News

My Hyundai Alcazar Petrol AT: Pros & cons after 2 years of ownership

18th July 2023, 18:11 by Rahul Nagaraj

View Forum Discussion

On the highway, the overall fuel efficiency I got was around 13.99 km/l.

BHPian bil.007 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hyundai Alcazar Ownership Review

Hello Fellow Team-BHPians,

This is my ownership review of my HYUNDAI ALCAZAR 6 Str 2.0 Petrol AT.

Bought this in July 2021.

We had been this using as the daily driver for about a year until the Harrier was bought.

Firstly, I’ll share the Pros then the Cons and lastly how I feel about the car so far. Throughout the entire post, my only aim is to give Hyundai and other stakeholders, my reviews and issues I faced with their products and they hopefully could act upon it (if it makes sense to them) to make Hyundai an even more amazing brand. I’m a fan of their idea of the above-segment features and ideas!

The Pros:

Right off the bat, The Interior, it’s just great!:

The ergonomics are well sorted, I have plenty of space to stow my phone on the side pockets of the door as they’re large enough for a 6.7-inch device, and the wireless charging space below the AC control also is well designed to keep other miscellaneous things as well, and not to forget a dedicated sunglass holder too only adds in making the overall cabin cluster free.

The rear seats get these tables and cup holders that aid in using laptops on the move and the sunshade helps keep up the privacy. There’s also wireless charging at the back with plenty of storage available under the armrest. Also, the small nets behind the front seats make it very easy to hold my AirPods and other small items.

The third row also gets a dedicated blower speed button which helps a lot in keeping the last row of passengers comfortable. Kudos to Hyundai for keeping this in mind, as other brands don’t even offer proper cooling in the second row.

Boot space with third rows folded is great, even with the last row up it is fairly adequate for small luggage, Never faced an issue there.

The infotainment screen is HD and works like a charm (mostly), sometimes it does show black screens and lags but that’s 2/10 times only. I get all related info with ease. The 360 Degree Camera does its job pretty well and helps in tight spaces, can see what's around with a click of a button, and the cameras especially on either side of the ORVM keep monitoring the wheels and make sure I see everything around the tires, making traffic driving and tight parking spot parking a breeze. Apple CarPlay being the highlight, it ups the cockpit experience. It utilizes the complete 10.25-inch display and makes driving easier, the maps are well and big, and music info is delivered in a great layout, all in all, simple and great.

BOSE Speaker system is punchy, clear and fun. New pop audios are a bliss to listen to as the bass nails the beats and make the drive an even better experience, its also loud enough for my liking (goes upto 45VOL) and it does feel like a real 35 VOL at least unlike the case generally in some cars where the top end of volume makes no difference.

Driver infotainment is something my guest are fascinated by, and I can boast about it as well! It’s simply that high-tech. I get the driver info, Highline TPMS, compass, fuel economy and more in a few clicks, also the animations of the cluster are amazing. Switching to Sports Mode gives this whole video game feeling and dials turn red and in italics. It’s one of the best things in the car.

The Exterior, Hits and Misses:

Talking about the overall design, it’s in between good and great. The front dark chrome grill does add to its character, the car feels premium on the outside because of it. The rear spoiler adds a sporty touch although it should have been an independent spoiler and not a connecting one through the C pillars like it is now, I feel it would’ve made it look much nicer. The footsteps on either side are an aid for senior citizens. The indicators could be all led considering the offerings of the competition. However at certain angles, the design seems to look like an MPV from the sides, not a big fan of this, certain things about the design and the lights, unfortunately, have to go into the Cons section and read through to find out.

The Performance, Linear Pull:

The Smartstream G2.0 MPi CVVL (G4NM) Engine imported engine is quick and has instant pull lower down the rpm. It’s fairly punchy throughout the Rev range and has a better top end than the mid. As it goes past 3000RPM the motor starts acting enthusiastically and keeps pulling the 1.4Ton vehicle. However, it does get vocal.

City mode is fairly adequate as termed, for the city. Eco is recommended mostly as FE isn’t alright; more on this in Cons, Lastly the Sports Mode is great, gives me complete power and weighs up the steering wheel as well. It’s fun to drive in stretches and triple digits are fairly easy, The 6 Speed Torque Converter is smooth and doesn’t make the shifts be felt most of the time unless in Sport. Driving in the City is a piece of cake thanks to the light steering and peppy low end not to forget the ever-helpful 360 camera system. Overall this car packs a punch, delivers power as expected and somewhere deep down pumps up the adrenaline. It’s like the car doesn’t feel like its size in straight paths and the city.

