[vsathyap]

Note from Mod : Team-BHP's official Hyundai Eon review has been uploaded at this link.

Hi All,
Let me share my test drive and initial experience with Hyundai Eon. I had been to Advaith Hyundai on Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore, today to test drive the Eon. My cousin is looking for a small car – his first car and he was confused between the Hyundai i10, Maruti Alto K10, the Chevy Spark and the Chevy Beat. I took this opportunity to give all readers of Team-BHP an insight of the new product by HMIL. I spent 2 hours trying various things and getting pictures of the car when possible, so that I can have as detailed a review as possible.

Disclaimer: The review here gives my personal views and opinions. I have been as unbiased as possible while writing the review. You are solely responsible for your interpretations of this review

It was a Saturday evening and as expected, there was a mad rush to try the Eon. Everyone seemed curious about this new car. Let me start off by the exterior look and feel.


Exteriors:
The overall design looks impressive. It looks very very modern and trendy, and Hyundai have hit the nail on the head as far as exterior styling is concerned. The front features pretty big headlamps which make it look prominent. The body and sides have beautiful wavy curves that look like an inspiration from the Hyundai Verna Fluidic design. The rear looks decent and has a gentle curve from the roof, to the bumpers which give it the “right at home” feel when you look at it – what I mean to say is, it doesn’t “shock” you like the Ritz’s rear which is almost vertical. Almost all variants come with dark plastic door handles except for the Sport. The wheels seem to be a bit small when you see the entire car in one glance. The entry level model comes with 12” wheels while the higher variants come with 13 inchers. One area of concern for me is the size of the rear windows – they are tiny and are pretty claustrophobic. I think this has been a trend nowadays with modern hatchbacks, with the Swift and the A-Star and the i10 (to some extent) sporting small rear windows.

Exteriors Summary: Terrific job by Hyundai on the styling – could have made the rear windows a bit bigger.



Eons on display at the Showroom

The higher models come with body-coloured bumpers

A view of the back side



Vehicles going for test drives, while I was waiting for my turn



Another view of the eon from the back.



Was lucky enough to capture i20, Eon and i10 in one frame.



Another closer look at the Eon from the back



Beautifully sculpted rear tail lamp cluster



The Eon's curvature at the back compared to Santro



The really tiny rear window!



Interiors:
Hyundai has done a great job on the interiors on the Eon. The car looks one segment ahead in interior class and finish. Dashboard is beautifully sculpted and has a sporty “spoiler” like finish at the top, just above the Ac/Blower ducts. This gives a very elegant look inside. There is a 2 spoke steering wheel which feels good and sturdy. The higher variants of the Eon come with height adjustable steering wheels – pretty cool for its class. The Gear lever is mounted on the floor, unlike the i10 which has the gear lever which seems to be a part of the centre console of the dash. The seats are light and thin, yet comfortable. Don’t expect to be very comfortable on these seats on long journeys though – the cushioning comfort is just enough for point A to point B city driving. There is no under-thigh padding/support and this can get painful very quickly for someone who is taller than 5’6”. The finish on the doors is pretty decent. I don’t know why but there is beige finishing on the doors while the rest of the car seems to be done in black/dark grey and brushed aluminum finish. Also, the higher variants of the car come with an in-dash MP3/CD player with front speakers only. A bummer!

Interiors Summary: Brilliant interiors – the car’s interiors are a segment ahead in terms of quality and finish. It looks and feels stunning for a A segment / entry level car.



The center console of the lower models



Beige interiors for the door panels



Rear Leg room


The Fantastic Center Console of the higher models



Sporty Bucket Seats for front passengers



The instrument cluster lit up at ignition



Turn the headlamps on and "w-o-w"



Center console lit up



Closer view of the audio system/center console.

