[DJAG7]

Hello Readers, This is my first review on TeamBHP after reading multiple reviews since I was 9. I am now 21 and have learned about cars from this forum for years, and all my knowledge has come from here and some car magazines and YouTube reviews. Please correct me if I am wrong, I’ve just got my license and have started to drive recently. However, this review is about a car I grew up with, and the car that replaced it this year, 25 years later.

The Backstory:

To give you a bit of history, my family owned a second-hand HM Ambassador in the 80s and up to the late 90s, then a second-hand Maruti Omni for a few months (which was returned to the seller due to legal issues for the same price). It was almost the dawn of the new century, and new brands were making their way into India, such as Hyundai, setting up plants and factories all over to manufacture the next generation of Indian cars. Then came a revolutionary car, the Hyundai Santro DX in 1998.

My Grandad was the first to see this car in a showroom near a bank in Mumbai. It was the first day of launch, and all Indians are usually weary till a product kicks off. But standing there as a tallboy, looking so impressive, it attracted the hearts of my elders, and off they were to buy the car. It was particularly in the DX variant, with features such as front power windows, keyless entry, rear wiper, and defogger. It had no music system but had placements for speakers and a single DIN. Powered by a 999 CC 4 Cylinder 12- Valve DOHC Engine, it made 55 PS of power (which has probably come down over the years) and had power steering. It costed around 4L OTR at the time of purchase ( A Maruti 800 was 2,50,000 at that time)



Later on, they realized during delivery, that the car was one of the early units of the assembly line, and the dealer quoted that it was one of the first 100 Santros in India that arrived as a CKD from South Korea. Not just one of the first, it might outlive one of the last of the 90s Santros and that’s thanks to us using it carefully, clocking just around 35K on it. It wasn’t barely used, but it did a long trip occasionally to a village 150 km north of Mumbai and then was transferred to Hyderabad in 2005.

But times have changed, Governments have changed and so has Hyundai. With new legislation kicking in to get rid of cars over 15 years of age or having to recertify the car with fitness regulations, we were on the search for a new car to replace our aging Santro and a car that would live up to the former. We wanted another hatchback, to allow for easier city driving, and no one in my family felt the need for a bigger car. This also prompted the need for an automatic, but we were budget-constricted to a low amount of 10L OTR.

Cars that were looked at:

• From the MS Stable: Alto K10, S-Presso, Wagon R, and Ignis
• Renault Kwid
• Hyundai Nios
• MG Comet

We discarded the Renault Kwid first, as it was too claustrophobic, and its AMT is one of the worst. Lack of a creep mode, manual mode, and many others ensured it didn’t reach our shortlist.

Alto K10 and S-Presso just felt cheap. We were initially excited as it’s a cheap AMT, but the price it came to was a little lower than a mid-spec WagonR or Ignis. Celerio, was even more expensive than the WagonR/Ignis with just a 1.0L engine. So all the 1L Maruti cars were avoided.

MG Comet almost made our final list, it matches our requirements tremendously, but the fact that it was an EV, brought a big bane, especially since we live in an apartment that has no time frame for the installation of EV charging points. Many residents have EV scooters and are forced to take their batteries up and charge them, as there is no solution to charge as of yet.

Wagon R and Ignis it was then. If we had to buy a new vehicle, Ignis was the choice. Better features than the WagonR for as little as a service charge. But there were many WagonRs (manufacture year post-2020) that stood out in a true value center nearby, and we had our eyes glued on the WagonR for an eye-watering price of 5.2L just for 19K Kms. We live in Telangana with one of the highest car prices in India, so this price was a good one.

But then came the decision, since we aren’t upgrading every few years, why not spend some more, (closer to the budget of 10L) and get something that had a lot more quality and lived up for the time? That’s when we chose to ask for a home TD for the Grand i10 Nios.

