May 01, 2009 09:29 AM
7791 Views
(Updated May 01, 2009 06:41 PM)
I write this as a followup of my review of this car , which I did under the kapoorcmc login. Since I could not update my review under the kapoorcmc login, without loosing the original one, I had to make another login to be able to write this update! And to keep the original review intact.
I have done 1000 KMs and thought an update is a must. The car has behaved very well in the city as well as on the highway. The car drove well up to 120 KM/hour. I didn't go above that because I feltthat the engine was not responding very well and the revs went up. I wonder whether this will be OK after the second service.
The functions have performed quite well, though I feel that the central locking should be operational from the passenger side too. This is mentioned in the Car Manual, but the dealer says that none of the hyundai cars come with that feature. The boot is also linked to the central lock and that makes me a bit uncomfortable - though I cant see any negative of that yet.
The AC has performed remarkably well - the temperatures are above 42 degrees C out side these days and the inside temperature of the car goes as high as 60 Celsius on parking in the sun.There is one hitch, which the dealer has not been able to solve; if I keep my temperature knob on mid blues without the AC on, the fan gives hot air as if the heater is on. I checked that at night when the outside temperature was 16 Celsius and got the same warm air - wonder why?
Driving without seeing the end of the bonnet takes getting used to, especially in traffic, where cyclists tend to find space between the two cars!
The auto transmission works well, though is not as nifty as a Toyota corona (corolla in India), the automatic car I have owned for two years when abroad. But there are no negatives and it is smooth and the changeovers are good. One has to learn to take the gear up by letting go of the accelerator gently for a whiff... a constant pressure on the accelerator delays the movement of the gear. This aspect might help in getting good mileage, though till now the car has given a mileage of 10.4 kms per liter, with AC on in a mix of city and highway driving. Pure long distance highway driving in plains gave10.8, while a mix of plain and hill driving (went up to Shimla) gave10.2 - all with AC on.
The engine performed remarkably well in hilly areas including Shimla, Chail and also on very small steep roads going up to various temples etc around Chail. At no stage, it dithered and I felt at ease while taking it on very steep roads. The auto transmission worked remarkably well. This hilly terrain trip had two adults and two children in the car with some luggage.
The front seats are comfortable, The back seats are a bit uncomfortable with the head rest protruding in. The stereo sound is a bit above average. It could have been better. I still miss a cabin light for the passengers in the back seat.The luggage space in the boot is good and can easily take a large suitcase containing about 24 KGs and a small suitcase equivalent to a cabin bag along with two small backpacks or a large soft hand bag.
Overall, it is a fantastic buy and very comfortable and suitable for the Indian roads and traffic. The hassle free gear less drive in our chaotic road conditions is a luxury! The purist might say that the manual shift gives a thrill in driving - but for that one needs good traffic free roads! Wine and Automatic Gears are for ladies - is a commonly used phrase in our country - how wrong people can be. If one can spend 40, 000 extra for the same specs, one should go for an automatic transmission. Since I bought my car, lot of colleagues, who test drove my car, started believing in automatic transmission! Hope this update helps!
