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-   -   My Hyundai Santro Automatic (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/55202-my-hyundai-santro-automatic-2.html)

It is Real Earth color.

What did you mean by EGL?

Just wanted to update everyone that the Santro AT is not available now. Hyundai has stopped producing it. Now available only on the i10 (3 variants), Verna CRDI & Sonata Transform.

This happened before too, but they decided to preduce the Santro AT again and that's when I bought it. It is an excellent package. :)

Great write up. This is the first time I am hearing so much about automatics. I have always been intrigued about how you manage driving an automatic, and your write up more or less cleared most of my questions. Enjoy the new car!

Sure, FanaticOnWheels. Happy to be of help!

Recently purchased a 2007 Auto done 12 K km in Bangalore.Hope it serves me well. The idling rpm seems a bit high although it was serviced 200 Km back.Should this be reduced?? Anybody knows exact idling rpm???

Congrats first on your purchase. Iam not sure of the exact rpm but you can easily make out from the engine sound. Also note that the engine rpm increases slightly when the gear is moved to D mode.

Ashok, congratulations on your purchase. It is a very reliable automatic.

Santro's spec sheet says idling speed is 850 + or - 100 (rpm).

Since Santro does not have a tachometer, you will not be able to see the rpm changing, though you can 'hear' it.

Idling rpm is controlled by the ECU depending on various factors. For example, if you switch on the AC when idling, the ECU increases the rpm to meet the additional torque demand.

rpm will be higher when in N or P since there is no load.

rpm will appear to go down when you shift to D (since applied brakes resist the engine's urge to move the car).

The above are normal.

If you notice anything other than these normal changes, please let us know.

Nice report of the perfect urban commuter car. I know for a fact that Moderator Samurai (or rather his wife) is very happy with his Santro AT too.

Any updates in the last 8 months on the car?

This is my first posting to the forum. I own 2006 Santro Xing A/T which has given me trouble free service of 34000 kms so far.

I drive a lot in hilly area so I thought I would get the transmission fluid changed. The Hyundai authorized service station in Pune put Indian Oil Servo TransFluid A which is GM Type A spec transmission fluid and applicable for A/Ts of 1940 era. The manual calls for JWS3314 spec ATF.

What ATF is being used by fellow Santro A/T owners?

Normally I do all work myself. But gave it to authorized shop with the assumption that they would use factory specified fluid.

Thanks in advance.

Best regards,
Satish

Might be dumb, but a few questions I had on the Santro AT. Or in general, the automatics.

1) I suppose you cannot and should not shift between gears (D-2-1) while in motion, correct ?

2) Same goes for the over drive switch ? Or can you engage / disengage overdrive while in motion ?

3) The transmission oil, is it only to be changed after a fixed # of kms, or even after a period ? Say a car is low running and has done like 25k on ODO in 4 yrs, is it wise to change the gearbox oil ?

Thanks in advance for answering.

Generally speaking for regular (i.e non tiptronic automatics) you are not supposed to shift while in motion. However, betwen D-2-1 you can do it fairly safely if you do it judiciously. i.e don't try to shift from D -1 if you are doing a 120. Technically the AT ECU is supposed to prevent you from doing it but I wouldn't try to risk it.

OD button can be turned off and on when in motion. Same applies if you are doing 120 and you turn OD off, the transmission will downshift with a jerk. Always make sure your speed is appropriate for the gear you are changing the AT lever to.

I guess it depends on the quality of the AT fluid. In my Mercedes M-Class the Automatic transmission was a sealed unit where the AT fluid was changed only after 1 lakh miles (Yes, 1 Lakh miles not kilomoters). I was really concerned about this and would bring it up to the service advisor at every service and he would brush aside the concern saying that it was a sealed unit and better to leave it untouched until the scheduled service.

But I am sure the santro at comes with regular AT fluid so I think you should change it every couple of years, even if you have not done the miles. Not sure if you drive in the city or not but in the cities the engines and AT fluid is always churning even when miles are not accumulated. Hence the usage of the oil is much more than what the ODO shows.

I drive a verna AT and its a real pleasure to drive.

1) Shifting between gears D-1-2 is freely possible while driving. The ECU does the work in the keeping the engine running smoothly. There is however, little need to do so.
The D mode takes care of running the motor optimally at different speeds.
There is no shift lock in the hyundai AT box and its quite possible to slot into R mode while driving with potentially disastrous results for the transmission.
Care is required while shifting on the fly.

2)Overdrive can be freely engaged or disengaged while driving. Useful to buildup torque for fast overtaking in the santro AT. In the verna AT as torque is plentiful, the button is not much used.

3)Transmission oil needs to be changed as per the service booklet.

I drive the verna AT. The brakes appear beefed up compared to the MT version.

@itwasntme

I read somewhere in tbhp that a member with i10 auto had problems fitting 13" alloys (don't remember the width , maybe 5 / 5.5 / 6 J), and had to get 14" alloys + tires due to beefed up brakes. You can search for it in the forum.

Thanks.

I did read the manual, finally.

It says that you actually can move between the fowrard gears and the O/D while in motion.
It also says that incase you do move to lower gear at very high speeds/rpms, the engine will automatically shift to the higher gear to avoid damage / red-lining. Thats a little strange now ?

However, I am NOT going to try & verify that :)