[pachchu]

Mileage:

Filled up tank again to get 2nd mileage reading - 234KMs/27.56L = 8.5Kmpl.

A/C always ON - 80% City driving (bumper to bumper) around 20% of non-stop-and-go driving. 70% driven by wife (relatively more sedate driver than me), 30% by me. I'm satisfied with it.

(For reference: My earlier/first mileage reading had read 76KMs/9.86L = 7.7Kmpl).

City Drive (as compared to Santro AT):

It is definitely bigger in size - hood is longer, car is longer and wider. So I feel I have to compromise on the maneuverability in the city. I also made an error in judgement and got my first 3" scratch. At crawling speed, while trying to pass thru two pillars erected to keep large vehicles away from a residential area, I turned left too soon, even before the rear of my car had cleared the pillars. The bottom of the rear door scratched that pillar and left a 3" dagger thru my heart. Gosh, it hurts!

There is a marked difference in how the Santro AT changes gears and how this one does. I still haven't got the hang of when this AT changes gears - I don't drive this car often, my wife takes it to work. I drive the Reva.

Highway drive:

Even though we did not make the planned trip to Mysore, we still managed to break free of the city bumper-to-bumper traffic briefly and take advantage of i20's power. In short it was a breeze.

There was plenty of power even without going beyond the 3K RPM to overtake buses and taxis. Not only there was power, it was delivered when needed i.e. whenever I pushed the pedal harder, the AT shifted gear downwards, sped up in lower gear, and shifted back upwards automatically when I let my feet off the pedal.

Since I'm new to the car and it's also a little bigger to my comfort, I planned each overtaking. Question is, how would it behave in unplanned overtaking - I don't have an answer to that yet. I need to put more KMs behind me to get to that comfort level.

High-speed handling is not an issue. I did overtaking at 70+ speeds by changing lanes from left to right, then back from right to left, didn't feel out of control ever. I'm still on stock 185/65 R14 Apollo Acelere and find no reason to change.

Steering is something I always have to be conscious of in this car. Like I said earlier, I don't have problems turning the car, but I do have problems while straightening the steering wheel after completing a sharp turn - I always have the fear in the back of my mind that after completing a sharp right turn, while straightening, I/it will oversteer to the left lane. Again, I'll blame it on my wife. I don't get to drive the car enough to familiarize myself with it.

I felt the headlights, especially the high-beam range, was inadequate while driving on ORR/Sarjapur Ring Road in the night. No, I'm not a habitual high-beam driver. Whenever I felt a need for it, it was not sufficient when I switched it on.

Next report after a really long drive.

(Mods, multiple posts are intentional here. But if you feel it doesn't make sense, feel free to merge)

[FlyingSpur]

Firstly, congratulations on getting the seats done. Art leather? Looking awesome.

Originally Posted by pachchu

Mileage:

Filled up tank again to get 2nd mileage reading - 234KMs/27.56L = 8.5Kmpl.

A/C always ON - 80% City driving (bumper to bumper) around 20% of non-stop-and-go driving. 70% driven by wife (relatively more sedate driver than me), 30% by me. I'm satisfied with it.

(For reference: My earlier/first mileage reading had read 76KMs/9.86L = 7.7Kmpl).

Now that's some encouraging news Hope it climbs higher after a couple of services.

[Mustang29]

Seats are awesome. Can you please tell us the make and price ?

[pachchu]

Originally Posted by Mustang29

Seats are awesome. Can you please tell us the make and price ?

Originally Posted by flyingspur

Firstly, congratulations on getting the seats done. Art leather? Looking awesome.

Yes, it's art leather - a.k.a PU.

I will PM the name and price to anybody who is interested (please PM me), but I will not disclose the name here. I'm not going to promote the person/company who installed it here for a specific reason. I'll let the jury here decide whether the reason is good enough or not.

The person/company which installed it here, to the best of my knowledge (and many other forum members also believe it), promotes his company on the t-bhp without full disclosure of his vested interest, which I believe is unethical. All we need is a full disclosure of vested interest in his signature or in his profile.

[Dippy]

@pachchu: 8.5 kpl is quite impressive for your initial FE. I am hoping to see that go up once you complete your first service. How about telling us more about the gearbox and how it behaves in the i20? I am very keen to know about the shifting, the kick downs etc. How responsive is the tranny?

[Turbo Head]

Originally Posted by AbhiJ

Hazarding a guess here... did you take the TD in 2nd gear throughout, or did you try driving in D as well?

