2013 Hyundai Grand i10 review.
We give Hyundai’s latest hatchback, the Grand i10, the full road test treatment with its 1.1-litre U2 diesel engine.
A hatchback finds a new home in India every 20 seconds. And now,
Hyundai Motor India has given us hatch-loving folk one more model to
choose from. The Grand i10 is the fifth hatchback in Hyundai’s portfolio
and wiggles into the gap between the i10 and i20.
The Grand i10 is essentially the next-generation i10 with revisions
made specifically with the Indian consumer in mind (more on that later)
and will be sold alongside the current i10. But, most importantly, the
Grand i10 also gets Hyundai’s first, locally produced, small
three-cylinder diesel engine which will, for the first time, give the
company direct access into the relatively untapped small diesel
hatchback segment in India.
The petrol motor is the familiar 1.2-litre Kappa2 engine that powers
the regular i10 but in this test, we put the diesel mill through its
paces.
DESIGN
Unlike the Eon or i20, Hyundai’s German design studio has kept the
‘Fluidic’ mantra in check. The lines are straighter, details more crisp
and, while you may not find the styling awe-inspiring, there isn’t
anything to dislike either. Also, the car looks more grown up, which
will give it wider acceptance.
Up front, the big hexagonal lower air vent immediately catches your
eye. It bears a slight resemblance to the Alto 800’s but it works quite
well on this car and lends the Grand i10 a bold and youthful guise.
Surrounding it are large and angular fog-lamp inserts and a sharp crease
just below that ends in a tiny chin spoiler.
The angular theme continues above the bumper as well. A smart,
single-slat grille complements the tapering headlamps and adds a touch
of sleekness to the front.
The restrained styling cues at the sides make the Grand i10 look quite
modest in profile. There aren’t any distractions and the eyes naturally
follow the single crease that runs through the nice pull-type door
handles, across the length of the car. As part of the top Asta trim, you
get thick body mouldings which provide some visual relief.
But, from this view, the best bit has to be what Hyundai calls
‘diamond-cut’ alloy wheels. These optional two-tone eight-spoke alloys
do a great job in making the car look chic and upmarket.
Hyundai has specially designed a less rakish window line for better
visibility out the rear, a new C-pillar and larger rear doors, which
makes getting in and out easy. The highlight of the rear really is the
wraparound tail-lamps, which extend deep into the shoulder line to give a
nice stylistic touch. While the large reflectors embedded in the rear
bumper do look unique, they may not be to everybody’s tastes.
INTERIOR
Slide into the comfortable driver’s seat and you are greeted by a
chunky, leather-wrapped steering wheel, which looks like it has been
inspired by the Elantra and it has similar quality too. We also like the
fact that the audio controls on it are well thought out. Functions
you’d access the most often, such as mute and volume control, have been
assigned larger buttons that are within easier reach. Hyundai has also
made sure all the ‘touch-points’ exude a nice premium feel. The buttons
are well damped and all the rotary knobs are treated with a premium
knurled finish that further adds a touch of class to the cabin. What is
surprising though is that even on the highest spec car, Hyundai has
omitted climate control and given a manual air-con instead. Also, while
the HVAC controls are large and within easy reach, they are quite stiff
and clunky to operate.
The two-tone dash is neat and clean, with no extraneous or over-styled
features, giving it a mature look. The top half is finished in
high-quality, non-reflective black plastic. The toffee-like beige used
for the lower portion of the dash again looks high quality but may not
be to everyone’s liking. The gear lever has superb detailing as well
with a glass finish and the gear numbers written in a clean metallic
finish. All throughout the cabin, Hyundai has judiciously used faux
metallic highlights in the right places and to good effect.
