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Old 14th October 2009, 14:13   #1
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i10 kappa sportz - 1 year/16K kms ownership report

The Requirement

I owned a Maruti 800 5 Speed MPFI Dx 2001 model and was serving me well. In early 2008, I was in a lookout for an additional car since wife also needed a car for her daily commute. My running requirement was about 1000 kms/month. Initial plan was to go for our beloved Tata Safari. Went and did a test drive at Sanya Motors at defence colony and really fell in love with it. However the love didnt last long as it got ruled out by the family and my convincing abilities did take a beating.

Thats where a lot of confusion started since we were not clear which car to really go for. I ruled out Honda City since I knew that a new model was about to get launched. None of the other cars really clicked the heart. One of the colleagues in office was also for lookout for a new car ( he eventually chose the Fiesta Diesel ). Both of us took TD of Maruti SX4, Hyundai Verna and Ford Fiesta. Out of these three, Fiesta was the one which pleased the driver within us wrt both driving pleasure and handling. But when you are changing a car after 7 long years and that too when the automotive scene has radically changed, I really wanted to go for something with that WOW factor and something that feels new and futuristic

Then came a new proposal - why not go for a small car for now and then later replace M800 with a sedan ( NOTE - That later hasnt still arrived ). This prompted me to now test drive the smaller cars which in my case included Swift and the i10. The first test drive was done at Marketing Times in GK-2. They didnt have a petrol swift and only a diesel was available for TD. I was not too keen on diesel car but anyhow decided to TD it. The drive was nice and the diesel torque was excellent. But a big letdown was the interior space especially the rear seat which got an immediate rejection by the family. To add to it; the TD swift was so shabbily maintained that even though someone would have come to buy swift with noble intentions - its condition could turn him away.

For test driving i10 - I went to Hyundai Motor Plaza (HMP) - located at Mathura road. There i10 1.1 was not available for TD and only 1.2 kappa was available. Even the display cars in showroom were all i10 Kappa. Took the car for a spin on first impressions really liked the interior, gear position and a elevated seating inside the cabin. The rear seat space/headroom about which the family had a major complaint with the swift also got addressed in i10. I also enjoyed the drive and pushed it around only to find that it is a decent handler and good ride over bad patches of road. The deal stealer for me was the feel good factor when you sit on the driver's seat - the dashboard feels neat/new and thud of the doors feels that the stuff is built to last

My initial thoughts were to book the 1.1 Magna and save some moolah for the sedan later. However - reading threads at team-bhp and consulting with friends etc got me to change my booking done for 1.1 Magna to 1.2 Kappa Sportz. My wife wanted the oyster grey color while I was bent on the electric red. After multiple visits to the showroom to review the color and presence beige-red combo that comes with the electric red color in sportz variant - we decided to stick to electric red color

Car was delivered on 12th September 2008. Went at about 12 noon to the showroom. The delivery procedure was very smooth and the showroom staff was courteous.
There were no discounts/freebies available since the car was just launched. I did some basic inspection of the car and decided to go for mats/mudguards/gear lock/car cover from genuine Hyundai accessories itself.

Following are few pictures of the delivery day
i10 kappa sportz - 1 year/16K kms ownership report-1.jpg
i10 kappa sportz - 1 year/16K kms ownership report-2.gif


What I like
  • Good sitting position with elevated view of the road
  • Very responsive third gear ( after about 1800 RPM )
  • Feel good factor once inside the car ( interiors and colour combo )
  • Nice thud of the doors
  • Good responsive brakes
  • Good power band for long highway drives around 100kmph
  • Nice big side view mirrors for excellent rear visibility
  • Stock music system surprisingly has vey good audio quality inspite of speakers being in the door
What I dislike
  • Headlights dont offer very good visibility ( Got the FOGs installed during my second service which do help but not entirely satisfied )
  • Horn sounds like a bike horn
  • 1st and 2nd gears not very responsive
  • Not a sharp handler in corners ( may be because of 155 width stock tyres )
  • Very limited storage space in the dashboard area
  • Boot space though decent - would have liked it to be a bit more
  • Jumpy ride over speed breakers ( especially the yellow-black ones which have suddenly multiplies in numbers all over NCR )
Wishlist
  • Better bulbs for headlamps
  • Wider tires ( Stock are Bridgestone )
  • Good alloys with a tinge of RED
Exterior
  • Really like the electric red color on the i10. A well cleaned car in this colour and bright sunlight combination produces a beautiful reflection which is a joy to watch
  • Big rear tail lamps look nice ( also claimed to be a safety feature by Hyundai wrt drivers following you )
  • Front headlamps have nice curves and blend well in to the front and side profile
  • Use of black side protectors on all four corners of the vehicle and on the back bumper by Hyundai is a useful feature which helps to avoid any possible scratches etc
  • Personally I feel spoiler in the sportz model enhances the rear look
  • I have a feel that tyres should have been wider on this car. Have a look at the following pic – looks like a big fat car standing on a lean man's legs
i10 kappa sportz - 1 year/16K kms ownership report-3.jpg

