[MudMover]

After I gave up my previous vehicle -- A Tata Indigo CS Lx (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...lx-2009-a.html), I'd been searching for a used Swift Dezire or a Toyota Etios. Etios because it has a bigger boot than the Indigo and Dezire so that even my wife could drive it easily unlike the Indigo which had very sluggish controls. Finally, both the requirements were just about fulfilled in the Hyundai Xcent and a new car of the base version seemed to be just within the budget of Rs.7 Lakhs with which we were chasing used Dezires and Etios'. So I finally went down to the Hyundai Showroom at Kudlu Gate on Hosur road on 19th July, and booked the base version for Rs.6,97,528 (all inclusive). The salesman Mr.Rajesh assured delivery within a week's time and I finally got the car on 29th. The PDI checklist on Team bhp was very useful and Mr.Rajesh was helpful in allowing me to go through the items one by one.

For me, a sub 4 metre sedan makes sense due to it's easy drivablility (easy to manouvre, easy to park) in city and a decent load carrying capability during weekend outstation trips from Bangalore to Kerala. So I'm a big fan of this class of sedans now. On paper, the Xcent seems to have the largest boot among the sub4 class (407 ltr) so this is definitely a relief for me (family of four - 2 Adults & 2 todlers) unlike the Dezire (361 ltr boot) which would have been a disaster in terms of luggage capacity. With that said, I'll now proceed to a brief review of the Xcent from the eyes of a former Indigo CS owner.

LOOKS:

Looks-wise, like all the other sub4m sedans this too looks like a big car which has been squeezed by a giant's hand! The front and back looks are pretty downright ordinary though the side and quarter glass views are good.











There is a fair amount of chrome detailing (of which I'm a fan) which adds to the good looks and is also good for night visibility. I'm more of a night driver and so I believe that the more amount of shiny things on a vehicle to make you visible to others... the better.





The front fender seems to jut out more than what I would have been comfortable with. This might lead to ground clearance issues because in some stretches in the forest that I drive through, you need to go down sharply from the tar road to the kuchcha road and so the fender might scrape I feel.




INSIDE:

The cabin is fairly contemporary in styling



No powered windows for the back seats in the base model.



The back seaters have the chance to stretch their legs under the front seats, this really gives an impression of spaciousness, infact in my Indigo I used to raise the front seats and keep, just so that the back seaters would have more legroom and it used to be a boon on the long drives.



Two big lights, it's good to have the back light more towards the centre since it lights up the cabin more evenly unlike my indigo where the back light was more towards the back.



Lots of cubby holes and bottle holders. This is good for a family like mine with two todlers where you need to travel with a whole lot of bottles & flasks.






And what a relief to have the window controls... near the window. In my previous vehicles the Bolero and the Indigo the window controls were near the gear lever and it was very unnatural.

[MudMover]

... contd

I've always wanted a car with the gear as close to the steering wheel as possible, this might not seem much but on the long drives it's a big plus unlike in my Bolero and Indigo where you had to slightly reach downwards for the gear. Also the power steering feels very light and the turning circle seems tight enough for city driving. The light steering could be very useful during those long non-stop drives of mine.



And the 'raise-up-shift-forward' reverse gear mechanism will take time getting used to and I hope I don't break it!



Trip meter switches on the steering wheel, good idea.



Fairly decent main console with good illumination and information including the gear change up/down indicator (will be useful for my wife!).



A clock nearer to my face, good thing. In the Indigo it was set far away near the windshield and sometimes it was hard to read... yes, I really watch the clock a lot on my long drives.



A holder right below the charging point is really useful, this used to be a major frustration point in my indigo and sometimes I had to leave the phone charging on the front left seat.



Small glove box, but comes with a 'cooling feature'. This is a 'feature' in this car but in my Bolero the glovebox was cooled whether you liked it or not.




Acres of space on top of the dashboard, I feel they could have provided two slight depressions with raised boundaries -- in the centre (for a tissue box) and on the left (for the ladies to park their handbag).



Vanity mirror, pretty standard now I guess. Helps the wife to keep a tab on the brats at the back.



Rear view mirror with 'night mode', it sounds fascinating but in the night mode you are not able to see behind you at night - not a good idea, since I've already been rear-ended once.



Sigh! back to manual controls for the seat and ORVMs. In the Indigo I had powered controls for the seats (wicked!) and ORVMs.




Slightly low quality mats and door handles, they seem to say -- "Psst! Bought the base version? You are a cheapo!"





The boot, seems to be same size as the Indigo but the real test will be when I fill it up for the next long drive with the whole family. No light, bummer..it's gonna be hard searching for stuff in the boot when you're parked by the roadside at night trying to pull out something from some luggage.



