Hyundai Xcent S 1.2 - My Daily Commute - Owner's View (3rd Service Update @ Pg.13)

vvivek85 · Nov 17, 2014

Re: Hyundai Xcent S 1.2 - My Daily Commute - Owner's View

Thanks Furious_diver and ramsan for your kind words :)

Ramsan Yeh it's quite sharp and I have to make sure I get used to the breaks ASAP as previously I was owning an Alto.

ramsan · Nov 17, 2014

Re: Hyundai Xcent S 1.2 - My Daily Commute - Owner's View

It is ART-Leather, yes i think i have paid around 1000 more for this stuff. 7200 is including fixing charges.

furious_driver · Nov 24, 2014

Re: Hyundai Xcent S 1.2 - My Daily Commute - Owner's View

Does anyone else feel like NVH levels are gone up in your car?

furious_driver · Mar 18, 2015

Re: Hyundai Xcent S 1.2 - My Daily Commute - Owner's View

Added Service Update & Car riding/handling update in Original Post.

furious_driver · Apr 24, 2015

Re: Hyundai Xcent S 1.2 - My Daily Commute - Owner's View

Update on Recent trip to Native(No photos, as I never planned to write this!):

Total Distance covered : 460 km(70% highway)
Mileage : 16.xx km/l

Since the car had recently finished it's second service, I didn't do any extensive check before leaving. I did the basic stuff like checking tyre pressure, checking spare and tools. Fill up the fuel, wash the windshield(damn flies!!!!) and finally check oil level(You can't trust anything these days).

As with any family, I know timing will not be followed so I informed my wife and mom that we need to start by 8:30am. And as expected they exactly started on 9:30am which was my originally planned time. And so, we set to start the journey at around 9:30am on Friday(took one day leave so can I rest for a day, where the only task for me to do is to EAT!!!). Total of 3 adults and 1 kid with 1 medium sized bag + couple of small bags!

I took my regular route which involves mostly SH of 150km and NH 60km. And due to some recent road works, the SH roads were repaired and so it was nice to drive in the road. Except a stretch of some 10-20km, all went well. We reached Dindigul by 12pm. And here comes the change in plan(I never actually had a plan [lol]

). My mom wanted to try Dindigul famous Biryani! So I thought, why not? Believe my, streets in Bangalore is lot wider than the roads inside this city! It took me close to 30mins to reach the place which is mere 10km. My mom & wife had Biryani while I stare at them(I recently turned to Veg-ism, if that is even a word). Once it is finished it took us another good 30 minutes to reach NH, where I had my veg meals! [cry]

How it handled?

Lunch is over. My kid is asleep. Now all that is between me and my home is that 60km smooth even tarmac. It was a bliss to drive in this road and trust me, my home is located just closer to the NH, which means I don't even need to go inside the City. That 60km was covered in flat 1 hour, where I consistently maintained 120km/h speed and lowest is 60km/h! [surprise]

I never get to reach 90km in that SH, but this road had given me the opportunity to test my Xcent, and I politely did. Those 60km strecth left me with wide grin in my face till we reach home.

Now about car, I cornered the car at 100km/h speed and body roll is well contained. It was confidence inspiring, and it never run out of breath! I pushed it till 140 to see if it can, and yes it did. But it struggled to reach that speed. Max speed to reach with ease is 130. Period. The Tyre noise is unbearable though. Wind noise at high speeds is well controlled, again well done Hyundai uncle! One irritating stuff is, integrated neck restraint. Yes, I usually tilt my head while driving for long and that is where Hyundai messed up. A/C did good job, considering the scorching summer of Madurai. It stayed at 2 mostly and at times, I switched it to 1. Braking is something I would like to have a special mention. It has good bite and whoever says it is grabby, deal with it. This is how it should be and not something like where you stand on the brake to stop it!

Time took to cover 210km : 7 hours(that include close to 3hr breaks including lunch, leg stretch and tea break)

Return leg:

Return leg have mixed feel for me. We started off after finishing lunch around 12:30pm. This time, I kept steady 120+ in NH and 90 in SH. With less breaks(just three tea breaks of 10min each) we reached Coimbatore at around 4:30pm. That's when THIS happened. We had a minor accident, due to which a couple of guys in bike had some bruises and we had a torn fog lamp and scratches in front LHS bumper. It took me 2 days and 3000 bucks to get it fixed! And on the top, the trauma!

