The facelift of i10 has come at the right time boasting of Fluidic design, refreshed headlamps, front grill and better interiors; Hyundai is known to keep its cars ahead of competition. An expert compared the 13’ Maruti WagonR with the new Hyundai i10. Maruti Suzuki has modified the looks and some interiors of WagonR analysing low sale rate. While WagonR has better mileage figures i10 has more comfortable ride quality and interiors. An attempt has been made to make the front grill, bumper of WagonR more stylish and the rest of the body like a typical ‘U’ design of Maruti, new fog lamps have been installed to add to looks and safety whereas i10’s look is inspired from the Korean style because of its sleek and extended headlamps.
Undoubtedly i10 is the premier hatchback car in India with price range between Rs. 3.59-6.45 lacs. It’s easy to maneuver in city traffic because of small size. The side profile of i10 magna has seen few upgradations in the form of turn indicator on ORVMs which are manually movable and body coloured door protectors. The rear bumper has a refreshed look and better visibility rear lamps which are noticeable along with the tail gate which can be manually opened; it is yet to see an automatic/remote tail gate opener. Jumping inside the car the first thing you’ll notice is the dual coloured dashboard with integrated A/C, an improvement from the previous version. The A/C is quite powerful with quick cooling system and the vents are wide to let air circulate properly at the rear too. He appreciated the well placed switches on the console especially the ‘hazard indicator switch which is positioned right at the centre. With blue backlighting on the speedometer, driving would never bore you. Also there are 2 tripmeters and a fuel gauge. There is not enough space for rear passengers to relax their legs compared to the peers.
Now coming to i10 Era which doesn’t have rear wipers, however the top models have both rear wipers and spoiler. Era again disappointed him as it lacks impressive door locks.
Well, another expert describes the 1.1 iRDE2 magna LPG variant and happily states the mileage to be 19.2 kmpl after the test ride 1.1 kmpl more than what brand Hyundai has promised. However the kappa2 Sportz AT petrol variant gives mileage of 15.1 kmpl. Among other pros were the cabin space, power steering and engine while he was disappointed because of lack of ‘top-end’ punch.
With less mileage of the petrol versions and poor leg room for rear passengers, i10 does not seem light on pocket considering running costs, when peers like Honda have better hatchback cars with better mileage and nearly same price range. Hyundai needs to work more on fuel efficiency even in petrol versions, though LPG version seems quite promising. Guys before you buy this car, do compare it with other hatchbacks and choose wisely which fuel your car would run on. Good luck for your search!
