My Hyundai Grand i10 Nios Magna - Pincers

[akmalazim]

Hearty Congrats Akmal. Surprised and shocked to learn about your trade off of your lovely Nano for Nios. Finally, it is life. Wish you Happy and Safe Million Miles on NIOS. Will try to catch you sometime in Chennai.

Regards
Kumar

Ha ha !!! Thanks a ton Kumar ji . Guess i'm back to the Hyundai family again. yes letting go of Nano was a difficult task .. but life has to move on!

I was very particular about having a fuss free wife this time ;)

How much did you pay for those blind spot mirrors? I would love to have a pair of them in my Santro. I would get it to Mogappair one day as per your convenient timings, and also would get a chance to woogle at your NIOS

They costed about 300-400 INR . These are a must have in city traffic . Yes please I'll PM you over whatsapp and we will surely meet.

 

[Kumar_CarFreak]

Ha ha !!! Thanks a ton Kumar ji . Guess i'm back to the Hyundai family again. yes letting go of Nano was a difficult task .. but life has to move on!



I was very particular about having a fuss free wife this time ;)



They costed about 300-400 INR . These are a must have in city traffic . Yes please I'll PM you over whatsapp and we will surely meet.

Thanks for the info Akmal. However, I remember one of my cab driver (Tata Sumo) quoting the price as 100 Rs. in T Nagar for a pair of blind spot mirrors, roughly a year ago. But if you feel they are worthy the 300-400 INR, then would be fine. I haven't yet felt the need of a blind spot mirror, however would love to have one in my car, for the sake of having.

 

[Kentkits]

Hope you are hale and healthy and it would definitely hurt to not drive your new car immediately . Your Nios looks great with those projector lamps . Did you inform them before going for PDI ? mine was washed before PDI .

I am doing good now. Thanks buddy. Sorry for replying late. Waiting for the car delivery before posting here.

Finally got our NIOS today. Had a good delivery experience.

Don’t mean to hijack your thread. I will create a new ownership thread once I get out of this hand cast.

 

[akmalazim]

Thanks for the info Akmal. However, I remember one of my cab driver (Tata Sumo) quoting the price as 100 Rs. in T Nagar for a pair of blind spot mirrors, roughly a year ago. But if you feel they are worthy the 300-400 INR, then would be fine. I haven't yet felt the need of a blind spot mirror, however would love to have one in my car, for the sake of having.

Those 100 INR ones are the ones in nano. you can find it in my nano's thread. They are non adjustable. The reason I used that was cabbies who park in my office parking used to steal even that! I can assure you that once you start using it. You wont stop using it

I am doing good now. Thanks buddy. Sorry for replying late. Waiting for the car delivery before posting here.

Finally got our NIOS today. Had a good delivery experience.

Don’t mean to hijack your thread. I will create a new ownership thread once I get out of this hand cast.

Congratulations on your new Nios . Wishing you many trouble free miles ahead. Those projector lamps do add extra aggression to the already aggressive design . There's a pan india group for Nios users on whatsapp . If you wihs to join please lemme know. Attaching a screenshot of the lamp details from the owners CD .

 

[Kentkits]

Thanks akmalazim. This is some good info. I was looking for this. I am planning to upgrade to LEDs as I think all white will go good with the DRLs.

 

[Kumar_CarFreak]

Akmal, do we have old Santro Xing users' group in WhatsApp? I would be benefited if I get access to one..

 

[akmalazim]

Thanks akmalazim. This is some good info. I was looking for this. I am planning to upgrade to LEDs as I think all white will go good with the DRLs.

Yes! white light compliments the drl very well. How's the visibility of the halogens in projector ? The yard in charge said that its not as good as the MFR headlight.

Akmal, do we have old Santro Xing users' group in WhatsApp? I would be benefited if I get access to one..

Whatsapp group of FB group for Santro was non existent when i searched for one before buying Nios.

 

[Kentkits]

Projectors are really great, especially the fog ones. Light throw and night visibilty is far better than my Verna. Thinking will continue with these for few more months.

 

[akmalazim]

Projectors are really great, especially the fog ones. Light throw and night visibilty is far better than my Verna. Thinking will continue with these for few more months.

WOW!!! that's great news. can you share some images of the light throw of the fog and HL ?

 

[akmalazim]

Pincers is about to complete 2 months with us. After driving it for almost 2 months now , I have a fair share of likes and dislikes in this car and the company. I’ll start with looks.
LOOKS
Likes

• Aggressive front
• Interesting side profile
• Aggressive DRLS ( There are cars in which DRL’s are added just for name sake and there are cars in which DRLs add a character to the overall design and I believe that Nios belongs to the latter part.)

Dislikes

• Mundane rear (reminds me of TATA)
  

Comfort
Seating comfort is something that we all should be paying keen attention to while buying a car. After all we are spending a huge chunk of our time waiting in traffic. Nios despite lacking an adjustable headrest has good cushioned seats. They wrap around your sides nicely and the under thigh support is adequate as well.

Nice Under thigh support for the rear seats.