Space:
Ok – this is a small car. Aptly, there is not a lot of space in the car. It’s strictly for 4 persons. It’s almost impossible to fit a third person (a fully grown average sized adult) in the back seat. Just to try how it feels, I invited a few other eager “onlookers” to come in and sit in the back seat with me. When all three squeezed in and we shut the door, there was hardly any space for us to move about. We were stuffed like the proverbial “sardines in the tin can”. However, the legroom on the front seats is brilliant. That said, it’s not all that great at the rear. My cousin sat in the back seat to try it out and his knees had about 3” clearance from the seat, when it was rolled all the way forward. If a tall driver moved it back a bit, it’s not very comfortable to sit at the rear. When I sat in the rear seat, I personally felt “stuffed” and a feeling of “I want some fresh air” crept into my mind sub-consciously. Ingress and Egress is not all that easy. I had to lift my legs, turn around and plant them on the ground. I couldn’t do a one leg out – and stand up, like in the Santro. The Santro is brilliant in this regard. On the plus side, the boot is HUGE! I have no idea why they had to make the boot so big. It could easily fit in a fully grown man! Just to give you guys an idea, we placed my cousin’s helmet in the boot – believe me that helmet is BIG, but when we put it in the boot, it looked tiny!!! Hyundai could have pulled back the rear seats by 3-4 inches at-least. For average city driving and the usual weekend shopping a smaller boot would have sufficed. The rear seats fold over to allow for bigger sized luggage to fit in.

Space summary: A “small” car indeed; strictly for 2 adults / 3 kids in the back. Space wasted on the huge boot – could have been smaller for a small city car.



Front leg room is sufficient to stretch ones' legs



Its a little cramped in the rear.



The enormous boot - helmet looks tiny!



Rear seats folded.






Build Quality:
Personally, I was not all that impressed with the build quality. The exterior panels are really thin. I could just press my thumb on the door panel and the sheet metal went in about a centimeter – not at all comforting. The doors feel light and flimsy. When closed, they shut with a loud “thakkkkk” sound, rather than a cushioned “ghuuid” sound. The door open levers on the inside are really thin and I felt that they would break off if one tried to open a locked door. Even on the outside, the door opening plastic knobs felt cheap and thin. The gear lever feels flimsy and delicate. IMHO, a person “connects” with a car when using the steering, pedals and gear lever. On the Eon, the steering build is pretty darn good, the pedals are fine (although too thin width-wise, for my comfort) and the gear lever sucks on a whole new level. Not sure why they went with such a delicate gear lever. Also, when the boot is open, the side walls of the boot (interior) are not covered by plastic/fabric. It’s bare metal – not good, Hyundai! Overall, I get the feeling that they have tried to strip down the unnecessary parts to keep the cost low.

Build Summary: Poor build quality, dinky and flimsy materials used to keep the cost low.



The driving experience/performance:
I was 7th in line to take the Eon for a test drive and by the time my turn came, it was already dark. I turned the key and the dashboard lit up with a nice alien-green color. The fuel meter and the temperature gauge are electronic indicators. They animate on turning the key and settle down to the actual values within 2-3 seconds – a nice “wow” factor for a small entry level car. As I started her up, I got a good response from the 3 cylinder 814 cc engine. First thing that hit me was the amazingly light steering. It’s extremely easy to maneuver and felt right. I slotted into first and got moving. The engine responds well to the pedal – I got a feeling that there is better power at higher RPMs (am guessing 2000+, as there is no tachometer). I quickly shifted into second and the drive felt smooth and comfortable. I revved her in second and went into third and the Eon took off to 45kmph very quickly and effortlessly. I just put her into 4th and wanted to see how good the response would be, but Bangalore’s traffic had other ideas. I could not take her into 5th gear though. The bottom-line is that the car is dead-simple to drive; effortless, to be concise. I think women (and men likewise – no offense implied or suggested) would find this a very good option – the steering is butter smooth, the engine performs well, responds well and ride quality is smooth. It did shuffle us a bit when I went over a road hump, so I’d say that the suspension is OK – not all that great.

