Summarising my Hyundai Alcazar ownership after 50,000 km in 11 months

The fuel efficiency from the SUV has never dropped below 20 km/l, which is impressive.

BHPian sids1811 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Alcazar done 50k in < 1 Year

And so the beast completes 50k in less than 11 months and what an enjoyable ride it has been. As fellow BHPian Chillajay rightly said it is not a beast but a beauty inside

Coming from a 1.6 Creta which had already done 265k km, Alcazar was just a natural progression as a Creta with a bigger boot and some extra gizmos threw in, 6-seater was not a base requirement but somehow made sense as our Highway runs are too many. These would have been used multiple times now with kids and never once they have complained (this also might be because of the company of friends they were with)

The Buying & the Choice

The only thing decided at the time of buying was a new Diesel powered car is needed as Creta had already done 250k km and needed someone to share duties with. Comfort, fuel efficiency, and ease of driving were the factors desired and Alcazar ticked all these at the right spots. Tata Safari was the only other option considered (the Safari Name pull had me for once) but somehow was not confident about how the vehicle will behave once it aged. XUV 700 was also a contender but the crazy wait times dampened our spirits.

Reviews had termed Alcazar as underpowered which when compared to our Creta it was but somehow over the entire year, we have not felt the same on the road. Perhaps the fact that it has managed to return 20 km/l consistently was a fact that made us ignore it but when you have this heavy running to do mileage matters.

The other issue was related to headlights which I also feel are a bit dim was nighttime rural driving. The first anniversary might see an addition of a Hella bar or similar to counter this.

Apart from this, Alcazar is indeed a good choice for betting your odd 20 big ones

The City Drives

Alcazar though big on the inside does not feel so overwhelming to drive in the city and is quite nimble to handle. Tight spots are a breeze thanks to the excellent 360 cam system and the width is just perfect for some of the narrow streets of our city. One amazing thing I noticed is that you cannot close ORVM above speeds of 15 or so when driving. Earlier i thought it was an error and the button had stopped functioning but later I realized you are only allowed to close the ears when at slow speeds.

Can't comment on city mileage as somehow our vehicle manages a highway run between every tankful one way or another but still my rough calculation would peg city mileage at 14-15 km/l.

The Highways

Alcazar manages to put a smile on your face when you know you are doing 90 - 110 speeds on a consistent basis and getting good mileage at the same time. At these speeds, there is enough grunt still left for overtakes and manoeuvres you might require while keeping things under control. Cruise control is easy to use and all the other controls also fall on the hand without needing to take your eyes off the road.

Contrary to what others say the continued beep over 120 is a boon, it helps you keep a check on yourself as the car is able to disguise speeds on the expressway and within no time you are exceeding these speeds. Though the expressways are great to drive in UP and other parts also in general now, you never know when a moron wants to try his luck with you any day by coming to the wrong side or whatnot.

One thing that I feel has seen serious improvement is the steering feels and handling, With Creta First gen there was a slight play in steering in handling and somehow the connect was a bit lagging say as compared to our Polo but in Alcazar, Hyundai has managed to better the feel and connect. You can be confident that the vehicle is going to go the way you direct it to immediately.

Efficiency-wise, I have seen this give a max of 26 km/l in December on Yamuma Expressway with climate control off and relaxed driving at 100, otherwise, also it has never dropped below 20 to date.

Niggles

The battery died on us one fine morning which was surprising to us for a new car less than 10 months and 45k km. Roadside assistance came to the rescue and told us a replacement is needed which will be chargeable as the warranty is for 40k km only of new cars for the battery. A couple of calls to our wonderful Hyundai dealer in the City and the same was done FOC as a goodwill gesture.

Rats were able to get the better of us and damaged the headlight and parking brake wires. As these were not insured, had to get them replaced and get a rodent treatment done which they say has a life of 6 months. If any fellow member has a solution to it, please PM, it's much needed as this will need some permanent solution.

The car came fitted with Apollo Apterra, 1 of the tires was damaged due to my driver's fault so had to replace 2 of these with Bridgestone and the car has been running with s staggered set-up since. My experience with Apollo had not been good in our earlier cars' OEM tires but somehow the remaining 2 have managed to cross 50k with good rubber still left on them, Still 18 inches are a bad choice as the options are limited, and the low aspect ratio makes for some stiffness and somehow the big thuds do travel to you.

Summary

Alcazar manages to bring a smile after a long day and it is that all matters, the sound insulation is brilliant, forget the engine noise, you don't even realize how high your own horn is outside when sitting inside the vehicle.

The car is full of party tricks such as ORVM display on the speedo, the digital speedo, ambient lights and a brilliant system. I somehow found my Creta music system to have better sound quality but the family thinks otherwise so the issue settled on that one.

So, is Alcazar the perfect 6-seater, well it is far from it but is Alcazar a perfect big Creta, you can bet on it for sure

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