Move to the rear and the Grand i10 reveals its greatest strength. In
terms of legroom, the extra 40mm of wheelbase has gone into making this
rear bench quite spacious and you won’t feel shortchanged here. Legroom
is particularly good and even tall drivers can be comfortable behind the
wheel without crushing the knees of the rear passengers. The slightly
reclined rear bench angle adds to the comfort level too. But while you
won’t complain about the legroom, the seat squab or base isn’t that
generous and you sit a touch low, which is accentuated by the high
window line. Also, the fixed headrests of the front seats do obstruct
visibility a fair bit and make the rear seat not as airy as Hyundai
intended.
A segment first, however, is the rear air-conditioning vents but with
the afternoon sun beating down during our test the cooling wasn’t as
effective as we would have liked it to be.
In terms of practicality, there are plenty of storage spaces inside
the cabin. You get one-litre bottle holders in each of the doors, two
large cup-holders behind the gearlever, and a cubbyhole for storing your
phone just below the air-con controls. The rear scooped-out parcel tray
has also been designed to hold odds and ends from flying forward in the
event of sudden braking.
Passengers hooked onto their smartphones and tablets will be quite
pleased that this car has not one but two 12V outlets – one in the front
and one mounted on the rear AC console. Like the spacious cabin, the
illuminated boot, at 256 litres, is quite large and just about 10
percent shy of that of the Figo which has the largest boot in this
segment.
PERFORMANCE
The most significant thing about the Grand i10 is the U2 1120cc,
three-cylinder engine which makes its debut in this car. This 70bhp
diesel engine is also the first to be manufactured locally in Hyundai’s
plant near Chennai. Although brand new, this motor is essentially the
i20’s 1.4-litre engine that has sacrificed a cylinder in the interest of
better fuel efficiency and better packaging.
Diesel engines and three cylinders don’t really go well together as
both are inherently prone to vibration, so it comes as no surprise that
the Grand i10 vibrates softly at idle and loses the smoothness found on
the four-cylinder engine in the i20. But, just a small dab on the
accelerator and the counter-balancing shafts do their job well and the
vibrations recede quickly.
In the city, the linear power delivery coupled with relatively short
gear ratios gives the Grand i10 admirable performance. In stop-start
traffic, the responsive nature of this motor and reasonably light clutch
make the Grand i10 quite effortless to drive.
Keep the tacho needle between 1600 to 2700rpm and this motor performs
at its best. But as the needle travels into 3500rpm territory, the car
rapidly loses steam and makes quite a racket too. This can be an issue
on open roads where, for example, if you were to downshift from about
2500 revs to overtake, you’d plonk the engine in the gutless regions of
the power band. So quick overtaking manoeuvres on a single-carriage road
are quite difficult to execute cleanly. The narrow power band also
means you will put the ’box through a good workout but, thankfully, the
short and precise shifts ensure it doesn’t feel like butter-churning
drudgery.
Although the Grand i10 is clearly designed with urban consumers in
mind, cars like the Swift have raised consumer expectations of the
performance potential of smaller cars. To put things in perspective, the
Grand i10 takes a very leisurely 20.25 seconds to get to 100kph while
the Swift dispatches the same in 13.5sec. In-gear acceleration times
aren’t good news either – 40-100kph in fourth takes 17.23sec in the
Hyundai while the Swift does the same in 13.91sec.
EFFICIENCY
Based on ARAI tests, the diesel-engined Grand i10 claims to have an
impressive fuel economy figure of 24kpl. Our tests returned 15.4kpl in
city driving conditions and 19.6kpl out on the highway, which is pretty
much on the same lines as its competitors.
While the city fuel efficiency figure is a handsome one, the highway
figure is impressive but could have been better. The fact that the Grand
i10 has relatively shorter gear ratios means the engine spins at higher
speeds on the highway and this has a negative impact on fuel economy.
An overall figure of 17.5kpl combined with a 43-litre fuel tank gives
the Grand i10 a phenomenal range of 750 kilometres on a single tank of
diesel.
Fact File
Engine
| Fuel | Diesel |
| Installation | Front, transverse |
| Type | 3cyls, 1120cc, common-rail, diesel |
| Bore/stroke | 75.0/54.5mm |
| Compression ratio | 16.0:1 |