My better half's Hyundai i10 Asta Automatic: My first impressions

Harbir · 9th September 2011, 09:01

My wife bought an i10 Asta automatic last night and we've driven it about 60km so far. We bought the asta because my wife wanted a very small convenient automatic transmission car (as a change from her Accord which we still have) and insisted on a car with airbags and the other features were a sweet bait (not at all that sweet as it turns out)

Intitial impressions:

The good:

The car is wonderfully easy to drive. New York city traffic could not make us switch from manuals to automatics, but delhi traffic, the state it is in now, made us become willing to try out one. My wife initially thought that the i10 automatic is like a scooter to drive, boring and uninvolving, but warmed to the idea of the convenience. And indeed it is very convenient. It is such a stress free way to get around the NCR. this is the first time I have actually found an automatic a true convenience and stress relieving benefit. The automatic is shifts smoothly and willingly and has not so far made us feel like its in the wrong gear and not shifting when needed.

The interior is nicely put together with good quality materials and good fit and finish. The car is very smooth going down the highway at 80km/h. Since the high way speed limits are 90km/h here and it was bought for primarily city use, it doesn't matter whether its good for cruising at 120km/h. The handling is not very sporty, but nor is it reluctant to be zipping around directional changes. Its very maneuverable in tight spaces ranging from parking in tight galis crammed for of cars to negotiating narrow streets jammed up by parked cars, autos, cycle rickshaws, piles of building construction materials dumped on the street, etc.

The steering is light and linear

The sunroof is very nice as well. its smooth and quick in operation and lovely to have some open air above your head on demand.

It is very nearly the perfect urban runabout. but there are some sour notes:

The bad:

the car has two troubling points.

1.The throttle pedal is too high. You must tilt your foot way up to get on the throttle pedal and then keep the calf and other muscles of the leg in a very tensed up state to maintain that position. its very fatiguing. I don't know about my wife, but I would not be able to use this car on a regular basis because of this flaw. I will have to compare it to my friend's i10 manual to see why I didn't have this problem in that car.

I hope that my wife will not find it a problem.

2. Most of the premium level sweeteners in the Asta are complete garbage. They are obviously penny and dime junk:

The reverse parking sensor is useless. instead of having a beep that gets progressively more rapid, it has just a beep and a constant tone. and system goes into constant tone when the car is still 4 feet from whatever is behind it. it is COMPLETELY useless. The blue-tooth function is also completely useless. the transmission between the system and my iPhone 4 and the car's system is so poor 3 words out of 5 drop out making communication impossible. The seat height adjust is also poor. it doesn't move the bottom squab up and down in a linear fashion. in some part of the travel, the bottom comes up more in other parts, the front moves more, the effect is of varying the tilt of the bottom squab along with its height. Also, the car is so small, that the vertical movement of the seat bottom cannot begin to make a tall person comfortable when what he needs is more backward travel in the seat. The stereo is absolute garbage. The sound quality is extremely poor. Of course we can get an aftermarket unit but we will then lose the car's built in USB/Aux ports and the steering wheel volume and blue tooth controls.

I am feeling a bit disgusted with Hyundai because it speaks of a very poor mentality when you charge people a substantial amount of money for features on the top model but use such low cost garbage components as to make the features you have sold completely useless.

Verdict:

We can live with the crappy electronics package. We will have to see what we can do about the throttle pedal. If it doesn't bother my wife, we'll be all set and can get down to enjoying this otherwise wonderfully convenient little urban runabout. If it does bother my wife, we'll have to see if some modification can be made to the throttle pedal to lower its height in the car (perhaps by bending the stem a bit)

Apart from those issues, its a truly wonderful and convenient little urban run about, near about perfect because it combines the small size with the convenience of an auto trans and the refinement and safety features of a bigger car. If the throttle pedal height doesn't bother my wife, this will be the absolutely perfect car and perfect choice for her that we could have mde.

I will update the thread with more impressions and thoughts and changes as they develop as well as my wife's impressions, because honestly, my opinion matters less than hers because we bought the car for her. We are also curious to see how the fuel economy thing pans out.

Thanks for reading!

PS: A note of advice: I would advise that anybody looking to buy the i10 Automatic should buy the Asta instead of the Sportz ONLY if they want airbags, ABS and sunroof. The other additions over the Sportz are only for the brochure, not for the real world. For us the Asta was worth it because our primary interest was the airbags and ABS.

download2live · 9th September 2011, 09:11

A nice crisp unbiased review.

I have felt the same all along for Hyundai cars. Having a long list of gizmos just in the name of having is not really worth it in my opinion. Its almost like those Chinese calculators having a torchlight and doubling up as a pen stand and what not. But failing to do any of the thing properly.

