[Tejas@perioimpl]

i10 Kappa Asta Automatic Review

So, after much deliberation on what to buy, the i10 or the i20, we finally decided to go in for the i10 AT Asta Kappa.

Basic Reasons for buying this over the i20:
- more peppy to drive
- automatic
- dad is going to be the primary driver & wanted a smaller car, easier to park

Asta version (top-end with sunroof) was choosen since this was the only car available with automatic and safety features like ABS & Airbags.

Booking & TD experience.

We visited two showrooms in south bombay and found both the experiences good. Both Jaybharat and Hyundai Motor Plaza gave exemplary service during the initial trial periods, making the cars available to us as many times as we wanted and in all trim & transmission (MT/AT) options. We drove and tried to rip both the cars at worli seaface. i10 though more peppy felt like a ship in rough waters due to the skinny tyres whereas the i20 felt planted but little sluggish. Since i20 was not with an auto option, we finally decided on the i10 and i convinced dad that we would upgrade the tyres.

We needed the car within 10 days so as to claim year-end (March) depreciation. Since we already have a red OHC, we decided to buy a black car. Also contacted Shreenath Hyundai for their offer. All three showrooms exactly matched each others offers. Final decision to go ahead with Jaybharat was made since they were the only guys who promised to deliver the black car by 30th March.

They only took a booking amount of 5000. Their initial demand was 50,000 as down payment and i insisted that i pay that by card (since i get JP miles on it). However, their credit card machine had conked so they settled with 5000 cash and said they would refund the same once i paid them full DD.

Total Cost of Car
Since we were taking insurance through our agent (transfer of no claim bonus), excluding that the cost of the car was 593,000. Insurance came to 8000 odd something.

Freebies:
Mats for foot wells and boot
Mud flaps
Third year extended warrantee

Loan
Took a loan from central bank against FD for 5lakhs (tax purposes) at the rate of 10.5% for a five year period.

Central Bank of India Has a brilliant service. The manager coordinated directly with Jaybharat and we jsut need to sign, they did both the pick up, hypothecation, etc and DD was issued 5 days prior to car delivery.

During booking i had kept a penalty clause with them that if i see any Jaybharat Hyundai stickers on the car, they will either pay me 500 per sticker per month or remove the stickers and give me a free teflon coating. This no sticker clause was told to them atleast 5 times till they understood.

Delivery Day:
This was the day Peddar road was dug up in bombay and traffic was absolutely chaotic. Parents had work and said i should go pick the car myself. After a few hours i managed to reach Prabhadevi area to the showroom. The sales lady was surprised to see me come alone instead of full family and without a garland and "pedas" for the car. She offered to do a pooja for the car as well but i refused saying just finish the formalities and letme drive away fast. I had appointments with my tyre guy and sunfilm guy. Again she was shocked at my "non-typical indian behavior". The 5000 cash was immediately returned.

I had just returned from germany the night before and could not get a chance to inspect the car one day before delivery. Anyways, i did a thorough scan of the car according to team-bhp recommendations. All seemed fine.

However, i was shocked to see three Jaybharat stickers on the car!!! I totally lost it at the sales lady. Soon a workforce was employed to remove one sticker from the glass, another from the body and the third from the number plate. Number plate was replaced immediately with a new one. The body sticker was removed with care and a hand polish was done immediately in that area. Got a voucher for free teflon from them to be used anytime in the next two years.

Drove off to the petrol pump first to fill fuel and then to get the car accessorized.

Continued....

[srijit]

Congrats Tejas. I was waiting to see what effect the penalty clause that you used, would have on them. As expected, none, lol. Still you get a free Teflon coating

[Tejas@perioimpl]

A Few Pictures. I will go to a good location once and click awesome pics whenever i get time...

[anekho]

Great write-up and congratulations!
i10 is always a safe choice!
please post pics, boss

cheers

[frankmehta]

very enjoyable review! loved your car and the things i love the most are the interiors and the alloys. very silent car and seamless shifts from the auto make it THE BEST city car ever! congrats. may we have many more drives in this car.

PS: is baar, main chalaaaooww?

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by anekho

Great write-up and congratulations!
i10 is always a safe choice!
please post pics, boss

cheers

Thanks. Pics below you post. More pics on the way.

Originally Posted by frankmehta

very enjoyable review! loved your car and the things i love the most are the interiors and the alloys. very silent car and seamless shifts from the auto make it THE BEST city car ever! congrats. may we have many more drives in this car.

PS: is baar, main chalaaaooww?

Thanks frank... no plagiarism from facebook frank!!!

Continuing....

Accessories:

First on the list tyre upgrade:

Before i start, special thanks goes to ishan (iraghava) for answering all my PMs.

