[Jattitude]

We currently own a Tata Harrier and a Tigor EV and were looking for a small city hatchback/ equivalent in AT, primarily for my wife. My wife and I test-drove the following cars in the past fortnight: (Booked the Hyundai Exter SX AMT at the end of the experience)

(1) Maruti Suzuki Celerio VXi AMT: A wobbly, uninspiring ride at city speeds. Our heads kept wobbling forward each time the AMT changed gears. On top of that, the car kept wobbling horizontally. Tata Motors has thoroughly spoilt us. Celerio looks cute in its latest avatar, and the interior seats and space are very comfortable for our needs. Still, at on-road Rs. 7,50,000/- it is enormously expensive for what it offers. Honestly, no amount of resale value and good mileage can make me purchase it.

(2) Maruti Suzuki Alto AMT: A very claustrophobic car to sit in, and we immediately rejected it without a test drive.

(3) Maruti Suzuki Ignis AMT: Better to drive than the Celerio. An AMT that is less jerky than the Celerio, but my wife did not like the looks and was rejected.

(4) Tata Punch Creative AMT: Tata needs to fire the team or Executive that named the variants of Tata Punch. Why would you complicate the names of variants in this fashion? The variants ought to be named in a fashion to make things simpler for the customers. It's a good-looking car, and the front design makes it looks like a mini-Harrier. Being a Harrier owner for the last ~4 years, I can ascertain that this is a timeless design, and you will look at it adoringly even after several years of ownership. Coming to the interiors of the Punch, we did not like the seats (both front and rear). Even Celerio had better seats. The dashboard and the touchscreen, too, looked dated. The interior is not the one that will make you happy sitting inside it. The drive was also nothing to write home about, as the 3-cylinder engine is not refined, and engine noise creeps into the cabin even at city speeds. AMT tuning is better than Celerio, but mild jerks can be felt in the cabin while the AMT is changing gears. We did not enjoy the ride and immediately made up our minds that this was not the car for us. My wife and I believe this car is merely selling such numbers because of the new space it created sans competition. A good competitive product will bring the numbers down, tumbling.

(5) Tata Altroz DCA: Now this an excellent hatchback! Everything from the exterior to the interior screams premiumness. The ride (barring the three-cylinder engine) was excellent. DCA is superbly tuned, NVH is excellent, and the seats are fantastic. My wife and I loved the car, which moved to the top of our shortlist. Due to owning 2 Tata cars, I have a good relationship with the SC staff, who are very cooperative. They indirectly nudged me towards the Punch's AMT instead of opting for the DCA. Now if the SC people aren't comfortable with their own DCA, who am I to take that risk? We struck the Altroz off our list because of this reason.

(6) Hyundai Exter SX AMT: I booked this car (S AMT variant) pre-launch to be in the queue in case we liked it. The car launched, and we visited the showroom on the 11th. The model on display was SX(O) AMT in Ranger Khaki-Black DT. The car looks fresh in the flesh, and while plenty of people haven't liked the looks, we liked the aesthetics straightway. This is coming from a place where I haven't liked any Hyundai car pre-2022. But, off late, I have begun to appreciate the design language used in the latest Tucson and Verna.

The TD car was only going to be made available in 1-2 days, so we played around with the display car. The doors, while not as solid as our Tata cars, are way better than Maruti cars but also better than those on the i20 and i10. Combined with passive safety features such as 6 airbags and ESC, this car makes a solid case for a decently safe city car. I am 169 cm, and my wife and I found both the front and rear seats to be very comfortable in terms of the under-thigh support and the incline of the rear seats. It made the Punch backseat seem like a bench. I was thankful that my left knee wasn't hitting the dashboard, which happens in both of my Tata Cars. The interiors looked fresh with good quality plastic used. Fabric inserts in strategic places might have helped, but one has to be mindful of the car's segment and the other features already given as standard by Hyundai. The car seemed like a good option for our use case, and we decided to return for a TD.

The TD car was ready the next day, i.e. a Tuesday, and we went for the same on Wednesday. The variant offered was AMT SX(O) in Ranger Khaki-Black DT. The AMT is very well-tuned, and I could only feel a slight jerk when it increased from 1 to 2. Negligible jerkiness was felt on any other gear shift, up or down. It was a relief to us, as we had been dreading using a gearbox such as that on the Celerio for our drives. It wasn't something we were willing to accommodate. I might have risked going for the Altroz DCA. To assure myself that this won't change after a few thousand km, I also TD a well-run i10 Nios, and it was more or less a similar experience as the Exter.

While my wife and I are strictly against a sunroof, we realised that SX seems to be the most VFM variant of the lot. Despite the fact that an S variant was readily available, we decided to upgrade our booking to SX DT AMT. The Sales guy at Ketan Hyundai, Jagtar Singh, is an excellent salesperson with sound customer service skills. He very clearly told me that, in this case, my delivery dates could be 2-4 months. But, over the next week, he worked to track the bookings at his showroom, and as soon as another customer cancelled an SX AMT, he immediately offered it to us. On evaluating SX v/s SX DT, we decided to go with the SX as waiting 2-3 months wasn't an option. We hope to bring this car home early next week.