TD of the Nios AMT

We scheduled a test drive with Fusion Hyundai Hyderabad, and the TD happened on the same day in the early evening. The i10 Nios was impressive, albeit the non-functional touchscreen (service center issues perhaps). My Grandfather went for the test drive, as he was the only person from our family with a license (I was in the process of acquiring my learner's license at that time), and he loved the way the car drove except for the over-sensitive brakes. The AMT proved to be amazing, showing no signs of head nod that I have experienced in other cars such as Fronx 1.2L and Dzire 1.3 (Friend’s and Family’s car). I couldn’t even feel the shifts and asked the driver to switch to manual just to get a feel, but most went unnoticed on the passenger side. It was a wonderful experience, and everyone was convinced that this car would be the ideal replacement for the Santro. We went ahead and booked it a few days later, in the Sportz AMT disguise (most VFM). Typhoon Silver was not available, but we waited for about 2 weeks for the car to be manufactured and then proceeded with the delivery. It came to around 9.4L OTR after discounts and 12K for accessories

Pictures of the car before the delivery process was initiated.







These were the observations made after multiple visits to the dealer and seeing our own car in the flesh-

Positives:

• One of the best AMTs in India
• 1.2L 84hp engine is good for the city
• Quality surpasses all brands available at this price point
• Cruise Control, Automatic AC, 6 Airbags. Some features that are not seen in this segment.
• Height Adjust and better seating positions
• Rear AC is a boon for the hot summers and for my dog.
• DRL is brighter than most fog lamps. Weird, but functional

Negatives:

• No rear wiper in the Sportz variant. Why is a rear wiper considered a luxury feature?
• No adjustable front headrest, even on the Asta Variant. My Santro from 25 years ago has adjustable headrests, why can't this?
• The bonnet is not easily visible from the driver’s seat.
• Only wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
• Radio audio quality could be better.
• No Split fold seats or adjustable headrests at the front. The UK model gets both of these.

The car arrived on the 16th of February, but we were unable to pick it up for a few days. The final delivery date was scheduled for the 19th of Feb and it worked well.
Complimentary chocolate box given by the dealer-



We added a few accessories, such as a bumper corner protector, body side molding, scuff plates, steering wheel covers and seat covers (they had openings for the side airbags.)




The reason why I started this thread was to compare the two cars, and how much Hyundai has progressed over 25 years. It is just a fun sight to see the actual predecessor of the Santro (The 2018 Santro felt more like a replacement for the Eon). Hyundai has had its ups and downs, with a downgrade in quality for some years and now an improvement. The exterior has seen the most progress with the angled lights, DRLS, and sharp looks from the 20s.




I particularly like the progression of the interiors as well, from dull grey to black/beige and now to this grey color. This color looks nice in the daytime but is prone to getting soiled. Will be obliged to wetwipe the car once in a while.

Hyundai’s Infotainment is slick to use and offers quite a lot of features. The speakers though consumer grade are good enough to satisfy most folk, excluding the audiophiles. The three-band equalizer doesn’t help in improving the sound quality either. It sounds like a flagship headphone from a tech company and not from an audio-focused company which is fine.



I haven’t taken it out on the road yet, because of a busy schedule, but I have driven it around the parking lot. The creep mode is particularly useful, but I still have to get used to the brake and how to moderate the creep function. The reverse parking camera is perfect and guidelines are well calibrated (not adaptive though). Will post later about the driving experience.
The thing I like the most about the interior is the backlit buttons. They are all functional and look so good, especially the 16 buttons on the steering wheel. Backlit buttons define my favorite kinds of interiors, and this lives up to it.




Interiors:

The interiors of the two cars are a stark contrast to most cars available at the same price point, even though they are from different eras
The Santro had an interior that was more premium than the cars of that time- the M800, Esteem, Matiz, and others...