Upgraded to yokohama A drives 285/60/14 with 14" Koenig alloys (set of four)

Costs:
Yokohama A Drives: 3000 each

Set of 4 alloys - Koenig: 17,500 for set

Money back for old tyres & rims: 1800 each


Impressions:

On day one, i did not like any alloy design so i drove the car on regular tyres before the dealer got me more alloy options the next day. So i had atleast 30kms driving experience on the OEM tyres before shifting.

There is a drastic improvement in looks, stance, handling (improved), rocking (reduced) and braking (improved).

There is no touching of the wheels to the well on full turn (Atleast a one centimeter gap).

No noticeable difference in ride quality. Infact i thought it improved.

No heaviness increase in the steering.

One question though: OEM tyre recommendation is 33psi. Tyre guy filled nitrogen (free top-ups for 3 years) upto 28psi and said to keep it at this level. Is this right? Ishan help! Seeing the cross section of the tyre (from behind), the contact area is perfect.

Next stop (sun film)

Went to opera house for this. Put the 3M sunfilm for the glass. Cost 4000. Clear sunfilm again for the front (wasn't available - should come in a few days now). This will cost another 4000 bucks.

Highly recommend this film. Noticeable difference in direct sunlight. Also reduces slightly the glare of oncoming headlights at night too.

Also installed a parking camera for dad with a 3.5 inch screen mounted on the dashboard. Cost 5600. Didn't want the mirror one (you loose the day-night mirror option then and gets too bulky).

No other accessory needed. car comes otherwise is fully loaded. Anyone suggest anything more?


Still to put up team-bhp stickers...

[anilkalvani]

Finally you got the time to post the report & pics. Really good looking alloys, now i just can't wait for mine. Am going tomorrow to their yard to have a Pre-registration inspection. Am still contemplating on either 175/70 R13 and 185/60 R14 and have to make up my mind soon. Do post more of your driving experiences uphill, downhill, highway etc. As this would be my first Automatic too hence the anticipation. Can't wait till the 17th! the clear sunfilm for the front is also 3M right? i am going to go stage by stage with the pumping up asd i will not have enough time on my hand, a wedding & the week after that am off to Goa...

1st stage - Tyres & Rim Upgrade (Mostly tyres i'll put Michelins)
2nd stage - Sun Film & Parking Sensors/Camera (What brand did you get?)
3rd stage - Seat Covers (Stanley Maybe... or the regular G-Sport)
4th stage - Finally.. ICE setup (The main reason i opted for Magna... i want my choice)

**EDIT**
Heck NOW i ain't using the Viva alloys, will put brand new smokin' hot alloys!!!

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by anilkalvani

Finally you got the time to post the report & pics. Really good looking alloys, now i just can't wait for mine. Am going tomorrow to their yard to have a Pre-registration inspection. Am still contemplating on either 175/70 R13 and 185/60 R14 and have to make up my mind soon. Do post more of your driving experiences uphill, downhill, highway etc. As this would be my first Automatic too hence the anticipation. Can't wait till the 17th! the clear sunfilm for the front is also 3M right?

Thanks. the front film will also be a 3M one. My post on driving experience should be up in another hour or so...
If you wanna drive in my car, just drop me a PM if you don't mind coming townside. You can get a feel for the auto (i've driven & owned automatics before - i can give you pointers) and the ride and handling quality with the tyres.

EDIT: Don't remember the name of the camera brand. Will check and PM you later. Get the sunfilm done before you remove all the plastic covers from the car.
Also make sure you have adequate damping for the doors.

[muneemmk]

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

Upgraded to yokohama A drives 285/60/14 with 14" Koenig alloys (set of four)
Costs:
Yokohama A Drives: 3000 each
Set of 4 alloys - Koenig: 17,500 for set
Money back for old tyres & rims: 1800 each

What are u driving, a Safari ? It's 185/60 R14, got the same tyres for my uncles's i10 Sportz A/T , it's light years ahead when compared to the stock wheels and I think you have got a real sweet deal with the tyres,wheel and even the buybacks.

I think 185/60 is the best and maximum size which is practical for the i10 ,even then the tyres stick out almost by 2cms,but last day I saw a 205/??/R16 in an i10 it looked totally weird.

[jkdas]

This is for the pix ,Font =32 , Style = Bold ....

WOW!

Congrats!

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by muneemmk

What are u driving, a Safari ? It's 185/60 R14, got the same tyres for my uncles's i10 Sportz A/T , it's light years ahead when compared to the stock wheels and I think you have got a real sweet deal with the tyres,wheel and even the buybacks.

I think 185/60 is the best and maximum size which is practical for the i10 ,even then the tyres stick out almost by 2cms,but last day I saw a 205/??/R16 in an i10 it looked totally weird.

Oh ho!!! TYPO!!!

I actually used to own a safari till six months ago and she also didn't have such broad tyres. They were upgraded to 255!
But the upgraded tyres of the i10 don't stick out by 2cms ya. They are within the wheel arch flares.