[Jattitude]

Originally Posted by diyguy

When one gets into the back seat there is a big dip on the rear suspension. With all three in the back seat the play of the suspension over bad roads becomes suspect.

I did see this as well. We drove over an under-construction stretch, and the car behaved decently. While I would be concerned about this if one intends to use this car as an SUV (:thumbs-down Strongly advise not to use any Micro SUV as an SUV). For my use case, it will primarily be a city-only car, hence not a concern. Overall, the car seems to be a good VFM option from Hyundai.

[Durango Dude]

Compared to the Exter my mind leans more towards the Fronx, which though expensive has more space compared to the Exter. Even though Fronx has a quirky styling and Exter is more SUVish.

[flashgo]

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe

Looks like the brand ambassador for the Hyundai Exter is cricketer Hardik Pandya!
This is a purely personal opinion - I'm not a big fan of his narcissistic & discourteous attitude on the field and as the captain of his IPL side. I know that this is least important, but that may not go too well with family buyers!

Have the same thoughts actually. if not for the good product offering, it would have been hard for me to trust the product seeing him promote it. I usually don't care about the brand ambassadors but Hardik somehow seems a wrong person for such things.

[SlowDough]

I drove a Fronx Turbo Automatic and Exter Automatic on the Gurgaon Faridabad road. For those not from NCR: The road is a 4 lane one, with good long curves, straights, and speed limits higher than those inside the city. My intent was to check the highway worthiness of the cars and whether either one would make me smile through the driving experience, rather than the features or price.

I know there isn't a direct comparison between the both, but I hope it will provide a good point of reference for what the Exter is really good for.

For reference, I have a 2011 i10 1.1.

Report:

1. Driving position: Exter's was upright, with a very good view of the surroundings and a visible bonnet. I am 5'10ish and I had raised the seat up to around half of it's limit. My left leg wasn't fully happy as the centre console felt a couple of cms wider than it hould have been, but not a big issue. The overall position felt good for navigating through the mountains and the cities. Fronx was more low and sporty in comparison. The steering has telescopic adjustment and I could use it to sit in a relaxed, laid back position, with my arms in a relaxed position.

3. Engine: We had chosen the 1.1 engine in the i10 very consciously. In the city, it is a joy, as I love to push small engines around. On the highway, it is too lethargic, and made me miss a 1.2. But Exter's 1.2 didn't feel like a satisfactory improvement. I still had to push it more than I expected, even from 40 to 80 kmph. In my i10, which is slower, I could at least enjoy seeing the rpm needle climb, but the fad around digital screens ensured that I didnt have that pleasure either. The Fronx, on the other hand, felt like it had just enough juice; neither too much that I wouldnt enjoy pushing it, nor too less that I would have to keep pushing it always. The lag is not much, and I felt that I was almost always in the power band or close enough to it at cruising speeds.

5. Gearbox: Exter's AMT is not as smooth or fastas I had hoped. From my previous test drives of AMTs, I had learned to shift up with my foot off the accelerator. But the gearbox was slow in the sense that I needed to lift off for a few more moments than I do when shifting in a manual, which sounds like an obvious thing for AMT users, but now I understand that this takes away from the sportiness, even if you can adapt to it. The paddle shifters were great, but the slow gearbox makes them useless for a sporty drive. Interestingly, I tried to shift through the gears with my foot off completely, both up and down, and then the gear shifts were incredibly smooth. The good part was that you can keep the gearbox in manual mode and drive with one hand; let the downshifts happen on their own, and use the right paddle for upshifts based on your discretion. The Fronx is another level ahead and most importantly, I enjoyed going through the gears. I have driven Hyundai DCTs, and this TC felt sporty enough for me to notice the difference much. The smoothness was acceptable. I also enjoyed the fact that if you lift off the accelerator in the auto mode, there is decent amount of engine breaking as the revvs go down gradually. I did not check this behavior in Exter.

7. Suspension: Compared to Nios i10, the Exter is much improved. It is softer, but not wobbly soft. The hard edge has gone away considerably. But the Fronx way again way better. I was uncomfortable in the Nios i10, comfortable in the Exter, but relatively oblivious to the road in the Fronx. At high speeds on curvy roads, in the Exter, my right foot was cautious and I braked early before the turns to slow down from my highway cruising speed. I could feel a bit of nervousness when I was close to triple digit speeds. But in the Fronx, I had to brake only because it was not my car. It felt stable and could take a lot more. Which means that on the actual highways and curvy roads, I will have to brake and accelerate significantly less in the Fronx. Both cars did well under a bit of panic braking too.