Interior Space and Comfort
  • Leg room in rear is decent and can seat 3 average sized adults easily but I will still say it better be called a 4 seater
  • The stock seats that come with a beige-red double tone offer decent support. I have driven long distance without having complaints about the seating position and support. I personally feel that some an armrest or a bit more of thigh support would have been welcome
  • The double tone interior looks very nice and classy.
  • There is lack of storage space in and around the dashboard
  • Plastic quality used in interior feels a segment higher and I think that is also the USP of i10
  • Glove box space is OK but nothing to speak about
  • Interior lamp is bright enough to light the cabin. A nice touch in sportz model is that the boot also gets illuminated once opened
  • Driver door lock can be used to lock and unlock all doors. Child lock is also available
  • Driver door power window switch has a press once option to bring the window down which is useful when paying daily toll at DND
  • There is no temperature/FE display available.
  • Tilt steering is there but not driver seat height adjustment is available
  • Clowns at HMP installed the small attachment which holds the gear lock rod on the driver side of the gear box which touches the left side of left knee while driving which is a bit irritating sometimes. Have started keeping the gear lock rod in the space available between the front seats instead
  • Head room is also a boon. Sometimes in my locality cars are so closely parked that once you have slotted your car in the parking space available; the only way for you to get out of the car is through the rear side door. That’s where I realized how headroom helps in – I could slide the front seats and easily make my way back
  • I feel sound insulation from external noises inside the cabin could have been much better as opposed to what it is currently
  • The i10 comes with a centre console mounted gear shift, a segment first. Hyundai claims that it reduces driver strain on longer drives and creates additional legroom for front seat passengers. I totally agree with the former but disagree with later. I don’t think legroom in i10 front seats is really something great.
Fuel Economy

When i10 kappa was launched SRK rewrote the laws of automotive engineering by claiming more FE with more power. I am not sure whether SRK is right or wrong since I don’t have comparative numbers of 1.1 i10 - but one thing I can say for sure is that i10 kappa has a decent FE
  • City
  • Drive
  • My main driving is the daily office commute which is about 50 kms in all on week days. For those familiar with Delhi - I drive from South Delhi via Ashram - DND - Sector 16 A - Greater Noida Expressway and back. During office time there is significant jam especially around the last 3 places in that sequence and traffic does crawl.
  • On weekends - it’s about 100 kms mainly in and around Delhi.
  • Average FE numbers
  • Typical FE as calculate using tank full to tank full method is varies between 13 and 14.8 kmpl with 100% AC
  • The best I have recorded is16.2 but that too only a couple of times
  • Highway
  • Drive
  • Delhi – Chandigarh – Shimla – Narkanda – Rampur – Done Twice
  • Delhi – Chandigarh – Una
  • Delhi - Neemrana
  • Average FE Numbers
  • For the Rampur trip which involves quite a lot of hill driving as well ; the average FE obtained as calculated for the whole trip was around 17.2 kmpl
ICE
  • I am no audio freak but nevertheless a very ardent car audio user. To my surprise I find the stock audio system present in sportz model very decent
  • It has nice easy to use controls and plays AM/FM/CD + has auxiliary input for using IPOD (haven’t used the same.
  • Sometimes small things create a lasting impression on one as a user. One such nice touch is the energy saver button on the music system. Once you press this – it will switch off all lights used for illuminating the music system display which shows track being played/time etc. To go back to normal mode – just press any key thereafter
Engine response and pick up