Overall, the Xcent performed well throughout the trip and it may not be like Polo/Punto in handling, but it is not bad as everyone portrays.

Some pictures of bumper before and after repair:

furious_driver · May 11, 2015

Trip to Madurai in 2 days

Total Distance covered : 490 km
Mileage : 16.3 km/l

No pics due to the rain throughout my journey!

So the purpose the trip is to attend a function at Sunday(10-May) near Madurai. So we had to start by the Saturday and return by next day. As I already exhausted all my leaves the whole trip had to been done in 2 days(490km in 2 days is big deal for me!), which I have never done before. And this time, rain made this just a tedious one!

So we started by 12:15 pm after finishing up all work. Straight away, filled up car and checked air pressure. I planned to stop for lunch at a place which is just 80 kms from my home. We reached Dharapuram at around 1:50pm. It took us good 1 hour to finish the dinner, and making my kid eat the food(which was not easy). And after that we set off to start the trip. We planned to stop next only for nature calls and have some tea.

But then there is the twist. It started raining. Not the down pouring rain, but the drizzle which can keep you irritated. I can't use my wiper until the glass is full of water and until then I have to drive with the drizzle-ed glass view!!! It took us a long time to reach Dindigul and when we reach, it was alredy 4:30!!! From then, the last 70 kms in GQ road and so we cruised at steady 100(due to rain) and then we finall reached home by 5:30pm.

How car behaved?

Awesome. Steady. Car struggled as usual below 1.5-1.8k rpm but once past, it will give power on tap! There was not single instance where I had to switch off A/C to overtake. This means, I get adjusted to the car. Never revved beyond 2.8k rpm.

Tyre noise is un-tolerable! Seriously, I plan to change it guys. Will trye change improve this? I have no tyre noise in even properly laid tarmac, but the uneven, patched, grained roads make noise like diesel generator. But thankfully only the stretch of 50 kms is like this.

After the second service, I feel the car is doing well and opens up. Before this, to push it for 100+ I used to struggle. But now, without any fuss, I can push it to 100(and above). Cornering is good and even with 80+ cornering is not nervous. And the achievement that I am proud of, no scraping in under-body.

Now, the A/C!! It was surprisingly good. When we started, it was noon and sun was doing it's best at close to 32+ degree centigrade. All I had to do was, set the blower at level 3 for 5 minutes and decrease it to 1. And then, it was cold as our villains! At times, it was bone chilling. I was surprised to see A/C performs well at this summer.

Any gripes/issues?

Integrated neck rest is getting into my nerves. Back pain after non-stop driving for 150 km. To avoid this, in return trip, I used a small pillow at my back.

Except the above point, the whole ride was fun. Now I start to love the long drives and I am practicing to cover as much distance as possible as a single driver. The car is making me feel special and it was the best purchase decision by me.

Sushanto · May 12, 2015

Re: Hyundai Xcent S 1.2 - My Daily Commute - Owner's View

Hi Furious_driver,

I was watching reviews of Xcent petrol in Youtube. There was a video by Gaadi.com, they state that the steering wobbles after the car crosses 100 km/p mark. Is that true?

Moreover since it has been quite some time that you are driving xcent can you please let me know the maintenance cost.

furious_driver · May 12, 2015

Re: Hyundai Xcent S 1.2 - My Daily Commute - Owner's View

@Sushanto

No steering wobble after 100+. Tried pushing past 100 a lot of times to overtake vehicles and never faced any such issue. Maybe it has something to do with alignment or some issue with bearing in test vehicle?

I had that issue in my old Alto, and after replacing the bearing in rear wheel, it was gone!

Maintenance cost is usual Hyundai. Second service costed me 2.4k including pickup & drop. Even the small repair in front bumper+painting+fog lamp change costed me 3k only. Not high and not so low either.

Black Phantom · May 12, 2015