[Karthik Chandra]

Congratulations AkMar on your new acquisition.

Wishing you a very happy, peaceful and trouble free ownership . Choice of colour is good, a rare colour, will make your ride unique.

[AkMar]

Originally Posted by S2!!!

What a fantastic review! Brilliant attention to detail too. Loved reading the review

Thanks. These words coming from someone like you is an encouragement.

Originally Posted by S2!!!

As you correctly mentioned, the K12M motor is a gem but I'd rate the Kappa2 quite close to it. Reason, it has this peaky, push you to the seat kinda feeling once you cross 1,800 rpm. I'd say both are almost as silent, but I loved the engine note at higher RPMs in the K12M, which incidentally felt more comfortable at higher RPMs than the Kappa2.

Yes definitely. Kappa2 is indeed a capable machine. I never meant to portray it in a bad light. I think both of us mean to say the same thing, but we put it into words in different ways

Originally Posted by S2!!!

I had suggested my friend to consider the Zest but just before he entered the Tata showroom, he checked out the Xcent. While he liked the Zest, he found 100 excuses to pick the Xcent . I won't blame him though. All in all, the Xcent is an absolute value pick in the compact sedan segment. Even the Aspire never gave me that feeling of quality which the Xcent offers.

Absolutely. As I said, the Xcent is truly a jack of all trades. There is hardly any major deal breaker in it. Specially the interiors - they are easily best in class. The petrol Xcent is a great package ticks all the right boxes IMO. One could argue about the recent crash test results of Grand i10, but then it's competitors have not been through crash tests either.

Originally Posted by roby.thomas

Congratulations AkMar, well written review and professional photos !

Thanks Roby, and hoping your car's ABS issue gets resolved quickly!

Originally Posted by dheepak10

Congratulations on your purchase. Twilight Blue is a nice color indeed.
My wife and I also have finalised Xcent for now after TDing quite a good number of cars.My choice is Twilight Blue and my wife's is Passion Red

Thanks. Wishing you all the best for your future purchase. Both colours look good on the car in my opinion.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Congratulations AkMar!

Originally Posted by AkMar

I would like to thank Team-BHP for the detailed official review, and CrAzY dRiVeR for his ownership thread. Both these threads have a wealth of information, which was useful for our decision making.

Thanks for the mention. I'm really glad my review was of help to someone. But you have raised the standards and how! There are so many fine points in there, that a prospective buyer would surely appreciate.

Originally Posted by AkMar

All photos in the review are clicked using iPhone 4S & Canon EOS 550D.

Hyundai Xcent, Apple iPhone 4s and Canon EOS 550D. That's 3 things we have in common!

I had even booked the Swift back in 2012 though, but had to cancel it after waiting for 6 months due to MSIL labour problems.

Originally Posted by AkMar

Likes

• Matured, modern looking styling which will offend few
• Very good fit & finish on the outside.
• Excellent quality of interiors - probably the best in class. The cabin has a premium feel.
• Middle variant too is decently loaded with features
• Decent OEM music system - upgrade not needed
• Ergonomically sound - all controls are well placed
• Spacious, at the front as well as rear
• Best in class boot space
• Engine's awesome refinement! Does not feel underpowered either
• A true jack of all trades - has no major drawback
• Good packaging of the interiors. Ample space in the rear seat & boot in spite of 4 meter restriction
  

Dislikes

• Illogical spread of safety features when we purchased the car. This point is no longer applicable - safety features have been rejigged to more logical levels now.
• Not a fun-to-drive car. Will not suit everyone's tastes
• Small features like auto locking doors, FE & distance to empty indicators on MID and a powerful horn are sorely missed
• Dealership experience was below par
• Narrow rear seat will make 5th occupant unwelcome at times.
• Integrated front headrests stick out like a sore thumb in the premium feeling cabin!

Totally agree with all your likes and dislikes, including the sub-par dealership experience. The service experience has been a lot better from Hyundai though! Packaging is the most brilliant aspect of this car IMO. For a sub-4m sedan - I wonder how they could extract so much space for the front, rear and boot and manage to make it look proportional too!

I still feel its the best looker in the segment thanks to the proportionate boot, closely followed by the Ford Aspire, let down by its tiny boot section.

[KreativeGeek]

Congratulations on owning your new Hyundai Xcent AkMar, wish you happy miles!

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by AkMar

Presenting an initial ownership report of our Hyundai Xcent.

Congratulations AkMar for your new Xcent and your detailed review.

One question:
How effective and adequate are the headlights? How would you compare the spread of headlights and their illumination with that from Swift?

