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Old 19th January 2021, 00:19   #16
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Re: The Red Pocket Rocket - Hyundai Grand i10 Nios Asta AMT Petrol Review

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Originally Posted by TejasKinger View Post
Sorry for hijacking this thread. Furyrider, I tried to DM you, but it turns out that you don't have the option open. I too drive a 2014 MT Grand i10 Petrol, and I am evaluating the Santro AMT and Nios AMT as potential replacements. I was wondering if you could help with me a frank opinion on the Santro AMT and how it compares with the Grand i10.
First, apologies to the OP for hijacking your brilliant ownership thread.

If you drive a Grand i10 as a daily driver, you will find the Santro to be a downgrade. First, there is the 1.1 MPFI engine which was made anemic to increase fuel economy (lost all peppiness in the low end the old Santro was known for). Second, the cost cutting Hyundai did to this vehicle is insane. Look closely at your Gi10 and then take a look of the same panel/part on the Santro. You can't help but notice quite a lot of differences. A few examples:
1. There are exposed screws
2. Windshield does not have rubber beading all round (yes, you read that right. Once you notice this, you can't un-see it)
3. The door cutouts have a plastic beading instead of rubber
4. There is rubber beading on the doors of Gi10 which acts as a cover and prevents dust and noise from entering on the B-pillar which is missing on the Santro
5. Seats have a handle on only one side for fore and aft adjustment vs a slide handle on the Gi10
6. Boot does not have a plastic cover
7. Narrower than Gi10 - means if the passenger is putting his/her seatbelt on and your hand is on the parking brake, their elbow will hit your forearm (it is quite painful). This never happened in my Gi10 with the same passenger in the passenger seat.
8. Extremely light steering will take some time getting used to. (lighter than an already light steering on the Gi10).

Having said that, the Santro does a lot of things better than the Gi10. Stock tyres are 165/70 R14 (Sportz, Asta) vs 165/65 R14 and the suspension has bigger springs. The car is forgiving on broken roads (gets a little bit bouncy though). My Gi10 gives out a huge thud and a bone jarring feeling on the same roads. I am yet to scrape the Santro till date and over the same road, my Gi10 scrapes quite often. Then, there is the height. Elders love the tall boy stance of the Santro (though not as prominent as the old one). Passengers seated in the rear seat in the Gi10 complained of bounciness and nausea on uneven and undulating roads. The same passengers appreciated the Santro on the same road. Also, AC is very effective in the Santro. Cools the cabin lot quicker. Also, the turning radius on the Santro is excellent. By excellent, I mean, in places where my Gi10 has to take a 3-point turn, the Santro turns without a fuss. I really love how you could drive the car in the narrowest of lanes and not worry about a thing. However, I wish the ORVMs could be folded with the click of a button. I have to unwind the windows to do it on narrow lanes.

The comparisons I have made are with the old Gi10. Except for the suspension and ride quality, most of the others should be true in case of the Nios as well. I have driven the Gi10 Nios AMT for a short test drive and I should admit that the car feels much better compared to the Santro. Thanks to the bigger engine, the AMT gearbox felt like it was made for this engine first and then mated to the 1.1 MPFI as an after thought - in short, the AMT is better suited to the 1.2. Also, the car felt right at home. Any one who drives a Gi10 routinely feels right at home in the Gi10 Nios. Bonus? the suspension on the Nios felt much better than the old one.

If you have the money, go for the Nios. In my case, we purchased the Santro since we could not resist the mouth watering discount Hyundai offered (and the fact that we already had a Gi10 in the garage). The difference between Sportz AMT of Santro vs Nios was too big to ignore back then (~2.3L on road). Hence, we were contempt with the Santro. Make no mistake, Santro is good in it's own right. If someone is upgrading from say, a M800 or Alto (or old i10 for that matter), then I would say, the car would keep you happy. If you are coming from a Swift/Gi10, then this will be a downgrade. If we take into account the price difference between the two post discount, I have no reason to complain as I almost got 70% features of the Gi10 for 2L cheaper (those 30% including the looks, alloys, ACC, slightly bigger boot, slightly better leg room, smaller engine [makes little difference for me since the primary user is my father who is a very sedate driver]).