The dashboard contours provide extra storage space for the lack of storage spaces elsewhere in the car. In the center console, there exists a provision for a single DIN unit with two speakers attached in the front. The AC in this car takes center position spanning the size of a 2 DIN amplifier, and has sliders to adjust position, lock circulation, and change between cooling and heat with circular vents for all 4 positions that do not close. The i10 follows suit with the middle vents not having the closing function, but the two vents on either side are circular and closable. This does give the interior a slightly sporty look. It also comes with a rear AC which is something missing in the weak AC of the Santro during summers. The car cools fast in the heat, and in 5 minutes or so, it reaches its desired temperature.




The DX variant of the Santro came with an inbuilt Cigarette lighter (12V socket) and Ashtray. These are items we have never used and have only gathered dust, but for the people who have a requirement of using these, it is something that will be sorely missed in today’s cars.



The i10 today also has a better-looking interior than most cars existing in the same space. Take a look at the WagonR, Swift, or even higher-bracket cars such as the Baleno. This interior looks like it came from a car that has a price point of over 15-20L. A proper premium hatchback.



I10 has a dashboard with a lot of interesting elements going on, such as the bottom pads and glovebox being light grey, and the silver finish on the passenger side, combined with thick black on the dash.
The whole interior is made with light grey seats that use fabric on the seat pads and for areas that touch any part of the body, along with PU being used for the other sides. This prompted us to install seat covers, because keeping fabric clean is a hassle, especially with dogs and visitors. The Santro has a better color choice for the seats with the seat covers being dark grey with stitching in contrasting colors such as blue and red. It also comes with 4 adjustable headrests, and the i10 comes only with 2 for the rear (updated at the end of 2023 with 6 airbags, adjustable headrest, and a 3-point middle seatbelt as standard to improve safety) which is a shame. I would like to point out that the headrest fits a person my height comfortably.



As for space, the i10 has way more rear seat space, compared to the Santro. I am 5’10” and with the height adjustment and better positioning of the pedals, I can move my seat forward to let another 5’10” sit comfortably. We don’t particularly have many tall people in the family, but this is still a boon.




The Santro plays along with using exposed metals along with fabrics to make the interior look good. This is not any ordinary exposed metal; it’s coated with a smooth finish along with having a different material inside as compared to the exterior. It does not give off any cheap feeling or does not feel like a cost cut, but there would be people unhappy with this. So far, there has been no appearance of rust on the inside unlike the exterior, which is a good thing. However, there are no bottle holders in the door pockets, a map pocket exists on the driver’s front door with 3 cupholders in the center. There was a lack of storage space in older cars.




What the older Santro does have and not the i10, is the perforated roof liner. Over grab handles that used to dig into my head when going over bumps, exists a beautiful roof liner made of a plastic-like material that has withstood the times. The i10 has this furry roof liner that is bound to get dirty, but at the least comes with collapsible handles that don’t dig into my head. It's important to note that the colors are light grey instead of beige and do look better with time. I particularly do not like the look of the pre-nios Grand i10’s roof liner, it gets soiled too easily and looks horrendous when dirty.



Safety and Security

In 1998, most cars did not even come with proper seatbelts for all passengers. The Santro had 5 seatbelts in the DX variant, but the lower variants came only with front seatbelts. It also had a collapsible steering wheel column, to prevent the driver from hitting the wheel. However metal quality around the car is poor, so in a crash, the car would probably crumple. The only accidents we have had over the years are the usual fender bender, making sure that the fiberglass bumpers were replaced from time to time and now the plastic holdings for the bumpers have rotten, so we have tied them in place. It will not be very long when the car starts falling apart, which was one of the reasons we settled on a new car. I do not know anything about restoring the car and how much it would cost, so we’ve just kept restoring on hold and run the car once weekly to keep it in proper working condition.
The i10 is much safer, with 6 airbags as standard now and a much stronger metal body. Looking at the 2 stars it received from Euro NCAP, I think the failure was due to the A-pillar crumpling, if that had stronger metal, it would have achieved 3 stars. With 6 Airbags and Hyundai claiming to have strengthened the metal in certain places, I expect the i10 to come with 4 stars or at least 3. I do not trust Euro NCAP due to its bias against certain manufacturers and do take their ratings with a pinch of salt, but I’m confident that the i10 can score more, especially since the car feels solid and the doors require quite a bit of force to shut, like a European car.