9. NVH: Fronx felt much more silent due to higher engine power and more ratios, therefore lower rpms, but the cabin itself felt decently well insulated. I couldn't hear the usual horns and autos cluttering about as much as I am used to. There wasn't enough traffic when I drove the Exter, but the engine itself gets relatively more stressed and louder. Both sound ok, but on the highway, I like having a better balance between the music and outside noise. Fronx's tyres are a bit loud though.

Overall: My need is minimum 50% highway drive. Exter will do the job, but Fronx is significantly more enjoyable, has better dynamics, and is easier to push. Most importantly, if I cruise at 100 kmph in the Fronx, I think I will feel less tired than after cruising in the Exter at 80kmph. The Exter is not fun to push around, whereas the Fronx has all of the basic automotive requirements much more sorted.

In the end, I'll say that the Exter felt like a small, practical, city MPV and the Fronx felt like a sporty crossover that is fairly enjoyable to drive.

[denny_ace]

Originally Posted by Jattitude

While my wife and I are strictly against a sunroof, we realised that SX seems to be the most VFM variant of the lot. Despite the fact that an S variant was readily available, we decided to upgrade our booking to SX DT AMT.

I had booked the Exter SX AMT DT (Atlas White + Abyss Black) about one month before the launch. The booking was made on behalf of my father-in-law who is looking to upgrade from his ~ 5 year old Grand i10 AT. After the price and variant-wise features were announced, I too felt that the SX was the most VFM variant. The DT variant also gets the 15" diamond cut alloy wheels. However, we will miss out on leather wrapped steering wheel, gear knob, and rear washer-wiper etc. It would have been nice to get a factory fitted leather wrapped steering wheel. The final on-road price in Kochi would be around 10.5 lacs. We are hoping that his current drive, Grand i10 AT would fetch him around 5 lacs.

[teknophobia]

Test drove the Exter AMT today, my impression is generally positive.

The engine and the AMT box are reasonably smooth. The car drives quite well in city traffic. It does feel somewhat underpowered though, doesn't have the same response as a WagonR 1.2, but then it is a heavier car with 6bhp less.

The turning radius is adequately small, and the visibility is good.

One thing that irked me was that the infotainment screen isn't designed for the driver to refer to comfortably. In both the civic and the WagonR, I can comfortably see the screen from my normal driving position, however, in the Exter, it feels too low and close.

On the whole though, I will be going ahead with the plan to replace the WagonR with the Exter.

[sensible_driver]

I have booked Hyundai Exter SX Varient, in the review its written that tyres are small for the body which are 175 65 15R. The next upsize is 195 60 15R, but does this size touch the wheel arch or could be seen out of the body. Please help which tyre upgrade would be ideal for Exter.

[Jattitude]

Originally Posted by denny_ace

The DT variant also gets the 15" diamond cut alloy wheels. However, we will miss out on leather wrapped steering wheel, gear knob, and rear washer-wiper etc. It would have been nice to get a factory fitted leather wrapped steering wheel.

Agree that SX-DT makes more sense than SX, but the dealer signalled that SX-DT could take anywhere from 2-3 months or more due to the current booking status. SX was made readily available due to a cancelled booking. We choose to proceed with the booking.

[UchihaItachi]

I am reminded of the Getz by the tailgate and tail lights. Some reflection of Getz in the side profile too. Does anyone feel the same?

[Joe367]

Originally Posted by swami69

Not sure whether i like this design, but anyways, many prefer these type of CSUV, boxy designs and they sell too. The C pillar area and the door, is somewhat weird looking to me

True, it looks weird. Not just Exter, I've always felt the same about Aura. Both looks like an afterthought, which makes me concerned about structural integrity of these vehicles. 🙄

[vvinayakpai]

It is surprising that Hyundai Exter does not offer ISOFIX child safety feature for its base models. Offering 6 Airbags as a standard was an amazing thing to do in the direction of safety but removing the ISOFIX in the base model is not acceptable practice at all.

[SlowDough]

Originally Posted by androdev

Folks, what is the price difference between Exter top-end AT and i10 NIOS top-end AT? Other than the design/shape and high GC - what are the main differences between these two when buying a small automatic car for the city?

Main differences:
1. Exter is a lot more roomy due to the headroom. But the interiors are darker.
2. 130 litres more boot space.
3. Exter's suspension is softer and much more comfortable. i10 is very hard-edged.
4. Paddle shifters, digital dashboard, sunroof.
5. Build quality feels slightly better.
6. 6 airbags in all variants.

[aniketi]

Finally I saw Exter in person, on road. To be honest, it's very unpleasant to look at in real world. Side profile really looks odd or unproportionate to look at (due to last quarter) & rear looks ordinary too due to that black strip. Front also looks okay'ish in person, I am not fan of these designs to be honest. I don't like new Verna for same reason. Interiors also look very dull due to color they chosen, feels very sad.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by aniketi

Finally Side profile really looks odd or unproportionate to look at (due to last quarter) Interiors also look very dull due to color they chosen, feels very sad.

Beauty (or Ugliness) I guess lies in the eye of the beholder.
Personally I thought the car looks very nice.
Especially when viewed at these angles.