PS: Mileage from my MT Gi10 and AMT Santro are almost the same. 12-13 in the City (speeds between 25-40 Kmph) and 18-19 highway (speed 80-100Kmph) (my Gi10 manages 17-18 kmph on the same stretch).

PPS: In the city, I love the Santro. On the highway, I hate both

Hope I covered everything you were looking for.
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Old 19th January 2021, 08:58   #17
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Re: The Red Pocket Rocket - Hyundai Grand i10 Nios Asta AMT Petrol Review

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Originally Posted by furyrider View Post
Hope I covered everything you were looking for.
You have covered everything I was thinking of and more. My God, very detailed and elaborate observations.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TejasKinger View Post
Sorry for hijacking this thread. Furyrider, I tried to DM you, but it turns out that you don't have the option open. I too drive a 2014 MT Grand i10 Petrol, and I am evaluating the Santro AMT and Nios AMT as potential replacements. I was wondering if you could help with me a frank opinion on the Santro AMT and how it compares with the Grand i10.
@Tejas : Thanks for asking this question, I guess anyone walking into a Hyundai showroom to buy a small AMT car will look at both Santro and Nios.
I actually Test drove both before making my decision. As already highlighted by @furyrider Once you have driven the Nios + AMT combination, you will feel the Santro to be a bit underpowered, especially on an open highway or on ORR when you want to close a quick gap. The drivability of the Nios is better here. And also overall with the small features and overall packaging, Nios comes out on top. So in case the pocket permits, go for Nios, otherwise Santro is the second option.

All the best and hope to read your ownership thread soon.

Last edited by swarnava.ch : 19th January 2021 at 09:00. Reason: typo correction
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Old 19th January 2021, 19:54   #18
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Re: The Red Pocket Rocket - Hyundai Grand i10 Nios Asta AMT Petrol Review

Thank you, Furyrider and Swarnava.ch, for your detailed responses. This is more than I could have ever asked for.
I did check out both the cars in the showroom the other day when I had gone to drop off my Grand i10 for servicing. Unfortunately, neither of the cars were available for a test drive, and I was short on time as well. But I don't think my cursory glance at both the cars was enough to point out the differences you mentioned.
The purchase is still 4-5 months away, so let's take a look at the prices then. That combined with the resale value of my current car and back-to-back test drives will be the only way, I suppose.
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Old 13th August 2021, 14:24   #19
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Re: The Red Pocket Rocket - Hyundai Grand i10 Nios Asta AMT Petrol Review

Its been almost a year now and a quick update to this thread after the first year service.
The car has done about 2500 km in the last one year.
Just the usual stuff, no specific complaints as such. I had requested the SA to check if the Lock / Unlock sound can be disabled, however the answer is in the negative.
The other complaint was for the jerky AMT movement in the morning for the first 5 mins. I am made to believe that this is inherent nature of the AMT and cannot be improved.
Hopefully the car stays niggle free and sees more miles on the odometer this year.
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Old 13th August 2021, 15:40   #20
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Re: The Red Pocket Rocket - Hyundai Grand i10 Nios Asta AMT Petrol Review

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Originally Posted by swarnava.ch View Post
Its been almost a year now and a quick update to this thread after the first year service.
The car has done about 2500 km in the last one year.
Just the usual stuff, no specific complaints as such. I had requested the SA to check if the Lock / Unlock sound can be disabled, however the answer is in the negative.
The other complaint was for the jerky AMT movement in the morning for the first 5 mins. I am made to believe that this is inherent nature of the AMT and cannot be improved.
Hopefully the car stays niggle free and sees more miles on the odometer this year.
"The other complaint was for the jerky AMT movement in the morning for the first 5 mins. I am made to believe that this is inherent nature of the AMT and cannot be improved." - Could you elaborate this statement a bit more with details please.
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Old 24th August 2021, 09:22   #21
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Re: The Red Pocket Rocket - Hyundai Grand i10 Nios Asta AMT Petrol Review