BlueLink, Absolute Convenience:

The car comes equipped with Hyundai’s BlueLink-connected car tech; in one word; it’s convenient. The remote start/stop, remote lock/unlock, ac controls, remote lights on/off, car location tracking and complete car health history along with tracked drives of the car (the speed, idle time etc.) is all a boon, especially if you’re giving your driver the car. There have been instances where the keys are at home, and I need to put some stuff in the car, I simply unlock it from the app, which saves time! , also when I’m out of station, I remotely switch on the car from anywhere in the world, so that the car stays usable. If only one thing that could be better is the network reception could be stronger, sometimes the car doesn’t respond to the BlueLink command.

It also gets all 4 discs making the braking satisfactory, It’s a confidence-inspiring set of brakes. Great work there.

The Cons:

Ride Quality, It’s Great and Plain BAD together:

In the initial days after delivery of the Alcazar I was amazed by the ride quality, it was plush and smooth in the city and glided through uneven paths (these aren’t broken routes or patches just that the road was more hollow at some places than the other). The rear seat comfort was really good, no issues at all. This is still somewhat the case in the city but not as smooth now as in the initial days; not sure if it’s the usage that leads to this or what (ODO at 26K km approx.).

Now the city part is manageable at least, things take a turn at the highway. I’ve got to commute approximately 125 km 3-4 days a week on concrete highways, and the overall ride quality was just not satisfactory. There are minor bumps and major ones too throughout the route at certain flyovers in the highway and the Alcazar just passes on every bump to the passengers with due diligence! I cruise at about 80-100 km/h and the cabin shakes up when I encounter such scenarios, it magnifies as per the intensity of the bumps. I get it, the suspension is soft and city-oriented but if I’m buying an SUV it’s kind of obvious I’ll take the cross country or at least the highway sometime in its lifetime, in my case 3-4 days a week! And any vehicle in this price bracket is expected to behave a certain way regardless of the terrain, I’m not expecting a lot but at least good highway characteristics are a must.

Especially if the car is fully loaded, the suspension bottoms out in moderate bumps. It’s understandable for the vehicle to be bouncier at such loads but not as much.

To curtail these issues, I headed onto the internet and of course, Team-BHP for solutions and ended up with the ROGERABS, which got them installed about 6 months ago. The ride quality became firmer and only helped in absorbing the bumps better due to the added stiffness, I didn’t feel any improvement in normal rides at any time. Sometimes felt that ride quality in the city was better before the BUFFERS and the only benefit I got was the reduction of jerks from the bump. I’m still using them but not sure what’s the way forward, I’m not completely satisfied with it as well.

Dynamics, not much expected, none delivered:

SUVs aren’t the epitome of driving dynamics unless it’s a PORSCHE!

I didn’t expect much from it either, turning the Alcazar at higher speeds gives a slight feel that the car doesn’t want to turn only. I suppose it could be because of the wheelbase and placement of the wheels themselves. It’s also not much enthusiastic around the corner unlike one of its rivals. I did want a slightly better dynamic response but at the end of the day, it’s simply not there, maybe a future N-Line Alcazar (if it ever comes could probably sort this out by miles.)

Fuel Efficiency, Gas Guzzler!:

In city driving, the FE is approx 6-7 km/pl in moderate traffic with the AC on. It’s a 2000cc engine so it’s expected to consume more fuel but this kind of consumption isn’t very pleasant economically. The highway is an average 12kmpl, at my best in Eco mode I extracted 17.5 km/l for the trip and shifted the overall FE to a 13.9 km/l however this was very light-footed driving at 80-90kmph speeds. Not practical at all times though. It could have been more efficient, not sure about the new Alcazar with the 1.5 TGDI, but I’ve read FE is better. I can deal with it, but better wouldn’t hurt anyone.

Lights, Simply inadequate

The all-led headlamps aren’t enough for the roads at night, they leave a particularly dark spot further on the street, illumination and throw both can be improved by leaps and bounds, It’s good for flickering though. I’ve seen other brands’ cars half the price having LEDs with a better throw than these units, this issue has been faced by many but there isn’t any proper solution except for adding custom projectors to the fog lamps. However, warranty issues may prevail, hence didn’t even think about it. Managing these units as I don’t have a viable option.

What I feel about the Alcazar

First off, the reason for initially buying the Alcazar was due to its high-tech cockpit, sorted ergonomics, spaciousness & above segment features and honestly, it has delivered where it was required. I appreciate the pickup it has, the features & convenience it offers, and the spaciousness. Now it does leave me craving for better highway and driving dynamics but there is no perfect car. The cons I’ve mentioned, if resolved, can make this my favourite car in its segment. Also, the design grows on you over time, As seen in International markets, Hyundai can deliver a much more sorted product and hopefully seeing newer cars with that level of attention to detail will only catapult the brand in terms of customer satisfaction and most other factors. This is my take on my Hyundai.