I have been a proud owner of Maruti ? 800 since past 15 years. Purchasing a new car in Rs. 3.5 ? 4 lakhs segment was due since long. However, the major problem was Which Car should I buy? One way to solve this problem was gaining knowledge about all the cars in this segment, and what innovative features they had on board.
Fortunately, I remained successful in this, and my review is simply a reflection of my knowledge that I gained on visiting the respective car company dealers, browsing many informative web-sites, referring to car magazines and company brochures. This is how I made upon my mind to own the new Santro Xing.
Santro Xing ? Isn?t it Stylish?
Yes, indeed. Hyundai has reworked on the looks of it?s age old Santro, and have come out with a brilliant looking, modern day car ? Santro Xing. Talking of the changes made to the frontal portion of the car, the bug eyes of the old Santro have been replaced by large, attractive, triangular, clear lens head lamps. The old fashioned radiator grille has been replaced by a nicely designed smiling one.
In the rear, the design of the hatch door has been reworked and made more trendy and modern looking. The twin combination tail lamps, again with clear lens coupled with the newly designed rear bumpers, surely grab the attention of the passer bys. The looks of the car from the sides remain unchanged. All in all, the compact outer dimensions, combined with it?s sporty stance makes it stand out in a crowd of old hatchbacks (Maruti Zen), and jelly bean shapes (Tata Indica). Without doubt, the styling is distinctly European.
Why Santro Xing?
One obvious question that comes to mind is Why Santro Xing in this age of cut-throat competition. The cars that fall in this segment are Maruti Zen and Maruti WagonR. But, here?s how Santro Xing has an edge over it?s competitors. Over the years, Maruti has remained successful in maintaining the sales figures of it?s Zen, even after the launch of Hyundai Santro in India.
The factors behind it were Maruti Suzuki?s established brand image in India - at the time when Santro was launched, a good network of service centres and dealers throughout the country, and ease of availability of spare parts. But till date, all these factors have become a thing of the past. Hyundai has remained successful in achieving all these factors, slowly and steadily, which owes to a welcome response they received from Indian consumers, when Hyundai was newly launched as a brand in India.
Maruti Zen no more remains a competition to Santro Xing, as Zen?s engine (993 CC) lacks the power of Santro Xing (1086 CC), neither has a Tall-Boy advantage of Santro, besides Zen?s age old looks ? interior and exterior (even though reworked, still remain outdated. Zen?s rear portion, especially the hatch door has been made pathetic). Besides, the Zen?s A/C. compressor is a cute 80 CC!! which is sure to leave one sweating for more cooling in peak Indian summer, whereas Santro Xing has a huge 110CC A/C. compressor, thanks to it?s powerful engine.
Talking of the comparison with Maruti?s Tall-Boy, WagonR LXi (equivalent to Santro Xing XP):-
Exterior ::
Dimensions:
WagonR | Santro Xing
Wheel Base (mm.): 2360 | 2380
Height(mm.): 1660 | 1590
The above two dimensions indicate that Santro Xing has 20mm. extra wheel base and 70mm. less Height than WagonR, which directly contribute to Santro?s better balance on Indian terrain, and thereby making it less prone to the risk of toppling, which is high in case of WagonR. Moreover, this dimensions don?t make the Tall-Boy appearance visible in Santro Xing, which is very much visible in WagonR.
Tyres:
WagonR LXi wears 145/70 R 13 radial tyres, whereas all models of Santro Xing wear 155/70 R 13 radial tyres. Thus, Santro has wider tyres than it?s competitor which results in a better road grip, and even contribute in the overall looks of the car.
Turning Radius:
Turning Radius of WagonR is 4.6 m., Zen is 4.9 m.(!!), whereas that of Santro Xing is a meager 4.4 m.(equivalent to that of Maruti 800), which indicate that Santro requires least space for a U turn.
Above all, Santro Xing is much more appealing to eyes and good looking than WagonR, which has ugly rectangular, box type looks.
Interiors ::
The WagonR LXi boasts of full size arm rests in the front doors, a ?key not removed? warning buzzer, a digital multi-trip meter, and foldable rear and front seats, that double up as a bed for two on long trips. But once again, the Santro Xing is way ahead by offering a three spoke steering wheel, for a quicker access to the horn button, full leather trimmed A,B & C pillars, a clutch foot rest, removable and retraceable parcel tray at rear, company fitted speaker grilles, a ?low fuel? warning buzzer, double folding rear seats and single folding front seats.
The rear seats in WagonR are bucket type and thus take only two passengers comfortably in rear, whereas Santro Xing has a normal continuous seat in rear, taking comfortably three passengers in the rear. Thus WagonR seats 4 passengers, whereas Santro Xing seats 5 passengers under its hood.
Here are a few more points that make Santro Xing stand tall amongst its competitors:
Max. leg room in Zen is 595 mm., that in WagonR is 560 mm., with Santro winning the race with 620 mm.2. Max. Power ?bhp/rpm? in Zen is 60@6000, that in WagonR is 62@6000, again with Santro winning the race with 63@5500, thereby providing higher power at low rpm, with less stress on engine.
Max. Torque ?kgm/rpm? in Zen is 8.0@4500, that in WagonR is 8.4@3500, once again Santro winning the race with 9.1@4000, providing the driving benefit of quick acceleration through gears, and more reserve power.
Zen, WagonR and Santro Xing, all three have 5 speed gearbox, with overdrive in 4th and 5th gears. But on driving the car, one instantly feels that Santro?s gearbox has less throws in gears and smoother than the other two.
While safety is concerned, Santro Xing has an additional cross bar under the dash board.
All the three cars score equally in seating comfort, brakings (Discs in front, self adjusting drums in rear)and suspensions(independent McPherson strut in front and gas filled shock absorbers in rear.)
Also, all the three cars stand head to head in terms of fuel efficiency, with WagonR ahead of the two by 1-1.5 km./ltr. The fuel efficiency of Santro Xing is approx. 12-15 km./ltr. With A/C. on within city driving and approx. 19 km./ltr. On highways. Fuel efficiency is a variable parameter, which varies according to driving habits and traffic conditions.
Santro Xing ? Does it have any short comings?
Yes, every modern day work of art has one. And Santro Xing is no exception to it. The Hydraulic Power Steering of Santro Xing is a disappointment. The Hydraulic Power steering consumes power from the engine, and is thus less sensitive at lower engine rpm., when maximum sensitivity is required, and very sensitive at higher rpm, when a lower sensitivity is required from it.
Hyundai Motor India Ltd. (HMIL) manages to sell about 8,000 units of Xing a month in India, and thereby making it the highest selling compact car in its category in the country. Also, HMIL manages to export about 77,000 units of Santro Xing annually to some European countries, N. America, & S. America, becoming the largest car exporter in the country. What more should I say?
