The Best Car in its Segment. Review on Hyundai Santro Xing

The Santro Xing is the best car in its segment. Close competitors include Maruti's Wagon-R and Zen, Fiat's Palio, Tata Indica,

Santro Xing comes in four variants i.e. XE, XP, XG, XS each with a base cost of Rs. 3 Lac and priced at a difference of around Rs 30000 each. An automatic transmission version AT is also available, but true car enthusiasts would not prefer the same.

XE is a basic AC version, XP comes with Power Streeing, XG with front Power Windows,Power Mirrors, Rear Wiper and Body Colured Bumper. XS comes with back Power Windows and Defrogger as well. Select whichever suits your pocket.

So what makes this Hyundai masterpiece so superior? What made a true Esteem fan like me change loyalties? Read below to find out....

Santro Xing comes with a 4 Cylinder/8 Valves in-line SOHC, 1.1 Litre (1086 cc), 16 Bit microprocessor engine. Well so what??? This isn't something big. Zen is 999cc, Wagon-R is 1064cc, Esteem is 1295cc, Palio is 1298cc and Indica is 1405cc which are almost equivalent. Moreover some of these come with 6 Cylinder/16 Valves engines and some are 32 bit microprocessor controlled. Some are taller and with better ground clearance.Other features like dual hydraulic brake booster, steering lock, anti-freeze engine, super-cool AC etc. are also common.

But the distinguishing factor can be easily noticed at a speed of 160 Kms/hr. Zen and Wagon-R do not have engines powerful enough to achieve this speed. Esteem loses road grip ar 120 Kms/hr or above. Palio can touch 160 Kms/hr but becomes unstable and cannot cut lanes at that high speed. Indica has the most powerful but a badly engineered engine which starts coughing at 140 Kms/hr. Santro Xing can easily cut lanes and overtake at this speed. It is a perfectly stable car. Its 140 inches long, 60 inches wide and 63 inches tall body is perfectly supported on a 94 inches wide Wheel Base which provides perfect stability at high speeds. Now that's what I call an good design. The car also offers a good mileage of around 10-12 Kms per litre in city with AC and 15-16 on highways with AC. Also the car is zero maintainence. My car is an year old. Only two mandatory free servicing till date. You may argue that all brand new cars run smooth for first three years and then start giving problems. But in any car you easily know the health of the engine from the engine noise. Santro Xing doesn't emit much noise. I know that the engine is exactly the same as it was an year ago. I haven't opened the bonnet yet even to check water and oil levels which is enough proof that the engine is in good shape.

Also the car is extremely comfortable to drive. Take this test and you'll know what I mean. Try driving an Esteem or Palio in a slow moving bumper to bumper traffic on first gear for four hours continously. Your back and left foot are bound to ache. Continously pressing and releasing clutch is a pain.

But that's not the case with a Santro Xing. You don't have to press the clutch, just touch it. No need to touch the accelarator, just release the clutch and the car starts moving ahead. A good power streering ensuring a small turning radius in case you would like to cut through a narrow space. You have plenty of legspace and headroom. Even 6 feet tall guy can drive the car. The suspension of the car is well designed. You won't feel the jerks due to bad road conditions. All this ensures a comfortable drive. No backaches/legpains whatsoever.In fact you'll start enjoying long drives. Drive Santro Xing for 6 hours continously in full AC from Mumbai to Shirdi and you'll still feel fresh. Its my personal experience.

Santro Xing is the best car I have driven till date. For anyone who is looking out for a car in the 3 Lac- 4 Lac range, Santro Xing is the ideal choice. Also, if you are a citizen of Mumbai, I would recommend purchasing it from Jaybharat Automobiles at Prabhadevi. The post-sales service offered by them is superb.

In the past my experience with Car Dealers weren't good. I was completely disatisfied with the pathetic customer services offered Spectra Motors (Maruti Dealers) and their partners Addis Marketing.

I always felt that dealers engage in all sort of gimmicks to delight customers until the time they buy the car. They don't care about you once you pay the money.

But Jaybharat changed my opinion about car dealers. They are completely professional in their approach. They staff provide superior customer service and treat you like a King even after you buy the car.