[Swaminathan]

Originally Posted by Aditya

2024 Hyundai Alcazar Facelift Review

Then, there is the Digital Key with NFC technology. With a touch of a smartphone or smartwatch against the door handle, customers can lock or unlock the car. They can place the smartphone/smartwatch on the front wireless charger pad to start the vehicle. The technology also allows the customer to drive and share the Digital Key with up to 3 different users or up to 7 linked devices at a time.

You can download the Hyundai Alcazar brochure here - Attachment 2655757

Digital Key NFC based is a good step forward to digitalize the "Vehicle Access". This supplements the Remote door open, close features offered through the Connected Mobile App. With the fingerprint authentication mandate, it can be a secure feature in case the Mobile Phone is stolen.

[GauRanVid]

Base Model Executive variant video has been uploaded on YouTube. Hyundai has loaded it to the max with the only exclusion of Infotainment system which can be installed from showroom at some cost. The base model on road price as per Hyundai website (including their insurance) comes around 17.3 lac which in my view is a good price.

However, a big miss is that middle passenger on 2nd row does not get headrest (not even fixed ). I checked multiple videos to validate this and could not spot it in any of the videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le79X9e0neE

[Aaron:)]

Originally Posted by GauRanVid

However, a big miss is that middle passenger on 2nd row does not get headrest (not even fixed ). I checked multiple videos to validate this and could not spot it in any of the videos.

https://www.Youtube.com/watch?v=Le79X9e0neE

The base model has adjustable headrests on the 2nd row. They are visible in the video. They are not that prominent because they are hidden under the plastic cover and adjusted to their lowest position.

[GauRanVid]

Originally Posted by Jupizire

Thanks for the detailed review.

How is the seat comfort, seating position and tumble option for access to the 3rd row in case of 7 seater?

Check at 6:20 in the video. Last row is definitely for kids up to 10 years or 4.5 ft height. Access is easy through tumble down process of 2nd row as shown. Better to use the car as 5+2 seater only or 5 seater with 570 litres of boot space.

https://youtu.be/fOEyC1RxqAc

[ani_meher]

Originally Posted by Aaron:)

The base model has adjustable headrests on the 2nd row. They are visible in the video. They are not that prominent because they are hidden under the plastic cover and adjusted to their lowest position.

He is talking about the middle passenger on the bench seat, who does not get any headrest, fixed of adjustable.

[Mechanto]

Hyundai once used to set benchmarks for powerful diesel engines in the respective segments. Not the case anymore.

[bhaskaracs]

With the advent of ADAS, now all steering wheels have started looking quite similar. Typical pattern is to have volume/call/media controls on the left, and having ADAS and Info display settings controls on the right side of the steering. In fact, if you have looked at the latest Tata Safari steering, you have seen Alcazar and vice versa. But oddly Alcazar steering wheel is an exact copy of Tata Safari steering, with even the volume and settings toggle buttons looking exactly the same.

It seems Alcazar wanted to offer everything that Safari or XUV offer, and then do it at a lower price. Perhaps the reason why they delayed the launch from April to September. They did not want to launch a middling product.

Alcazar has always been one of my favourite cars, but the delay in launch forced us to purchase Safari recently.

[utkarshgoel]

The list of official accessories was shared to me by a dealer. Attaching here for reference.

New Alcazar Accessories and packs.pdf

[pqr]

Originally Posted by Aditya

Hyundai Alcazar Facelift Cons

• 2nd row legroom is mediocre (captain seat variant). Compromises have been made to accommodate the 3rd row & boot
• 3rd row seat is best suited to kids only. Not really a place for adults
• Competitors like the Carens, XUV700, Scorpio-N, Safari & Hector Plus offer more spacious cabins
• Diesel’s 114 BHP & 250 Nm – although adequate – are the lowest in the segment

These were the fundamental reasons why Alcazar was a sales disaster in the first place (~5,000 units per month was planned voulme in 2021).




This facelift has potential to bring some incremental sales at best, because Alcazar is not a good challenger to Mahindra XUV 700. Banking too much on cost synergy with Creta (front to B-pillar), has its own downsides. Alcazar has limited width, underpowered engines, and useless third row of seating compared to competitors.

Essentially, the value proposition of Alcazar is just reduced to – “₹ 1 lakh extra (features factored in) over all rounded sibling Creta for just 146L of additional boot space with the third row seat folded”.

Originally Posted by Aditya

According to Hyundai, the structural changes made to the car to meet crashworthiness have increased its weight. Hence, to keep the weight and price down, and meet CAFE norms at the same time, the sunroof and spare wheel have been left out in the diesel.

