[Amyth Prabhakar]

Originally Posted by azhar915

Amyth, could you please let me know the price of these and place where you got the seat covers installed?
Also, don't we get the rear headrest covers as part of the set?

Hey Azhar,

I got this done for a nominal price of INR. 9000. @ JC Road Bangalore.
This included the material,stitching and installation cost.( labor)
There are many shops out there and you can always find the best bargain.
All shops there do it and choose the one that give you the best offer.

They have a catalog with many designs. You will have to choose from one of the designs and place an order. It takes about a day or two for them to stitch and give it to you. I personally did not like the ones that were there in the catalog as most of them had dual tones stripes etc. I customized it and asked him to make all black.

The cost also depends on the material you choose. I chose a perforated smooth and soft material with lots of foam in the center areas. These are artificial kind of leathers and are available starting from 5k to I don't know the highest price and are comparable with big brands like Stanley and Agusta leathers from the standpoint of look and design.The price for the world famous brands start from 25k and go upto 80k. Of course, they are highly processed pure leather and yes, quality wise they are miles ahead. But not so affordable.

There is also one located diagonally opposite to PSK ( Passport Seva Kendra ) Bangalore, on Urvashi theater road ( aka Lalbhag road ). They also do a good job. They use good leather and prices start from 20k.

I feel these are more than sufficient. I just wanted to protect the Stock beige
from getting dirty and change the interior color to something that fuses well with the car color ( Sleek Sliver ).

The set also included the covers for the rear head-rests. I have removed them. . It has enhanced the interior look and feel with dual shades. I have kept them on the front because it gets used more often than the rear ones.

[azhar915]

Originally Posted by Amyth Prabhakar

Hey Azhar,

I got this done for a nominal price of INR. 9000. @ JC Road Bangalore.
This included the material,stitching and installation cost.( labor)
There are many shops out there and you can always find the best bargain.
All shops there do it and choose the one that give you the best offer.

Ah JC road i'm aware. For my old Alto K10 and my friend's Santro, we got the seat covers and music systems installed at this shop called Car'N'Style. They do an excellent job. I'd been there last week to inquire about seat covers for Linea. Didn't particularly like the collection they had that time. I'll visit the shop near Urvashi as you mentioned this weekend. Hope i find a good set.

[Amyth Prabhakar]

Hyundai Verna Technical Specifications:







Available Exterior Colors



The below ones are the latest and looks like some of the colors that the pre-2014 Verna had, has now been discontinued. The stone beige and the purple fantasia have been omitted and replaced with wine red and twilight blue ( the i20 colors) for the latest edition.



Interior Colors

The factory offers beige by default for all variants.



However the interior trims vary depending on the variant.
The top end gets leather interiors and the SX variant gets the premium fabric
and the versions below that just have normal fabric






Evolution of Verna

From what it was to what it is today. A long journey



The pre-2014 and 2014 Editions

[prancinstallion]

That's one helluva review Amyth. Its an awful lot of time and effort unarguably. Your pic portfolio is a comprehensive catalogue. My touchpad real estate was too scarce to scroll through the entire write up

As far as I know, yours is the latest account of Fluidic Verna, It couldn't have come at a better time what with the New Honda City making inroads into Verna's kingdom(C2 segment). As tempted as I may be to say its a reversal of fortunes among the top 2 segment leaders(no offence but Vento hasnt got the numbers), its too early as City is going through the initial euphoria. City had i-vtec going for it when Verna was raking in the moolah with CRDi, now with i-Dtec, City has arrived to the party a lil late but having a blast nonetheless. Things would only get interesting with the launch of Xcent what with i10 grand notching incredible numbers.

