Living with a (2009)Wagon R in 2020

History

Hyundai i10 was launched way back in 2007 and it is still rocking on the Indian roads through its updated avatar. Since it's 2020 now we will be taking a trip to the memory lane and remember how the market was at that time for Hyundai and other respected companies. The i10 was and still is the best seller for Hyundai. We have to understand that what the Alto was to Maruti, the City to Honda or the Innova to Toyota; it was and still is their bread and butter car. Not only does the i10 used to account for 50% of the company's sales, but it was also the 2nd best-selling car in India. Simply put, at this stage, Hyundai cannot afford to get the i10 wrong. And since best sellers are usually neutral in nature and it shows in their design. The Hyundai i10 tries to follow the same mantra and tries to do a little bit of everything so in layman terms its jack of all trade but master of none.

LOOKS                         

Looks are subjective so I won't comment much on that but this car came at a time when Hyundai had just started on their fluidic design policy and the i10 was just launched while keeping that in mind. Since this car was launched to please the Indian Masses its design runs on a simple statement that says ‘please all offend none’. And I have to say that this design has aged really well but what hasn’t aged really well and the philosophy of please all offend none seems to impress most of us.



Interior

Even though I said that design of this car has really aged well what hasn’t aged with that much finesse are the interiors and I have to say you when you sit in the cars of this era you will appreciate how much our automotive industry has developed into and how some of the features are standard. Our test car is closer to the base model as it was not having an inbuilt audio system nor any safety kits but it does offer power window on all four windows as creature comfort was more critical than the safety of the passengers. Hyundai used to equips the fully loaded i10 with dual airbags, ABS, gear-shift suggesting tool, keyless entry + foldable key, height-adjustable driver's seat, 4 power windows, reverse parking sensors, steering mounted audio + phone controls, CD / MP3 System with 4 speakers & AUX / USB / Bluetooth compatibility, rear spoiler, rear wash & wipe and heated ORVMs. Automatic transmission and sunroof were optional extras. Conspicuous by their absence are split-folding rear seats, climate control, alloy wheels, dead pedal, and adjustable front neck restraints. It’s the sheer interior quality where the i10 indisputably beats its competitors (especially those from the Maruti stable). Next in line to catch your eye is the uniquely mounted gear lever. Also, leather-wrapped, the small gear knob fits nicely into your left hand and offers slick shifting quality. Plastic & part quality is consistently good on the inside, while overall fit & finish are easily equivalent to cars from a segment. The interior is now finished in dual-tone colors, with a darker brown dashboard and beige door panels. However, the current design flavor is all about being sharp and edgy; in the midst of that, the i10's oval theme looks like yesterday. But the climate control vent is a little bit low than expected. Thanks to the generous greenhouse, the driver has superb all-round visibility. The steering is great to hold, the gear shift falls right into your hand and all crucial controls are within easy reach. The front seats with integrated headrests offer decent comfort, and thigh support is par for the course. The center console area curves outward towards the driver and the passenger. If you are tall, your knee will keep brushing against it while using the clutch pedal. The leather-wrapped handbrake is long and placed appropriately for ease of access. It's light to operate, much like the other driving controls (especially the clutch and gearshift). Though the digital display looks like a multi-information display, it's hardly one! Only a digital fuel gauge and two trip-meters are available. There is no outside temperature information, nor any data on instant / average fuel economy. The clutch, brake, and accelerator pedals are rather closely placed, especially for those with 9+ shoe sizes. No dead pedal either, although there is enough room to rest your foot to the left of the clutch. As with most tallboy designs, the headroom is generous and adds to the airy feeling. Though the i10 is strictly a 4-seater as the 5th will feel unwelcome. Cabin space is marginally better than the Santro and rear legroom can be best termed as "sufficient" for passengers of medium height. It is in line with the other tallboy hatchbacks from the market. A tall passenger behind a tall front seat occupant will not be comfortable; Once on the rear seat, you'll find the backrest recline angle to be comfortable while overall back & thigh support are decent. The thin door armrests work well, but only for the slim to medium-sized forearms. The rear windows roll down completely. The i10 has a fair amount of storage space up at the front. Odd items can be placed in the storage spot right ahead of the gear lever. You'll find two cup holders around the handbrake area, along with two cubby holes (one ahead of, and one behind, the hand brake). The Shockingly, storage space at the back is minimal. Nope, no door pockets here, and neither are there any seatback pockets. The only place for the rear passengers to tuck something away is in the cubbyhole placed behind the handbrake. The glove box is deep enough to accommodate small bottles. The 225 liters boot is about the average for this segment.



SAFETY

Even though the i10 was never tested officially I can't help but think that since this car was the lightest of the lot maxing out at 860kgs and only the top model of the car were having basic safety features as the optional kit so needless to say it would have failed miserably so no way you are safe but you will feel much more safer than say Maruti’s of that area. One thing in safety that was done better by the Maruti was offering headrest in the front and the back seats that were omitted weirdly and to be honest that feels like too much cutting.



