Quote:
Originally Posted by harishF1 I decided on the Petrol i20 in 2010 after driving the TD diesel car where I noticed the significant delay in turbo. The petrol was refined and was the only worthwhile option for me (new swift was rumoured then). Maybe that was not the right example of the diesel offspring... The other reason for the petrol was my company pays the fuel bills and wanted to save on upfront cost... Didnt quite get your logic if your company sponsors your fuel bill! |
I might not be able to sincerely express the thought process and logic which is why I wrote:
" sorry can’t elaborate more on this without disclosing a few personal & professional details".
But let me try.
I wanted a hatchback which had ample power/ torque on-demand. I also wanted one which met our family's requirement. And the car should be frugal with fuel (need not be the best, but should not be a guzzler either; didn't want our trips to be from one bunk to another). Any car which fulfilled these would come home, provided it's on-road price in Bangalore was 9 lakhs - give or take 50K.
Whatever the fuel was, it didn't pinch the pocket
much was what i was trying to convey with the fuel reimbursement remark. However I could not find a petrol hatchback that met above. Hence Elite i20
Diesel it was.
The petrol Elite sucks w.r.t my requirement. Its really good and refined for city driving, but severely lacks punch on the highways. I did test drive one after I had booked the diesel variant, just to confirm that I had not overlooked the obvious. Also am not so sure about the 1.2 litre engine being frugal based on the feedback I have come across within my circle. So went with a costlier choice. No regrets so far.
Coming to the turbo lag, shift above 2300+ rpm and you will be rewarded with a strong pull with near zero lag.
Yes the diesel variant does suffer from the lag if you shift at less than 2000 rpm. However it all depends on your driving style as to whether you would notice it. I space my gear shifts with half a second before I use the accelerator and shift just after 2000rpm. Works fine for me. I agree, its not the best. But sure is better than many others out there.
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The ODO now stands at 2800+ km after 26 days.
First service at 1500km was more of a formality. Took all of 40 mins, including the job card and other formalities. Was told that it's just a general check and nothing more to it. Cost me 0 INR. I opted out of the complimentary water wash, scratches etc. Unlike some others I did not have to get the key fobs reprogrammed. So I guess our car was not part of the update, yet.
Drove straight to the nearest 3M car care and got the under-body coated along with a foam body wash. Cost was around 3800+400 odd INR. There is a marked improvement in the already good NVH levels after the coat. Added bonus was met mod Vid6639.
Right next was a 1000km plus family outing, both the cars in tandem. Liva had no troubles keeping up with the i20 without compromising on the fuel efficiency.
Impressions/ observations (additional):
- Comfortable, pleasant city & highway road manners. Planted feel at triple digits on the highways (6th gear at the century mark shows ~2000rpm).
- Refined engine. A hoot to drive on open roads as well as on not-so-open ones.
- NVH is superb. Even without the audio system on, all we could hear was the faint non-irritating drone of the engine. With the music playing, we were disconnected from the outside world. If you have snoring passengers along with, well..
- Fuel efficiency is currently around 17kmpl on the highways with 100% AC. This was with some spirited as well as laid back driving. Tyre pressure at 33.5PSI all around (recommended is 33 with rear passengers).
- Minor undulations on the road were handled better when driven over at 40km/hr.
- Pronounced body roll while tackling huge craters in single digit speeds. Liva fared far better in such terrains.
- Headlamps throw is good for the job. High beams work well when needed. Low beams though felt as if it the reach could have been better (HL level at max).
- Front & rear wipers do a good job.
- Bluetooth telephony works only when the songs are playing (rather the HU is on). Can't have only the bluetooth on. Way out is to set the volume for the songs at zero or thereabouts.
- Volume control for the HU & bluetooth are independent, which is helpful.
- Can't scroll through the contacts list/ call history using the steering wheel controls. Have to use the HU controls. Not good.
- The back light illumination of the Instrument Control panel has a day as well as night setting. This comes into effect automatically. I suspect the sensor on the dashboard center, next to the windshield, plays the deciding factor here. So around late dawn and early dusk the IC light changes brightness automatically (brightens/ dims as the case may be).
- Cabin cools fast with the rear a/c vent.
- Better luggage capacity than the Liva. The outgoing variant has a better capacity (did a one-to-one compario. Sorry no fotos).
- IVRM is not effective more coz of the slanting roof-line. Depending on how you set the mirror, can either see the road behind you with a portion of the roof top OR just the portion immediately to the rear of the car - not both.
- Reverse park camera works well during the day. Adaptive camera along with the sensors and OVRMs make parking an easy & informed task.
- Reverse camera is not of much use in the dark without the parking lights. The single reverse light on the RHS is insufficient for the job. However with the parking lights on, the lights above the number plates come into play and the image on the IVRM is clear. I'm sure owners of variants without the rear camera would find it a herculean task to reverse in the dark with the single reverse light not of much help.
- Excellent brakes. However the pedal travel needs some time to get used to.