[aaggoswami]

I wonder what exactly Hyundai is trying to achieve with this car.
Santro is very close in terms of pricing and anyone who has driven a Santro will know how good it is.
Santro offers :
1) Good performance in city
2) Very very torquey engine, can put even Kappa to shame in city
3) Ease of ingress and egress
4) Higher overall visibility
5) Proven product
6) Feels relatively solid ( along with Spark )
7) Not driven Eon, but IMO, Santro is not this sensitive to steering inputs

Where Santro loses :
1) Ride ( as per this review, I am yet to drive Eon, but again Santro has one of the worst rear ride quality )
2) Dynamics ( high speed )
3) Asthetic sense.

Then what exactly is wrong with Santro itself ? I would firmly recommend Santro over Eon any given day mainly for its torquey engine and also the 4 cylinder engine in Santro is wont throw the thrum.

Eon, given what it offers, is simply overpriced. The Alto, having proven itself and now available with K10 is more VFM IMO.
Space, performance or even FE is not a trait where Eon can establish itself safely above Alto, Spark, Santro. Except the fluidic design, nothing else is that good in Eon ( just my view ).
Last but not the least, I read somewhere that Eon is based on Santro ? Its this true or this is an all new platform ?

[sydras]

The two things that impress me the most about the Eon are

i> Interior quality - The black and beige treatment is normally reserved for C class sedans. It's very well done and far superior to the Chevy Spark which until now was the car with the best interiors for it's segment in my opinion. Even the layout is very symmetrical and functional and perfect for long term ownership.

ii> Build quality for the segment - The car appears to be precisely built with consistent panel gaps (In my opinion, this has Hyundai has been better in this department than the competition) and echoes the fluidic styling(although not to my taste) quite well.

Like all Hyundais, the top end variant is overpriced and I one has to stretch that far, it's better to stretch a little more and get a mid variant of a bigger car.

There is lots of room for improvement (ABS, dual airbags, light steering, NVH, gear shift, 4 cylinder option, AT option etc.) especially for the top end variant at that price. Hyundai will think of something during the refresh of the Eon. My experience with the refreshed i10 leads me to believe that they actually work on refreshing their products beyond cosmetic changes.

[prkiran]

Is it just me or do anyone else feel that Hyundai's obsession with the 'fluidic' theme going too far? Not able to digest the front and rear profiles and the dashboard design yet. Too many cuts and bulges IMHO. Liked the side profile though.

[Mark 5]

Great review GTO!

I was really waiting for this review as I had plans to purchase one as a second car (but for now just a wait-and-watch policy)

I really like the way the reviews are being published on Team-BHP which are high in terms of quality and quantity (I like those small-but-significant-points section very interesting along with the quality photographs) than those given by most of the car magazines and other auto-mobile websites these days.

Coming back to the EON, I think its quite a good package offered by Hyundai except the turn-off being a 0.8 litre engine (Hyundai should have plonked the Santro's 1.1 litre unit into the EON which would have justified the slightly premium pricing for an entry-level car and and discontinue the Santro as EON would be a suitable successor)

Also from your review it has been bought to notice that the gear lever vibrates a lot (also mentioned in a short review by sidindica), which I think is bad and Hyundai should rectify immediately to garner huge volumes else it might put people off.

What do I think of the EON? Well it has got almost the perfect recipe to sell well and might dent the Alto's large figures that we see nearly each month, till then wait and watch.

P.S: Rated ***** (5 stars)

[Amartya]

Finely detailed review, really enjoyed reading it.

Originally Posted by GTO

I'd say the Santro is a better alternative, even to the Spark. It's old yes, but still very competent as an entry-level hatchback. I'm the kind of a guy who goes by the engine over anything else.

I cannot echo this sentiment enough.
In fact, personally I'd much rather go for a second hand automobile with a nicer drivetrain and better dynamics.

Originally Posted by GTO

The i10, i20, Verna and the Eon now have the best-in-class overall quality. And I'm not talking just about the interiors.

Hyundai's focus and clarify of vision needs to be commended. They are among the very few car manufacturers to have understood that the majority of the market doesn't care for stonking performance or tight handling; the customers want their new cars to feel special. Where can they be made to feel special, of course it's the interiors. In a 15 minute test drive, most customers wouldn't be able to figure out ride quality and handling, but for the things they can touch and feel, they'd come back with a very positive impression.

I cannot see a single customer test driving an Eon and then walking over to the Maruti dealership to try the Alto and not feel disappointed. It's a bonus that the A/C works as well as it does and the car is roomier than most of the direct competition.

Just curious, but did you get a chance to talk to a Hyundai engineer during the drive? If yes, did you ask why they weren't able to iron out drivetrain/gearbox vibration and what like of linkage the gearbox uses (cable/direct etc.)? It just doesn't seem like a thing Hyundai usually messes up.

[amit_2025]

GTO, Thanks for the awesome review.

Most of the observations I had during my short test drive are only cemented by your review.

I am however, amazed by the presence of the EON in terms of a Marketing Strategy.