Originally Posted by jkdas

This is for the pix ,Font =32 , Style = Bold ....

WOW!

Congrats!

Thank you very much!

[anilkalvani]

Thanks. the front film will also be a 3M one.
Cool. Will get that one then.

My post on driving experience should be up in another hour or so...
If you wanna drive in my car, just drop me a PM if you don't mind coming townside. You can get a feel for the auto (i've driven & owned automatics before - i can give you pointers) and the ride and handling quality with the tyres.
Thanks but i just want to expole the whole thing on my own, just one of those things. It will be a different experience for me but i will take you advice once i get stuck (he he he...) ... maybe we could catch up along with the other guys.

Don't remember the name of the camera brand. Will check and PM you later.
Thanks for that.

Get the sunfilm done before you remove all the plastic covers from the car.
Thats why i'm doing it in stage 2, but thanks for your input anyways.

Also make sure you have adequate damping for the doors.
For the ICE? Where did you get it done? The milan guys aren't very professional at it.

Enjoy your ride!

[Sankar]

Car's looking good Tejas! Wheels are doing justice to the rest of the package now. Stock is grossly under tyred especially for the Kappa. Does Koenig have single PCD wheels suitable for the i10? Where to find their model range available here?

Here are some i10 accessories that's available in Europe. Just to give you some thoughts

Styling Kit Accessories and Parts for Hyundai i10 2008 - 2009

If a local alternative can be found for these expensive Euro items it would be worth it. The Subtle fender extensions and side skirts gives a nice finishing touch. The silver frontrim guard would look cool on your black car. For the interiors the sill guards are nice touch.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Driving the i10 has been fun. No doubt.

One thing that did bother me was that there is no display of the auto mode on the speedo console. All other cars that i have driven have a center display showing park, reverse, neutral, drive, D1 & D2. However, nothing in this. Find it very weird.

Thankfully a dead pedal is provided in place of the clutch. The TD car did not have it and the sales people said maybe that's the way it is. Thankfully the pedal is there at a comfortable angle.

The OEM deck is not bad (i'm not a major ICE maniac). However, when the car was delivered, the levels of bass, mid and treble were all max. The radio sounded horrible and i was contemplating changing the whole thing.

While getting the tyre upgrade done, i sat and checked out the settings of the deck and found these levels and soon adjusted them according to my preference. Now it sounds perfect. However, the damping on the doors is not good and at loud volumes, there is a lot of vibration of the door panels.

The deck has a front aux in and a folder & song scroll option which is a boon. The buttons are also very well laid out.

Gear shifting:

In regular (read gentle acceleration), the gear shifts are seamless and a boon to drive.

Mid driving/cruising, if you slam the accelerator pedal, the car first shifts down a gear for more power and surges forward so you get a minimal noticeable jerk.

From a stop you suddenly slam the accelerator pedal, the car holds first gear all the way upto 6000 mark before changing gears and is a nice feeling.

In-cabin noise is minimal even on high revving.

The headlights are not very powerful though and will need to upgrade. Don't know what bulbs currently and will need to check. Any suggestions?

The sunroof is very nice and retracts fully. Has a one touch close operation.

The best thing is the steering cover. Super super quality. Just the exact blend of softness and firmness. Didn't like the sound of the horn though.

Sorely missed is a center armrest for the front seats. Specially in the auto, you have no idea where to place your hand and land up resting it on the shifter (i normally hold the steering with one hand). The shifter also has a nice feel to it.

Overall interior quality is exemplary. The dashboard reflection on the windshield is not a bother as talked about so much by others.

ORVMs are large and useful. Powered and retractable mirrors sorely missed though.

Originally Posted by anilkalvani

...but i will take your advice once i get stuck (he he he...) ... maybe we could catch up along with the other guys.

Sure & sure.

Originally Posted by anilkalvani

For the ICE? Where did you get it done? The milan guys aren't very professional at it.

I'm still on OEM ICE components and haven't got damping done. Ask B&T or frankmehta for bombay options.

EDIT:

Originally Posted by Sankar

Car's looking good Tejas! Wheels are doing justice to the rest of the package now. Stock is grossly under tyred especially for the Kappa. Does Koenig have single PCD wheels suitable for the i10? Where to find their model range available here?

Here are some i10 accessories that's available in Europe. Just to give you some thoughts

Styling Kit Accessories and Parts for Hyundai i10 2008 - 2009

If a local alternative can be found for these expensive Euro items it would be worth it. The Subtle fender extensions and side skirts gives a nice finishing touch. The silver frontrim guard would look cool on your black car. For the interiors the sill guards are nice touch.

Thanks. I'll check the site and get back to you with thoughts. I'm not sure about Koenig range in your area, but i will check with my dealer and get back to you on both your queries soon.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

A few more pictures (night shots)...