Spare wheel compartment. In the Indigo, the tool kit had a strap on arrangement inside the boot to keep it secure but here the tool kit is free to jingle along.



Tyres seem to be okay for my kind of driving. Infact I've used 165/65/R14 all throughout in my Indigo and got good grip,comfort,fuel efficiency. But the higher end versions in the Xcent do offer the 15inch wheels and that's something good for this sub4 class. Wheel covers are bolted on, Thank God! I've lost a couple of wheel covers on my Bolero and Indigo, when they flew off on some rough stretches.



Roof antena, something that I missed in the Indigo.



This Crdi engine is not a scorcher, but is definitely a step up from the TDI which I've been driving. The difference in sound is very perceptible, while the TDI sounds like someone mixing up an omelette the Crdi sounds like a bartender mixing up a cocktail.



And Oh! the front seat has a good contour, should hold the body better on long drives.



This is the best part about a sub4m sedan, you get to park two cars for the price of one in the garage! Muhahahahaha (evil laugh)!



For me, this is my fourth vehicle in the past seven years and I've always seen my cars as a tool for getting me to my destination -- simple point A to B purpose. For me, the drive is not about the journey but what lies at the end of the journey and the effect my presence creates at the end of the journey. In 2009 I drove alone in my brand new Bolero from Bangalore to Mumbai non-stop for 16.5 hours, the journey meant nothing to me but the surprised smile of my brother upon seeing me turn up for his marriage was priceless. A couple of months back my father called me up one day in office and wondered whether I could make it to Kerala so that he could see his sons together (a rare occurence in our family), no bus tickets were available so after a normal office day I simply drove off to Kerala and lay quietly next to my father the next morning just as he was getting up and the surprised look on his drowsy face was again priceless. So it's a simple expectation that I have from my vehicles -- that the day I suddenly decide to take off to somewhere to create a magical moment for a loved one, it should just get me from point A to B as efficiently & reliably as possible.

[MudMover]

... (contd)

My first long drive in the Xcent

The Bangalore-Malappuram (Kerala) route is one that I do most often (almost every alternate weekend) and this is the one where any improvements in a new car are most evident to me in the shortest time. So, last weekend I did this route and here's what I think.

In the Xcent I can keep close to me, the two bottles that are important to me on long drives -- drinking water, right next to the gear so that I can take a quick sip during halts at traffic lights and water for wash next to my side of the door. Small thing but very useful.




On paper this engine is only slightly more powerful than the TDI on my Indigo (69 bhp) and the performance difference is slightly perceptible too, but whats make the drive better is the gearbox with shorter shifts and the smoother Crdi -- smoother in sound & feel. My style of driving is quick shifts of the gears at around 2k and because of the short shifts in the Xcent, I get to reach my cruise speed much quicker and that makes a lot of difference on highways like the B'lore-Mysore road with it's speed bumps. And the crispy brakes (though currently a little more crispier than I prefer) are quite good for the jokers who suddenly dart into your way from between the medians. The light steering is a blessing and keeping the car on your desired path on the road is really easy when the steering is so responsive to slight inputs. Overall, the handling was marginally better than the Indigo and since I didn't go beyond 90 kmph it's not possible to comment on the handling in the three digit range at the moment.



On my usual trips I pass through the Bandipur-Mudumalai forests and the deteriorating road condition on the Mudumalai side was my main concern with the Xcent (for e.g. the stretch shown below). And I did scrape the bottom once and I think that having 15' wheels would have been better. But for now, super slow is the way to go on such stretches I guess.



On my way back, on the Ghat stretch (like the one below) I did not feel any lack of power while climbing or overtaking. Here again, the short shifts of the gears helped me to keep the engine within the required power range.



The gear change indicator seems to be very close to my natural style of gear change -- shift indications seem to happen at around 2k rpm.



Overall I enjoyed the drive and I was not too exhausted at the end of the drive either. But the mileage is what I hope to see some improvement in, once the engine has settled down. On my long drives alone, I usually switch off the AC and the fan and drive with the windows down. Since I usually drive in the early mornings, it suits me well. In the Indigo, this trick has got me mileages of 23-24 kmpl on my drives to Cochin -- and that was for an engine which was marketed with 18kmpl. So naturally on the Xcent I'm certainly hoping for a 30 kmpl if they've marketed this engine with a 25 kmpl.

[bblost]

Thread moved back out from the Assembly Line (http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/announ...m-section.html) to Ownership Reviews. Thanks for sharing!

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Congrats. That's the third review on team- Bhp I guess including mine. Happy to see all owners satisfied till now. For a sedan that most people in this forum tend to consider as an ugly thing- the detailed reports and owner satisfaction is quite significant.

Personally I like the way it looks. I have the SX(o) AT for parents in white colour.