There is this new “gear shifting prompter” on the dashboard that indicated when one should change gears. Although this is cool, I didn’t notice it at all. My eyes were on the road and I didn’t have time to keep looking into the instrument console for a prompt to change gears. It would have been a good thing to have an audible indicator, as an addition to this – more like a short beep/buzz would have been ideal. The gear shift indicator is no doubt a cool feature, mostly done to get the maximum mileage out of the car. As I said earlier, a small tweak to this feature would have been ideal IMHO. The petrol-heads however, would call this a marketing gimmick and put it off, as the beautiful sound of the engine humming is enough of an indicator to change gears.

The A/c cooling effect is outstanding. Within no time, the cabin was cooled down, and we started feeling cold. Granted that the cabin size is small - nevertheless, quite a powerful A/c. I must admit that we took the test drive after sundown, when it’s not as hot as in the daytime, but I have a feeling that the A/c is powerful enough to handle the hot Indian summers. As far as A/c cooling effect goes, I’m a happy man.

The turning radius is brilliant. The car is nice and compact and city driving and parking is a breeze. The indicator controls along with the steering feel nice and comfortable. The height adjustable steering is a good bonus in this segment. The central console controls also feel good. The overall visibility is good – the A pillars don’t seem to obstruct viewing and the windshield is pretty big, allowing for a good view. Although it may seem that I am constantly coming back to the same point, the car is extremely simple to drive. It has a good road presence in the city. Traffic acknowledges the car’s presence and flows accordingly. As far as Mileage goes, ARAI certifies it to around 21kmpl. I will not judge the Eon on mileage right now – this is for the future owners to report, in their initial ownership reports. I can safely say that the initial driving experience has been satisfactory.

However, there are some issues that bothered me.

The engine is peppy when the A/C is off. However, turn the A/c on and it loses quite a bit of muscle. I consciously tested this during my test drive. First part of the journey was with the A/c off. The car felt alright. On the way back to the showroom, I turned the A/c on and took a U turn. Suddenly, I felt as though the car was in neutral. I double checked this as I thought I may have accidentally gone into neutral, but I was in first (the gear shifting is not all that great either). I had to really put my foot down to get any sort of response from the 3 pot engine. But once it got the initial momentum, I felt the power again, but only at higher RPMs – I had to rev the engine to get to the power zone. This was on a flat surface. On an incline, I personally would not risk moving from first, with the A/c on.

One grouse is that the seat seems to be too low. Personally, I would have liked the seat to be at-least 3 inches higher to get a good view of the road. Shorter people would definitely find it difficult to see the road. The trouble with increasing the height is that there is not much headroom either. An increase of 3” would definitely have people hitting their heads on bumpy roads. It seemed like a catch-22 situation.

Another thing that I noticed is that the gear knob vibrates when the car is moving – not a very comfortable feeling. I have a (bad?) habit of driving with one hand on the gear lever most of the times (mad city traffic – can’t help it) and it felt really annoying with the gear lever vibrating constantly when the car is moving. Also, another quirk with the gear lever is that it jerks forward when I accelerate on any gear (1-4 to be precise, as I didn’t get a chance to go to 5th). This is really nagging. I don’t like the gear lever to move when I accelerate – it’s quite unnerving too. Given the fact that the gear lever is so flimsy, it didn’t give me the right feel. Also, gear shifting is vague and disconnected. One doesn’t feel that bonding with the engine when changing gears – it somehow doesn’t feel right. I can’t put that feeling in words here, but it just doesn’t feel right!

The braking seemed to be “just enough”, but it lacked that feel of confidence / control when one brakes. May be something with the car I took – it was a test car anyways and it would have been driven around with quite a bit of enthusiasm – so the brakes may have been dull. I’m not sure if this is the case with all Eons, but the car I drove – the brakes were pretty dull. I had to consciously adjust my driving style to start braking a few feet in advance than I normally would.

Test Drive summary: Great city car – zips around easily with adequate power for normal city traffic. A tad underpowered when the A/c is switched on, but becomes unnoticeable at higher gears. Clumsy gear shifts.



