| My New Hyundai i20Crdi BS IV - Full Circle
Hello! This is my first post on Team BHP.
My new Silver coloured Hyundai i20 Crdi Asta BSIV version was delivered at Trident Hyundai, Indiranagar, Bangalore yesterday. This has been one long journey and I thought I would share this journey, that has for the moment culminated with this purchase.
Let me start off by saying that I have been lurking on the pages of Team BHP for well over a year now. I own a Fiat Palio and consider myself a fan of that car (Its 6 years old and giving me some problem nowadays though!). I love my Palio for its' build, the handling and ride quality, the general car quality (At least when I purchased my Palio in 2004 I believe it was ahead of the competition) and the Passion it invoked in me (Some may ask why. I don't know the answer myself! I guess only when you own and drive one will you be able to experience the passion/pride that comes with it)
With this background, I consider myself somewhat of a Fiat Fan. So when I first started looking at these forums over a year ago it was when the Linea was being launched. I was looking for a replacement either for my Palio or my wife's Santro from those days. The Linea had me mesmerized for a while with its looks and the incredible Fiat build and I was sold on that. I trawled through these forums and the test reviews, user feedback, bought tons of magazines those days on the Linea.
Finally, I asked for a test drive. Being a Petrol Head so far, I had not really thought about the Diesel Option. So I asked for a TD of the 1.4 L Petrol. I found the car build solid as usual, the looks were brilliant, Driving - Engine and Power - was quite good -nothing to rave about, ride quality and handling were its Pièce de résistance. The Blue and Me thing was a creature comfort too. However, my folks found the rear seating a little too cramped for comfort. i too was not sold on it after my drive impressions. I didn't even think about the Diesel for reasons mentioned earlier.
I then considered the ANHC. Tested one and it was good. Liked the looks, the quality interiors, the known Honda reliability, fuel economy was good and so were resale values. Didn't like the Honda pricing, comparative lack of equipment, thin tyres that do not allow you to use the power available. However, I was almost on the verge of picking one but then thought I would wait to see the Punto before taking the plunge on the ANHC.
The the wait for the Punto began. I waited for the launch and what a launch too! The engine specs for the Petrol looked great on paper. I will tell you this - The Punto is a gorgeous car! Even more so than the Linea. I tested the Petrol version again. Found it quite good to drive. Liked all the things above in the Linea and the 'silent at idle and throaty at speeds' engine. Didn't like the rear seating comfort though.
At pretty much this same time I considered that i20 Petrol. Tested it and found it to be quite ok too. I didn't really think that there was a huge difference in the Engine/ Driveability between the Fiat and the i20 (Petrol Versions). On paper there is a 14 BHP difference between the two. But I did not feel it in real world performance. Equipment levels were good in the i20 too.
That's when my wife too started giving me thoughts on the reliability or shall I say serviceability of a Hyundai Vs a Fiat. Being a Fiat Fan myself, I gave her the usual about my Palio - How robust it is, how it handles, the sturdy build like a tank feel etc. She didn't quite but it. In the meanwhile, I had also read GTO's posts here about the fact that the way to go with the Puntos was with the Diesel ones. So I changed tracks - I said lets look at the Punto Diesel!
That's when the pain started. There were these series of Fiat ads those days that talked about testing a Punto. So I went ahead and messaged Fiat at their advertised lines for a test. And then I waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing! So I called up their lines for a test. They said somebody would get in touch with me. And the I waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing again! That was it - I mailed the CEO through their website. That was when things started moving. Somebody called me from FIAT and they arranged a test drive with KHT Motors in Bangalore - a newly opened dealership in the Whitefield area.
The sales rep from KHT brought the car on a Saturday. As soon as he cam, I noticed that the car was noisy. Not just a Diesel Vs Petrol Noisy bit noisy in an annoying way. Anyway, we sat in the car and took it for a spin on the Inner Ring Road - Indiranagar to Kormangala. Found the gears way too tight to slot in. Didn't feel it to be underpowered but certainly didn't feel it raring to spring either. On the way back my wife wanted to drive. She found it a little tough to turn (We Fiat owners are used to the turning radius but believe me this is a huge pain point for people not in the know about the turning radius - especially when one needs to take a U on a narrow and crowded Bangalore road). I too got to appreciate the space or rather the lack of it in the rear bench. The fact that my head touched the ceiling too didnt help. The black interiors further contributed to what I can only deduce to be a sense of claustrophobia in the car for my wife.
At pretty much that time I was reading all these posts about the lack of top end grunt in the i20 Petrol. I liked the fact that Hyundai seemed eager to sell the car unlike FIAT. Started thinking if FIAT does not want to sell me the car will the want to take car of it later. With all these thoughts in my head I started feeling I was 'betraying' FIAT and looking at the Hyundai - the not so new kid in town!
Anyways, I thought that given the above, and the fact that I had looked at the Punto Diesel, might as well give the i20 Diesel a chance. So tested an i20 Diesel.
I guess there are a number of posts here that talk about the i20's positives and negatives so I will not repeat those here. But briefly this is what I felt - I really liked the power. I also liked the airy feeling in the cabin (Although the brown beige combo is not really my cuppa tea). The equipment levels were generous too and the Diesel had discs all round. Found the rear space better as well and somehow the interior quality and space seemed better than the Punto. I didn't like the lack of adequate power below 1800 RPM, I much preferred to FIAT'S steering setup (Low that feel and the way the Fiat eats up the Bangalore bumps and potholes) and somehow there was this feeling that I am going from an Italian to a Korean make.
But I thought I would take an impassioned decision here : Weighed all the pros and cons of the Punto Vs i20 - Came to the conclusion that - for me (Please note that I am not saying i20 Diesel is better than a Punto Diesel. This would be true only for me.) the i20 was the way to go.
The price compared to the Punto and the fact that it bordered in the Sedan segment was something to chew on. But here is the way I looked at it - In the i20 I get all I would want in a Sedan with maybe 200 Litres lower bootspace. But this makes City driving a parking easier. So do I want to pay a 100k more for a boot? Nope! So the i20 Diesel it was.
I booked the car in the middle of April with Trident Hyundai. Rajesh from Hyundai was extremely helpful in the whole process. He brought the car for test drives multiple times to my house and was courteous during the whole buying process. I would recommend him if any of you decide to got to Trident Hyundai on 100 Feet Road.
I was told that the delivery would happen on Akshaya Tritiya day Mid May. Here is where the problems started. Apparently there were strikes in the Hyundai factory. This couple with the fact that I had asked for the 6 Gear BSIV version meant that the delivery went though 2 rounds of delays before I finally took home the car last evening. There was also a small hiccup in the form of a darker sun film than we had asked for. Rajesh has promised to get those changed free of cost during our first service.
I have not driven the car too much yet. Will keep you posted as things evolve. Thanks for your patience in reading this long post. | 
17th June 2010, 12:29