To add onto my experience so far, my 'Blackbrûlée' Verna(June, 2013) is now on Michelin Primacy LC R16 205/55 with a slight improvement in ground clearance, negligible noise and pretty good traction. More than anyth, I like chunky tyres and could trade off marginal decrease in mileage for that. Having said that, Michelin's soft compound rubber didn't let me down even on mileage front. I get 14 - 16kmpl in notorious city traffic and on highways its in a different league; touched an avg of 23 with A/C 100 - 110Kmph. For you, it doesnt make sense going for a tyre change now as srivatsa had pointed out. Suspension hasn't choked me enough to complain. The engine is butter smooth as you rightly described, with an occasional clutter during cold starts. I'm yet to do up the interiors as genuine leather is pricey, didn't want to compromise on look and feel going with low price alternatives. The idea of importing scandinavian leather cheap from a known source too crossed my mind but it would be a complex logistical exercise.

VGT is a boon when stacked up against City, spare alloy wheel will salvage your pride during that inevitable pullover on a highway, cool glovebox although not practical comes handy, 6th gear is a breeze on highway and more than makes up for cruise control, ACC with ionizer works like charm. I would rather mount my iPad synced to Bluetooth to enjoy a movie in the rear than have the A/C vents blow air in my face. The cons I could think of are sunroof and underthigh support in the rear. The shortcomings that we hear the most need some getting used to like steering feedback and bumpy suspension(fix is a service visit away) which I think are the trade offs that one has to make for the best value for money proposition and excellent after sales(they are kind of obsessed with customer satisfaction ratings).

[vsrivatsa]

Originally Posted by prancinstallion

T
As far as I know, yours is the latest account of Fluidic Verna, It couldn't have come at a better time what with the New Honda City making inroads into Verna's kingdom(C2 segment). As tempted as I may be to say its a reversal of fortunes among the top 2 segment leaders(no offence but Vento hasnt got the numbers), its too early as City is going through the initial euphoria. City had i-vtec going for it when Verna was raking in the moolah with CRDi, now with i-Dtec, City has arrived to the party a lil late but having a blast nonetheless.

To add onto my experience so far, my 'Blackbrûlée' Verna(June, 2013) is now on Michelin Primacy LC R16 205/55 with a slight improvement in ground clearance, negligible noise and pretty good traction

We have to wait for the Honda City Backlog to clear and gain stability to see how the segment leadership competition heats up. But given the fact that City was managing good numbers with just a Petrol model proves that the fan following for it is very huge.

If folks were to upgrade now, I would recommend the Primacy 3ST, Primacy LC is being discontinued I guess. From what I read elsewhere, the Primacy LC was prone to fast wear out and punctures. What is your observation? I played safe and went for the XM2 for my City. Also after seeing the price of the 205/55R16 tyres I am happy Honda kept the rim size to 15
The tyres for 16 inch rim are a whopping 40% more in comparison. How much did you pay per tyre for the Primacy LC?

[prancinstallion]

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

We have to wait for the Honda City Backlog to clear and gain stability to see how the segment leadership competition heats up. But given the fact that City was managing good numbers with just a Petrol model proves that the fan following for it is very huge.

If folks were to upgrade now, I would recommend the Primacy 3ST, Primacy LC is being discontinued I guess. From what I read elsewhere, the Primacy LC was prone to fast wear out and punctures. What is your observation? I played safe and went for the XM2 for my City. Also after seeing the price of the 205/55R16 tyres I am happy Honda kept the rim size to 15
The tyres for 16 inch rim are a whopping 40% more in comparison. How much did you pay per tyre for the Primacy LC?

I think Honda would take its own sweet time to clear the backlog and they wouldn't mind it as long as the bookings are robust. I trust in Honda, but not the competition around it. Its actually the competition that made Honda to come up with i-Dtec if I may say so. Agree i-Vtec was a no brainer but so was CRDi.