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Originally Posted by blackstallion76 View Post
Could you elaborate this statement a bit more with details please.
Hi blackstallion76, Yes sure.
First some background – my other car is diesel so as is the convention with big turbo diesels, after starting the car, I have to wait for a minute before I can move the vehicle.
However with a NA Petrol engine, my expectation was I can just start the car and put it in to drive mode and zip, zap, zoom.
But here in the Nios AMT, once you start the car and if you put it in to Drive and lift off the brakes, it gives jerks and moves slowly. This was done I suppose to avoid that initial lunge forward behaviour from the AMT. I am guessing that this is when the car AMT gearbox is playing around with the clutch to ease the speed.
Once you wait for 30 Seconds or a Minute, then this is reduced quite a lot but in this case the car just leaps ahead at about 9 kmph which can be tricky in a tight parking slot.

Update after the servicing:
The car simply refused to start the other day. The engine just shook, self-starter cranked but the engine would just not come on. Looked to be fuel starved. Battery was all ok.
I checked whatever I could but gave up after a few tries. Called up the Hyundai guys. They came, gave a few tries and then in one last try, they gave the self-start with full accelerator and the car started with some drama. The diagnosis given was – I am not driving it every day. I mean come ‘on, its like the car got offended. But hey I have tried to start the car now every alternate day at least for a few minutes. Let me observe for some time.
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Old 3rd October 2021, 08:12   #22
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Re: The Red Pocket Rocket - Hyundai Grand i10 Nios Asta AMT Petrol Review

Awesome thread and a great review. I own a i10 Nios Asta petrol MT. I find the rear suspension to be very stiff for my liking, this is by far the only issue faced so far. Changed tyres 3 weeks ago. The goodyears were quite worn out after 43000 km, they still had about 5000km life as per the tyre expert at Madhu's but since most of our usage is on highways I decided to change anyways. Got the tyres upsized from 175/60R15 to 175/65R15 (ceat securadrive) in the hope that the additional sidewall height would better the dampening effect on bad roads, there is a minor change, but as per the tyre expert Michelin would have offered a better compliant ride, chose against michelin due to the cost factor and significantly lesser lifespan being softer compound rubber.

As for the horn sounding on Lock/unlock, I got this disabled at the first service itself, the car electrician at Advaith Hyundai did it but the downside being that the alarm wouldn't sound, I actually was ok with this since the single tone horn was quite annoying. Like mentioned earlier this caused significant embarrassment considering all my workplaces are various hospitals. It's all much louder in basement parking lots. So at the expense of the theft alarm I've gotten the lock/unlock horn disabled. I confirmed with the dealership for both mods with respect to voiding of warranty and was assured that it was alright, I'm just hoping they don't retract their statement when the need arises.

Due to high usage I actually downgraded from a pre-worshipped Honda CR-V AWD MT to Nios. Initial days were hard, especially with respect to suspension, which was too good in the CRV. But over time I've got used to the nios now (especially considering that it offers double the mileage of the CRV). It's a good small hatchback, though I'd have loved to have owned the Asta AMT. When I purchased the car there was no AMT option available on the Asta trim and there was no rear wash wipe on the AMT sportz variant. This was a deal breaker for me, which I still keep pondering over frequently, especially before changing the tyres since the sportz variant was shod with 165/70R14 rubber which offered a more compliant ride than the 175/60R15 on Asta.

Hyundai seriously needs to stop this thing where rear wash wipe is available only on the top variant; TATA, Maruti offer this on most variants.