The spacious leg room when the front seats are kept in my normal driving position. Rear seats are comfortable as well with the rear AC vents to cool them, I haven’t heard any complaints from the rear passengers.

Addition of driver seat height adjustment is a more of a mixed bag for me.Increasing the height to make the road visible makes the clutch position awkward. Never felt this in the new santro.

Ergonomics are spot on except for the non-illuminated window switches. I end up opening the wrong window most times. My humble Nano had that!

The steering wheel is good to hold and the ICE control buttons are tactile and ooze of superior quality. However the asymmetrical steering wheel design irks me every time. The horn pad needs some special efforts as it’s at the centre.

The V shaped Silver spoke of the steering wheel breaks the monotony of the design and gels well with over all colour scheme of the interiors.

The dashboard plastics though not soft touch are of very good quality and the presence of honeycomb pattern adds extra a premium to the cabin.

The circular aircon vents at the sides appear sporty and the air-con is a chiller. I have often had my co- passengers get down shivering .

The Air- con controls are of good quality too. Glad that Hyundai did not provide the outdated controls.

The indicator and wiper stalks feel robust and would last for its life time.

Magna variant comes with a non-touch ICE with Bluetooth connectivity and the buttons in the system are aptly placed so as not to affect the functionality. Notice the Seek and track buttons at the left corner of the unit and the Audio and Phone buttons at the right side of the unit. They are thoughtfully laid out as the track skipping options are available as steering mounted buttons and one need not stretch far to reach them .

The audio quality is pretty impressive for an OEM system when the audio is played through USB. The call quality is clear and I feel that no compromise has been made on this front. Notice the Honey comb pattern of the speaker grill too. I'm starting to love this attention to detail.

The USB and the USB charger beneath the air-con controls. There's ample space to keep your mobile below it.

Honey comb pattern on the door pads

Honey comb pattern on the side of the gear console.

Honey comb pattern on the rear tail lamps. This projects a honey comb pattern on the surrounding surface when the breaks are pressed.

The gear level though it lacks premium materials on it feels good to hold and use.

The ORVMs are large enough to provide a good view.

However the absence of any provision to open the boot via key or from inside the cabin is huge concern from safety point of view. The boot can be opened only via the electromechanical switch! You can’t open the boot if the battery fails or if the switch conks off.

Speaking of the boot, it’s adequately spacious and the loading lip doesn’t seem that high. The Hydraulic jack, car cover (unused) and jospasu duster are a constant in my car's boot.

Fuel lid opener at its rightful place.

1 litre bottle holder on all 4 doors.

Dual dial instrument cluster is clear and conveys the relevant info whenever required without any fuss. Funky looking digital speedo consoles often have readability issues. However the font type used does not gel well with the premiumness of the car. Also notice the trip meter reset stick poking out .. wish Hyundai had retained the offering from Grand i10.

View of the dashboard from the rear seats.

 

[akmalazim]

ENGINE

• The 1.2 litre Kappa petrol engine is very refined and smooth.
• I have seen many people surprised when the car starts moving all of a sudden. It is that silent. However the engine note can be felt a bit inside the cabin while revving it.
• No vibrations are felt on the gear lever, but mild vibrations are felt on the steering wheel while idling.
• This motor is best when driven sedately. No spirited driving at all.
• It’s evenly paced for the city commutes.
• But the lack of power can be felt with 4-5 on board.

DRIVABILITY & GEARBOX

• City manuverability is one of the mains USP of this engine IMHO. Manages to cross speed breakers in 2nd gear without much fuss and can do 40 even at 4th gear.
• Over taking needs a bit of preplanning.
• On Highways manages to cruise comfortably at 80-90 at 2000 to 2300 RPM in its 5th gear.
• The gear throws are a bit to long for my liking and are a bit notchy as well.
• The reverse gear needs some special effort as it doesn’t slot it immediately at times of need.

DRIVING DYNAMICS, RIDE QUALITY AND STEERING FEEDBACK

• This happens to be the part where Pincers lets me down. Being used to the vehicle dynamics of ford and fiat, my expectations fall flat!!
• Nios handles better than its predecessor, but not in the league of the fords and fiats!
• The suspension is stiffer and doesn’t translate most of the potholes inside the cabin at good speeds.
• But drop down the speed and you can find your co passengers complaining when going over speed bumps and pot holes.
• On the whole I would say that the ride quality is decent when compared to its predecessor.
• The steering feedback happens to be a sore point when it comes to all Hyundai cars. But off late Hyundai seems to be improving on this front.
• Equipped with an electronic power steering (EPS) , Nios has feather light steering ( vague) at parking speeds.
• But the steering stiffens as the speed builds up. Despite offering feedback at high speeds, the car still fails to feel connected with the driver.
• The famous clove leaves flyovers at Chennai is where the absence of a well-balanced chassis design gets highlighted.
• The car does not inspire confidence while navigating the clove leaves fly over’s entry and exit ramps. Not as sure footed as a ford or a fiat in these turns and the vague steering makes only matters worse.
• Take it to a straight stretch the car feels sure footed up to double digit speeds. Anything post 90 makes it all bouncy. This car is purely meant for relaxed long drives and not for the spirited driver in us or the twisty Ghats for that matter.
• Tyre noise does infiltrate into cabin , all thanks to the stock OE Apollo amazer tyres.
• 

BRAKING

• The car stops without much drama, the brake pedals don’t have a wooden feel. But I really can’t feel the brakes! Brake bite is very feeble. Kia branding on parts!!