The compact engine under the hood



View from another angle



View from the front -and the grille.






The Cost Factor:
I personally feel that the car is overpriced. It’s been a general trend in all Hyundai Cars in India – they are overpriced, but offer some really good features as a “justification” for that price. There are some nagging shortcomings, but Hyundai makes up for them by giving its customers the ultimate cosmetic experience. With the top end models going at 4.0L to 4.56L on road in Bangalore, I feel it’s definitely overpriced. In my opinion, Hyundai should have priced the top end model at MAX 4.0L on road. Going above 4 Lakhs for a small entry level car without any great safety features to boast off, is simply not value for money. Also, I felt that there are far too may variants to choose from, the Dlite, Era, Magna, Magna(O), Sports, just like the i10. I feel that these many variants often end up confusing the customer and (s)he will take a lot of time to decide. In fact, my cousin took almost 90 minutes to understand the differences between these variants (which gave me enough time to click some pics for this report). If I were to market this car, I’d put up a Low end version, a Mid-range version and a fully loaded version, priced at 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0L on-road respectively. People could buy a much better Ford Figo/ Tata Indica Vista and jump in to the next segment if they decide to loosen their wallets by just a little bit. Given the cost factor, the build quality and the other options in the market, the price is definitely not a strong point for this car. There is no Automatic version available at this point of time.

Cost Summary:Obviously overpriced, the Eon will have to carve out a market for itself somewhere between the highly competitive A, A+ and entry level B segments.




Ooooh... expensive!




Features and Models





Conclusion:
Overall, Hyundai have a fantastic product in their stable. The car is “made for the city” and is a good competitor to the humble Alto, Spark, Beat, i10, and Santro, to name a few. I have a feeling that the Eon will eat into the sales of Santro and Alto, and some budget conscious wanna-be i10 buyers. The car looks stunning, modern and futuristic. It has wonderful interiors and a decent 800cc engine, capable of handling the usual Point A to Point B commute. In a fiercely competitive entry level car market, Hyundai have a great potential in their hands and could re-write the entry level market in India. However, there are a few issues that need to be addressed to make this a killer deal, the main point being the price. With petrol prices increasing every year, the budget conscious “aam aadmi” will be looking for the maximum value for his hard earned, (tax deduced at source) money and he will walk in to the showroom that offers products that match this criteria. If you are a first time car buyer, and have adequate budget, the Eon offers everything you are looking for. If you are a first time car buyer and are budget conscious, and at the same time, want more for your money, look elsewhere, but don’t expect the same finish and “wow” factor as the Eon. If you are looking for a second car, mainly for your wife, or as a smaller easy to handle city commuter, Eon fits the bill perfectly! At the end of the day, customer is king and (s)he will buy what (s)he finds the product that best suits his/her needs.




Other points of interest:

1. My cousin, who wanted to test drive the Eon decided to go ahead with the car. He will be booking his Eon in a few days.
2. The test drive rep informed me that there were already 70 odd test drives done in that day alone (and more people were waiting in line!)
3. No one was looking at the Santro placed in the showroom – a clear indicator of the signs ahead?
4. Hyundai is not offering any discount / festival packages with the Eon. You buy it as it is
5. There is a 30-45 day waiting time for delivery – may become longer if orders increase (as per the highly talented sales person)

[figo_mba]

That was short and simple.
I think EON will go on to become a crowd puller for hyundai.
I think if there is a way for MSIL to remain in the game would be to reduce the price of A Star by atleast 50K and present itself as a competitor.

I hope the fate of the nano does not befall the EON. EON is already the Nano in the Hyundai stable (I have not forgotten the Santro). I am talking about the perception. Indians dont want a cheap car and if the cheap image is pushed hyundai might not be able to sell the higher version with higher margins.

[MutantX]

4.5L OTR for the Sportz variant seem to be a over-kill (IMHO).Hyundai should have priced the car keeping in mind the OTR at each cities since this segment is extremely price sensitive. Instead of manufacturing soo many variants, Hyundai should have come up with 2 or 3 and priced them all less between 2.6-3.2L EX-Showroom.

