[rudhraas]

Hi,
This is my first review on team bhp. I cannot find a long term review of the 2018 Hyundai Santro Manual or Automatic version and hence thought of writing the same for anyone who is in the market for an automatic hatchback.

1. Why Santro?
Back in February 18, I have already booked a new 2018 Maruti Suzuki Wagon R AMT. The delivery was promised in two months but a month and half after booking, it was apparent that the delivery would be delayed. To add to it the RM of the Maruti Suzuki ARENA (Excell Autovista), Kharghar Navi Mumbai was not able to give a clear timeline of when the delivery is going to be. It was when he mentioned that the delivery "might happen in a month or may take as long as 4 months", I decided to look for other options while waiting for the delivery and after being disappointed with the AMT version of Tiago, me and my wife decided to give 2018 Hyundai Santro a try. The test drive vehicle was a manual since AMT TD vehicle was not available but the TD experience was great. The Santro's ride felt more mature, the engine was quite tractable and the interiors felt way better than Wagon R's. The Santro felt like a more upmarket choice. The next week luckily an AMT Santro was available and I got to TD it. The smooth performance of the AMT gearbox sealed the deal for me. I cancelled the Wagon R booking the next day and booked the Santro.

2. What I Like:-
1. Well refined engine with adequate torque at low RPM. Makes city driving a breeze.
2. Decent Ride quality.
3. Highway Stability.
3. Good Handling -The car handles like a city car should. More on this later.
4. Upmarket Interiors and infotainment System.
5. Smooth AMT Gearbox. I hate the pronounced head nod in other AMTs.
6. Good audio quality for a budget hatch.
7. Spacious Cabin for a car this Size. Large windows help.
8. Decent Seat Cushioning

3. What could be better:-

1. Tyre and road noise creeps inside the cabin.
2. Lift type Door Handles.
3. No seat height adjust for the driver seat.
4. The engine gets noisy after about 2900 RPM.
5. Front Seat width could be better.

4. Engine :-
The engine is a strong point of Santro. By this I don't intend that it is a particularly sport engine. the 4 cylinder unit has very good NVH levels at idle.

There is ample low end torque which makes the engine very suitable for city driving. However, this is not a sporty unit like the one in Wagon R. Out on the highway, the engine's performance is adequate if you are cruising. However, for sudden overtakes a downshift is required if the engine is below 1900-2000 RPM. The 2000 - 4000 RPM range is the strongest, while the top end RPM engine performance is just about average.

5. Ride Quality :-
This is one area where the Hyundai Santro has impressed me. The low speed ride is very good. The Santro absorbs the bumps, pot holes and road undulations very well. The ride feels plush and only the bigger pot holes creeps through.

The high speed ride is also good. The back seat passengers too, never complained about the ride quality. The Santro feels well planted at cruising speeds of 90-100 kmph. During Cruising speeds , you almost forget that you are driving a hatch.

6. Handling:-
This car handles well. There's almost no body roll and the suspension is well- tuned to keep a great balance between ride and handling. It instills a sense of confidence while driving on highways. In the city, the car feels very easy to maneuver thanks to the light steering but the steering weighs up well during highway speeds. Maneuvering is traffic is easy thanks to Santro's small foot print.

7. AMT Gearbox:-
I had my doubts before buying the AMT version, reason being AMTs were relatively new to the market and there was almost no long term data available on their performance and reliability. I am happy to report that Santro's AMT has worked flawlessly without a single niggle in last two years. I have done a number of small (<250 KMs) , medium (250 - 1000 KMs) and couple of long (1000+ Kms) trips in the last two years and the AMT has stood its ground. To add to this I regularly have to visit dusty site offices and that also doesn't pose a problem in the AMT's working.
During last 21000 Kms, there is absolutely no maintenance cost specially attributed to AMT gearbox. The Santro AMT uses electric actuators instead of mechanical ones on the Maruti. Thanks to this this AMT unit is still the best AMT available in this segment. The gear shift are smooth and if you are not pushing hard on throttle there is almost no head nod. The downshifts and upshift happen quite flawlessly. If you are shifting from manual transmission, I don't think there will be anything to complain about this AMT.
However, if you push hard on the throttle , the head nod will be more pronounced between 1st to2nd Gear. It is the same story with the downshifts. Some head nod will be felt if you push hard on the throttle.

