[ashwanth]

Hi gang !

An amateur review of my Brother's i10 AT follows !

1.INTRODUCTION



My brother wanted to get his first car and was almost decided on which one to go for - a new hatchback,costing not more than 5 lakhs with an automatic gearbox.

The one and only option was the i10 AT. Yes, he was a bit spoiled by his scooter, the good old Honda Activa that has a CVT. He wanted a car that will be used exclusively in the city's peak hour traffic and for weekend sprints inside the city. He is a first time car buyer and a newbie driver. The car might not see a highway(Atleast not for the time being.)

2.NOTE

Both of us are newbie drivers. This is an amateur review of a beautiful car - The i10 Sportz AT. Driving a car was very new and exciting experience for him. Credit goes to the driving school which tutored him for his initial inablity to operate the lights or accidently activate the rear wash and wipe ! Now,almost all controls are familiar to him, Most of them like turn indications, the vital life saving horn and HVAC.


3.BUYING EXPERIENCE




Car was bought at DSC Hyundai, Nandanam, chennai. The buying experience was nothing short of something plesant. His budget allowed him to go for the Sportz variant and decision of the car's colour was by the family as a whole. We settled for Champagne gold(The very word "champagne" reminds me of my one of my school teachers who used to say it as "SHAM-PAG-NI") .

Not only did DSC garland, tie a ribbon to the car but also made a small pooja for us. We requested a driver to haul us back home and the every same evening my brother and your truly took a small ride around our area and attempted to burn the rear drum brakes(Read it under "Injuries")!

The car was driven from the factory to the Showroom(A distance of 45 Km) due to lorry strike at that time and the odo was already showing a good 48 Kms during the PDI.

We also got a box of sweets on the delivery day.

4.CABIN



Finished in beige and its reflection on the winshield is a non-irritant that is negligible even on sunny days.

Cabin is cramped , this car is a true 4-seater not 5.

Both the front seats can be moved towards the front windshield or away from it.Driver seat doesnt have height adjust.

Visiblity is good.My brother feels Wagon R(The car in which he learnt driving) offered a better visibility.

I feel cabin space is wasted on the dash.Hyundai can easiy add a few more cubbyholes and extra spaces on the non-airbag variants.

NVH levels are quite low. One can hardly listen to the 1.2 Kappa under the hood.

Dead pedal provided and the footwell is dominated by the service brake pedal.

5.INSTRUMENTATION



Speedometer has a beautiful "paper-back illumination".Looks similar to the a way a paper would appear when painted green and illuminated by a dim lamp.

Speedometer marks 30 to 50 kmph as Economy mode. Analog temperature gauge is the way I like it and Door open tell tale lights useful for first-time car owners like us.

There is also a useful low fuel warning light.

Gear indicator on the console is missed. I think this is a must have in an automatic.

6.CONTROLS



Combination switches are light and easy to use. Horn button takes getting used to.

My 11-month-old niece was the one to discover that the circular AC vents can also be 'rotated' clockwise or anti-clockwise.They can be fully shut too.

Throttle is light and the brakes are very responsive - a mild pressure will do the job.


7.ENGINE ,GEARBOX AND TYRES



The engine is refined and open the engine bay - one finds an extra dipstick for the automatic transaxle fluid. This dipstick has 4 markings. One can check the fluid

level when the engine is cold or sufficiently warm.

Four speed AT is superb and shifting is pretty smooth(No jerky movements like coupling a locomotive to a cut of wagons).We have hardly used the L and 2 positions.

Shift into D and release the brake - the car takes off !

There is a small OD cancelling button in the Gear lever.When OD is off, it is indicated on the instrumentation.

We left the stock tyres as it is. Yes, the car does cry when one trys to corner at moderately high speed. The side walls of the stock tyres had an orange sticker(QC passed sticker?) and an oily (polish?) finish.


8.STYLING



I personally like the styling on the i10. Its not one of the dynamic or kinetic types but has a mature feeling to it. The rear looks a tad-boring(and boxy) compared to the front.