[samarth.bhatia]

Hi,

Let me take this opportunity to welcome you to TBHP.

That was a nice review there.
considering there were so many people waiting, I assume the TD would've been pretty short. And yet, the review points to your good observation skills.
Plus, it's great to see so many pictures as well.

There're a couple of questions that I had in mind though.
1. How were the engine noise and traffic noise levels in the car with all glasses rolled up?
2. What is the OTR price for a Santro in Bangalore (just to compare which markets Hyundai aims at tapping with this product).
3. As your TD was post-dusk (I think I read it somewhere), how would you rate the headlamps?
4. Did you happen to try out the OEM audio system?

All in all, I feel this was a brilliant TD, thanks for sharing!

Cheers and drive safe.
Sam

[vsathyap]

Originally Posted by samarth.bhatia

There're a couple of questions that I had in mind though.
1. How were the engine noise and traffic noise levels in the car with all glasses rolled up?

Thanks for reminding me about this! I totally forgot to include this bit in my review. Unfortunately, the cabin doesn't seem to keep noises away. One can really hear the engine, but its not all that bad with respect to engine noise. On the other hand, an auto-rickshaw (with the typical T-R-R-R-R-RRR sound, with silencers and mufflers tweaked for maximum pickup/mileage) went past us and I looked up to see whether the windows were rolled up - and they WERE! I definitely heard the traffic inside the cabin. Also, a BMTC bus went past us and I could feel the bus, just as one would feel its presence (noise/vibrations) when sitting in an open vehicle (auto/2 wheeler/car with windows rolled down) when the cabin was fully closed and the A/c was in full blast.

This adds one more point - The A/c isn't all that noisy. Even at full blast, it didnt make much noise (or it was drowned out by the other noises from outside).

Originally Posted by samarth.bhatia

2. What is the OTR price for a Santro in Bangalore (just to compare which markets Hyundai aims at tapping with this product).

I'm not exactly sure about the OR price of Santro, but am pretty sure it lies within the Eon's price range, may be a tad cheaper.

Originally Posted by samarth.bhatia

3. As your TD was post-dusk (I think I read it somewhere), how would you rate the headlamps?

Headlamps were pretty adequate for city driving conditions. In fact, I didn't notice much about it - which means that they were adequate/satisfactory.

Originally Posted by samarth.bhatia

4. Did you happen to try out the OEM audio system?

Yes we did use the FM radio and I must say that the quality was pretty good. It's a pity that they dont give you rear speakers. I don't understand the plot here. You either get a full system or you don't. I'm guessing that even Hyundai thinks it's a one/two person car and didn't bother too much about people sitting in the rear

[Max]

I seen this car today in Inorbit mall, malad, mumbai. Man, I must say this car is going to put sales chart on fire for Hyundai. Interior was very good for the price of the car, car felt specious and rear seats was comfortable as well. Leg room was also great. My wife liked it as well, its a head turners as far as attraction is concerned. It is going to be very popular with young generation as lots of girls will definitely like the looks of this car.

[mayankjha1806]

Any idea how does it compare with Biro in terms of pricing and spec. Looks cute and a good for city running around. Another question that i am not able to read on the spec sheet is, does the sports one comes with alloy wheels or there are no variants with alloy?

[ghodlur]

Thanks for the crisp review.

I guess Hyundai have positioned the Eon right in the bracket and should see the sales numbers rolling soon enough. MS is already plagued with the production issues, so I guess the fight will be mainly between the Brio and Eon.

But why 6 variants? How will Nissan Micra's recent offering affect the Eon sales?

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by vsathyap

Another thing that I noticed is that the gear knob vibrates when the car is moving – not a very comfortable feeling.

Nice review. I did a TD on saturday noon in the same car you mentioned and felt that the gear was vibrating violently like a wild horse. I inquired with the sales guy and got a reply from him something like its not a spring/coil based (I'm not sure about this since I was totally engrossed in driving and heard only these words) like in i20 and i10.