Originally Posted by KeepItSimple

Not surprising to hear.

I think you probably struggled at the shift point. The hyundai AT box at times takes time to shift up if there is only a light touch on the throttle. This is especially so if there is only gentle acceleration near the shift point. Sustained pressure on the throttle builds rpm followed by the upshift. 'Engine strain' is the rpm buildup.
AT users can check it out themselves.

I am sure its the same in 120 AT as well.

Originally Posted by pachchu

I also suspect you got stuck on 2 instead of D.

Can you give a little bit background about yourself - have you driven an AT before, know what's the difference between L,1,2,D and what is overdrive?

I also second anilkalvani's comments. Seasoned AT drivers figure out how to drive an AT like a manual. They know how to force the engine to shift gears (up or down) and all that without a clutch and while staying in D all along.

I have driven Santro AT (1.1L engine) for 3 years, sat in colleagues i10 AT (1.2L engine) and currently own a i20 AT (1.4L engine) - the transmission is identical in all three - and all three cars meet your requirement -

If you are little bit more power hungry, then perhaps i20AT is for you (if it fits your budget, that is). The power delivered in any particular gear in i20 is more than Santro for sure. Even though I haven't pushed beyond 3K RPM until now (still being in the run-in period), I can feel the rush.

To clear all doubts in air, I have driven an Accord (V6 AT 2006), a Skoda Laura and Skoda Superb (Diesel & Petrol both) all AT and have done atleast 2 million km in various cars I owned or borrowed. I guess that I need not have to tell anything else to explain my background . Moreover I am equally comfortable to drive an Auto or Manual gearbox.
I negotiated the same flyover (one I pointed in my TD, i.e. opposite to Apollo Hospital) twice, I could not comfortably ascend in "D" mode, so the Sales guy told to me shift to "2" for better punch, but the resultant was same.
However I never changed the cogs in any of the above cars from "D", except descending from steep inclines where I have to use "2" or "S"econd.
Lastly I also understand the gap in between shifting gears and pretty much used to it, However the only drawback is that I have not driven anything under 100 bhp with an Auto box, So that could be the reason to feel the lack of power.

[wildon]

Originally Posted by pachchu

I am getting it changed to art-leather two-tone beige combination from Karlsson. I will post more interior pics after that.

is it H......r ? its just a guess. as majority of his posts are in leather section. Sorry if i'm wrong

[pachchu]

Originally Posted by wildon

is it H......r ? its just a guess. as majority of his posts are in leather section. Sorry if i'm wrong

Yep. That's whom I suspect too.

Originally Posted by Turbo Head

To clear all doubts in air,
......
However the only drawback is that I have not driven anything under 100 bhp with an Auto box, So that could be the reason to feel the lack of power.

Perhaps you answered it yourself. I can understand where you are coming from. In US, at one point I used to have a 3.0L Camry with AT transmission. The cars that I drive now don't come anywhere close to the power I used to get in that. i20 is 100 bhp, so you must TD that if you are looking for a hatch AT.

The forum is so vast and anonymous, it's hard to guess or remember who's driven what.

Originally Posted by Dippy

How about telling us more about the gearbox and how it behaves in the i20? I am very keen to know about the shifting, the kick downs etc. How responsive is the tranny?

@Dippy, frankly, I haven't driven my i20 much at a stretch. My wife takes it everyday. I get it only on the weekends. Once we make a long drive out of town, I'll be in a better position to answer that. I think the mistake I'm making with i20 is driving it like a Reva or Santro (bcos that's what I am used to). I'll definitely report on the tranny when I have something useful to share.

Mods: Pls change the title to say -
Hyundai i20 1.4L Petrol Automatic - ownership reports

[Turbo Head]

Thanks Pachchu for the advice, I surely TD this one to have the feel, though I would have loved to have an Auto in Diesel due to my daily run (100km+).
Very sorry to know about the scratch, I know where it really hurts, to see the first scratch on your beloved.
Your seat covers are pretty neat though

[Anford]

Originally Posted by pachchu

Aug 3rd week (Today) -

Hey pachchu:
You review on the H i20 Auto was really interesting. I am also contemplating on shelling off for a H i20 Auto. Am sure by now you(and you wifey) are enjoying the ride. Any inputs on the same yet? any feedback? How do you measure the performance? How does the mileage look? Does it rip you off?
Any problems you have noted yet? Would like to get your opinion on the same if possible. Would eagerly look forward to your response.