Places Spotted in the last 7 days with ushers:

1) Malls in Delhi
2) Malls in Gurgaon
3) Malls in Jaipur
4) Metro Stations in Delhi (Amazed)
5) High Footfall commercial centers in Delhi
6) High Footfall markets in Delhi

The fact that the EON hasn't set the sales registers ticking yet is no secret, however presence at places like inside a metro station are surely the right approach to target first time buyers.

P.S - My Father in Law in Jaipur had booked one on my suggestion. Asked him to cancel mainly because of the shaky gearshift and the fact that the Brio base model seems much more VFM.

[motorguy]

GTO - thanks for the much awaited and really comprehensive review. Was waiting for this ever since the ad for the EON came out.

The first thing I noticed about the EON was the good interior build quality that matches cars like the i10. In all fairness - in my opinion Hyundai has generally always had good interior quality (except for the Santro, which I personally do not find very good - but that's probably limited by keeping the price of the car down). Having owned Marutis for the last couple of years before shifting to Hyundai, I never thought that the interior build quality would be so refreshingly different. Would have liked a really top end EON variant with steering audio controls, bluetooth, etc. But I guess that would then eat into the i10's top end bracket and probably even into the base i20s.

On the flip side, the Alto is priced lower which could take some margin of sales from the EON. Maruti is Maruti at the end of the day. As one post in this thread said most of the variants are more expensive than the Alto - but is worth paying that extra for the interior quality. Also the Alto has never offered an integrated Head Unit and USB/DIN connectivity (except the so-called "Limited" edition of the Alto which is being marketed now).

Was surpised to hear about the vibrating gearshift - did not except this, but I guess these are the niggles that come from a newly launched car, and will be corrected over time.

@GTO - btw - the covering on the manifold is also available on the i10 now (at least on mine which is the top end model - dont know about the other variants) .

[blackasta]

Thanks for the report GTO.
All was good for the EON, and the stage was set - but the price kind of fizzled out the deal.
Just IMO - but the EOn might appeal more to the urban buyers for the chic styling and hence sell more in the metros (1st timers and 2nd/3rd cars for existing owners)
As for the ABS /Airbag debate - I vote for airbags as I might be stationary, but someone might still hit me! and then the airbags come in real handy. (also my current car does not have ABS, and I ain't really missing it - this when both of my earlier cars had ABS. ABS is particularly tricky on snow/ice, and we do get that by the plenty in this part!)


In sync with motorguy - even my gen 1 i10 asta has that cladding on the intake hose.

[skanchan95]

Is the steering hydraulic or Electronic? I wonder if Hyundai has stuck to EPS considering the steering troubles in EPS units on the i10 & i20.

[W.A.G.7]

Great review! And basically a great effort by Hyundai in the entry level hatchback segment. But for some reason, I still feel, the old Santro is a much more balanced car in all respects viz. interior space, engine, build quality, ownership costs. May be they should have launched a face lifted version of the Santro and lowered the price of the Santro even more to less than 2L!

[normally_crazy]

Brilliant review GTO. The Eon looks all set to take the battle to the Alto.

I feel it would do well in the metros but making a dent in the tier 1 and rural markets would be more difficult.

Originally Posted by GTO

• The doors don’t auto lock after you start driving. This is unfortunate as auto locking doors are a must-have feature in India and hardly cost a buck to add.

Even the Rs 16 lacs Civic does not have this feature - leave the poor 3 lac car alone

[aravind.anand]

A fantastic review by GTO. Nothing surprising in that anyway But the comment for the photo where the Alto and the Eon stand side by side reads "The Alto looks 20 years too old. The Eon is longer, taller and wider than the Alto." But the specifications show that the Alto 800cc and the Eon are of the exact same length and the Alto K10 is much longer that these two!
And talking about the Eon, Apart from the exterior looks ( I personally dislike the over fluidic molten lines all around) I quite like the car. The interiors in particular make the competition and also the segment above to feel embarrassed. Good job overall Hyundai.

[nkg77]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

Is the steering hydraulic or Electronic? I wonder if Hyundai has stuck to EPS considering the steering troubles in EPS units on the i10 & i20.

To keep the costs low Hyundai Eon is having an HPS unit in it. Lets hope the HPS unit to not to rattle like the EPS ones in i20.

[motorguy]

I can never understand why manufacturers in India (don't know whether this is the practice elsewhere) only install the driver side airbag on budget cars and probably low end variants. Doesnt anyone care about the front passenger who can get hit as well on impact. IMHO the manufacturer should consider the safety factor and not only the cost.

In the EON, the additional airbag could have been provided in the interest of safety. The whole idea of providing only the driver side airbag reeks of cost saving at the expense of an essential safety feature.

[Shome]

Originally Posted by nkg77

To keep the costs low Hyundai Eon is having an HPS unit in it. Lets hope the HPS unit to not to rattle like the EPS ones in i20.

How does the rattling issue come into the picture? Isnt it just the i20 which faced this issue due to inherent design flaws? I am sure Hyundai have learnt from the mistake and will not repeat an issue which has caused so much heart burn.

Rattling also has no connection to the unit being an EPS or a HPS.