I'd reported this issue in the other EON TD thread.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...essions-8.html

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Another question that i am not able to read on the spec sheet is, does the sports one comes with alloy wheels or there are no variants with alloy?

There is no variant with alloys.

[ankurvirmani19]

Thanks for this 1st hand experience review. I think Hyundai should have added space in rear and front seats, instead of giving this big boot.

I still consider Alto K10 / Santro a better buy than EON, as there are many plus points in these cars. The interiors may not be of that good quality, but we should not forget the tried and tested engines.

I have also heard that there is lot of noise inside the cabin plus the gear lever is aweful makes rattling sound.

[rohan_iitr]

Thanks for the review. I agree that there are some shortcomings in the car, but we have to remember that this is an entry level car. So comparing this car with a Santro is not fair. It would be better to compare its build quality, gear stick and NVH levels with another entry level car line Alto.

No wonder, it is a great product from Hyundai. But I do have my reservations on the pricing of the product. If the pricing is too close to Santro, I as a customer would anyday prefer to buy a 4-cylinder, 1.1L, more spacious Santro, even if it is a decade older.

No wonder eon will sell in great numbers initially because of the wow factor. But whether it can compete with Alto in the long run is debatable.

Rohan

[mayankk]

Nice, crisp write-up!

This car really looks quite nice for the segment.
I didnt expect hyundai would make the effort to make something in this bracket with some effort in the design bit.

Love the batman rear.

I think the first upgrade for most buyers would be tyres.

[needforspeed88]

This is one of the best reviews i have read in Team-Bhp for a simple reason that , you have highlighted all the crucial things which reviewers normally overlook.
like gear lever vibrating on the move which can be extremely annoying at-least to me .People say it deserves 50 k premium over Alto cos of its high quality
interiors .Now you have clearly highlighted how sheet metal is of thinner guage , door handles are flimsy , gear lever is tacky etc .
You have also said It has a weak bottom end and has to revved . The initial performance with AC is poor according to you . On road
Magna [o] costs 4.27 k . Forget the Alto , even Santro ,Spark , Estilo , Beat, and Figo look far better options with the way Eon is priced

[needforspeed88]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Thanks for the review. I agree that there are some shortcomings in the car, but we have to remember that this is an entry level car. So comparing this car with a Santro is not fair. It would be better to compare its build quality, gear stick and NVH levels with another entry level car line Alto.

No wonder, it is a great product from Hyundai. But I do have my reservations on the pricing of the product. If the pricing is too close to Santro, I as a customer would anyday prefer to buy a 4-cylinder, 1.1L, more spacious Santro, even if it is a decade older.

No wonder eon will sell in great numbers initially because of the wow factor. But whether it can compete with Alto in the long run is debatable.

Rohan

Eon runs with the same decade old engine that too with one cylinder less. They are overcharging the customers just for a good looking exterior and interiors .
It may have worked in other segments but in A segment which is so cost sensitive, they have priced it too close to the B-segment offerings like base versions
of Beat and Figo .

[vsathyap]

Hi all,

Thank you for your feedback on the review. Was out of town and hence couldn't get back to the thread.

Someone asked whether the Eon comes with Rear Defoggers/Wipers and Alloy wheels. I can confirm that there are no alloy wheels for any variant of the Eon.

I am not too sure about the rear defoggers and wipers - I didn't see them on the display models at showroom and the spec-sheet doesnt say anything about these for the Sports version either.

Oh, btw, my cousin booked his Eon Magna(O) on Monday. Unfortunately, he didn't get any freebies / discounts from the showroom. No amount of coaxing and "I'm gonna go book a Chevy Beat now" tactics worked ... ....Apparently, he got a rather snobbish "What you see is what you get" from the sales person there...

One surprise is that the delivery time suddenly went to 10 days from the "30 - 45 days" period quoted while having a test drive. He plan to get it during the festival.