FIRST SERVICE

Last week Nios crossed the 1200KMs mark and was due for its first service. I initially thought of taking it on a Sunday as FPL Hyundai works on Sunday too. But later my sales advisor advised me against it as I would have to run behind people to get the work done. So postponed it to next Monday as it was a 2-3 hour job.

So, on Monday dropped in at FPL koyembedu at 8:30 AM to beat the rush and I had to leave for work as well. To my surprise there was no one at the service station apart from the watchman and the cleaning person. Around 9 AM, a service advisor named Lokesh turned up and took up my car. Neatly explained the work that would be done in first service and then listened to my complaints. My complaints were the notchy gear shift and then a feel that the steering wheel was tilted a bit to the right. Promised to deliver the car in 2-3 hours and I decided to wait.

After some waiting the car was sent for wash and there was a Creta before it. Don’t know from where it popped in as I was the first to enter the service centre that day. Post a good wash it was taken for a road trial and the technician accompanying me told me that all seems normal. The steering wheel feel was probably due to asymmetrical design and the gear shift was normal as per them. I was reluctant to buy the gear shift part and they showed a new Hyundai venue and it had the same notchy gear shift.

I had test driven the AURA sometime back and it was super smooth. Highlighted the same to my technician and he dug around the engine bay a bit adjusting cables and then asked me if it had a button on the gear knob. I remember a clog on the gear lever of aura to engage the reverse. Happens that it’s hydraulic type and would be smoother than the cable operated counterpart. I accepted this for time being and the car was sent for a final dust down. Final Bill was 0 INR and I got two pockets of wiper wash fluid as complement.

It was post-delivery and at night I realized that they had smeared some sort of polish on the windscreen and it hampered the visibility to a great extent! I made a note of this during feedback call that I received two days later. They were courteous enough to send a person down to my residence to clean it up. But I politely declined as I had already cleaned up. Appreciate this effort from Hyundai as things like this was non- existent with TATA.

REVERSE CAM STORY

I had already mentioned in this thread that the rear view cam captured a lot of reflections and the video footage was barely visible. Had highlighted this to my Sales advisor Mr. Prem and also during feedback call. Although I was expecting nil efforts to address this, I was surprised when FPL team decided to place a separate order for me. They usually fix mirror mounted cam in all their cars and I wanted a dash mounted one. ( The newly replaced rear view display from a brand called 7m . There's a noticeable time gap for the display to start showing the footage after the reverse gear is engaged.

They got one for me and replaced it free of cost! Kudos to MR. Prem and the FPL team. Guess the decision to go with Hyundai is proving out to be a good one after all ( fingers crossed ) .

 

[Kumar_CarFreak]

Nice Akmal ji.

Would love to know the OTR of this car you bought it for. Also keep us updated on the fuel mileage in Chennai city. As of now 14.00 kmpl is really a commandable FE in Chennai since mine struggles sometimes to reach 13, and at times, I end up filling the tank and finding it to be around 14+ kmpl (very rare condition). The worst I remember was 11.8 kmpl.

 

[akmalazim]

Nice Akmal ji.

Would love to know the OTR of this car you bought it for. Also keep us updated on the fuel mileage in Chennai city. As of now 14.00 kmpl is really a commandable FE in Chennai since mine struggles sometimes to reach 13, and at times, I end up filling the tank and finding it to be around 14+ kmpl (very rare condition). The worst I remember was 11.8 kmpl.

the OTR was 6.85 INR keeping discounts , exchagneg bonus and exchange price it all boiled down to 6.05 INR . I would be happy if it were really 14 as shown in the MID . But in reality i get 12.6-12.7 kmpl and this where i miss my nano. It gave me a constant FE of 14.5 kmpl for 4 years

 

[Kumar_CarFreak]

the OTR was 6.85 INR keeping discounts , exchagneg bonus and exchange price it all boiled down to 6.05 INR . I would be happy if it were really 14 as shown in the MID . But in reality i get 12.6-12.7 kmpl and this where i miss my nano. It gave me a constant FE of 14.5 kmpl for 4 years

Even I get similar figures when I use 60+% AC. Only when the AC usage is relatively less, say only 40 or 30%, I would get something around 14, that too really rare.

the OTR was 6.85 INR keeping discounts , exchagneg bonus and exchange price it all boiled down to 6.05 INR . I would be happy if it were really 14 as shown in the MID . But in reality i get 12.6-12.7 kmpl and this where i miss my nano. It gave me a constant FE of 14.5 kmpl for 4 years

Nano was traded off for how much? If you mind uttering the number here, you can PM me. Was curious to know

 

[AshishSam]

Is there anyone who feels irritated from the Nios's horn honking during every lock and unlock of the car? Can anyone please guide me if that feature could be turned off.