8. Infotainment and Audio Quality:-
The Sportz variant has 4 speakers and they do the job quite well. I have not felt the need to upgrade the speaker setup. The stock ones have good balance throughout the frequency range. Same goes for clarity. The bass does not over power the mids and highs. There is good details in the high frequency. Overall I am pretty satisfied with the Stock unit's performance.
No problems faced with the touch screen too. Android Auto works well and touch response is decent. Only nagging problem is the warning message on the touch screen after starting the car.

Cabin :-
The front seats are comfortable with the right amount of cushioning. However, Hyundai should have provided a little more width of the seats. While it is okay for daily drive to work and small highway trips , it is during long highway stint you feel the need for that little bit extra width in the seat specially if you are XXL size like me. Fixed type head rest have never posed a problem to me personally but other users may find them annoying. Driver seat height adjust is sorely missed. The back seat space is comfortable for two persons with decent leg room and thigh support.
The boot space is just about adequate for a couple of medium sized suitcases .

9. Fuel Economy:-
Highway :- 19 kmpl average
City :- Mumbai (daily city drive includes bumper to bumper traffic!) :- 14 KMPL.
I should mention that I do not have a particularly smooth driving style .

10. Other Miscellaneous Stuff:-
1. The stock wipers blades are strictly average and the ASC guys quoted me Rs. 1300/- for replacement. Better to go with Bosch ones.
2. Total three service done till date @ 1000 , 10000 and 20000 Kms. Just the regular service with usual replacements. Service at 10000 and 20000 Kms cost was between Rs. 2000 - Rs. 3000.
3. Stock tyre pressure recommendation is 35 psi, a little on the higher side.
4. The window switches are placed on central console and takes some getting used to.
5. No automatics climate control, rear senor, rear camera on sportz variant. These are seriously missed because AMT gearbox was not available in top spec Asta trim.
6. The wiper speed doesn't have a non-continuous/ intermittent speed setting. It becomes quite irritating in a drizzle.
7. No start stop feature available on Santro. This too is severely missed in a city with slow moving traffic.

11. Some Pictures:-



The Front Grill is really happy.


The car looks better in this angle since the front grill effect is less pronounced.


Minimalistic Rear Design:-



Not really a fan of the head lamps design either




No alloy wheels on the Sportz trim




The loading lip is a little on the higher side.




Decent leg room available for the rear passengers. The front seat is set to my driving position and I'm 5'9". The driver passenger side seat is set to a regular S ride colleague who is approx 5'11"


A pillar is not too thick. Notice the swift in the background, not to worry about blind spots caused by thick A pillars.


Large front doors makes ingress - egress easy.


Analog RPM and Speedometers.


Good visibility all around even.


Nice glossy finish on the gear lever


Weird positioning of the window buttons takes some getting used to.


Central console. Pretty basic AC control knobs but they feel sturdy. Touch screen works well. Capdase Q.C. 3.0 fast charger and probus mobile holder are almost as old as the car itself and work well.


TUSA air compressor pump. Got tired of waiting at petrol pumps hence bought one recently. I have made it a weekly habit of correcting the tyre pressures since it goes a long way in increasing the tyre's life.


A must have if your vehicle's ride quality is sensitive to tyre pressure changes. I am not sure about other vehicles but I have felt un-equal tyre pressures of 3-4 units affects santro's ride quality.


Takes about 10 seconds to fill 5 PSI. Would take about a minute to fully inflate a tire from 0 psi.


Thank you for reading. Hope you liked the review !!

[fhdowntheline]

What has been your experience of using the Santro on bad roads particularly with respect to ground clearance , or say wading through water logged roads in monsoon ?

[amitayu]

Surprised to read no intermittent wiper speed. This is pretty basic for cars for quite some time now! Why are manufacturers going to such cost cutting?