The other safety features include the car alarm and immobilizer. Both the Santro and the i10 come with keyless entry, but my grandparents disabled it for some reason on the Santro. This made the Santro only being able to be unlocked with the key fob, and our family got used to it. In the i10, the keyless entry is so sensitive that it unlocks from multiple floors above the car in our apartment. But what is worse is that you can't use the key to unlock the door from the keyhole without the alarm going off. To reset it we are forced to start the ignition immediately and wait for 5 seconds, but it is clearly a hassle that only the digital key has to be used. We called up the dealer and they came home for a visit, but they instructed us only to use the digital key. I do want to disable this feature for the door, as I clearly do not like it, and I’m also glad that there are no request sensors on this vehicle as anyone would be able to unlock it since the transmitter is so strong.

Driving the Car

The Santro came with an engine that had 55PS of power which was more than a Maruti of those days but in the ballpark of the Esteem and bigger cars. This made sure that the Santro was zippy but did not excite in speeds. The DX variant comes with hydraulic power steering and was easy to twirl, but now has gotten heavier and will probably soon weigh as much as the pre-facelift Harrier or Innova. The i10 comes with a steering wheel that has less connection with the car but is easier to twirl in the city thanks to the lighter weight. It does weigh up however at speeds above 30 km/h and has some feel compared to Maruti cars in the same segment.

Before I do get driving, I would like to talk about the instrument clusters of both cars. The Santro has a more readable speed indicator but misses out on a tachometer as well as a digital screen with fancy animations. The i10 has a screen that tells you which door is open as standard, which is so important for a person like me who doesn’t close doors properly and has to recheck. It also has basic car settings, such as the quick indicator feature, DRL and ambient light controls, and so on.




Taking both the cars out on city roads, you can feel the Santro has lost quite a bit of power since its prime. It lags over speed bumps and inclines but still gets going when given time. I do not have any issue with the performance despite this, as I am a new driver and drive sedately. I learned driving on a Dzire diesel and found the Santro’s clutch much easier to depress. However, the gearbox has gotten spongy and requires you to carefully shift, to avoid any missed shifts. The brake pads have worn out a couple of times but have been replaced but the car comes with all 4 drum brakes, which takes longer to stop. It is a car that is slightly difficult to drive with the steering wheel being harder and the lack of an automatic makes bumper-to-bumper traffic tiresome.

The i10 has a better engine producing 84 hp which is probably double the power the Santro produces. Of course, it has to deal with a larger weight but it's easier to drive in the city thanks to its AMT.



As said before, I do not feel any head nod or shifts from the AMT and I’m very happy with its performance. It's got a creep function which is rather fast, so modulating the brake is key to make sure it doesn’t crash into the wall behind while reversing. The brakes are sensitive and do take quite a bit of time to get used to, especially if you’ve never driven an automatic before. This is difficult for a newbie driver and my grandfather who has 50 years of experience under his belt but I’m sure once we get used to it, it will be a breeze to drive in the city. I do have to drive the car quite a lot more to understand the driving quirks. It also comes with cruise control from the Sportz trim onwards, but I doubt we will ever use that feature unless we go on the highway which is not planned anytime soon. What’s more important for me is the visibility, and I can see better from the i10 despite the Santro being a tallboy, thanks to the height adjustment features available.




The Santro is slimmer though and can fit through tighter spaces than the i10. This does come at a cost of stability.




