[naru]

Originally Posted by arvind71181

Since I own both the i20 and the swift (1st gen petrol though), my 2 cents:

Comfort - Both of them are good for the city, but for expressways the Swift. Harder suspension makes it less bouncy. I20 gets disturbed on even the slightest undulations. Having said that, I take only the i20 on the highways (cheaper fuel you see) and do not find it that bad, if you keep the speeds to around a 100 or so. Over 120, its definitely tiring. Steering is lifeless at all speeds

Ease of Drive - On the highway the higher gear helps, but in the city the driving gets irritating sometimes when below the turbo zone. My other car being an NA petrol does not help. Maybe the Swift diesel has the same amount of turbo lag, not sure

Driving Dynamics - Swift. Period. If driving dynamics is high on your priority, then please go for the swift with your eyes closed. I20 does not like being cornered.

Road conditions - In good roads, does not matter. When roads are bad, Swift's stiffer suspension helps.

I went with the i20 only because we already had a swift petrol, and the i20 has a huge 295 liter boot space while the new swift has only around 200 liters. The additional boot space has proved to a boon. So if you need lots of boots space, the Swift is not for you. Hope this helps

So it's Swift for everything else but the boot.

[Wanderers]

Hi Motoring Lover,

Thanks for your detail review. It will really help people like us planning a new car.

i20 diesel sports variant is one of the strong contender for my new hatch replacing 6 years old swift.
Also Gurgaon would be the likely place for buy even though I will use it in Noida due to my company location.

Can you share little bit on dealer Himgiri and the discounts.

thanks

[Motoringlover]

Originally Posted by Wanderers

Hi Motoring Lover,

Can you share little bit on dealer Himgiri and the discounts.

thanks

Thanks for your feedback.

I found the overall experience with Himgiri good, especially the after sales service, the car gets picked and delivered back, you don't have to waste your time from the schedule.

On the sales experience - I essentially pit Himgiri with other dealers and then it was down to a number game, I liked the SA Manoj's enthusiam of never say quit, I will PM you his number.

Let me know if you need anything else.

Best - ML

[promit]

Originally Posted by Motoringlover

On the sales experience - I essentially pit Himgiri with other dealers and then it was down to a number game, I liked the SA Manoj's enthusiam of never say quit, I will PM you his number.

I was considering a i20 Sportz petrol in grey initially. I did go through your review. It was tremendously helpful for prospective buyers.
Which were the other dealers you pit Himgiri against?

On the contrary I had a not so nice experience with Himgiri Hyundai. The first test drive I took of the Grand i10 was with them.This was mid March. It was a white car without a front number plate and it had its speedo disconnected. It was a little odd taking a test drive without knowing how fast I was going and the rpm needle on zero. And it was sad to know they were happily giving test drives in such a vehicle. It wasn't expected.
About two weeks after the test drive,I went to the showroom again, this time with the intention of booking a car that weekend. I asked for their best deal, the SA said he can't do anything being a new car bla bla. Only,if I finance the car, he can work something out. I told him I wasn't going to buy the car at it's list price for sure.
He discouraged me from considering a black car and because I was looking at a good deal he tried to hardsell me two 2013 model cars which they had with them for 25k discount. A white and silver.I didn't like someone else telling me what colour to buy. I quickly figured it was their display car (silver) and the test drive car (white) which he was trying to pawn off. Also, they valued my old car for 15k less than what Safdarjang Hyundai was offering. Their used car guy was a rude idiot!
All in all, I didn't get good vibes from the dealer, and they couldn't give a good price. They lost a sale. Their service centre is on the other side of town, yes they do have free pick up and drop. But I felt, on a car with 1 year service interval I'd rather drop and pick up the car personally.
I hope this was a one off case. Haven't mentioned the SA's name on purpose, he was a nice chap. Pricing and all probably wasn't in his hands, being in a place like Global Foyer they must have higher overheads.

On the other hand my experience with Safdarjang was great. My Santro was purchased and serviced from here. They gave me 15k more for my Santro, and gave me a small but significant discount and seat covers worth 6k free. I haggled for a day. They also gave the option of doing insurance on my own. All this for a model and colour which wasn't in stock and had to be ordered.

Originally Posted by Wanderers

i20 diesel sports variant is one of the strong contender for my new hatch replacing 6 years old swift.
Also Gurgaon would be the likely place for buy even though I will use it in Noida due to my company location.
Can you share little bit on dealer Himgiri and the discounts.