OT: Did you drive Fluence? It has been blasted for a short equipment list. But I have a feeling that though limited, the features will be truly well implemented and rock solid in performance.

mayankjha1806 · 9th September 2011, 09:25

A quick, small and sweet review just like the car itself. Wonder why no pictures, It would be helpful to others.

Did you try the Bluetooth with some other phone, my friends i10 works perfectly with his Blackberry Bluetooth and has no problem with either reception or voice quality.

Harbir · 9th September 2011, 12:06

my wife reports herself completely thrilled with the car and no issues with the pedal height.

She too feels the electronics package is complete donkey dung. but apart from that she is absolutely thrilled and delighted with the car.

As we talk about it, it seems that the the problem is that if you are tall long legged person, your knees end up close to the dash because there isn't enough room, and that makes your legs below the knees nearly vertical, and then your ankle has to bend at an extreme upward angle to get your foot on the throttle which is very close to the tall driver's shin.

I am going to have to compare the manual and auto i10s on this point to figure out whats going on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Wonder why no pictures, It would be helpful to others.

I thought its an i10 and everybody sees 3000 i10s a day. but I'll take some pictures once the weather here dries up a bit.

Harbir · 9th September 2011, 13:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by download2live

OT: Did you drive Fluence? It has been blasted for a short equipment list. But I have a feeling that though limited, the features will be truly well implemented and rock solid in performance.

I have not. I am not in the market for cars like that though of course it would be good to know more about it.

ghodlur · 9th September 2011, 13:20

Harbir,

Congratulation to your and your wife on the i10 automatic

. I guess you are pretty much upset with Hyundai more than with the car. Nice to know that your wife is enjoying the ride.

We do see a lot of i10's but we would love to see your view of the car. And also its considered a sin not to post pics along with the ownership review on t-BHP.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harbir

I thought its an i10 and everybody sees 3000 i10s a day. but I'll take some pictures once the weather here dries up a bit.

Harbir · 9th September 2011, 13:31

I gotcha. well, the car came after it was dark, then we had very heavy rains all night and morning and then my wife took the car to work so I haven't had an opportunity to take pictures. She probably won't be back till after dark, but I'll try to get pictures up. Though by then the car will no longer be in "as delivered" shape since it will have been driven in monsoon flooded delhi.....

sachinj12 · 9th September 2011, 18:39

A crisp and unbiased review, thank you! Congrats on the new car! Drive Safe,

karty_83 · 9th September 2011, 21:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harbir

The throttle pedal is too high.

I have driven the 1st gen i10 manual but never faced the above issue. Is it different for autos

Nice review there. Congrats on your new ride.

bluevolt · 9th September 2011, 22:55

Congratulations on your Hyundai i10.

Automatic cars are very convenient for ladies especially when driving in Delhi

.

Please do post pics of your new ride.

Wishing you happy and safe driving!

Deep Blue · 9th September 2011, 23:48

We too have the i10 AT in the sportz trim.
The Accelerator pedal is not causing any problems for me or wife. I used to have this problem in the old Santro. The ankle would be sore if I drove more than half hour.
Yes, the music system is terrible. Even FM reception is very poor.
How do you find the steering? I don't like it at all. Feel is not at all direct and consistent.
But, yes, a very good city runabout. My wife, a newbie driver is absolutely happy that it doesn't roll back on starting the car on inclines.

vasanthn21 · 9th September 2011, 23:54

Have Harbir or Deep blue driven the A-star automatic? If yes, I would like to know how you rate it against the i10 -Auto. Thanks in advance.

Samurai · 10th September 2011, 00:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harbir

1.The throttle pedal is too high. You must tilt your foot way up to get on the throttle pedal and then keep the calf and other muscles of the leg in a very tensed up state to maintain that position. its very fatiguing. I don't know about my wife, but I would not be able to use this car on a regular basis because of this flaw. I will have to compare it to my friend's i10 manual to see why I didn't have this problem in that car.

This is strange, never heard complaint about that. Neither I nor my wife have noticed it in our i10 auto.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harbir

2. Most of the premium level sweeteners in the Asta are complete garbage. They are obviously penny and dime junk:

That is why we settled for the Sportz model. The Asta costs 7.2L on-road in Karnataka.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harbir

I thought its an i10 and everybody sees 3000 i10s a day. but I'll take some pictures once the weather here dries up a bit.

Once a T-BHPian spotted my i10 in Forum mall parking lot and PMed me. Here is the interesting part, I don't have T-BHP stickers on my i10

since my wife drives it most of the time. Every i10 can be unique, do post the photographs.

KPS · 10th September 2011, 07:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harbir

PS: A note of advice: I would advise that anybody looking to buy the i10 Automatic should buy the Asta instead of the Sportz ONLY if they want airbags, ABS and sunroof. The other additions over the Sportz are only for the brochure, not for the real world. For us the Asta was worth it because our primary interest was the airbags and ABS.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samurai

That is why we settled for the Sportz model. The Asta costs 7.2L on-road in Karnataka.

i10 Auto Sportz is VFM but if you need airbags you have no choice but to opt for the Asta. I opted for the Sportz myself.