[Anuj_Mumbai]

Hi Pachchu,

Congrats on your first i20 AT on TBhp. Very nice 400 kms update. Really Sorry to know about scratches, but those happens also when you are not at fault as it happens in may case on my OVRM, the bike guy just came from opposite direction and hit on right OVRM when he couldn't control his bike. Thankfully, not much happened except minor scratch. Also I agree with you on head lights, Hyundai should have given much better (I have experienced it completely inadequate on highway drive) head lights and also Horn (in India it is just inadequate, even after fitting extra one).
Have you thought of having arm rest, with AT it will be very good for comfort.

Anuj

[FlyingSpur]

What's goin on, Pachchu? Any updates?

[CBlazer]

Yeah Pachchu. Please make that long distance trip soon. Eagerly awaiting your report on what this feels like while over taking at high speeds, highway mileage, etc.

[pachchu]

Not the long drive that I was hoping for, but got a short one under the belt anyway.

Briefly:
130KMPH at 3K RPM.
Took some time to reach that speed - with 2 constraints - I had a fully loaded car (5 ppl) and being still in run-in period, did not take the car above 3K RPM.
Effortless performance at 130KMPH - no breathlessness, no increased NVH, no floating sensation, firm steering at this speed.
Scraped every serious bumper when fully loaded.
No mileage figures as my wife refilled partial tank that too without remembering the trip meter. I'll have to wait for another refill to know the mileage.
Lane changes are effortless at all speeds. Perhaps due to fully loaded car. Dynamics may be different if car is not fully loaded.

In detail:
I had 4 people in the car plus a child-seat with a kid - totally as good as 5 people. There was also a stroller in the car and few small bags. You can say, it was fully loaded car. A/C was ON all the time. I'm still in run-in period with only 700KMs on ODO.

Drive from my home to Kanakapura Road-BMIC intersection was nothing to write about. Usual traffic with few changes of risk-free overtaking.

After I paid the toll on BMIC going towards Mysore Road, I pushed the car harder. I didn't time it, but I can say it wasn't a breeze. Staying within the 3K RPM was showing it's limitations.

Apart from the road, my eyes were fixated on the tachometer, not on the speedometer. Once I felt that the car had reached top-gear and I was at 3K RPM, I looked at the speedometer and was pleasantly surprised. We were doing 130KMPH and my wife was not shouting. Point is, in my Santro earlier, 100KMPH looked like a big-deal and 120KMPH was achievable only on downhills and with the wind-noise/road-noise at those speeds, the people inside the cabin would be very uncomfortable i.e. my wife would be insisting that I slow down below 100. You can barely enjoy the ICE at those speeds.

In i20, the 130kmph was no-big-deal speed. The cabin noise level was no different than at lower speeds. The steering felt firm at this speed and I'm glad it did. I've always been worried about that. Nobody in the car even noticed the speed we were traveling at - neither did I until I looked at the speedometer.

And that too, 130KMPH at barely 3K RPM. I felt the car had far more power at it's disposal to easily go a speeds where I would never travel at. I also felt, the car was very comfortable traveling at those speeds, unlike how I felt with Santro.

Now the bad part - on our way back, I had 5 adults with 2 kids with car-seat and stroller in the trunk (yes both fit together very nicely, kudos to the spacious i20 trunk, I wish I had taken a picture of that) plus a few bags.

There was a place where I was overtaking another slow car, it was slightly uphill. The speed wasn't much, around 30-40kmph, I floored the gas pedal, and the car shifted down, but did not take off. It was like it continued in temporary neutral (scary feeling when you are trying to overtake), I released my feet off the accelerator slightly, the tranny engaged some gear and got some life back - sped up to 60-70 and completed the overtake.

I realized, I had overestimated the car - I couldn't have pulled off that overtaking with the load the car was carrying.

The car also scraped almost every serious bumper on the way back - reminding me that when fully loaded, the GC is low.

Lane changes at all speeds are effort-less. The handling is not an issue at all. Maybe the dynamics are different when the car is not fully loaded with people.

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by pachchu

I floored the gas pedal, and the car shifted down, but did not take off. It was like it continued in temporary neutral (scary feeling when you are trying to overtake), I released my feet off the accelerator slightly, the tranny engaged some gear and got some life back - sped up to 60-70 and completed the overtake.

I realized, I had overestimated the car - I couldn't have pulled off that overtaking with the load the car was carrying.

Now thats scary, real scary. Was that a one way road with dividers or just a normal road with 2 / 4 lanes marked (painted)? I guess you need to be VERY cautious to try that again on the second type of road.