Being a newbie I'm still apprehensive of posting a review, but have decided to post a review at completion of 50,000km in the nios. Have reached 46000km so far in 21 months.
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Old 28th April 2022, 20:37   #23
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Re: The Red Pocket Rocket - Hyundai Grand i10 Nios Asta AMT Petrol Review

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Originally Posted by swarnava.ch View Post
Update after the servicing:
The car simply refused to start the other day. The engine just shook, self-starter cranked but the engine would just not come on. Looked to be fuel starved. Battery was all ok.
I checked whatever I could but gave up after a few tries. Called up the Hyundai guys. They came, gave a few tries and then in one last try, they gave the self-start with full accelerator and the car started with some drama. The diagnosis given was – I am not driving it every day. I mean come ‘on, its like the car got offended. But hey I have tried to start the car now every alternate day at least for a few minutes. Let me observe for some time.
What is service cost for Nios? The online calculator indicates reasonable price. Also how does the car fare in B2B traffic, especially at incline? Does one have to rely on handbrake or juggling between A and B pedal is good? Lastly what kind of average can one expect in peak Bangalore traffic.
Thank you in advance.
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Old 8th May 2022, 07:06   #24
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Re: The Red Pocket Rocket - Hyundai Grand i10 Nios Asta AMT Petrol Review

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Originally Posted by PrideRed View Post
What is service cost for Nios? The online calculator indicates reasonable price. Also how does the car fare in B2B traffic, especially at incline? Does one have to rely on handbrake or juggling between A and B pedal is good? Lastly what kind of average can one expect in peak Bangalore traffic.
Thank you in advance.
Hi PrideRed, Let me summarize my observations regarding your questions:
1. The service costs are really very economical. I dont have exact numbers as my car is in company lease however on occasions I have seen the final bills during yearly services and they were ok for this segment. Good part is the car has been largely trouble free and gets the job done so no unnecessary visits to ASS (touchwood).
2. The AMT behaviour is a bit jerky in the morning during the first 1 km and then it settles down to a smooth operation. This I learned is the behaviour of all AMTs. Now once in B2B traffic, just lift of the brakes and the car creeps forward, no need of Accelerator Inputs. So this is where the AMT really shines. However on Inclines its another story. You have to be very careful at high inclines like parking ramps at malls and flyovers. The car takes a few seconds to build revs when you switch from brakes to Acc, this is enough to roll the car backwards. I have had many such incidents, so now I have learned to be careful. I use the handbrakes in such situations till the car makes enough power to move forward or I use two foot Brake + Acc technique. Generally any AMT will not have Hill Hold type feature that you would have seen.
3. Mileage – my drives have mostly been within city with usual moving traffic, not B2B. I get between 12 – 14 when driven sedately. This is based on Tank full calculation. I have a friend who drives this on the highways as well and he claims to get easily 17+ when driven at steady 60-80 speeds.

Overall, I would say the car does what its meant to be – it’s a great hassle free, city traffic friendly car.

Last edited by swarnava.ch : 8th May 2022 at 07:08.
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Old 8th May 2022, 09:17   #25
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Re: The Red Pocket Rocket - Hyundai Grand i10 Nios Asta AMT Petrol Review

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Originally Posted by swarnava.ch View Post
2. Now once in B2B traffic, just lift of the brakes and the car creeps forward, no need of Accelerator Inputs. So this is where the AMT really shines. However on Inclines its another story. You have to be very careful at high inclines like parking ramps at malls and flyovers. The car takes a few seconds to build revs when you switch from brakes to Acc, this is enough to roll the car backwards. I have had many such incidents, so now I have learned to be careful. I use the handbrakes in such situations till the car makes enough power to move forward or I use two foot Brake + Acc technique.

Overall, I would say the car does what its meant to be – it’s a great hassle free, city traffic friendly car.
Thank you for the response. I took multiple test drives but missed to test in steep incline. Had dropped AMT, but then the Hyundai unit came as a pleasant surprise, not much head nod and smooth shifts. Maruti AMT now comes with hill hold but is still quite jerky.
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