DOHC/1197cc
Maximum Power (ps/rpm) = 80/5200
Maximum Torque (Kgm/rpm) = 11.4/4000
  • Engine may be claimed to be refined and silent but when compared to the likes of Hondas – It is pretty noisy. Once outside the car standing besides the engine – one can hear a nice humming sound of the engine. Inside the cabin though the existing sound insulation fades of that noise decently.
  • The engine turns noisy above 3K RPM and which sometimes gives a nice feeling of acceleration
  • Above around 2000 RPM and 3rd gear onwards i10 kappa is a delight to drive. You get excellent power and highway overtaking is not at all an issue ( no downshifting required )
  • Around 1000-1500 RPM and once in 1st/2nd gears – car is not really a delight to drive. I somehow feel that the power is concentrated more towards the higher RPM band which makes bumper to bumper city driving a bit more cumbersome. This is one area which is I am not happy about. The car feels a bit sluggish in this band
  • Gear box is nice to use and has a distinctive slotting sound for each gear which is nice to use. However I feel that the gear throws are longer say when compared to santro/M800 etc. As a result – it is not quickest off the block but becomes a cruiser once you enter the 2K+ RPM zones
  • Reverse gear occasionally doesn’t slot smoothly. Very rarely 1st gear also doesn’t slot in one go – solution is to move to 2nd and then slot the 1st which makes it to work
  • Steering is light to use in city and works well on highways and hill driving
  • RPM rises every time the clutch gets depressed
  • One observation is that though idle is at 1K RPM but sometimes after some bumper to bumper traffic driving idle RPM surges to around 1100-1200 RPM , switched of AC/headlamps etc to see what could be responsible but could not figure out.
  • When the clutch is depressed and steering move eg while reversing the car along a curve – one can feel the steering on the clutch foot. I don’t know if this is by design or by mistake.
  • AC is powerful and cool effectively ( Note – no sunfilm on my i10 ). Engine takes load when engine is switched on and one can feel a very small drop in pickup
Safety

On account of safety, sportz model doesn’t have ABS/Airbags which I feel is a bit of let down. Note that i10 is not a VFM buy wrt competition in the market (features other than safety included). However when compared to competition – it has a feel good factor associated with it and feels more durable and built to last. I had thought of Asta during initial buying process but pricing vs value equation kept me away from it.



City Driving Experience
  • Pros
  • Small size , easy to park , small turning radius
  • Good acceleration from 3rd gear onwards
  • Very good AC for Delhi summers
  • Good ride over uneven roads
  • Cons
  • Lower gear ( read 1st/2nd ) power not good
  • Bumpy ride over speed breakers even at slow speed
  • Thick/wide A pillar
Highway Driving Experience

I feel that i10 Kappa is a compact car more suited for highway as oppose to congested cities. Highway is the place where you can enjoy and appreciate the drive of this car.
  • Pros
  • Good power band in 2K+ RPM band in all higher gears leading to ease of overtaking
  • Confidence inspiring brakes
  • Day/Night rear view mirror and big size side view mirrors
  • Good seating position and comfort – have driven for continuous 11 hours with a single break in between and didn’t feel tired.
  • Cons
  • Grip not good over gravel/sandy roads
  • Limited cornering abilities more evident in hill driving
  • Thigh support could have been better
Dealership Experience

As I mentioned earlier; dealership experience was very nice. There were no hiccups and everything happened as expected without any surprises. Got a bouquet and photograph of family clicked with <Congratulations> song in the background. On request the salesperson also gave me option to choose amongst a set of vehicle numbers. The only grudge is not getting any freebies at all.

I would highly recommend the showroom to anyone planning to buy a Hyundai.


i10 kappa sportz - 1 year/16K kms ownership report-4.jpg

Workshop Experience

Hyundai Motor Plaza, Mathura road is the place where the purchase as well as servicing of the car has taken place. My i10 has completed 16000 Kms now. In general the staff is courteous and possibly has the best equipment and technical knowhow. The downside is that they are flooded with customers.