RIDE AND HANDLING



When compared with today's vehicles the i10's suspension hardware consists of an independent MacPherson strut layout at the front and a torsion beam axle with coil spring rear. The front feels noticeably firmer than the softer rear. Ride quality is compliant enough when puttering about town. Not plush, but acceptable. On less than perfect roads, however, the i10 gets bumpy. And yes, large potholes will send a loud thud (in feel & sound) to the inside. The i10 feels most at home on cleanly paved roads, but you should take it easy on the broken patches. The small turning radius of 4.7 meters is a boon within the city. This, coupled with the ultra-light controls and great all-round visibility, make the i10 effortless to drive within crowded urban confines. The i10 feels very agile and you can literally jump in and out of gaps within traffic and while that’s a boon the i10 but due to ‘KITNA DETI HAI FACTOR” I would suggest go for a change on tire department. Other than the tires, the car's behavior is as expected for a hatchback. It's safe & predictable enough to suit the driving style of its target market. Being a tall boy, body roll is noticeable in fast sweeps & turns. The i10 is a family hatchback; keep that in mind, along with the taller stance, and you'll be alright. The steering wheel sufficiently weighs up at an expressway cruising speed of 120 kph and doesn't feel nervous but it doesn’t self-center the way it is expected out of it as this was a common trait in early Hyundai and this steering feels dead at the center and this gives you a feeling that it's not responsive however this trait will give you sufficient highway control as it gives you a good highway control. The brake pedal feels spongy and takes some getting used to. There is no issue with the stopping capability as such, and braking distances are about the same as other hatchbacks. But it's the pedal feel that requires improvement. There is noticeable dead play in the pedal and sometimes, a harder push than expected is required but it stops well enough.



ENGINE & GEARBOX

The best part about the i10 is the engine and the gearbox combo, the DOHC 1.2L petrol now gets  79 BHP @ 6000 RPM & 112 Nm of torque @ 4000 rpm. The real difference is in the way the car drives and the overall refinement levels. Torque delivery at low RPMs is sometimes where I personally feel is somewhat of a lag and it's after 1700 is where the engine comes to life and after that come what may it will pull hard and fast according to hatchback standards even today. Within city driving conditions (where a typical i10 will spend 90% of its life), it is satisfactory. You can even pull away smoothly from 10 kph in 2nd gear itself. I did not observe a single flat-spot in the entire rpm-range. Even on the highway, there is plenty of mid-range torque from 2000 rpm to pull the car from double to triple-digit speeds. The engine is surprisingly rev-happy, right up to its 6,700 rpm redline where the limiter kicks in. Refinement levels are excellent too. There is absolutely no noise or vibration at idle and I was mighty impressed that car felt that much refined even after 10 years and kudos to Hyundai guys for that. The engine feels refined when high-revving, though it can get fairly vocal over 5,000 rpm and even after 10 years can put a big smile on your forehead. The engine is only one side of the coin. What completes the picture is the super-smooth 5-speed gearbox. This was definitely amongst the best gearboxes when launched and even cars worth over 10 lakhs was near it but time has moved on so it’s definitely not the case now but as the first gear is a little bit on the hard side and the gearbox has more mechanical feel to it and the gearboxes of today feel much more smooth but me being an idiot I prefer the old one as the mechanical feel is added bonus as I like to feel connected (I know Hyundai and raw feel doesn’t go together but in terms of gear that’s what I felt. The short-throw gear-lever has an extremely light, slick-shifting action. The gates are well-defined as well. The first 3 ratios are tuned to feel that the car is fast as they are short and you have to change gear frequently but the 4^th and 5^th gear ratios are tall so it gives you a very interesting trait as when you drive in 5^th and cruise at 45 or 50 you feel that okay it’s a tall geared car but the moment your car comes at 15 and you didn’t slot all the way into 2^nd but in third thinking it's tall geared and will manage like a Wagon R you will be in for a nasty surprise as it won’t pick up and you will have to downshift. The 4th & 5th ratios are tall chosen for highway fuel economy. We had to make judicious use of the gearbox and keep the engine on the boil and enjoyed every bit of driving this. There were no flat spots even after 10 years and engine and gearbox wise this car still feels new and can still give modern hatchbacks a run for there money but the moment you take the engine gearbox and look at everything else you will realize that it’s a 10 years old car but as mentioned above the road dynamics are still spot on and no doubt it used to account 30% for all the Hyundai sales in India and made the Korean Giant what it is today.

Conclusion 

If you want a perfect city car but don’t want to go conservative like Wagon R and want a superior engine and gearbox combo this car is the perfect bang for the buck and will be a hoot to drive and you will smile every time you drive it.