Definitely take a quote from Safdarjang Hyundai too. You can take my reference. Good luck

[Motoringlover]

Originally Posted by promit

Which were the other dealers you pit Himgiri against?

Safdurjung and one more, i cant readily recall.

Originally Posted by promit

On the contrary I had a not so nice experience with Himgiri Hyundai. The first test drive I took of the Grand i10 was with them.This was mid March. It was a white car without a front number plate and it had its speedo disconnected. It was a little odd taking a test drive without knowing how fast I was going and the rpm needle on zero. And it was sad to know they were happily giving test drives in such a vehicle. It wasn't expected.
About two weeks after the test drive,

Well i had a very different experience, i asked for repeated test drives and each time a test drive car was sent.

Originally Posted by promit

I went to the showroom again, this time with the intention of booking a car that weekend. I asked for their best deal, the SA said he can't do anything being a new car bla bla. Only,if I finance the car, he can work something out. I told him I wasn't going to buy the car at it's list price for sure.

Well i partly can relate with your sentiment, i did not expect i would be able to get extensive leverage on the purchase, but i was pleasantly surprised, all i did was share quotes that i got from the different dealers, its a bit unfortunate that you have to constantly negotiate.

Once i booked the car, i was given the VIN details and also was advised of the shipment progress (car had a small delay - i guesss being shipped from Chennai), the SA very patiently answered all the questions.

Can't comment on the buy back, since i did not exchange any.

Thanks - ML

[Motoringlover]

All - I am nearing about 5k on the ODO, we are slowly starting to settle down with the car.

I20 is very sensitive to tire pressure settings, the best with medium load I have found is 30 PSI, anything over makes the car wobble and ride becomes very harsh, do others members agree with this ?

FE in the recent has started being low, given the car hardly is being driven longer than 5-10km in the recent and that too only in city conditions, FE now hovers around 14kmpl.

Please let me know if you have specific questions that you would like information on.

Best

ML

[Motoringlover]

Its been a while i updated the thread. Overall impressions for the past 10 months we have owned the car. Car is primarily driven by wife, typically used for short distances and hence the mileage for 10 months of use stands at 7700 clicks on the ODO, come to think of it, does not justify diesel at all, that said. I am glad it still is a diesel, we have gotten used to ratios better now, its a small car but is extremely easy to drive and move about for city chores and very wallet friendly.

Likes

1. Ease of drive.
2. Comfortable seating and Baby friendly.
3. Boot is useful and can accept a full size baby pram and space for other bags.
4. decent audio player, love the toys especially reverse camera women in the house find it a boon.
5. loves to cruise, at about ~100-110 the engine is at 2K clicks which is in the perfect turbo zone and reasonable economy too in the 6th cog.

Dis-Likes.
1. Ride can be disturbing if you don't get the tyre pressure right, i had choose something i like by more trial and error, manufacturer recommendations are more to keep the car FE friendly not necessarily comfort oriented. I keep it at 31psi.

Overall a great city car, and is comfort oriented.

Thanks for reading.

Best

Motoringlover

[Motoringlover]

Team - Decided to remap the i20, goal was to improve the low end torque, especially the lack of power feelings in city speeds, initial impressions are positive, i will share a detailed update shortly. Overall improvement across the rev band. I chose Tune tronics of Bangalore for the remap.

Thanks

ML

[Motoringlover]

One of the biggest grouse i have had with the i20 has been the ratios, but turns out it is not not entirely the ratio that is the trouble, the trouble is with the stock map which does not produce a lot of power in low end revvs, given majority of the time the car is being driven in the city, i took the plunge for the remap, my goal was to improve city drivability anything else was a bonus.

That is exactly what i got from the remap from TOT (Tune o Tronics), after having driven about 150 kms i understand the map a bit better. Car has now become a lot more drivable in the city, you can now be around 15kms and can still be in the second gear, even a minor incline is not a problem.

As a bonus what has also improved is a strong mid and top end, not that i20 lacked here in stock, but overall improvement is now across the rev line.

Please find some remap pictures.

Process entails taking a read of the stock map and done using a regular pc and a connecting device (sorry not a techie) and sending the stock map to Sid from ToT, who eventually writes the new map and sends it back. The new map is over written on ECU and becomes the map which the car uses.