Additionally a couple of service advisors that I had to deal with were not good at their work. May be I am being critical here but when you yourself are so passionate about your car and worried even about bits and pieces issues – you expect a equivalent response from the people who handle cars all day if nowhere else. To add to it – no one these days can afford to spend a lot of time at servicing and keep coming again and again especially for issues which don’t block ones daily driving.

Due to excess of customers and overwork – I have often found that problems like some rattling noise and “car not clean” kind of issues take low priority over some other customer’s high priority problems. You have to really push and be after them to get the job done to their satisfaction.
  • Additional Accessories fitted in workshop
  • FOG lamps - Cost approximately Rs 5000/-
  • No additional accessory has been added to the car. Thinking of going for extended warranty.
  • Issues faced
    • Accelerator cable replaced under warranty during the first service
    • Clutch plate replaced under warranty during the 3rd service [ Details will update later ]
    • Krr Krr noise from under steering area on uneven roads – unresolved till date in spite of car being left at HMP for one whole day only for addressing this very issue
Personal Rating

On a scale of 10 and keeping overall ownership experience, driving around, issues faced etc I would give it a rating of 8/10. The two problems about which I am not still satisfied are
  • Krr Krr sound that I mentioned earlier
  • Clutch/Gearing for lower gears and clutch itself being hard on foot
Overall I am pretty satisfied and happy with the car. Once you enter the car and sit on the steering wheel – you just have a feel good factor about it which I think is priceless


I will update in details about the following in later posts
  • Issue leading to clutch replacement
  • Car once refused to start and needed Road Side Assistance
  • Servicing details
  • Travelogue of my highway trips ( following pics of i10 somewhere between Shimla and Narkanda )
Attached Thumbnails
i10 kappa sportz - 1 year/16K kms ownership report-dscn2409.jpg  

i10 kappa sportz - 1 year/16K kms ownership report-dscn2407.jpg  


Last edited by Dippy : 14th October 2009 at 14:48. Reason: editing as per request
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Old 14th October 2009, 14:30   #2
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Cool review man. According to me this is one of the BEST report ever posted.
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Old 14th October 2009, 14:32   #3
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That is a very detailed response. Good one!

I do own a Sportz, but an AT version. Somehow I was not too happy of the speaker system. I thought sound was a bit muffed. Even I found ride a bit bumpy.

Rest apart, the car is amazing. Although I only finished the first free service.
Great going.
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Old 14th October 2009, 14:34   #4
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Awesome review!! I am in a similar dilemma these days. Want a new civic but cant afford it. So thinking of going in for a i10 and getting a civic after an year or a new ANHC an civic 3 -5 years later.
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Old 14th October 2009, 15:57   #5
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i10 is a damn good car for city and i guess great for women as well. It definitely has the best build quality compared to most of the hatch backs (maybe excluding the fabia and Jazz which i have not driven), can't think of any other hatch built like this.

You must have been one of those lucky few ones who managed to get a FE of 13 -14 kmpl.

I could never manage more than 12.5 kmpl in city in my 20,000 kms drive on i10 kappa. It could also be due to the fact that i was driving on 175 michelins.

The drive with a/c on is not at all good and according to my opinion, there is atleast a 25% power drop.
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Old 14th October 2009, 16:13   #6
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Excellent Review man, Keep rocking.

BTW, here is my i10 with upsized tyres.

Shown below are Yoko ES-100, 185/60/R14 on Alloys
Attached Thumbnails
i10 kappa sportz - 1 year/16K kms ownership report-33784080001_large.jpg  

i10 kappa sportz - 1 year/16K kms ownership report-33784080003_large.jpg  

i10 kappa sportz - 1 year/16K kms ownership report-33784080005_large.jpg  

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Old 14th October 2009, 17:19   #7
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i10 Kappa refuses to start

It all happened about 4 months after purchase of the car. I was really enjoying driving the red tomato as I fondly used to call it. I came back from office on a Friday and parked the car at my home parking. Next morning being a Saturday – woke up a bit late and at around 11:00 AM decided to go to market for some work.

That’s when all the fun started. I sat on the driver’s seat and cranked the engine. Nice cranking sound but engine didn’t come to life. After a cranking ritual of about 2-3 minutes, finally realized that red tomato was in no mood to start. I got really confused. The car was driving really well the day before with no signs of anything wrong.