Interesting to see the differences between the base and the highest trim, however it is also nice to note that Hyundai has provided a lot of features on the base variant as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Team-BHP

[damodar]

Hi so how is the visibility from the driver seat since this version doesn't come with seat height adjustment?

[motomaverick]

Wow another Xcent review within a couple of weeks. Looks like the Xcent is becoming a bang for the buck car at the moment.

Congrats on your acquisition and movement to Hyundai from Tata. I was also on the same boat wherein I moved from Manza to Grand i10. So considering your driving style what are your usual cruising speeds? I know you face more of single carriage roads but even then what were you maintaining in the Indigo and here in the Xcent. Do you perceive any sluggishness in the engine while overtaking? Is there any lag felt during roll on speeds?

[Maverick5490]

Nice to the point and humorous review of your new ride! Liked you point where you mention about the end result of your journey rather than the journey.

Enjoy your drives!

[alexpaul]

Originally Posted by MudMover

..... but the surprised smile of my brother upon seeing me turn up for his marriage was priceless. A couple of months back my father called me up one day in office and wondered whether I could make it to Kerala so that he could see his sons together (a rare occurence in our family), no bus tickets were available so after a normal office day I simply drove off to Kerala and lay quietly next to my father the next morning just as he was getting up and the surprised look on his drowsy face was again priceless. So it's a simple expectation that I have from my vehicles -- that the day I suddenly decide to take off to somewhere to create a magical moment for a loved one, it should just get me from point A to B as efficiently & reliably as possible.

Wonderfully put up crisp review on Xcent

Mudmover you said it right....that expression on your near & dear ones is priceless when they wanted you to be in their presence.

[rohan_iitr]

Congratulations on your lovely car.

Hyundai base variants are really well priced and reasonably well equipped. I just wish that they also provided an optional safety pack on all the variants, instead of offering the same only on the top variant. I don't understand why an Indian customer needs to spend 2 lakhs extra for fancy features, to be able to qualify for safety features ?

What accessories have you planned ? Please keep the thread updated for the same.

Is Hyundai providing reverse sensors and camera as an accessory ?

Also, is the same music system head unit (the one provided in mid and top variants) available as an accessory for base variant ?

Any reason why you didn't wait for Tata Zest, especially since you frequently travel on bad roads ? IMHO, Tata Zest with its higher GC and more powerful diesel engine would also have been a good choice for your needs.

Rohan

[arnabchak]

Congrats on your car. Lovely crisp review.

The central console looks bare right now. Any plans for ICE right now?

What if you go for the standard OEM ICE and tune it to a set of good speakers. Xcent is known to have a weak rear speaker.

Very well priced "sedan" just shy of 7 lacs!!

[MudMover]

Originally Posted by arnabchak

The central console looks bare right now. Any plans for ICE right now? What if you go for the standard OEM ICE and tune it to a set of good speakers. Xcent is known to have a weak rear speaker.

Since the car has been bought by my in-laws, I (we) generally recycle the audio/video systems from the previous car or from the other cars in family. Currently I'm hoping to fit the same system (a low-end DAPIC set) which I had in my Indigo but if that doesn't fit in the slot, I might go for the Pioneer set which is fitted in my mother-in-law's Chevorlet Beat (since the slot in the Beat seems to be similar dimensions as the one in the Xcent).

[arnabchak]

Dear Mud

You may have to go for a dash kit if either the Pio or Dapic doesnt fit the slot.

The challenge with non OEM fitment is that you can never get the factory finish.

Just check the below image taken from my Wagon R ICE. Thouh the ICE in general is satisfactory, it fails on the look part as its not flush with the console:

[MudMover]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Any reason why you didn't wait for Tata Zest, especially since you frequently travel on bad roads ? IMHO, Tata Zest with its higher GC and more powerful diesel engine would also have been a good choice for your needs.
Rohan

Rohan, in the past 7 years I have experienced the service facilities of Maruti, Mahindra and Tata. The Tata experience has been not been upto to the mark per my expectations and there would have been no way I would've wanted to go to them again. Besides, I didn't have any choice in the car purchase process.

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Is Hyundai providing reverse sensors and camera as an accessory ?

Also, is the same music system head unit (the one provided in mid and top variants) available as an accessory for base variant ?Rohan

In fact the test vehicle that I'd driven was a top-end variant and it had reverse sensors and camera built in to the rear view mirror. I don't think you'll get the same system as accessory for the base variant since the system in the other variants are factory fitted & the dealer might just offer the ones which they are currently stocking. But you can check with the respective dealer.

[MudMover]

Originally Posted by damodar

Hi so how is the visibility from the driver seat since this version doesn't come with seat height adjustment?

The visibility will definitely be an issue for anyone below 5"+. For e.g. my wife will need to use a seat pillow. I clearly feel that the dashboard overhang in this car is slightly over done.