2023 Hyundai Verna 1.5L Turbo: Likes & dislikes after a showroom visit

If I get back to the sedan space, I had decided on the Virtus GT 1.5 TSI, but now the 2023 Verna 1.5 Turbo could offer good competition.

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Checked out the new Hyundai Verna 1.5L Turbo MT SX(O) today.

Right off the bat, in person, the car doesn’t look as bad as it does in pictures! This is one rare car where the white colour just doesn’t suit it! But you’ll either take a liking to it or you’ll not like it at all. There is no middle ground in the looks department with these newer-gen Hyundais, something that was present in previous-generation Hyundai cars like the 2017 First-Gen Creta I have. The new design language adopted will age very fast!

What I liked:

1. Quality levels (the leather-wrapped steering and leather Seats felt brilliant to hold and touch) are better than the VAG 2.0 camp sedans for sure.
2. The longer wheelbase has surely freed much-needed room in the rear seat, which has always been a weak point of the previous gen Vernas.
3. Boot space at 528L is humongous for the segment.
4. Features galore, it’s the most feature-loaded car in its segment; ADAS, Ventilated & heated seats, High-beam assist, electric 4-way driver seat, 64 colours ambient lighting etc.
5. Ingress and egress were pretty good and not a pain.
6. Finally, a mass-market Hyundai gets all illuminated window switches, something that shouldn’t have been absent earlier (Tucson being the only exception)
7. Plenty of space in the centre console area to store knick-knacks, something I really like about all Hyundais.
8. MT is offered in several trims with the Turbo petrol engine, something that is missing in the VW Virtus but present with the Škoda Slavia.
9. The button to switch between the AC controls and Infotainment controls is a party trick, but the controls are touch-sensitive (a drawback for me especially while driving).
10. Safety on these Indian-made Hyundais has always been a question mark, providing 6 airbags as standard is a good step but a crash test by GNCAP will be needed for the necessary answers.

What I loathed:

1. There is not much to differentiate the 1.5L Turbo variant from the 1.5L NA variants other than the red brake callipers and black alloys from the outside. The 1.5L Turbo deserves an N-Line version, which I hope is in the pipeline.
2. 1.5L Turbo MT SX(O) variants don’t get the EPB with Auto-hold feature and Rear-disc brakes, reserved exclusively for DCT owners ?! Who decides such a feature distribution, different variants getting different features is understandable but differentiating features on the basis of MT and AT is ridiculous when the same top-end variant is in consideration.
3. Hate the twin-spoke steering wheel, just feels so incomplete in an otherwise great-looking interior.
4. The speedometer cluster is an absolute joke and has no business in a car so expensive!
5. The subwoofer jutting out in the boot can be an issue if someone is not careful while stowing their luggage.
6. The black interiors may look sporty, but the plastic-y feeling with an All-black cabin gets accentuated, something that dual-tone interiors do better with a more premium and sophisticated look.

Some Pictures

A design that you’ll either like or not like, no middle ground here. This is one rare car where the white colour just doesn’t suit it!:

The coupe-ish design and connected tail-lights give the car a good presence when looked at from the rear:

Nowadays more and more manufacturers are going for satin finish for various exterior elements like logos and door handles! First I saw Toyota do it with both the Hyryder and Hycross getting satin finish logos and monikers, now Hyundai has done it with the Verna, everything is in satin finish on the exterior, several interior bits included. The only chrome I saw on this Verna is the lettering inside the gear knob. A surprising departure from Chrome!

A very busy alloy wheel design will be a pain to keep clean, especially in full black. The red calipers denote the 1.5L Turbo variant.

The All-Black interior with red stitching and piping for the 1.5L Turbo variant

Absolutely hate this steering wheel design, come on least the turbo variants deserve a sportier steering wheel with three spokes.

With the button for switching between AC and Infotainment controls, a lot of space has been saved without compromising on usability and ergonomics, smart!

4-way Driver’s electric seat with a manual lever for adjusting the height, I’m sure providing a 6-way electric seat wouldn’t have cost much!

Centre console space is a strong point for all Hyundai cars

Rear seat space is much better on this new generation Verna, the longer wheelbase shows here. I had enough headroom for me at 5’8” even with the sloping roofline

The rear legroom on offer with the driver’s seat set to my driving position was on par with the competition

Bose branding on the speakers, is more of the show than go as seen already with the Creta unless Hyundai India has actually changed something dramatically

Rear-AC vents and a total of 4 charging ports in the cabin with 3 being Type-C USBs ports and 1 USB-A port

The massive 528L boot is really deep and well-designed, the only gripe is the subwoofer jutting out

Conclusion

The pricing chosen by Hyundai for the Verna has brought some much-needed life into the slowly-reviving C-Segment Sedan space.

A diesel will surely be missed in this segment, but that’s how the world is moving, can’t do much about it! By offering both a 1.5L NA and 1.5L Turbo (with class-leading specs) with AT and MT in both, Hyundai can cater to a much wider audience. Although is the 1.5L Turbo really class-leading can only be confirmed once the drive reviews are out because there is a difference between Korean horses and German horses as seen with the previous-gen 1.0L Turbo 120hp Verna and 110hp 1.0L TSI Virtus/Slavia.

If I am in the sedan space in the near future as a replacement for my Creta, which one will I pick? Well, I had decided on the Virtus GT 1.5L TSI long back when I got to test-drive one, will be eager to see if the 1.5L turbo Verna can sway me back to the Korean Camp.

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