The first suspect was battery – but found that headlights; cabin light etc were all working perfectly fine. And none of the light switches were on so as to indicate any kind of battery drain. Then I opened the engine bay to see any signs of problems - but everything looked perfectly fine. After that I checked the underbody to see any leaks or any other signs of issues but nothing to suspect again. On advice of some drivers in the locality shook the car a bit – left and right suspecting some kind of fuel or other blockage but of no avail. The crank was there but engine was not coming to life. The fuel indicator was also showing that vehicle had enough petrol.

When nothing seemed to be working; finally decided to call the HMP helpline. They told me that some other Hyundai on road service is nearer to my house and I better contact them. So took that number and called. They asked me a few questions on how it happened and what the problem etc is. Most of the things had already been tried out by me. So they finally told me that it will take about an hour for them to arrive.

I had no option but to wait for their arrival and hope there is nothing major. I was both saddened and disheartened. A brand new next generation 4 months old car had refused to start.

Have I made the right decision to purchase it? Why it happens only to me? Is i10 kappa having problems?

All kind of weird thoughts started crossing my mind. To be continued…….

The parking lot at home where the drama was unfolding

i10 kappa sportz - 1 year/16K kms ownership report-5.jpg
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Old 14th October 2009, 17:41   #8
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i10 Kappa refuses to start ( Contd. )

After about an hour, two people came from IIRC Samara Hyundai. They did a lot of checking here and there and asked me a few questions. They could not find anything wrong with the car. They had a suspicion that the fuel pump had gone faulty and was not supplying fuel to the engine. So they started hitting the car like crazy from underbody where fuel tank is located and told me to crank the engine in parallel. I really got very frustrated as they seemed to hitting it as if they had to screw a nail there.

However nothing seemed to be working. After scratching their heads here and there for further half an hour, they made some calls to see if they could try anything else apart from what they had already looked at. The response was in negative.

They finally told me that the car would need to go to a workshop and there it would need a scan to identify the problem. They asked me if I was ready to get it towed to their workshop. I told them that I would like to take the car only at HMP. So they told me to call HMP and follow it up there while they would leave.

I called HMP helpline again. Luckily the same fellow picked up the phone to whom I had talked earlier. I explained him the whole situation and what the guys from Samara are suggesting. He told me to wait for another half an hour and he will send some other guy who is more expert and will have a scanner as well to detect any engine problem code. So again started the wait for the new guy

After about 1 hour a yellow i10 arrived which had a Sardarji mechanic (I am forgetting the name). Within the first few minutes I knew the guy knew his job well. Being a Punjabi myself – it was easy for me to gel with him and explain in details of what all had happened till now. He patiently listened to me and said that as a first step he will need to put scanner on the engine to check for any faults

The scanner was taken out and connected to the engine using a point under the steering assembly. I was very concerned now if this is some kind of engine fault or something and my eyes were glued to the scanner screen and my heartbeat was racing. After some configuration on the scanner – it started scanning the engine for faults and after a few seconds finally displayed “No Errors Found”

I felt some relief but my mechanic friend got confused. He called up someone on phone and asked that has there been any known issue/reported problem with i10 kappa not starting and the scanner showing no errors. The answer again was in negative.

I kind of felt more nervous now since it either meant that there was no fault in engine and some problem elsewhere OR some problem which has manifested in my car only without it being it in knowledge of Hyundai.

At this stage towing the car to service station was looking inevitable with no clarity about the issue in sight. The same old thoughts mentioned in my previous posts again started crawling in my mind.

To be continued…..
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Old 14th October 2009, 19:10   #9
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nice detailed report svaid

I myself own a black i10 Kappa Asta A/T, and almost all of my likes and dislikes are expressed in your posts.

Do keep posting.
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Old 15th October 2009, 10:13   #10
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i10 Kappa refuses to start ( Contd. ) - Last Part

I had also explained to my mechanic friend how the Samara guys has suspected fuel pump and tried their bit there. Before totally giving up, he said that lets explore that aspect once again. So he took out a pipe and collected some petrol from fuel tank by sucking and collected it on a piece of cloth that was there in the car. Once he has collected enough petrol such that if he squeezes the cloth, some petrol would drench out – he stopped.