Cheers

KPS

benu9714 · 10th September 2011, 09:41

My wife and I have been driving our 110 Asta Auto for the last 7 months. It has run 8,000 KM, mostly within Kolkata except for a trip to Bhubaneswar (1,200 KM).

We have not had any problem with the accelerators pedal.

The car is so easy to drive, even in the madness of Kolkata traffic. It is very easy to park. The reverse sensors are a great help. The tone does change progressively to indicate the distance from any obstacle behind.

The car gives 9 KM per liter in city traffic with A/C running all the time. On the highway it gave 15 KMpL.

My only cribs about the car are :
- I did not want a sunroof, but had to pay for it anyway because it comes as a package with ABS.
- There is no button to close the ORVMs, as is available in the 120.

Overall, the car is relatively expensive to buy and run, but very easy to drive - takes out the tension of city traffic.

9th September 2011, 09:01	#1
Harbir BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Delhi Posts: 920 Thanked: 1,025 Times View My Garage	My better half's Hyundai i10 Asta Automatic: My first impressions My wife bought an i10 Asta automatic last night and we've driven it about 60km so far. We bought the asta because my wife wanted a very small convenient automatic transmission car (as a change from her Accord which we still have) and insisted on a car with airbags and the other features were a sweet bait (not at all that sweet as it turns out) Intitial impressions: The good: The car is wonderfully easy to drive. New York city traffic could not make us switch from manuals to automatics, but delhi traffic, the state it is in now, made us become willing to try out one. My wife initially thought that the i10 automatic is like a scooter to drive, boring and uninvolving, but warmed to the idea of the convenience. And indeed it is very convenient. It is such a stress free way to get around the NCR. this is the first time I have actually found an automatic a true convenience and stress relieving benefit. The automatic is shifts smoothly and willingly and has not so far made us feel like its in the wrong gear and not shifting when needed. The interior is nicely put together with good quality materials and good fit and finish. The car is very smooth going down the highway at 80km/h. Since the high way speed limits are 90km/h here and it was bought for primarily city use, it doesn't matter whether its good for cruising at 120km/h. The handling is not very sporty, but nor is it reluctant to be zipping around directional changes. Its very maneuverable in tight spaces ranging from parking in tight galis crammed for of cars to negotiating narrow streets jammed up by parked cars, autos, cycle rickshaws, piles of building construction materials dumped on the street, etc. The steering is light and linear The sunroof is very nice as well. its smooth and quick in operation and lovely to have some open air above your head on demand. It is very nearly the perfect urban runabout. but there are some sour notes: The bad: the car has two troubling points. 1.The throttle pedal is too high. You must tilt your foot way up to get on the throttle pedal and then keep the calf and other muscles of the leg in a very tensed up state to maintain that position. its very fatiguing. I don't know about my wife, but I would not be able to use this car on a regular basis because of this flaw. I will have to compare it to my friend's i10 manual to see why I didn't have this problem in that car. I hope that my wife will not find it a problem. 2. Most of the premium level sweeteners in the Asta are complete garbage. They are obviously penny and dime junk: The reverse parking sensor is useless. instead of having a beep that gets progressively more rapid, it has just a beep and a constant tone. and system goes into constant tone when the car is still 4 feet from whatever is behind it. it is COMPLETELY useless. The blue-tooth function is also completely useless. the transmission between the system and my iPhone 4 and the car's system is so poor 3 words out of 5 drop out making communication impossible. The seat height adjust is also poor. it doesn't move the bottom squab up and down in a linear fashion. in some part of the travel, the bottom comes up more in other parts, the front moves more, the effect is of varying the tilt of the bottom squab along with its height. Also, the car is so small, that the vertical movement of the seat bottom cannot begin to make a tall person comfortable when what he needs is more backward travel in the seat. The stereo is absolute garbage. The sound quality is extremely poor. Of course we can get an aftermarket unit but we will then lose the car's built in USB/Aux ports and the steering wheel volume and blue tooth controls. I am feeling a bit disgusted with Hyundai because it speaks of a very poor mentality when you charge people a substantial amount of money for features on the top model but use such low cost garbage components as to make the features you have sold completely useless. Verdict: We can live with the crappy electronics package. We will have to see what we can do about the throttle pedal. If it doesn't bother my wife, we'll be all set and can get down to enjoying this otherwise wonderfully convenient little urban runabout. If it does bother my wife, we'll have to see if some modification can be made to the throttle pedal to lower its height in the car (perhaps by bending the stem a bit) Apart from those issues, its a truly wonderful and convenient little urban run about, near about perfect because it combines the small size with the convenience of an auto trans and the refinement and safety features of a bigger car. If the throttle pedal height doesn't bother my wife, this will be the absolutely perfect car and perfect choice for her that we could have mde. I will update the thread with more impressions and thoughts and changes as they develop as well as my wife's impressions, because honestly, my opinion matters less than hers because we bought the car for her. We are also curious to see how the fuel economy thing pans out. Thanks for reading! PS: A note of advice: I would advise that anybody looking to buy the i10 Automatic should buy the Asta instead of the Sportz ONLY if they want airbags, ABS and sunroof. The other additions over the Sportz are only for the brochure, not for the real world. For us the Asta was worth it because our primary interest was the airbags and ABS.
	(8) Thanks