Ride quality is unmatched on the i10, it takes undulations on the road with E-A-S-E . Sitting on 15-inch tires compared to the Santro’s 13, it looks more even on the road and gives you a lot of confidence at speeds higher than 40-50 km/h. I also do like the wheel covers covering the Nios, it reminds me of the Santro's wheelcaps, but a lot more modern



I think that we made the right decision to go over to the i10 Nios. While most look for an upgrade in a bigger car, we looked for an upgrade in tech, with a similar form factor. I will be continuing this thread over the next few weeks, to document the service and ownership. Please do let me know if there is anything I can do about the alarm sounding when the key is in the door and if there is any way to disable the door alarm only (not the ignition).

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Reviews section. Thanks for sharing!

Going to our homepage soon

[anilsurya1985]

Thank you for a very detailed comparison!! after seeing your car I recollected my uncle's car which was a Santro Xing which is a Powersteering variant, that was the first car in our family.

As mentioned it was one of the luxury cars then, and yes Hyundai has come a long way. Now I own Creta and its interiors look very premium compared to the cars one step above price.

And Congratulations on your new car, wish you a Happy and Safe drive !!

[SaurAswale]

Nicely written,DJAG7.
We also have a similar story. First car in our family was the Santro Xing XP,2004. We bought it used in 2012. And after 8 years of very reliable service, we sold it to buy another Hyundai. I can relate to most of the point you have written.
At time of buying the santro, we also has similar observations. It felt more premium than its competition at same price (WagonRs and Swifts). Cabin was more quite and had smoother ride. Being only car in our family (and among our relatives), it did heavy lifting most of its life. Always loaded to its capacity and sometime above and that through worse of the village roads. But it never failed us, after use of 16 years, it never left us stranded on the road. The 65hp 1096cc engine was all that we needed. Yes it was slow, but we rarely crossed 80kmph and 100 was crossed only couple of times in 8 years when I was behind the wheel. All 3 of us (Myself, brother and father) learned to drive in that car so it has special place in our heart.

It had that hydraulic steering which we all got used to so much that, when we tried to replace it with in 2020, we rejected all Maruti's because the steering felt like they had sand in the steering rack!!
Also went for a test drive of Altroz ( I insisted father to try a it) and as soon as my father gave the starter, it started to vibrate.. He gave me the 'look' and we were out of the showroom in no time without wasting further time.

Finally we bought newly launched i20. Like all Hyundai's, it provides better, more premium experience to the passengers than all its competitors. The 1.2 kappa is known for it's legendary NVH but not famous for its performance. It is still more than enough for us as the car rarely see well paved highways to use all the horse. It's the perfect family car for us.

Originally Posted by DJAG7

It came to around 9.4L OTR after discounts and 12K for accessories

That one literally blew my mind!!
Didn't realized cars got that much expensive in last 3 years. We bouts our i20 (Magna) at 8L OTR. I know yours is AMT and comes with 6 airbags standard. But still, it was not long before people bought sedans at 12 L.

[hrishig]

This thread brings back old memories of 2001 Santro. The car was always fuss-free and a big leap from the likes of the Padmini. In today's era of touch-based AC knobs, an old rotary fan + AC knob may feel like a boon.

[DJAG7]

Originally Posted by SaurAswale

Nicely written,DJAG7.
We also have a similar story. First car in our family was the Santro Xing XP,2004. We bought it used in 2012. And after 8 years of very reliable service, we sold it to buy another Hyundai.

Thanks! It must've been really sad letting go of your Santro. 25 years have passed and we still can't let go even if it has to only be driven in and around my apartment.

Originally Posted by SaurAswale

Also went for a test drive of Altroz ( I insisted father to try a it) and as soon as my father gave the starter, it started to vibrate.. He gave me the 'look' and we were out of the showroom in no time without wasting further time.

Tata Cars have too many niggles and issues. I used to like the Tiago when it came out and thought that Tata was turning over a new leaf with quality but that sadly was not the case. We didn't consider a single Tata when we started actively looking for a new car.

Originally Posted by SaurAswale

Didn't realized cars got that much expensive in last 3 years. We bouts our i20 (Magna) at 8L OTR. I know yours is AMT and comes with 6 airbags standard. But still, it was not long before people bought sedans at 12 L.