Now he goes back to the engine bay and disconnects a connector to make the fuel supply direct to the engine using this cloth. He now tells me to go back to steering wheel and start cranking the engine while he will drench the fuel from the cloth directly to the engine.

So now I start cranking the engine, 1st try – 2nd try – 3rd try and here you go – Mr Kappa starts playing the engine humming sound.

While all this debugging is happening - the curious drivers of my locality had already assembled around the car to see how the things are going while knowing that the earlier lot from Samara had given up. All are in praise for this mechanic friend while he has a nice grin on his face.

I am still worried. What the heck was the issue? The mechanic friend claims that it is something to do with fuel. The fuel had some “KACCHRA” or dust/dirt/rubbish in it which had caused some blockage. He connects back the engine bay which connector which he had opened up and revs the engine from there.

I am not convinced – if injectors has got stuck or something like that, why will it work now. The guy convinces me saying keep revving a bit for 1 minute and leave the engine on for 2-3 minutes. Then let’s keep it off for five minutes and try again. It should work. He was now showing some confidence.

So we followed what he said and found that now it’s all working as if there was never a problem. So finally some relief!!. He told me that there is nothing to worry and I should drive with full confidence and all will be good.

I used to fuel from IOC pump near my place and had been doing so for the past 7 years without having any problems with the fuel. So was kind of surprised. One change that I have done from there on is that I have switched from normal fuel which I was using till now to premium. I know this might not have anything to do with the issue I faced but it is more for my mental satisfaction. On next service I also got the fuel tank and injectors cleaned on request.

In the meantime, my mechanic friend was receiving a lot of calls on his cell phone. He later told me that apparently he is planning for marriage and some relatives from girl’s side have come over to meet him. The other calls he is getting from Baltic Hyundai in Faridabad which also has some car broken down and are requesting his expertise. So he would first need to go to Faridabad and then dress up and meet the people.

I thanked him from bottom of my heart while he took my leave. My best wishes are for that guy. It’s not only because he solved my problem but because he was one of the few people in his field who are passionate about their work and really want to understand and solve the problem. He could have easily given up considering that the Samara guys had already recommended towing the car to workshop but he instead tried a few things before he could conclude that there was no other option.

With that ended 5-6 hours of tension for me. But all is well that ends well. I finally took the car out around 6 PM and went to market for the work I had decided to do at 11 AM.
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Old 15th October 2009, 11:10   #11
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@svaid: As you rightly said, there are only a few people with the passion for the work that they do and with a no-give up attitude. Glad that you happened to come across one that was able to help you out.
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Old 15th October 2009, 11:40   #12
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Funny Incident during car delivery

We had taken i10 kappa out of the HMP showroom. The red beauty was mine. It was sparkling clean and shining in the sunlight. It was such a great feeling to be driving a brand new car after about 7 years since I bought my first car - the M800. I had a feeling of happiness and joy. We were just outside the gate of the showroom.

My wife decided to click some pictures of the car with me inside it (Refer the first couple of pictures in my first post). I in the meantime was playing around with the audio system and configuring it for FM and all. Additionally, I was looking around to make sure all is good.

I moved the car a bit to give a new pose. This is when my wife pointed that there was some fluid on the ground at the place from where I had moved the car. I went and checked it and attributed it to AC since it is natural to expect that.

We again noted the fluid accumulated even on ground at the current location of the car. While we were looking at it, a service advisor from the workshop passed by. (Note that at HMP, the showroom and workshop are adjacent). He asked us if there was any problem and I explained the situation to him. He picked some fluid from ground and rubbed his fingers on it. He finally said there seems to be some leakage as this doesn’t look like AC water and told us to bring the car inside the workshop gate.

So here I was with a brand new car just rolled out of the showroom and within 10 minutes entering the workshop. I felt really sad and all joy and happiness did fade away. Have I got a car with problems? This is the last thing I want to happen to anyone who has just purchased a brand new car.

There was no other option but to wait there and see if they could find anything. The engine bay was opened and they started inspecting it. To my relief, it was the wiper washer fluid which had overflown/leaked for some reason. They rectified it in five minutes and we were back on the way.