Absence of fog lamps in the front cannot be missed by anyone. While the new santro zing and many cars that have a body-coloured bumper have their lower front bumper finished in black , the i10 has two ugly rubber fittings in the place of the fogs.

The styling won't make anyone look at your car twice and better it will scare none.


9.COMFORT



A four seater hatchback.

EP Steering is extremely light though it doesn't offer much feel like the direct non-power assisted ones.

AC is quite effective and is not noisy even with the 4-speed blower on the position 3.

Power window switches are not illuminated.

Remote locking also unlocks the hatch - A useful feature especially with a kid on one hand and a bunch of shopping bags on another.

Boot space is adequate for city use.

Doors open fairly wide.



10.PROS

+ Practical , functional city car
+ Easy(iest) to drive
+ Refined engine and overall good quality

11.CONS

- Makes one lazy and rob the pleasure of shifting gears
- Fuel efficiency
- Cabin little cramped though doesn't induce clastrophobia in one.
- A pillar sometimes obstructs a clear view while parking/turning.
- Headlight found inadequate


12.INJURIES SO FAR

1.My brother drove it for a couple of Kms with the parking brake engaged ! More than the red tell-tale light on the dash, we ignored the tell-tale sign of the car not pulling away in D mode. I was in a state of mild Euphoria with the arrival of a new car while my brother didn't know about the parking brake(courtesy: His driving school).

Lesson learnt - No Red tell tale lights allowed on the dash when the car is moving. Orange demands attention while green and blue tell tales are allowed under appropriate situations.

2.Yours truly banged the rear of the car on the compound wall(with no accelerator pressed, car moving in R mode with brakes mildly applied) while parking it.

Lesson learnt - Have a look and survey the area carefully before parking the car anywhere. The compound wall had a vertical protrusion(a concrete beam actually) that wasn't visible through the rear window.Thanks to the rubbery plasticky black rail that runs along the rear bumper - There was just a small scratch(But it did break my heart).

13.SOME QUERIES

The temperature gauge moves fairly quickly and stays(doesn't move up further) around the half way mark(with just 10 minutes of the 1.2 Kappa running with the AC on).

Is this normal?

How can an automatic car be started if the OE Exide battery is conked ? I guess one cannot push start it.

Is it true that the engine should be run for a couple of minutes before giving it load(Switching on the AC for example.)?

Is there an interlock between the service brakes and transmission at very low speeds of 5 kmph - say If one keeps pressed the service brake pedal with the car in D mode,(waiting in a signal for example) will the gearbox shift to N ?


CONCLUSION




If there is a Sub-5.5 Lakh car you want to gift your wife (or) You want a no-non-sense , easy to drive automatic hatchback (Even if tomorrow Maruti launches an overpriced A-star AT) - This is it.



Thanks for reading.
Cheers,
Ashwanth.

[narchennai]

@Ashwanth
I liked everything about the posted review and of all the last few lines made me smile sa that was what I was thinking when I read your post - Gifting my wife a nice car.
I hope your brother and his family enjoys this car pleasantly. Best choice made

[carfanatic007]

Great review by a newbie, pictures are good and injuries section is hilarious but on a serious note do try to practice driving a bit in open space before venturing out on roads so that you dont harm your car or others. Wishing you many many miles ahead

[rajushank84]

Excellent pictures, Ashwanth!

This car is SO comfortable to drive in the city!

Originally Posted by ashwanth

The temperature gauge moves fairly quickly and stays(doesn't move up further) around the half way mark(with just 10 minutes of the 1.2 Kappa running with the AC on).

Is this normal?

Yes it is normal.

[condor]

hi Ashwanth, nicely written review there. There was a certain freshness in the way you have described your experiences. So here's wishing you all a happy & safe ownership experience.

ashwanth : The temperature gauge moves fairly quickly and stays(doesn't move up further) around the half way mark(with just 10 minutes of the 1.2 Kappa running with the AC on).