Cars have become really expensive thanks to BS6-II and other safety improvements. An Alto AMT starts from 7.2L OTR in Hyderabad. Taxes in Telangana also don't help, they charge a massive 14% along with large insurance fees.

Originally Posted by hrishig

This thread brings back old memories of 2001 Santro. The car was always fuss-free and a big leap from the likes of the Padmini. In today's era of touch-based AC knobs, an old rotary fan + AC knob may feel like a boon.

I love the buttons in the new i10, but these will probably be the last of the buttons generation. Screens usually do not last beyond 10 years on most personal devices, and it is sad to see a shift to an unreliable solution just to make something look cooler. I guess it's all in the fact that automakers want to sell more cars as newer cars fail faster.

[100Kmphormore]

Great review buddy!

No rear wiper in the Sportz variant. Why is a rear wiper considered a luxury feature?

I was surprised reading this and went back to confirm was I really reading about the Nios. Thought all cars came with it as it’s a godsend especially in rains. Many do not clean their rear windshields and suffer from poor visibility, causing risky overtakes in rainy weather.

[RedViper]

Fantastic post...I still own two Santro Xings. A 2004 XG thats run 85k KMs and a 2006 XL thats run 180K KMs which I have taken to all the possible crazy routes. I still use both of them time to time especially when I want to go to Jayanagar/Koramangala or two to take the metro from where I stay.

My Primary drive is a 2019 Creta CRDi which was decent upgrade.

[SS80]

What a beautiful thread, thanks for taking the time to compose this. Loved the pictorial comparison too.
The stock wheel caps say it all, the maintenance and love are visible.

One slight correction - your Santro had disc brakes in the front and drums in the rear. The only small cars since the 90s that had all drums set up are Omni & all Nanos.

[DJAG7]

Originally Posted by SS80

One slight correction - your Santro had disc brakes in the front and drums in the rear. The only small cars since the 90s that had all drums set up are Omni & all Nanos.

Oops, I just checked. Will correct it immediately. Thanks for pointing it out

[Motorhead007]

Very good review and nice comparison. Congratulations on your new Hyundai. Santro indeed was an aspirational car back in the day, I remember 3 cars that were launched around the same time - Hyundai Santro, Daewoo Matiz and Tata Indica. All of these were different from the pre-existing Maruti 800 and the Fiat Padmini that used to rule the roost at the time.
One correction on your understanding regarding the Request sensor. The transmitter range for remote unlock is different than the unlock through request sensor. Unlocking through request sensor requires very close proximity - few feet compared to the key unlock which can be done from 10s of metres away.
I wish you the best. Hope the experience in the new car is as good as the Santro !

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by DJAG7

...the dealer quoted that it was one of the first 100 Santros in India that arrived as a CKD from South Korea.

Can you check the VIN or even maybe post the picture here? One of the many other easter eggs can be the various stickers inside bonnet/engine bay, under dash/fuse box, headlight lens or stop lamp lens all in korean language. Even the tyre/airpressure sticker too.

May be your Santro deserves a separate thread and may be Hyundai should really offer to buy back a piece of Indian Automotive history.

[DJAG7]

Originally Posted by Motorhead007

Very good review and nice comparison. Congratulations on your new Hyundai.

Thank you so much!

Originally Posted by Motorhead007

One correction on your understanding regarding the Request sensor. The transmitter range for remote unlock is different than the unlock through the request sensor.

The Sportz Variant doesn't have request sensors, and I did prefer it to be that way till I had issues with the key. Opening the doors cannot be done via the key without the alarm going off and waking up all the neighbors in the apartment. The remote unlock key has another issue, it can open the car many floors above and the buttons depress easily, so the key has to be kept carefully otherwise the car will unlock. I did have a lot of issues in the initial stages, but I've gotten used to it now