Hyundai Grand i10 diesel road test and review: Perfect package
The Hyundai Grand i10 is a car that packs quite a surprise. Here’s a car that’s spacious, is fuel efficient, and is loaded with features. Could this car be the magic formula that Hyundai needs to completely sweep the premium hatchback segment in India? On the face of it, it’s almost a perfect package.
CarToq recently drove a Grand i10 1.1 diesel on a 200 km round trip over two days for this comprehensive road test. We must admit we were pleasantly surprised by the overall package that this Grand i10 comprises of.
Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of the car shall we?
Familiar looks, big on space
Exteriors
Now the Grand i10 is based on the new i10 platform that’s being sold in Europe, but has been suitably altered for India – it is 100 mm longer here and the rear hatch has a wider glass for a more airy feel. The overall design follows the familiar “fluidic” design theme, with the front looking very familiar. The hexagonal grille, swept back headlamps and bumper design all-look like the car is naturally an evolution between the old i10 and the i20 – and that’s exactly how it’s price-positioned too.
When you look at the Grand i10 in profile, you can see the long 2425 mm wheelbase of this car, which is almost as much as the Maruti Swift. Intelligent packaging has freed up much more space than the Swift though. From the rear, the reflectors in the bumper look like rear fog-lamps, while the tail-lamps are reminiscent of the Hyundai Getz, vaguely. The wide rear windscreen provides a good rear-view. The car is shod with 14-inch alloy wheels sporting 165/65 R14 tyres.
Interiors
Step into the Grand i10 and you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the build quality and the quality of the plastics – they look quite premium, and better than some more expensive cars from a segment or two above. Fit and finish is top-notch. The interiors are black and beige combination that lends a feeling of space. The dashboard looks and feels premium, with a neatly designed centre console, comprehensive instrument cluster with pleasing blue back-lighting and electronic AC controls. It has none of the excessive curves that the earlier Hyundai cars are known for.
Space utilization also is quite good. There is good legroom available in the front and rear, while the floor is relatively flat. The front seats though have non-adjustable headrests, while the rear seats get adjustable headrests. The front foot-well could have been a bit wider and there’s no dead pedal. The boot has 256 litres of storage space, enough for three medium sized bags.
Loaded with features
Hyundai is known for packing its cars to the gills with features, and the Hyundai Grand i10 is no less. The car has got everything you would want for a car in this segment and a lot more than its competitors offer. Although the variant we were driving was the Grand i10 Asta (O), which is the one with the option pack that includes two airbags and ABS, we wish Hyundai would offer a few more safety features in other variants too.
But otherwise you get all the frills in this car starting with full keyless entry (you just need to keep the key fob in your pocket or handbag and open or close the car with the button on the door handle). The door mirrors too are power-folding and auto-fold when you lock the car. Inside you get push-button ignition, steering audio controls, Bluetooth phone and audio, a music system with USB and Aux-in, and 1GB internal storage for about 500 songs and two 12 volt power sockets. It also features rear AC vents, although the AC is a manual HVAC system with electronic controls. The car has electronic central locking, but lacks speed-sensing door locks. On the Asta variant, rear defogger and wash/wipe are standard, as are audio-only rear parking sensors, front fog lamps and alloy wheels.
Peppy performance, good ride quality
The Grand i10 1.1 is powered by a new diesel engine – a three-cylinder, 1120 cc engine that puts out 70 bhp of power and 4000 rpm and 160 Nm of torque that kicks in between 1500-2750 rpm. Being a three-cylinder engine, it does have a bit of a rough edge to it. When you press the ignition and fire it up, you can hear some diesel clatter and a bit of vibration is felt at idle. But the moment you rev it a bit it smoothens out.
Hyundai has done an excellent job of sound insulation and NVH (noise, vibration and harshness engineering) and engine noise hardly intrudes into the cabin. The gearbox is a five-speed in European style (with reverse gear placed next to first, with a pull-up lock). The clutch is very light and the gears throws are short and precise.
Once you move off, you realize how tractable this 1.1 diesel engine is. Sure, it doesn’t have as much torque as some of the competitors, but it also doesn’t have much turbo-lag. Which means the car pulls away cleanly in second and third gear from low rpm. Third gear can take you from 30 kmph to 100 kmph without complaint. It’s only at high rpm at close to 4000 rpm do you realize it’s a diesel engine. Fourth and fifth gear are pretty tall, allowing for better high speed cruising at lower rpm. 100 kmph on the speedometer comes in at an indicated 2,300 rpm, while 80 kmph has the engine ticking over at just 1,900 rpm. This kind of behaviour makes this car incredibly drivable in the city as well as the highway.
Hyundai has worked on the ride quality of the Grand i10 quite a bit. The suspension is probably among the best in Hyundai cars with a very composed ride at normal speeds, but it’s still a bit soft, so when you get to higher speeds and hit a pothole or two, it does get a bit skittish. The steering is pretty light, typical of most Hyundai cars again, and that’s probably its only bugbear. However, some people actually like this super-light steering, although enthusiasts would prefer a bit more heft and a more precise feel. Quick lane changes feel a bit video-game like (oh, and the car has three-flash lane-change indicators too).
We were a little apprehensive of the 165 mm ground clearance and long-wheelbase combination, but we didn’t have any problems even on some non-standard size speed breakers, although on bad roads some suspension noise begins to filter into the cabin.
Excellent fuel-efficiency
The three-cylinder diesel 1.1 litre Grand i10 has a claimed fuel efficiency of 24 kmpl. Thanks to Hyundai’s tall gearing for fourth and fifth and low turbo-lag we won’t be surprised if owners claim close to 20 kmpl in the city as well. On our 200 km trip, we got the car with a full-tank and when we returned it, it still had more than 3/4th tank of fuel left despite idling for photo shoots and some spirited driving. We didn’t have the car long enough to precisely calculate the fuel economy and for some strange reason Hyundai still doesn’t offer an instant consumption or average consumption gauge on its multi-information display.
What we think
Well, Hyundai has a winner on its hands for sure. The Grand i10 satisfies the key needs of buyers looking for a value-for-money premium hatchback. It has space, it has fuel efficiency, drives well and the features are a bonus. Build quality and ride quality too are good. It is quite hard to find fault with the car. Sure enthusiasts would want a bit more power and better handling. But that’s not really this car’s appeal. It will appeal to buyers looking for a good all-round car, spacious enough for the family, easy on the pocket and loaded with convenience features. It’s a near perfect package, so we won’t be surprised if it goes on to become a best-seller for Hyundai either.
What we like
* Good fit and finish
* Nice interior space and packaging
* Very drivable diesel engine
What we don’t like
* No speed-sensing door locks
* Multi-info display could be better
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