[tsk1979]

Past few months i have had the oppurtunity to drive my dad's getz on and off. Though the car has been in my hands for less than a month, 2500kms of the 3500 have been done by me. This includes 1800kms of driving in feb(right after my marriage) on Delhi Jaipur route, Delhi Ludhiana, Delhi-chd-kufri, Kufri-chd-ludhiana. About 300kms has been hill driving with around 50kms of it happening on iced up roads. Well heres the impression.

Looks
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The car looks good when viewed from front. The styled headlampls, the grill, everything is a little un-hyundai. Infact it looks slightly european. The rear is a different story. This car is black, and in black the getz looks okay from the back. In all other colors, i felt as if somebody took a sledgehammer and hit the boot to punch it in. They tires on the GL are 155R80 and look funny.

Interiors are good looking too. Though plastiky, there are lots of cubby holes etc., but the dashboard is too small. I guess its because of the space left for airbags. The console is neat with a digital odo, two trip meters, speedometer and fuel/heat gauge with the standard stuff. No tacho on this one.

The interior size is atleast as big as the indica, which is pretty big. The boot is deeper with more luggage space, and the real legroom is also decent.
First impression
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I own a Tata Indica V2-02 DLS. So when i started the engine, it felt funny. There was no sound, period. With the AC on at low blower speed, all i could hear was little sound from the blower. The engine was quiet. Very quiet. Good it requires a clutch depress to start. Otherwise on occaisons i would have cranked it again! When you press the clutch at idle you can feel very very faint vibrations. Nothing like the cold morning racket which Indica is capable off. Kudos to Hyundai for the excellent sound deadening.
I got hold of this car when it was 100kms old. Just 100. To take car out of parking i turned the steering. And there I heard the bearing sound. Loud and clear. Yes this car had a problem. So one of my very first trips was to go to Pioneer Hyundai. "The Bearing is faulty sir, but we dont have it in stock, come after 15 days". But the tech guy told me that its perfectly okay to drive it as long as i dont mind the sound. So I took his word for it, and drove it for a good 1800kms before the first service(was supposed to be at 1500), but happened at 2000+.

Living with it
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The car is comfortable. Extremely comfortable in city driving. Lots of low end torque mean 30-40 in 4th is drivable. Highway driving also felt extremely comfortable. But remember, i am a indica guy. Anything faster than a bullock cart is comfortable. Since I also drove Indigo quite a bit, i would rate the comfortablility index same as indigo. Indigo is definately more stable at high speeds(130-140) due to 175R65 tyres, but getz scores in acceleration. 82Bhp is okay enough. Almost same power to weight ratio at the Indigo Petrol. Autocar says 14sec to 100, which is pretty decent.
185R60 tyres and this car would be a dream on the highway. But the 155s really helped fuel economy, with the brand new car returning 15 with AC on.
Funny there are no stickers mentioning run in speeds, and its not mentioned in service book either, but nevertheless, I kept the following limits 1-20, 2-40, 3-60 4-80 5-130 for the first 600kms.
So it was a cold feb morning which saw me launching on to one of the worlds oldest highways-NH1. The car was fun to drive. After almost three years driving the tractor, this was a sports car. My wife and I both drove along the way, and we found the driving position extremely comfortable. I am 6'2", she is 6 inches shorter, so there has always been a disjointment in the car seats found comfortable. I find indica better, she finds santro better, but Getz gets both our votes for excellent Lumbar support. I have a slip disk history, but sitting for 6 hours did not cause any trouble. Again full marks to Hyundai for driving comfort.
The only thing I found wrong with the car is that after 120 the car starts to run out of steam. But I guess thats more or less immaterial for most roads.
Ride/Handling
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The handling was tested on the excellent shimla highway. Since we went to chahal side, inbetween there were stretches of bad tarmac also. But she took it all in her stride. The 155s are a pain though with excessive sliding on ice, but the chasis is sufficiently stiff. On one icy incline i had the car stationary with front wheels spinning at high speed! The tyres do not have any grip on slippery surfaces. I would say hyundai have shortchanged the customer here. Those tyres are dangerous for this vehicle. After around 20Kms, I wont feel comfortable exceeding 110 on those tyres. Other than that the car is fun. Loads of torque mean tackling curving inclines a breeze. With similar tyres, this car would handle as well as the Indica V2(June 2002 version with stiff chasis). But it more than makes up for this in torque and power. Though indica was a better handler, you could have fun only downhill, with uphill cruises at bullock cart speeds.

The ride of this car is good. Partial credit to high profile tyres and the rest the excellent suspension. Bumps are soaked with aplomb with no bone jarring you feel in the smaller hatches.
FE
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Great. 15 on highway with 11-12 in city. And highway mileage was mesured when she was less than 500kms old. With a service interval of 10K the maintainance costs should also be low.
Vision
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the stock headlights were just about adequate, but with Vision+ 55/60W the lighting is excellent. Great reflector design eliminates need for 110/130W. And this is without the fogs!
AC
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Tata makes the best ACs. Getz AC is better than santro, but in 43 degrees the Tata Hurricane blower does the job much better. Infact in this heat also the indigo AC could make you feel cold, and i am talking about rear seat passengers, but the Getz AC just makes you comfortable. No shivering here. Just adequate
Verdict
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Great car, though overpriced. If Tata improves the Petrol engine and makes indigo more refined(Which they do in every version), there is no point going for a hatchback. But I would prefer it over the esteem/Corsa Sail any day because of the lumbar support. For somebody with back pain history the comfort factor is the most important thing. The only other car with such a comfortable driving seat/position is the Indigo. But then again i am a small minority. If you do not have history of back pain, you wont even notice the small differences!
The swift is here now, and i would rate it same as Getz, if only the price was same.

Summing it up
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Likes
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1.Smoooth
2.Peppy at low revs/City
3.Driving comfort
4.Interiors
5.FE
6.Ride
7.Silence(An Indica guy can understand it)
Dislikes
1.Lacks high end grunt
2.Tyres.
Problems
1.Power steering bearing. Replace under warranty at 1500kms


I would have this car for about 2 weeks more, and meanwhile my Indica would arrive from blr. Guess what it will be tough handling the tractor after Indigo and Getz!

[amitsingh08]

Damn informative review. Information is very useful. Sorry noticed so late