Jul 13, 2003 03:35 AM
34556 Views
(Updated Jun 23, 2005 12:33 PM)
For all of you who have seen the commercial, in which Mr. Shah Rukh Khan ,enroute to a surfing trip to the beach, complete with a surfboard on top of his Santro Zip Plus, is stopped by Mr. Kim, this article may not be news to you: Hyundai India is abandoning the old Santro Zip Plus, kind of like Shah Rukh ji with the Surfboard,and......now replacing the current model with the ''new'' Santro Xing.Hmm,The name does have a familiar ring to it, doesn't it? Xing? /Zing? Rings! Except that I think, it lacks just the same! Zing.I had been reading reports of this supposedly all new Hyundai car undergoing secret R & D in Korea, and you would occassionally see a spy photo in some car magazine showing this ''Santro'' like jelly beaned shaped clothe clad experimental model named the ''Atos'' as the Santro is called in ''phoren'', and all that expectation kind of turned out too great. For one thing, the real dissapointment is that the new vehichle does NOT have a zingier powertrain. The same old 61 bhp Epsilon engine powers the new Santro Xing.And while the exteriors have been remodelled, they are nothing radically new, in fact the new Santro now looks like the more pretentious cousin of the Maruti Suzuki Wagon R.The WagonR is the very What-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of vehichle. The old Santro pretended to be all aerodynamic and sort of cool with the ovoid head lamps and a very impressive round taillight cluster, but with the Xing, Hyundai Engineering seems to be thinking:Hmm, No. the Japanese Wagon R design makes sense.Just goes on to show who the real pioneers were.The newheadlamps are nothing to to write home about.The rear tail lights look ''glitzy''. They look like some old strobe lights from a ship.Glitzy with that sparkly kind of shine, but strangely circular! Now the old Santro with the new tail light cluster seemed alright, they were balanced out by the ovoid headlamps. Confused? Hyundai designers seem the same.See,they brought out this ''new'' old Santro with a redesigned tail light cluster that looked nicer than the old one, except that the Xing's looks worse than the 'old' old Santro's cluster. It seems out of harmony with the squarish headlights. Aesthetics, apart the vehichle retains the old Santro charms, good ride, easy handling and incredible manouevreability. Power though is a little concern. But for most family owners, power comes behind mileage, and so the Engine remains 1000 cc and the fuel consumption a comfortable 12-15 kpl in New Delhi road driving conditions. But that comparitively low figure probably has more to do with Delhi's drowned roads this time of the year during my drive than Vehichle engineering. I would have been very much impressed like Mr. Shah Rukh ji himself and purchased the Xing if it had come with the following real ''new'' Zingier features:
1:Real streamlined vehichle with a taller body
2: A wider stance,and although the Xing is taller and longer than the old Santro, it is not wider.
3:A redesigned instrument and stereo cluster, located on the roof, with Voice command activation and more. Atleast aluminium dials for the speedometer if not digital readouts.Even the Wagon R has these.
4:Definitely a peppier engine, and while the Epsilon is responsive, I feel a stronger and longer Santro deserves atleast 65bhp.
5:The flank indicator lights should be relocated to the top of the windscreen pillars where they are more conspicuous and visible in comparison to the curent sides position.That would definitely have been zingier ,like the Merc with turn indicators on the sideviews!Hyundai design,continue to innovate!
6:Most tall cars in India, are purchased by families as family vehichles, yet it is surprising how insensitive vehichle manufacturers are to the needs of families: There is no securing mechanism for babyseats in either the Santro Xing or WagonR.No rear reading lights.Not even back AC vents with independent control for the rear passengers!I was hoping the new Xing would have been designed as a family vehichle.A nicetouch would have been something like all power windows or an anti collision sensor,or even keyless entry or inflatable backrests inbuilt into the seats for those long rides.
7:Safety is pivotal for family car owners, they drive carefully, but the new Xing has no new safety features.All it promises are the usual cupholders and spoilers(Usually featured in the photograph only)! It should atleast have Airbags and sidebags. Alright my wishlist could go on and on....but you see, Hyundai could have come ot with better Xing.With the Wagon R Plus about to be launched shortly, it will be crunch time as to wether the Xing can truly match its name.Apart from the wishlist, the Xing does have a few innovative little touches like Under Seat Storage trays and high mounted rear brake lamp etc. But not enough for me to put my surfboard on top of the Xing.
If you are planning on buying a family vehichle, by all means go ahead and test ride and evaluate the Xing, but wait until Maruti Udyog finally wakes up and comes out with a better Wagon R Plus.Then compare and decide.And I'm pretty certain the Xing will win if the Plus has nothing innovative to offer.The sun may be back, but am I willing to saddle up my surfboard on the Xing?I prefer to wait and watch!