Ever since I got Primacy LC, havent kept tabs on other tyres. It was a well thought out decision given the options that I had then and hope it ages gracefully serving its man and machine for many years to come, Touchwood. Steering weighed up a bit when compared to stock Bridgestone. When I set out on a longdrive sometime back, filled Nitrogen to 34psi; although it returned an amazing 25.9Kmpl(average reading) with mild A/C, the ride turned bumpy soon after I returned to the dilapidated roads of Hyderabad in monsoon. Coming to the price, stock bridgestones fetched me Rs.5500 per piece. Michelins listed price was Rs.10500 per piece as shown by the dealer in the catalogue but final bargain was around Rs.18500 for 5 (in lieu of stock tyres) including Wheel alignment etc. They are still listed on Michelin's India website as I write this. My bro-in-law's City(2009) stock Michelins look decent and hungry for more. XM2 should serve you well, and yeah you were saved the trouble of digging your pocket by Honda had they gone for 16" alloys.

[Amyth Prabhakar]

Originally Posted by vsrivatsa

We have to wait for the Honda City Backlog to clear and gain stability to see how the segment leadership competition heats up. But given the fact that City was managing good numbers with just a Petrol model proves that the fan following for it is very huge.

The Hyundai-Verna-Fluidic CRDi and Honda city 2014 iDTEC are two good cars having their own plus and minuses and are made for different categories of people. Both the cars offer a good package in terms of their feature list.

The Honda's seem to have put the Verna's in the rear view mirror.
But Remember Honda, "Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear". Even with good sale numbers its not easy for Honda to knock-out the legend from the league

The face lifted and spruced up Verna 2014 continues to
give a stiff cut-throat competition in spite of new entrant's.

While the Honda banks entirely on the efficiency and is targeted towards mileage concious, the Verna looks more balanced in its entirety.

[quote=vsrivatsa;
If folks were to upgrade now, I would recommend the Primacy 3ST, Primacy LC is being discontinued I guess. From what I read elsewhere, the Primacy LC was prone to fast wear out and punctures. What is your observation? I played safe and went for the XM2 for my City. Also after seeing the price of the 205/55R16 tyres I am happy Honda kept the rim size to 15
The tyres for 16 inch rim are a whopping 40% more in comparison.
[/QUOTE]

And thanks very much for the educational session on Tire upgrades.
I guess as per your advice my tires are good for another 15,000 km run.

[arunkrishnan4]

Great writeup! Guess high speed handling and soft suspensions are the Achilles's heel for Hyundai; thought Hyundai had fixed these at least in their C & D segment cars.

As someone else commented, HPS would be a better option for handling; but at the cost of little mileage. Do Vento, Rapid, City use HPS? IIRC Maruti tried EPS around 2006-8 but moved back to HPS sooner. Wonder what was the reason!

[Amyth Prabhakar]

Originally Posted by arunkrishnan4

As someone else commented, HPS would be a better option for handling; but at the cost of little mileage. Do Vento, Rapid, City use HPS? IIRC Maruti tried EPS around 2006-8 but moved back to HPS sooner. Wonder what was the reason!

No they don't use HPS. All of them use the EPS with slight variations in them.
The Verna calls it Electric Power Steering, The Vento as Electronic Power Steering and the Rapid calls it as Electro-Mechanical Power Steering.
Basically they all work the same way under the hood.

The EPS assembly consists of a small electric motor and sensors which detects when to assist the driver based on the speed. The motor derives its power from the battery and increases the torque that gets applied by the driver during steering the wheel and reduces the strain on the driver as well as the engine. The motor gets activated only when needed and relinquishes the control beyond a certain speed.This increases the fuel efficiency like you already said.

But I am not sure as to why MS reverted it back to HPS.

[Rocketscience]

Originally Posted by arunkrishnan4

As someone else commented, HPS would be a better option for handling; but at the cost of little mileage. Do Vento, Rapid, City use HPS? IIRC Maruti tried EPS around 2006-8 but moved back to HPS sooner. Wonder what was the reason!

Originally Posted by Amyth Prabhakar

But I am not sure as to why MS reverted it back to HPS.

Well as far as i know , Maruti never moved to Hydraulic units and they still continue to use electronic power steering like many other manufacturers in all of their cars.

Having both of them in the cars i drive , hydraulic power steering has the edge for obvious reasons , the downside if i'm said to point out is its not as easy to park using hydraulic units as it is with electronic but IMHO hydraulic makes much more sense overall.