Normal. Should not go up / indicate lesser. If either othis happens, get it checked immed.

ashwanth : Is it true that the engine should be run for a couple of minutes before giving it load(Switching on the AC for example.)?

A little idling is a must. Check your owner's manual for the duration of idling before you start moving. Good to wait a bit before switching on the A/c. If nothing is mentioned, idle atleast 30 secs, or upto a minute before you start to move. And do not push it as soon as you start to move. Let the temp guage come up atleast a bit before you start normal driving.

[MutantX]

Nice one ashwanth. The is soo beautiful! I too got mine in DSC nandanam 3 weeks back! the is wonderful, I have clocked 350 kms and it is a pleasure to drive in city traffic.

[herculesksp]

Great post and nice pics. Incidentally, I took the test drive of an i10 Automatic just today noon. It is such an awesome car, and far exceeded my expectations. Also co-incidentally (seeing the Vista always in the background in the pics, I am assuming it is yours), I own a Red Vista myself. Its a nice car, but then there are some niggling problems and I do feel like getting rid of it and getting myself a nice little automatic (would please the missus too).

I was expecting it to be a little cramped as compared to the Vista, but it was pretty fine when at the drivers seat. I have sat at the rear in a friends car and 3 barely fit there. So when compared to Vista it is quite narrow. However, at the driver's seat, I did not find much difference, mainly owing to the fact that a huge amount of shoulder room is freed up due to the fact that you don't have to change gears.

On the 800 and on the Vista, I keep bumping into my wife's legs when she is sitting cross legged, or into her hands when she is trying to access something in the cubby holes or on the dash(it is in the center ja?). I suspect there will be no such problem on the i10.

Btw, what did you find the fuel efficiency was? Also, how did you run in the i10 Automatic? Do you have to keep staring at the RPM meter to keep your revs low? Since you are not the one controlling the gearing, you just have to keep your foot off the accelerator pedal.

I asked my TD salesperson the same question about the car 'trying' to move with the brakes depressed. I asked whether the engine would be cut off when the brakes are depressed. I am not sure he understood the question correctly, but he said that the car will not be running when either of the brakes are used. I however tried stopping and feeling the car, but the engine is so refined that I couldn't hear any noise nor feel any vibrations to make a judgement. However the RPM was at 1000 (idling) and unless there is any torque converter or slipping clutch (or some other variant of an automatic clutch), I think the engine will be trying to make the car move and this could firstly prove bad for the FE, and secondly wear out the clutch and the brakes real fast.

I also found a nice steep slope and stopped the car on it. The car has great hill holding ability and doesn't roll back when on a slope. Great feature for the wife and for the newbie drivers.

[Schoudhury]

Wow, this was a real nice review with beautifully clicked snaps.
And most importantly gives a little glimpse of things to expect when some one is driving a AT after driving MT vehicles.
Please keep us all posted with more of your/bro's experience with car.
Cheers

[chncar]

Hi Ashwanth, nice review and wish you may happy journeys on your new ride.

What was the OTR cost in Chennai, and what kind of discounts did you get?

[prashant.dinkar]

Congratulations on the purchase . Very nice pictures and review .
Have you calculated the fuel average yet?
Drive safe and happy miles munching.

[quadmaniac]

Very nice writeup Ashwanth, and I like your subtle humour :-). The parking brake situation was really funny!

[ashwanth]

Thanks all for the kind comments.

The is soo beautiful! I too got mine in DSC nandanam 3 weeks back!
the is wonderful, I have clocked 350 kms and it is a pleasure to drive in
city traffic.

Your car looks fantastic in Grey. Ours have run about 200 Kms. Yours is MT
? (I don't see an extra dipstick in the engine bay).

Check your owner's manual for the duration of idling before you
start moving. Good to wait a bit before switching on the A/c. If nothing is
mentioned, idle atleast 30 secs,

Nothing is mentioned about idling. But it takes a good 30 seconds by the
time my Brother straps his seat belts and all of us settle inside !