These are the moment s you sometimes never forget. A brand new car goes to workshop for a potential problem immediately after being purchased. Thankfully there was no major issue and smile returned back to our faces.
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Old 15th October 2009, 16:55   #13
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Superb review svaid ! One of the best that I have seen in T-BHP. It only shows how passionate you are about your "red tomato"

Brings back the memories of buying my first car...

On the day of delivery, I reach showroom early. I see one guy driving in what looked like an old black Spark and parking it. It was full of dirt and truck load of mud all over. I think to myself that black cars look pretty bad when it gets old and wonder if I went wrong in choosing black color.

When my sales rep comes in, I enquire him about my car. He goes inside and comes back in 5 minutes and says this is your brand new car sir pointing at that dirty black Spark. I protest by saying this can't be my car. It looks like it is at least 2 year old !

At that time, I felt like these guys are trying to cheat me with some test driven car or some other car lying in their stockyard for long long time. I even thought of going to some police station or calling my brother in law etc.

Seeing my anxiety, the sales guy says sir just take it easy. Let me show you a magic ! he goes somewhere and comes with 2 bucket full of water and pours it all over the car. And lol magic it was. There stood my brand new sparkling Sparky

Its 2 years now and me and my Sparky, we are rocking together !

Last edited by BomBatt : 15th October 2009 at 16:58.
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Old 15th October 2009, 22:35   #14
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Excellent Review svaid. Being a fellow i10 owner, I can't agree more.

The rear wiper is a very useful one which I think you did not include.


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Originally Posted by svaid View Post

RPM rises every time the clutch gets depressed
This is one point that I don't understand. How does this happen ? Can you elaborate ?
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Old 16th October 2009, 10:34   #15
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Thanks all for your good words.

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Originally Posted by ampere View Post

I do own a Sportz, but an AT version. Somehow I was not too happy of the speaker system. I thought sound was a bit muffed.
Although you might have already tried it - but the stock settings on the audio system were not good for me. I had to tune bass/treble/other settings to my liking to be able to enjoy it. Ofcourse the best sound is obtained using CD quality songs.
Had you been in Delhi, we could have compared the quality using the same CD!!


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Originally Posted by compenn View Post
I am in a similar dilemma these days. Want a new civic but cant afford it. So thinking of going in for a i10 and getting a civic after an year or a new ANHC an civic 3 -5 years later.
Brother, If you want my advice - buy the sedan if you can. This buy this now and buy that later philosphy atleast doesnt seem to be working for me.


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Originally Posted by NFS2024 View Post

You must have been one of those lucky few ones who managed to get a FE of 13 -14 kmpl.

I could never manage more than 12.5 kmpl in city in my 20,000 kms drive on i10 kappa. It could also be due to the fact that i was driving on 175 michelins.

The drive with a/c on is not at all good and according to my opinion, there is atleast a 25% power drop.
Is your driving mostly in crawling traffic? An FE <= 12.5 sounds low to me. It could be a function of the tyre upgrade but I am not the right person to comment on that - may be some other expert can confirm the same.

Again 25% power drop is not something I have felt with AC. May be some fellow i10 kappa owners should also comment on the same. Did you point this out during the car servicing at the workshop? From my personal experience, there is definitely a drop but not something like 1/4th of the power getting reduced - i feel it might be 5-10% drop only



Quote:
Originally Posted by para_7k View Post
Excellent Review svaid. Being a fellow i10 owner, I can't agree more.

The rear wiper is a very useful one which I think you did not include.

[[RPM rises every time the clutch gets depressed ]]
This is one point that I don't understand. How does this happen ? Can you elaborate ?
Yes - rear wiper/defogger which are additional features in sportz variant over magna are really useful.

I dont know if you have closely noticed it - whenever you press the clutch, have a look at the RPM meter you would see it rising up and then settling back. Even during gear changes, wheneverb you will press the clutch - the rpm does rise.

This has already been discussed in other threads in context of other cars if not i10. You can search and have a look

Also notice that when the clutch is fully depressed and you turn the steering, you will be able to feel the steering rod on the clutch foot. This feels and looks very strange to me.
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