iDrove an i10 - An opinion, A Comparision Ya... sound like some new Apple product more than anything else... But, lets move on shall we?
Right. So this colleague of mine bought a new Hyundai i10 car. Some of the guys were pestering him for a drive and so just after lunch on Friday, we took the car out for a spin. 2 of the guys took it for a drive around Whitefield/ITPL area at first and then it was my time. I don't like to car others cars out for a spin. What if something happens inadvertently, either due to a fault of mine or due to no fault of mine(say the fault of some other car on the road while I have been driving perfectly fine). The end result would be that the bump happened while I was driving.
Anyway, I did take the ride and this was the first time(not exactly the first but more of that later) that I was driving a car with power steering and power brakes. Now I have owned a M800 since over an year and I am too damn confident driving that car. I have had no problems with it till date, whether it be braking suddenly, or overtaking another car, or squeezing in between narrow gaps, I have done that without a hint of hesitation. I've been pretty damn comfortable with that car.
Now when I sat in the i10, of course the other guys who drove it before me had the seat pulled all the way to front, I had to push the seat back. I thought I had pushed it all the way back, but my knees were still bent close to a right angle. I like my knees to be as straight as possible while I am driving a car(or at least that's how I am used to it right now), as I want only my ankles to control the pedals and not my knees.
Anyway, all that was fine and now I was driving the car. Power-assist is such a change from the unassisted cars. I just touched the brakes to allow an Indi-cab to overtake and the car almost screeched to a halt. Damn irritating. Again, the gas pedal was also very sensitive to the touch. Since there were 5 of us in the car, I had to step on the gas while releasing the clutch but the car started revving like a loose since the accelerator was very sensitive. Felt very very different from the M800. Ultimately after a few sudden braking maneuver's and a few stalls(thanks to not wanting to rev a new engine while taking off from the first gear) when it was time for me to handover the car to the next person want to drive it, I managed to stop it slowly and softly without jerks. Of course that took an ultimate amount of concentration from my side and I think I stopped the car at least a few feet further than where I would have stopped my 800 during normal braking. Actually this makes me wonder. The power-assisted steering is supposed to provide power assist only at lower speeds and is supposed to cut off at higher speeds, say on the highways. Why can't such a thing be done for the brakes as well? Give power assist only at high speeds, and cut it off at lower speeds so that you can stop the car smoothly without shaking up the insides of the passengers in the car.
The funny thing was that even though the accelerator was feather touch types, I felt the pull was not as much as my 800. In the 800 you could feel the G-forces when you accelerate out of a gear. I guess the i10 has very short gear ratios as a gear runs out of steam very soon. Good car and very smooth, you can hardly hear the engine when the windows are rolled up, but not necessarily sporty. Also, the gear was very short throw and very smooth, but somehow it lacked the feel. While driving, I didn't know whether I had slotted it into 3rd gear or 1st gear and only when the car pulled away without revving, did I realize that it was indeed in the right gear.
Now thinking back, I had learnt driving on the 1st generation Santro and this didn't have any power assist. My 800 too doesn't have any power assist. So obviously driving the i10 was something totally new for me. But then I remembered the first car that I had taken for a test drive was the Swift. This was almost 1 year after I had learnt driving and before I bought the 800. This too had power steering, power brakes and definitely had more power than the i10. But I remember, I was at ease driving this car and it felt so natural to me. This was one of the cars that I really fell in love with. I never revved the car while releasing the clutch, never braked suddenly jerkily in horrible traffic(drove on Bannerghatta road during almost rush hour). And the gear throw felt perfect. Swift too has a very short gear throw and so did the Santro. They both felt really good. Slotted in perfectly and also felt like you were indeed changing the gear. The i10 was too short for comfort. When I think about it, it seems that the pedals of the Maruti cars have much more 'play' than the Hyundai cars. In fact when I sat inside the Verna, the gas pedal had hardly an inch of play from 0-max. Now the diesel car has 100 horses of power and with such a sensitive pedal, I, for one, will definitely go mad driving it in Indian traffic. So another reason why I was not too comfortable in the i10 was the short 'play' pedals.
Another thing about the Hyundais are the brake and gas pedals are too close to each other. It might help in the brake to accel switch while taking off on up-slopes from a standstill, but its not in my taste. I prefer using the handbrake to do that. Oh and while we are at the subject of the handbrakes, it is somewhat slightly raised, so when its fully down and you look at it, you wonder if it has been completely released.
So, lets go on to the ratings of the car.
Negatives:
1) Very short gear throw
2) Not sporty enough in terms of pulling power
3) Very short play of the pedals
4) Driving position could have been a bit higher
5) Brake and Accelerator pedals were too close to each other
Positives:
1) Smooth and refined gear lever
2) Rear seat has lots of leg room
3) Smooth and quiet ride
4) Nice looking interiors |