Those are the first few things (spare wheel comes first) the engineering department starts a conversation with, on the topic of weight and CO2. But the omission of panoramic sunroof on diesel variants is a strange trade-off Hyundai made this time, as 68% of sales of Alcazar came from diesel variants, similar to the XUV 700. Hyundai appears to have eliminated any hope of incremental sales with this decision.

[Nilesh5417]

This is a nice crisp review! And not sure if its just me but the pictures included are really really good. Did something change in the review process when it comes to pictures?

The car really does look so much better than the outgoing version and in typical Hyundai fashion is quite loaded. But i agree with @pqr - its baffling to see the treatment given to the diesel variant. Hyundai cars incl. their diesels were never as fuel efficient as the competition imo so such a heavy focus on petrol seems odd. Is Hyundai softly positioning this as a 5-seater with occasional use of the last row? Like an upsell option to Creta for those who want 2 additional seats infrequently. In which case it will only sell incrementally and truly never compete with any 7 seater let alone XUV700.

[CEF_Beasts]

Originally Posted by pqr

Those are the first few things (spare wheel comes first) the engineering department starts a conversation with, on the topic of weight and CO2. But the omission of panoramic sunroof on diesel variants is a strange trade-off Hyundai made this time, as 68% of sales of Alcazar came from diesel variants, similar to the XUV 700. Hyundai appears to have eliminated any hope of incremental sales with this decision.

Unlike the Creta, in which the spare wheel is placed in the boot-well, the Alcazar gets the 3rd row of seats instead.

That leaves Hyundai with placing the tire behind the rear axle like it is in facelifted Petrol version and pre-facelift models (petrol + diesel). Now the DEF tank is located behind the rear axle in the diesel effectively taking up any space that would ideally have housed the spare wheel.

So the Diesel variants won’t get the spare wheel, but a sunroof maybe added on at a later date.

[pratyaksh]

Background: we are looking for a car for my senior parents who are both tall and prefer cars like the Innova for city runabout with upright seating, and lots of leg room with back row comfort being of prime importance. With our city cramping up more and more, we checked out the Alcazar thinking it might just be worth considering since Hycross is at least a year's waiting and with seat ventilation for rear passengers, it felt like a real contender.

Test drove the Alcazar yesterday, and came out completely unimpressed. I felt the car is neither here nor there.

• Is this car a 4 seater - where is the room for the rear passengers? For us 6 footers, there is absolutely no space. The rear seats could have slid just a tad more for that extra room in this row esp. when the last row will remain unoccupied for most of its usable life for most buyers.
• Is it a 6/7 seater - why is this last row even there?
• Is it an SUV - the unnecessarily high roof rails seem to want to suggest that.
• Ventilated seats - felt more like a gimmick as it didn't have enough to cool your behind.
• Captain seats - hard, very hard!
• Plastics - cheap.

We sat back in the Kodiaq after the test drive, which felt like sitting in S-class / business class comfort after the Alcazar. Our behinds sure did thank us Keep realizing how wonderfully well made the Kodiaq is compared to all these new / gimmicky / plasticky new cars.

Test drove the Thar 5d which wasn't planned but Alcazar somehow pushed us to try out something else. We were all pleasantly surprised by the amount of space in the cabin both for front and rear passengers, and my Mom was the happiest with the views offered from the back seat of this high seated SUV. Just might look at it seriously although it might throw out all sense but hey!

[MaanSingh]

This is such a good looking car, I feel bad about people who bought Alcazar before this (including my cousin)

Looks are subjective, but I think it deserves Design awards - looks even better than Creta to me.

[Aaron:)]

Originally Posted by ani_meher

He is talking about the middle passenger on the bench seat, who does not get any headrest, fixed of adjustable.

My bad
The missing headrest for the middle passenger is a serious omission. AFAIK, even the Creta and Carens miss out on it, but the Seltos gets a headrest. Strange.

Originally Posted by pratyaksh

[*]Plastics - cheap.[/list]
We sat back in the Kodiaq after the test drive, which felt like sitting in S-class / business class comfort after the Alcazar.

For the price of a Kodiaq (~48L last I checked), you can almost buy two Alcazars (~25L each). I'd be damned if it doesn't feel like an S-class in comparison. Not really a fair comparison now is it? I agree with you about the Thar Roxx though. Impractical as it is, it really makes you want to buy one.

And if you're comparing with the City - No car except for maybe the Safari and Innova will have a better back seat. After so many years, the City still has among the best back seats in the business.

[zinbart]

Question:
Do any other cars like Creta, Seltos etc. has this digital key function?