Also, recommended tyre pressure of 35psi seems high. Does it not affect the ride quality? Have you tried a conventional 32/33 psi on road?

[Archisman]

Originally Posted by amitayu

Surprised to read no intermittent wiper speed. This is pretty basic for cars for quite some time now! Why are manufacturers going to such cost cutting?

Also, recommended tyre pressure of 35psi seems high. Does it not affect the ride quality? Have you tried a conventional 32/33 psi on road?

First of all congrats on the car. I too have the Santro 2.0 but manual version. Lovely car.

Coming to question of @amitayu, I did a trip from Vadodara to Statue of Unity (90kms) in December 2020 with 35 psi and did well. Did the same trip again in Feb 2021 with 32 psi and felt a bit weird and little harsh on car. Could feel bumps. So atleast for my car 35psi is fine rather than 32psi

[Maverick Avi]

Good to hear that you didn't face any issues with AMT. I had my apprehensions regarding Hyundai's AMT as it was pretty new and engineered in house. Thats the only reason I avoided Santro and Grand i10 Nios which otherwise are quite capable cars with well sorted suspension and interiors.

[BhaskarG]

Originally Posted by rudhraas

5. Ride Quality :-
This is one area where the Hyundai Santro has impressed me. The low speed ride is very good. The Santro absorbs the bumps, pot holes and road undulations very well. The ride feels plush and only the bigger pot holes creeps through.
The high speed ride is also good. The back seat passengers too, never complained about the ride quality. The Santro feels well planted at cruising speeds of 90-100 kmph. During Cruising speeds , you almost forget that you are driving a hatch.

Thank you for the great review!!

However, I find it difficult to agree that the ride quality is plush. I own the exact same model of the vehicle and driven it for 30000 kms. IMHO, the suspension is on the stiffer side and low speed ride over bumps is not great. The rear seat is not a great place to be, even by segment standards. Expansion joints are much felt in the rear. In the positive side, stiff suspension results in good highway handling manners.

What was your previous car? I might find the Santro's suspension stiff because my previous cars had softer suspensions. Depends on the perspective, I guess.

[adamkathy23]

I absolutely Loved it! I am looking to replace my Alto K10 that my father drives & this review has come at the right time. My budget is about 6.5 lacs and i am evaluating an automatic.

How is the ground clearance? Here in NCR, roads are either good or nasty. Do share your experience & how does the suspension fare with full load?

Thank you.

[BhaskarG]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

What has been your experience of using the Santro on bad roads particularly with respect to ground clearance , or say wading through water logged roads in monsoon ?

Originally Posted by adamkathy23

How is the ground clearance? Here in NCR, roads are either good or nasty. Do share your experience & how does the suspension fare with full load?

Let me try to answer this.

Ground clearance is very good for this segment, and the car has shorter overhangs in the front. This makes it very easy to tackle bad roads. You'll be satisfied on the GC part.

However, as I pointed out in an earlier post, the suspension is tuned towards stiffer side to handle the extra height. Bumps can be felt inside at slow speeds. Suspension can handle full load quite well, but the engine bogs down a bit on full load. But should not be a problem in city limits.

[GTO]

Great review, thanks for sharing . Talk about entering Team-BHP in style. Your first thread and it went straight to our homepage (yesterday). Agreed on the AMT. Thanks to electronic actuators & superb tuning, Hyundai's AMTs are better than that of any other brand.

Originally Posted by BhaskarGoswami

However, I find it difficult to agree that the ride quality is plush.

Agreed. Like most cheap hatchbacks, even the Santro's suspension is quite basic in terms of damping quality. Here's what we had to say:

The Santro comes with a McPherson strut suspension setup at the front and a coupled torsion beam setup at the rear. As is becoming the trend now among mass market hatchbacks, even this B1 segment car offers compliant ride quality. Hatchbacks with a bumpy ride simply won't sell today. Customers' preferences are now toward comfort. This car also has a comfy suspension and it's not bumpy / choppy like the original Santro was. Even at the rear, bumps are not jarring for occupants. However, we cannot call the ride plush. As is the case with budget cars, the suspension hardware is basic in nature & the big bumps come in sharp. That soft rear can get bouncy & wallowy on undulating highways too (no problem at city speeds though).