[AkMar]

I would like to mention one thing first - it is Dad's car, not mine. I have just reviewed it. So all the congratulations should be for him

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Congratulations AkMar!
Packaging is the most brilliant aspect of this car IMO. For a sub-4m sedan - I wonder how they could extract so much space for the front, rear and boot and manage to make it look proportional too!

Hazarding a guess. A major factor which goes in Hyundai's favour in achieving this is that the Xcent's base hatchback - the Grand i10 - is not a long car in the first place. That gives some room to work with while adding a boot. In comparison, Swift is a fairly long car - so Maruti would have got very little additional length for the boot while designing the current Dzire, leading to less boot space as well as compromised looks. A major chunk of this difference between Swift & Grand i10 is the bonnet length IMHO.

Something similar is applicable for Zest & Aspire too.

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

How effective and adequate are the headlights? How would you compare the spread of headlights and their illumination with that from Swift?

I cannot comment on this right now because the car has rarely been on night time drives. Will update as and when I get a chance to judge it.

[Utopian]

Congrats on the acquisition. Xcent does seem to be a good bet considering your requirements. The sheer number of variants is truly mind boggling, with optional variants strewn in with the regular variants.
Happy mile crunching.

[AkMar]

Originally Posted by Utopian

The sheer number of variants is truly mind boggling, with optional variants strewn in with the regular variants.

The number of variants has reduced now. There are only 4 variants: Base, S, SX & SX(O). Automatic transmission is available with SX(O) petrol variant.

[motorlover]

Congratulations and wish you many miles of happy driving. I own a silver xcent sx(o) .Have just completed 20000 kms and its as good as it was when i bought it.No problems whatsoever.its been a gem.

[JD1]

Congratulations and welcome to Xcent family Superb writeup.

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

One question:
How effective and adequate are the headlights? How would you compare the spread of headlights and their illumination with that from Swift?

It's bad (and I am being kind here). It's worse if there is rain. I have purchased Philips X-treme Vision but haven't replaced yet. (I cannot compare with Swift but just making a general comment based on my ownership experience).

[murillo]

Originally Posted by AkMar

Presenting an initial ownership report of our Hyundai Xcent.

Dear AkMar,

Congratulations on the purchase and thanks for detailed report. Hope you and your dad are enjoying the new Xcent.

I am considering the Xcent S Petrol. I have already test driven the car. From your experience with your Xcent, can you throw some light on the below points:

1. I was able to change gears only after flooring the clutch; otherwise it won't allow a gear change at all. I found this a hassle. In my current car, I can change the gear with 50% travel itself. The sales advisor told me that the test drive car is particularly adjusted for this. How much clutch travel is required to change gear in your car?

2. The horn pad is hard to the press. I had to really push hard to honk. Does the horn pad get softer with usage?

3. I didn't get a chance to check the car's capability on inclines such as those of hill stations with full passenger load, trunk-full of luggage, and with a/c switched on. Did you get a chance to experience the car's performance under these exact conditions?

Any light you can throw on these of my concerns will be helpful.

Thanks.
murillo.

[kayvwar]

Had a query regarding MID. Given the fact that the car does not come with a full fledged MID, are there any other alternatives of getting one. Are these field replaceable kits either from the manufacturer or dealer network. In case I would want to install a full blown MID is it possible at all?

[AkMar]

Our car is now nearing 2.5K mark on the odo. In the next week it will turn 5 months old. A few updates:

FE update
I measured the FE by tankful to tankful method. It came out to 15.7 km/l. This was with 60% highway usage and 40% city usage including some heavy bumper to bumper traffic, with AC switched on all the time.

Few other points:
-The car has been niggle free till date.
-Generous cyclist children in our building have inflicted a few scratches on the sides of the car while it is parked in the building premises
-An XUV 500 brushed onto the rear bumper due to his hurry of changing lane in bumper to bumper traffic. Thankfully, the white/silver paint deposited on our car by it came off by simple rubbing of hands. There is almost no trace of the incident on the bumper now.
-I was behind the wheels of the car in some twisty sections. The handling was not too confidence inspiring. It is best driven sedately. Wider tyres may improve things slightly.
-I am not impressed with the bottom end of the engine. It feels dead at lower RPMs. Anywhere below 45 kmph in 4th gear is strictly no go if you want some quick acceleration from the motor (just an example). Keep it in the mid range for best results.
-With 2 hefty passengers & 1 normaly built passenger in rear seat, the middle seat is acautlly more comfortable than the two sides. The curves of seat near the doors makes it uncomfortable for those sitting at the sides. In comparison, even though the seat is hard due to handrest, one can at least sit properly on the middle seat.
-Some vibrations can be felt by the rear middle passenger through hard back of handrest.
-Underbody scraped a few giant speedbreakers with full load at normal speed speedbreaker tackling speeds. There were no issues when we slowed down more than usual for such bumps.


