghuVis]

I know it's too early to comment but it's been a month now and I have seen only a single Santro on road here in kochi..it's just my personal view but it looked yuck in person. The front looked very awkward and back looked like a job half done.
Usually any new car acceptance is very fast in kerala.. I have a relative who has been in auto industry for close to twenty years and he always says that a car that is accepted in initial days in kerala is almost always a hit.
I recommended my colleague to book one since he wanted a car below 6L and an automatic at that. After *GTO* comment, I was convinced that Santro AMT will suit him the best. He went ahead and booked one! Dealer quoted only 15 days for delivery even though test drive car is not yet available. Anyone in our forum who have taken delivery?

[Nanolover]

Had a quick look ( Static display showroom only) of the Santro sportz model. We thought of replacing our Nano xta with Santro sportz amt.

This is because we already have a Tiago XZA and wanted something different. Nano is good as a city car and is trouble free, but cannot play the dual role of city+ mixed by- pass / small highway runs.

BUT.... decided to hold after seeing the price.

Pure comparison - Santro ex showroom sportz amt as listed on website for Trivandrum is 5.5L and Tiago xza amt is 5.8L.( I am not including running discounts or any other sort of incentives). So a 30,000 rupee difference

Advantage Santro
- touchscreen ( although i don't need one)
- 4 cylinder engine ( smoother, although not driven it)
- smoother AMT ( as per reviews)
- Rear AC vents
- Ownership experience

I couldn't help but notice that for 30K extra, the Tiago offers the following ( I own a Tiago XZA)

Advantage Tiago

- Passenger airbag ( absolute must)
- Rear Wiper ( absolute must)
- Parking Sensors ( absolute must)
- One touch driver side down window ( needed to fold mirror manually in our congested cities)- note : auto fold missing in both. WHY?????
- Alloy Wheels
- 175 vs 165 tires
- 85 HP vs 69 HP
- Proper Fabric Upholstered seats ( vinyl on Santro)
- Height Adjustable front seats and Front Adjustable Headrests ( absolute must)
- Pull type Door Handles
- Door Auto lock
- Follow me home headlamps
- 8 speaker audio
- Much heavier build- especially the doors- although in Tiago i feel doors are too heavy
- Bigger boot
- Better looks as per my wife ( although looks can be subjective)

The on road quote I got for Santro sportz was roughly the same as i10 Magna auto ( after discounts)- which has 2 airbags, abs, touchscreen and is a proper auto.!

Better makes sense to invest in grand i10 Magna for the prospective customer.

[GTO]

This is just in from Hyundai:

Santro has received over 38,500 Bookings and 211,000 enquiries since its national launch on Oct 23, 2018.

I appreciate the booking numbers, but find it stupid when manufacturers share 'enquiry' numbers. It's just to have a large figure that makes the press release look good.

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

How does it compare to its nearest 4 cylinder rival - ignis, especially in the AMT avatar ?

Ignis is damn jerky in comparison.

Originally Posted by VTec_KickedInYo

Performance is just about adequate, doesn't struggle but definitely lacks low end punch.

My exact observation . Was surprised that other 'reviewers' were raving about the low end torque .

[JS Kwt]

New Hyundai Santro has an 80-day waiting period

Receives over 38,500 bookings, with petrol-manual, AMT and CNG models contributing 52 percent, 30 percent and 18 percent, respectively

LINK

[JS Kwt]

2018 Hyundai Santro First drive review, road test
Autocar

But such a comparison is for an automotive market observer. A car buyer will have a lot to like in the new Santro. It’s easy-to-drive, comfortable, refined and even feels relatively premium. Even the AMT version, that’s garnered 30 percent of bookings so far, works well as a city car. And Hyundai has packed in quite a few features too; you do pay considerably for the goodies on higher-spec models, though. We’d have liked to see more safety features as standard and even things like alloy wheels and more adjustment for the seat and steering are missed. Pricing frankly isn’t as aggressive as we would have liked, especially the higher variants which can get expensive. However, factor in the standard three-year/1,00,000km warranty, three-year roadside assistance programme and the promise of low maintenance costs, and the Santro’s price tag becomes a little easier to justify.

Whether the new Santro will live up to its tag line of ‘India’s favourite family car’ or not, remains to be seen, but it sure has most of the ingredients in place.

LINK

[VTec_KickedInYo]

Originally Posted by GTO

My exact observation . Was surprised that other 'reviewers' were raving about the low end torque .

While there are always those paid reviews & ofcourse the inherent bias, but ignoring those factors, I think many of the reviewers might be feeling that way due to effect of the extra cylinder in Santro compared to the competition, leading to smoother delivery of torque rather than swift progress. WagonR, Tiago and co. aren't exactly scorching performers, so I guess that's why they're talking so much about the low end torque.

[AdityaDeane]

Dealers Offering Upto 10000 Rs. Benefit On New Santro (source)