That being said, I have noticed that owners always comment on ride quality, relative to their previous car. E.g. someone moving from a 1st-gen Santro to the 2nd-gen would compliment the ride. Heck, I have seen Scorpio owners calling their suspension "compliant" (it isn't). All depends on what they are comparing it to / car they were used to.

[AKSarkar1]

Great review, really enjoyed reading it!

I used to have a green Santro more than a decade ago and even then the car was immensely reliable. I was more surprised to see that your car is an automatic! Great that Hyundai is including different types of car options. I still remember back in the day when I used to have a Santro, owning an automatic was almost a luxury with a handful of cars offering it.

Wishing you many more happy miles ahead!

[muqtaliff]

Originally Posted by rudhraas

The Front Grill is really happy.
Attachment 2132554

This comment made my day!

Excellent review! I own the same car and liked the way you mentioned the front grill

[RachMath]

Great review! We also have Santro 2019 Sportz AMT and we have done some great trips one of them was of Manali. The car never gave me any issues whatsoever and it was very convienient and performed really well. I truely believe that it is the best AMT in the segment. I am only facing some rattling sounds from the door bidding i guess. Will get it checked. Apart from that no issues at all.

[rudhraas]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

What has been your experience of using the Santro on bad roads particularly with respect to ground clearance , or say wading through water logged roads in monsoon?

Ground clearance is good , no problems faced till now. However, I do visit site offices every now and then, wherein I have to be a little careful on approach roads with large undulations (caused due to movement of heavy loaders and what not!). It is a hatchback afterall!
I have only one experience of driving through a waterlogged area which is last year after heavy rainfall in August. I felt a bit nervous driving through but I could without any problem.

Originally Posted by BhaskarGoswami

Thank you for the great review!!

However, I find it difficult to agree that the ride quality is plush.

Originally Posted by GTO

Great review, thanks for sharing . Talk about entering Team-BHP in style. Your first thread and it went straight to our homepage (yesterday). Agreed on the AMT. Thanks to electronic actuators & superb tuning, Hyundai's AMTs are better than that of any other brand.



Agreed. Like most cheap hatchbacks, even the Santro's suspension is quite basic in terms of damping quality. Here's what we had to say:



That being said, I have noticed that owners always comment on ride quality, relative to their previous car. E.g. someone moving from a 1st-gen Santro to the 2nd-gen would compliment the ride. Heck, I have seen Scorpio owners calling their suspension "compliant" (it isn't). All depends on what they are comparing it to / car they were used to.

Thank you!!
I write the ride quality review based purely on my own long-term experience. I think based on comments, I prefer a slightly stiffer suspension.

Originally Posted by adamkathy23

How is the ground clearance? Here in NCR, roads are either good or nasty. Do share your experience & how does the suspension fare with full load?

Thank you.

Check my answer above for ground clearance. With a full load, there is slight difference in damping characterstics.

Originally Posted by muqtaliff

This comment made my day!

Excellent review! I own the same car and liked the way you mentioned the front grill

[raksrules]

Bumping this thread as this is a car I am strongly considering over my already booked S-Presso. I see this review is from March 2021, so has Hyundai done some changes in the Sportz AMT model now? I saw the brochure and carwale specs too for the Sportz AMT and it does have the rear camera on it.
What else has Hyundai updated in the sportz AMT ?

Additionally, I don't see the top end Asta AMT having any killer feature that makes Sportz seems less and hence this seem to be best value for money variant.

[BhaskarG]

Originally Posted by raksrules

Bumping this thread as this is a car I am strongly considering over my already booked S-Presso.

Being an owner since last 3 years, I can confirm that Hyundai's AMT box is currently the fastest shifting AMT box in the entire segment. If you are looking for shift quality as a primary selection criteria, you can definitely consider the Santro. But all cars have their pros and cons, and hence the final call should be yours, considering your requirements.

As you said, features gets shuffled, added and deleted across variants. Hence you should consider the current brochure only.