I also took out our beloved Swift for a short spin. That gave a chance to compare the two. Boy oh boy, such a vast difference between the two cars! The moment I sat into driver's seat of Swift, I instantly felt at home in the cabin. The first noticeable change was the amount of throttle input (or lack of it) required to get the car moving from a standstill. While on the move too, it required a lighter right foot to gain momentum. It was a sheer pleasure to drive. The K12M was less prone to stalling than the Kappa. Also, like I have noted in the review, Xcent's engine needs to be handled with care. It is quite prone to jerking when the foot is lifted off the throttle. In comparison Swift gives a much more jerk free drive. The AC of the 5 year old Swift was more effective than Xcent. I have no hesitation in declaring K12M as the best 1.2 liter petrol out there. I would absolutely love to own another car powered by this engine

Originally Posted by kayvwar

Had a query regarding MID. Given the fact that the car does not come with a full fledged MID, are there any other alternatives of getting one. In case I would want to install a full blown MID is it possible at all?

AFAIK there is no option from Hyundai. I am not qualified enough to comment on other options, but maybe you can try an OBD port reader paired with an app on your smartphone.

@murillo - Sorry for not replying. I was away from internet for a few days. By the time I came back, your queries were already answered on the official review thread. Hence didn't reply here

[Kalesh]

@AkMar, thanks for the detailed review. you sure have eye for detail and the images are amazing. This and the other Xcent ownership review here helped me conclude on this beautiful ride. I took delivery of my Twilight blue SX couple of days back and boy is it fun to drive around. I am still getting a hang of the machine and hoping to put up a ownership review soon.

I am actually facing some problem with the bluetooth connectivity with my phone. The unit in the car just wont download my contacts - been failing every time. I have a OnePlus X Android phone and nothing special there. Do I need to have the contact database saved on my phone to have it downloaded? (I mean right now it is synced in my google account, not sure if it is there on my phone hard drive). Maybe need to spend some more time troubleshooting. Hope I am not missing anything obvious.

Any help on this would be highly appreciated.

[AkMar]

Two weeks ago, the car turned 6 months old. As of today, this is the odo reading.


The ownership experience has been trouble free till now. There are no rattles from any section of the car. This is not the kind of car which will plaster a wide grin on your face, however it is quite an able performer. Scratches are a big headache though. We have an open parking slot. Children with bicycles, and passers by spoil the cars by scratching them This seems to have increased in the past few months. Can't do anything but live with it.

AC is definitely a weakness of the Xcent. It is not as effective as you would expect it to be, even with rear AC vents. Our official review too has the same opinion. The temperature of air being blown is noticeably higher than what I have observed in other cars. Let me give an example. In December (not the hottest part of the year in Mumbai), the car was parked in the afternoon sun for an hour. After starting, we opened the windows with AC running at blower speed 3. After a minute the windows were rolled up. When we stopped 7-8 minutes later, the inside temperature was still slightly higher than outside temperature.

I had reported a dent on the left door & fender in the official review thread (link). We will have to fix this soon, before any more damage is done. Due to the misalignment, edge of the door is fouling with a plastic cladding inside. A pic to illustrate this:


I have a couple of questions to fellow Xcent/Grand i10 owners.
1. I found the engine's idling note slightly clattery today. This was after the car was driven around at low speeds for around 5 minutes. Temperature gauge was at 40-45% mark. I have attached a recording of the engine note: Enginenote.rar Please listen to it and let me know if it is the same in all cars.

2. I noticed that 1 slot for a bolt was empty in the engine bay. This was on the engine itself, to the right of oil filler cap. This caught my attention because there was a layer of dust in the entire engine bay, but these grooves did not show signs of dust. Is this supposed to be an empty slot, or there should be something here? Pic showing position relative to oil filler:

This one could be quite a silly doubt, might be I am being paranoid

I spent some time today giving a shampoo wash to the car. She looked fantastic after the wash. Couldn't resist clicking a few photos after washing!

Originally Posted by Kalesh

The unit in the car just wont download my contacts - been failing every time. I have a OnePlus X Android phone and nothing special there. Do I need to have the contact database saved on my phone to have it downloaded? Hope I am not missing anything obvious.

Any help on this would be highly appreciated.

Enjoy your ride, Kalesh. Sorry, we have not used the phone pairing feature extensively, hence I cannot comment on your issue. Maybe going through the owners' manual will help.