Diesel Santro Preview & Overall Information. Review on Hyundai Santro Xing

It seems other things have received priority and diesel Santro is not particularly on the to-do list of Hyundai, at least for 2006 :: Not sure if they want to surprise the competitors with a quick launch?

Hyundai currently has the best mass-produced diesel technology in India. If you discount the Octavia 1.9 TDI engine Hyundai's CRDI 3 cyl in Accent & 4 Cyl in Elantra are the best diesels in India currently (after Benz of course). As Tata is working with Delphi on their new generation (CRDI) diesel engines due to Bharat-3 emission norms that would be in effect from April 2005, Hyundai is also planning to offer Diesel in Hyundai Santro and Getz. Getz is sorely missing Diesel engine and Santro would nothing but help a LOT with introduction of Diesel. Santro was #1 selling car first time ever in the month of November 2004 (due to their Santro for 3 Lac for 3 days campaign). It went past Alto & M800!

Tata sells 80% of the Indicas with Diesel engine. This shows how much need in the market for such a hatch. Tata recently put the Turbocharged engine from Indigo to Indica in a top of the line variant. (Now we will have more fierce cab-driver zooming past at unsafe speeds!)

Santro was always a great entry. With a light kerb weight and a tiny but torque engine it always gave good around town driving experience. The light weight & the high seating position offered by the Tall Boy helped Santro the most 'easy car to drive' in the segment award for the general public. People loved Palio but higher price, lower fuel efficiency (service) & high weight made them forget about it after a drive in the Santro.

I own a Palio and Ikon 1.6 Exi, I love Palio but feel relieved when I get back the Ikon as it 'feels' light on feet in motion. No doubt people bought Santro due to these factors & better fuel efficiency. The Xing made the whole deal sweeter. Now the only gripe (goofy styling) people had was taken care of.

The new Diesel in Santro is reportedly a 1.1 liter CRDi engine. This would give it comparable power (Hp) as the Petrol one but the torque like the 1.3 engine & that too at a much lower rpm. This engine if weight (in the short-nose) kept in check would make Santro a force to content in the segment. It will give Diesel Indica its first competitor. Watch out Tata!

The key is how Hyundai is able to price it. Indicas diesel is priced way too lower. Hyundai has taken the right steps to lower the costs. Mico-Bosch alliance is investing in India to produce Common-Rail Injection units and devising ways to lower the manufacturing costs. The kind of pressure the fuel is injected is mind-boggling (400Km per Hr) Titanium Alloy is needed to withstand such high levels of pressure and temperature. By reducing injection pressure they might be able to reduce titanium alloy quantity.

Let us have a look at the Santro:

Styling The new Xing is stylish, looks executive sort and gives you one more reason to buy it. The clear-lens headlamps lend it an upscale look. The body colored bumper is not that a necessity like on Alto. Cars looks good even with black/plastic bumpers. Of course colored one increase the style quotient. The grill is also more formal and upscale looking. The color availability though not as comprehensive as Palio is quite good.

Interior: Smart, Tall-Boy design, ample space in the front due to bench style seating and not spread-leg like Palio (huge space though!), Rear seat legroom a little lower. Shoulder room great for 2 but a squeeze for 3. The quality of plastics best in the segment and a surprise in this price bracket. Seat fabric could be a little better though. (Good seat covers would solve this problem). The optional dealer installed music system and other controls are easy to spot. Visibility is good all-around except C-pillars thickness hampers it a bit. The big mirrors surely help!

Ride/Handling: Ride is good enough, small 13 inch wheels make inter-city drives quite a task! They are good for only one thing: Fuel economy. Softly sprung Santro is however a decent performer and rides comfortably with or without full load. With 5 on board it suffers a little stiffness though. Handling is not a priority of Hyundai and also not consumers. Suspension department is still not very well sorted out area of the Korean manufacturers. Getz is better in this respect however. It is very easy to toss around the car in the traffic. The wheelbase is decent 2380 mm and offers above average high speed stability, just keep it south of 100!

Engine/Transmission: Fuel efficient 1086 cc engine good for 63 hp with aprx 63 lb-ft of torque too. Lower rpm response is quite good. Light weight make the engine feel more powerful than it is. The gear-box is not as smooth as Palio but better than Indica. The gear throws are also average length. Stop n go traffic better in Santro than others. The 3 speed slush-box (AT) is better left at the dealership as it is not suited to Indian conditions, is less efficient both perf & economy. Unless a full time female driver with week legs/injury or older drivers this option doesn't warrant closer look. The AC cools the interior better than most but given the fact it has to cover a bigger area with bigger glasses can make the engine strain in the summer. Engine looses quite a bit of power & drop in efficiency with AC On all the times.

Cost, Resale, Competition: Depending on the trim & options you can go from close to 4 lac to 4.60 on road aprx. The Santro enjoys very good after sales service and lower service/parts/repair costs than other non-Maruti manufacturers. The Santro offers decent build quality & economy. These factors contribute a very high level of resale-values that is not the norm is Indian market. Only Diesels command good resale in India.

The competition is , Wagen-R, Zen, Indica(P&D), Palio. Wagen-R gets city-only customers. I hate that car, no safety at all like other Maruti cars! Indica is crude, bigger & offers diesel so a different car than Santro (better on highways too). So different priorities for Indica buyers. Palio is better in each and every respect except fuel economy but suffers from Fiat Image. (Recently they reduced prices on spares by almost 60-70%!!). Palio is safer, heavier & pricier though! It is bigger too. Women find it way intimidating & try teaching women to drive Palio! Zen is age old and sells due to ultra-conservative, no-risk consumers. This means Santro does enjoy its own space and offers a better compromise of the virtues & vices.

Conclusion: Not a strong as Palio, Not as fuel efficient was Zen, not as attractive as Palio, not as tough/highway cruiser as Indica/Palio, Santro is ultimate City car with occasional inter-city drives. It offers nice compromise of what people need from a small-hatch. A must look if you are in the market for one. With the soon to be launched diesel you might have a Indica-beater. Let us see how that turns-up!