I10- Era IRDE- 5 Months -3500 KM - Ownership . Review on Hyundai i10

I bought i10 Era( 1.1 IRDE), booked it on 24th Aug 2010 and got delivery on 20th Sept.

Here is my buying and owneship experience

The Deal:

Got accessories worth Rs 5000, Rs. 5000 Cash Discount from Hyundai, 4000 Corporate Discount, Free 3rd Year extended warrenty., Dealer gave Rs.13345 discount for Insurance and got it done myself for Rs. 10744, so again a a saving of nearly 3000.

ON ROAD price@Pune: RS.4, 10, 395

Buying experience, not so good, inexprienced sales people @Kothari( Kharadi), Pune.

They have to pick up a lot to catch up with their own main branch at Tilak Road

Now about the Vehicle( ==Why I chose i10 over Swift, Figo, Ritz:):

This decision was driven by purely mathematical calculations like intital price, cost of running for 5 years, cost of loan( Considering 1 lkah as Down Payment), features availble at the given price etc. My initial budget was around 5 lakhs but reduced it to 4-4.25 laks as I realized that I need to shell out an additional approx 1 lakh Rs for the extra parking that I will need.

Based on the user inputs on the various Auto Review sites, for mathematical calculations I tagged city ==mileage figures as Ritz Lxi -14, Swift Lxi- 15, Figo Exi-12, i10 Kappa-13, i10 IRDE - 14.

Eventually it proved that IRDE with city mileage of 14 would be the most economical one.

Although I really like smoothness and power deilvery of cars but mileage and econmoy are my prime considerations. I can live without powerful engine if it is providing decent economy in all rRajeev_Vermacts

1. Why I chose IRDE over Kappa: Kappa was smoother but not by that great deal, IRDE is smoother than my current ALTO. Realized that Kappa does not have that sudden pick up or torque for city driving, at low speeds IRDE picks up better, so good for city driving, besides this the cost factor( 20-25 K more) also mattered.

   
   




2. Brilliant 3rd gear: You can drive without much strain and noise from 20kmph to 60 kmph, that is more than enough for city driving

   
   

1st gear is poor on drivability, 2nd gear is OK, 3rd gear is Brilliant, ==4th and 5th Gear are good

3.== Gear shifts: Accurate, short throw and smooth

1. Clutch: Smooth, pedal travel is long but it is NOT that comfortable as in my ALto.

I also noticed that sometimes in crawling traffic when I just press the clutch in 1st gear the entire vehicle shudders.

Also there is no significant increase in speed/pull on 1st or 2nd gears when the accelarartor is pressed hard, Only the engines noise( and may be the engine RPM) increases but no corresponding increase in speed or pulling power. I believe the clutch is having problem right since the first day of ownership. I reported this problem to Kothari Services but the technician simply ignored it and said that it is a special provision made by Hyundai so that people will not raise the vehicle unnecessarily in 1st and 2nd gear. However I do not agree to this because the same thing happend with my alto last year during servicing and the service station admitted the problem ans quickly rectified it by fitting the pressure plate properly. However when on higher gears 3-4-5 the cluct does not create any noticable issue. Any advice and thoughts on this are the most welcome.

1. Steering(EPS): OK, not that great, somtimes feels a little heavy

   
   




2. Brakes: ==Poor, upto speeds of 10kmph a slight tap will lock all the wheel instantaneosly however as the speed increases the breaks seems to fade away. If you are on a slope and with 3 or more people on board the brakes do not provide any confidence and there nothing like a quick stop.

   
   




3. Space: Excellent for midsize adults, 2 at front and 3 at back

   
   




4. Wipers:== 1st speed for ultra light rain/drizzling is missing, only two modoes other than rinse mode are avaialble, fast and faster, no slow wiper speed

   
   




5. Windshield: It tends to become foggy very soon, don't know why, my 3 year old Alto's windshield behaves better than this.It also reflects in bright sunlight but it is more dangerous when you are about to enter a shade from sunny area the entire windshild seems yellowish and affects visibility. However I must say unlike I read in some of the reviews it does not make you blind you still can clearly see the road ahead if you do not look at the reflection.

   
   




6. Ride quality: First day it was horrible, very bumpy, it became a little acceptable after a week( or I become used to it) but still it is stiff and bumpy, nowhere in the league of FIGO

   
   




7. Kitna Deti Hai( F.E.): For the first 500 Rs( 8.95 Ltr). of petrol added 110 Kms on Odo, so nearly 12 km/ltr, fully in city with 30% AC ON. Did a tank full last Sunday. Now 145 KM. has been covered and the pointer has moved back to exactly quarter of scale, this is with 20% AC and mostly single occupant( myself). So it is expected to cover at least 500 Kms in a tankful so 500/35= 14.29 kmpl. So considering that it is just 10 days old I am very much satisfied with thsi mileage. I usually travel in after noon( towards office) and night( towards home). Although I travel along the most busiest road of Pune( JM Road, Ruby/Jahangir, Yerwada) the traffic during my travel is not so dense but still I need to stop at a few signals and sometimes crawl during night.

   
   

Latest update on FE: After covering 3500 km(All in Pune city) the avergae mileage is hovering between 14.5-15.5 kmpl( using tankful method, with at the most 10% AC and, frequest jams due to non working signals/Mama controlling the traffic/crawling traffic) and I am very much satisfied with this, can't expect more than this. Have never taken her onto Highway yet.

1. AC: Absolute chiller, equal to or better than Alto/Wagon R, you do not feel much loss of power when AC is switched ON( I always drive singly, not sure how it behaves when fully loaded and AC is switched ON).

   
   




2. Visibility: Not happy, Alto and FIGO have excellent visibility all around the car. Piller A obstructs the right side view some times, you won't be able to see the end point of bonnet, perfect side meirrors and inside RVM.

   
   




3. Build Quality: GOOD. I think i10 scores more in this regard, no rattling so far, feels solid as opposed to Maruti where we often here rattling due to window panes, brake pins, loose screws etc.

   
   

The Next GEn i10 was launched on 24th Sept, exactly 4 days after I took delivery of my i10, so that's bad luck for me.