9th September 2011, 09:11	#2
download2live Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: - Posts: 1,147 Thanked: 1,144 Times	Re: My better half's new i10 asta Automatic: My first impressions A nice crisp unbiased review. I have felt the same all along for Hyundai cars. Having a long list of gizmos just in the name of having is not really worth it in my opinion. Its almost like those Chinese calculators having a torchlight and doubling up as a pen stand and what not. But failing to do any of the thing properly. OT: Did you drive Fluence? It has been blasted for a short equipment list. But I have a feeling that though limited, the features will be truly well implemented and rock solid in performance.
	() Thanks

9th September 2011, 09:25	#3
mayankjha1806 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Bangalore Posts: 2,160 Thanked: 978 Times View My Garage	Re: My better half's new i10 asta Automatic: My first impressions A quick, small and sweet review just like the car itself. Wonder why no pictures, It would be helpful to others. Did you try the Bluetooth with some other phone, my friends i10 works perfectly with his Blackberry Bluetooth and has no problem with either reception or voice quality.
	() Thanks

9th September 2011, 13:31	#7
Harbir BHPian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Delhi Posts: 920 Thanked: 1,025 Times View My Garage	Re: My better half's new i10 asta Automatic: My first impressions I gotcha. well, the car came after it was dark, then we had very heavy rains all night and morning and then my wife took the car to work so I haven't had an opportunity to take pictures. She probably won't be back till after dark, but I'll try to get pictures up. Though by then the car will no longer be in "as delivered" shape since it will have been driven in monsoon flooded delhi.....
	() Thanks

9th September 2011, 18:39	#8
sachinj12 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 1,187 Thanked: 168 Times	Re: My better half's new i10 asta Automatic: My first impressions A crisp and unbiased review, thank you! Congrats on the new car! Drive Safe,
	() Thanks

9th September 2011, 22:55	#10
bluevolt Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: New Delhi Posts: 3,274 Thanked: 3,474 Times View My Garage	Re: My better half's Hyundai i10 Asta Automatic: My first impressions Congratulations on your Hyundai i10. Automatic cars are very convenient for ladies especially when driving in Delhi. Please do post pics of your new ride. Wishing you happy and safe driving!
	() Thanks

9th September 2011, 23:48	#11
Deep Blue BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Udupi Posts: 747 Thanked: 684 Times	We too have the i10 AT in the sportz trim. The Accelerator pedal is not causing any problems for me or wife. I used to have this problem in the old Santro. The ankle would be sore if I drove more than half hour. Yes, the music system is terrible. Even FM reception is very poor. How do you find the steering? I don't like it at all. Feel is not at all direct and consistent. But, yes, a very good city runabout. My wife, a newbie driver is absolutely happy that it doesn't roll back on starting the car on inclines.
	() Thanks

9th September 2011, 23:54	#12
vasanthn21 BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 811 Thanked: 521 Times View My Garage	Re: My better half's Hyundai i10 Asta Automatic: My first impressions Have Harbir or Deep blue driven the A-star automatic? If yes, I would like to know how you rate it against the i10 -Auto. Thanks in advance.
	() Thanks

10th September 2011, 09:41	#15
benu9714 BHPian Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Kolkata Posts: 124 Thanked: 308 Times	Re: My better half's Hyundai i10 Asta Automatic: My first impressions My wife and I have been driving our 110 Asta Auto for the last 7 months. It has run 8,000 KM, mostly within Kolkata except for a trip to Bhubaneswar (1,200 KM). We have not had any problem with the accelerators pedal. The car is so easy to drive, even in the madness of Kolkata traffic. It is very easy to park. The reverse sensors are a great help. The tone does change progressively to indicate the distance from any obstacle behind. The car gives 9 KM per liter in city traffic with A/C running all the time. On the highway it gave 15 KMpL. My only cribs about the car are : - I did not want a sunroof, but had to pay for it anyway because it comes as a package with ABS. - There is no button to close the ORVMs, as is available in the 120. Overall, the car is relatively expensive to buy and run, but very easy to drive - takes out the tension of city traffic.
	() Thanks