I just found out that Nano has this power steering cut off mechanism after the speed of 80Kmph , now that's super cool and would feel much better than electronic power steering at high speeds , why don't other car companies do this? is there any downside to this i'm missing?

[arunkrishnan4]

Originally Posted by Rocketscience

... Having both of them in the cars i drive , hydraulic power steering has the edge for obvious reasons

This is interesting; so you mean to say Maruti cars have both EPS and HPS? Pls mention which cars have EPS and which have HPS. My friend's WagonR has HPS. I read somewhere that A-stars used to have EPS, but have now reverted to HPS.

Originally Posted by Rocketscience

Nano has this power steering cut off mechanism after the speed of 80Kmph , now that's super cool and would feel much better than electronic power steering at high speeds , why don't other car companies do this? is there any downside to this i'm missing?

Every EPS powered car has this; electric power steering cuts off at higher speeds; it's around 60-70kmph for my Hyundai i10. Same with HPS driven cars also; power steering is least required at high speeds; but the difference being the HPS motor keeps running all through the journey (even when not needed) hence drinking more fuel.

[vsrivatsa]

More Power Steering Details can be found on this Thread: Know Your Power Steering

As pointed out HPS takes a hit on Fuel Efficiency.

[Rocketscience]

Originally Posted by arunkrishnan4

This is interesting; so you mean to say Maruti cars have both EPS and HPS? Pls mention which cars have EPS and which have HPS. My friend's WagonR has HPS. I read somewhere that A-stars used to have EPS, but have now reverted to HPS.

Like i said , every Maruti car on sale today uses electronic power steering.
Swift , Swift Dzire , WagonR , Stingray , Ritz , SX4 , Ertiga , Celario & Alto 800 all use EPS.



Every EPS powered car has this; electric power steering cuts off at higher speeds; it's around 60-70kmph for my Hyundai i10.[/quote]

I don't think every EPS car has this , of all the EPS cars i've driven they've always felt over assisted and lifeless at high speeds too , can mods step in and enlighten me on this?

[crdi]

Originally Posted by Amyth Prabhakar

I have mixed feeling though.

After test driving the latest polo GT 7 speed Automatic edition and the new 1.6L vento i agree with you.

But back then, when i bought verna the vento didn't quite stack up well for my consideration. It had 1.5L engine with no goodies. Hailing from the land of Audi's and BMW's ( the worlds best car manufactures ),Germany I had more expectations from vento.

I still vouch for verna

The vento outperforms the verna because it throws more power after the 1800 rpm range and surges ahead quickly. The verna on the other hand outputs linear power and gradually builds up speed. so if the verna is decelerated in the 3rd and 4th gear and made to pick up from there, it struggles a bit. The vento is a different beast altogether and marginally ahead by 2-3 seconds because of lesser lag than verna.

But however on a straight stretch, with linear power delivery, if are starting from scratch, the verna is a speed demon and can give enough nightmares to vento.

We dont race with these two cars where every fraction of a second matters. so i guess Verna with 2-3 seconds lag is OK as far as the overall package is concerned.

Hey buddy, when was the vento ever out with a 1.5L diesel ? It was always 1.6L, that too is crdi & vgt even though they have not labelled it all around the car. Looks like you've been misled by a hyundai salesman. For those who like a make up smacked chick like one of those hindi film actresses, the verna/city will appeal. The fans of the likes of Mary kom will vouch for vento/rapid.

[harsh.m06]

Congratulations for your purchase! Verna is definitely a well rounded package in its segment. It would be the obvious choice only if Hyundai can overcome with the Steering and Suspension tuning.

Originally Posted by Amyth Prabhakar

The Vento had 1.5L engine, very less features and looked like a plain vanilla ice-cream.

Vento always had a 1.6L TDI motor which is punchiest of the lot. Though it lacks some features, but its solid built, excellent motor and perfect balance between ride and handling makes it a very strong contender. Only if Vento had a good HU, it will be on par with the Verna in the features list.