Connecting Device



The device via USB connects to the OBD port of the car.

Vivek from ToT opening up the access panel for OBD port.



and finally the OBD port.



Reading\Writing the new map into the ECU.



The entire process was completed in about an hour (read and write back - includes some waiting time)

I also noticed, the new map the ECU takes time to adapt, it took a good 50km's to get settled in, i understand it is a learning process for the ECU. I am reasonably happy with map, my biggest concern was no excessive smoke coming out of the exhaust and i have not observed any even under testing for sudden acceleration.

Thanks Vivek for coming all the way from Bangalore and Thanks Sid for getting up early to do the map.

Please let me know if you have specific questions.

Thanks

[NetfreakBombay]

Thanks for the detailed post on remap.

Originally Posted by Motoringlover

Car has now become a lot more drivable in the city, you can now be around 15kms and can still be in the second gear, even a minor incline is not a problem.

As a bonus what has also improved is a strong mid and top end, not that i20 lacked here in stock, but overall improvement is now across the rev line.

What is the approx impact on FE ? You had mentioned 14 kmpl (because of city driving), is FE in the same ballpark after remap?

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Thanks for the detailed post on remap.



What is the approx impact on FE ? You had mentioned 14 kmpl (because of city driving), is FE in the same ballpark after remap?

I guess that will be difficult to answer, given that the car is now being driven on Hyderabad roads, and not Gurgaon. Roads here are more crowded generally.

@Motoringlover---congrats on the re-map. I'm surprised that there is no smoke on hard acceleration, as most cars do smoke after a remap. Itching to drive it and check how it feels like, as I'd driven it a few days back in stock condition.

[Motoringlover]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Thanks for the detailed post on remap.

What is the approx impact on FE ? You had mentioned 14 kmpl (because of city driving), is FE in the same ballpark after remap?

Hi NetfreakBombay - Its a bit too early for FE estimates, i really have not topped it up yet, based on what i was told, it is indicative of a potential improvement at city speeds and may be a marginal drop with a heavy right foot. I will share an update later based on experience.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

I guess that will be difficult to answer, given that the car is now being driven on Hyderabad roads, and not Gurgaon. Roads here are more crowded generally.

@Motoringlover---congrats on the re-map. I'm surprised that there is no smoke on hard acceleration, as most cars do smoke after a remap. Itching to drive it and check how it feels like, as I'd driven it a few days back in stock condition.

Venu saab - you are welcome to drive over the weekend, the lack of black smoke is a pleasant surprise.

Thanks

[Motoringlover]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Thanks for the detailed post on remap.

What is the approx impact on FE ? You had mentioned 14 kmpl (because of city driving), is FE in the same ballpark after remap?

Pleasant surprise on the fill up, this all city driving, the mileage has improved by ~1.5kmpl, now i have not been really driving conservatively, i never expected this outcome, but had a similar experience with the VRS when driven not enthusiastically - FE improved after remap.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

I guess that will be difficult to answer, given that the car is now being driven on Hyderabad roads, and not Gurgaon. Roads here are more crowded generally.

@Motoringlover---congrats on the re-map. I'm surprised that there is no smoke on hard acceleration, as most cars do smoke after a remap. Itching to drive it and check how it feels like, as I'd driven it a few days back in stock condition.

Venu saab Hyderabad seems to be helping the FE.

Thanks

[Motoringlover]

All - i20 has been settling down well post the remap.

Took a weekend drive to Bangalore from Hyderabad, i20 performed reasonably well and managed to keep highway speeds through the ~1100 Km journey.

Now the FE was the real key point, i never have gotten anything beyond 14, this highway drive the car returned a little over 19 kmpl , pleasant surpirse. Majority of the journey the car was in the 6th cog and was a pleasure to drive it around.

The car has passed the 12Km mark and is due for annual service, car has not been used a lot in the past year, i am now contemplating moving to syntehtic oil, given i will be using it a lot more.

Any thoughts by fellow members on the same.

Thanks

Motoringlover.

[Motoringlover]

i20 comes with 55w type Low & High beam lights which provide pretty basic level of illumination, given the recent increase in the usage of the car, decided to improve the lighting of the car. No wiring harness was changed (i was recommended not to) a simple bulb upgrade would do. i20 uses H7 bulbs please see the picture below for more details. I have changed both Low and High beam bulbs with the same.

Upgraded Lights



Thanks

Motoringlover.