Also co-incidentally (seeing the Vista always in the background in
the pics, I am assuming it is yours), I own a Red Vista myself.

Red vista in the background is one of our family friend's(Its a Quadrajet).
Nice car - Has loads of space inside and I like the bold red colour.

On the 800 and on the Vista, I keep bumping into my wife's legs when she is sitting cross legged, or into her hands when she is trying to access something in the cubby holes or on the dash(it is in the center ja?). I suspect there will be no such problem on the i10.

Yes, there is no such problem. This problem won't be present in MT i10 or cars like Ritz that have a centre console shift.

Btw, what did you find the fuel efficiency was? Also, how did you run in the i10 Automatic? Do you have to keep staring at the RPM meter to keep your revs low? Since you are not the one controlling the gearing, you just have to keep your foot off the accelerator pedal.

Have you calculated the fuel average yet?

Yet to calculate it accurately.(by tank-full,low fuel warning,distance run method).Roughly its 8 km/l or more.

No, Running-in AT is very simple - Just have a light foot. We can barely notice the tachometer going beyond 3000-4000 rpm at city speeds. I guess limiting the extensive use of L and 2 modes will help the run-in process.

As you noticed, the car doesn't need to be shifted to L or 2 even when climbing out of a resturant's basement parking(these are more steeper than the city's flyovers).

I think the engine will be trying to make the car move and this could firstly prove bad for the FE, and secondly wear out the clutch and the brakes real fast.

I feel the same but I vaguely remember a showroom person telling about it. Owner's doesn't mention anything like an interlock.For the time being , my bro always shifts to N while waiting at a signal.

Please keep us all posted with more of your/bro's experience with car.

Will do. Will try to post more pictures.(Engine, Cargo bay and small but significant things !)

What was the OTR cost in Chennai, and what kind of discounts did you get?

It was close to 5.3 Lakhs on-road. We bought at a time when hyundai was giving a cash discount of 20-30 k and 3rd year/80000 km warranty was offered free. The car comes with a standard 2-year/ unlimited Kms warranty.

[MutantX]

Thanks mate. I too got a great offer from Hyundai. My Sportz MT was 5.07 OTR, after discounts & bargaining I got it for 4.6L (after 15k loyality bonus which would reach in 6 months time). DSC offers the best discounts. There is always a saying, buy at DSC and service at KUN!.

When exactly did you get your i10? ment how long has it been? i took delivery on 18th June 2010.

[ashwanth]

There is always a saying, buy at DSC and service at KUN!.

Yes, I think we will service her at HMP(little far from guindy) or at one of the authorized service centres near Thiruvanmiyur. Not many chennai team-bhpians are happy servicing their Hyundais at DSC.

Your deal was a steal - I would say. Was your previous car a hyundai too - my guess Santro or Getz ?

When exactly did you get your i10? ment how long has it been?

We took delivery on July 5th 2010. The car arrived to the yard 4 days earlier. Booking was made on 20th june 2010. They had a stock Sportz AT (lighter blue, metallic) but I advised my brother not to go for it(colour too was not liked by everyone in the family).

[trrk]

Hi,

Originally Posted by herculesksp

I think the engine will be trying to make the car move and this could firstly prove bad for the FE, and secondly wear out the clutch and the brakes real fast.

The best and safest option would be to shift to Neutral when stopped and using the handbrake. Better for fuel efficiency and brakes.

In an automatic car, either of the brakes should be on for safety sake.

Originally Posted by herculesksp

I also found a nice steep slope and stopped the car on it. The car has great hill holding ability and doesn't roll back when on a slope. Great feature for the wife and for the newbie drivers.

It works on reasonable slopes. But please make sure that your foot brake or hand brake is used on slopes when you stop the car. Beyond a certain angle, your car can go back.

I have experienced this in my CVT in certain slopes. Unless prepared for it, it would surprise you and is not a good situation in bumper to bumper to traffic.