Ritesh Madhok
The Santro was Hyundai’s very first offering when they entered the Indian car market 20 years back in 1998. The car single-handedly became the face for the Korean car maker in India and helped it takeoff to a massive start. Come 2018, the Santro comes back to life in an all-new avatar and rightly so in its latest innings.
Exteriors
The All-New Santro retains the basic tall boy design that it has always been known for, but it’s the width of the car which is more noticeable now. The basic styling also reminds of the i10, which is perfectly ok as it hails from the same family. The front profile looks strikingly different thanks to the high placed bumpers, sloping rounded bonnet and the wide air dam with large angular shaped fog lamps placed at a very high position right below the headlamps. The bumper has a large area on it that is finished in matte black and the center of it houses five horizontal slats in cascade design with a slim chrome strip running around it highlighting the styling. The biggest highlight on the sides is the boomerang-like character line running from the front fender into the front door and an arc-shaped body line running from the rear fender into the rear doors. The rear styling is mainly highlighted by the modular styled tail lights and the angular styled bumper. The tailgate also gets an integrated spoiler and stop lamp.
Interiors
You are instantly greeted by a very spacious cabin as it was the car’s hallmark always. The dashboard and door-pads come in dual-tone color. The corner AC vents sport the Mercedes-Benz three-pointed-star like design on them with a light-bronze finish. The dashboard also gets a flat surface area in the middle which is for placing the idols. The center dash as per Hyundai is elephant face inspired and rightly so as the angularly mounted AC vents resemble the ears of the elephant and so on. The center dash is highlighted by the 7-inch touchscreen color infotainment system that comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, USB, Bluetooth telephony and music streaming, reverse camera. The single zone climate control comes its USP, the rear AC vents for the rear passengers placed between the front two seats. The power window switches are placed behind the gear-shifter stick. The seats get integrated headrest for the front and the rear. The boot space on the all-New Santro is 235 liters.
Engine , transmission, gearbox
The all-new Santro comes powered with the tried, tested and trusted 1.1L (1086cc) 4-cylinder petrol engine making 69PS of power @ 5500rpm and 99Nm of torque @ 4500rpm. The engine belongs to the Epsilon range in the Hyundai family. This engine is mated to a 5-speed manual transmission; you also have an option of a 5-speed AMT automatic transmission, a first for Hyundai and Santro. You also have an option of a CNG Santro which makes 59PS of power.
We drove both the manual and automatic transmission cars; Start the engine and the 1.1L 4-cylinder settles into a dignified style with not much fuss or noise. Power builds up quickly and in a linear fashion. The Brakes offer just the right bite and come aided with ABS with EBD as standard. Coming to the AMT Automatic, we were floored with this transmission. The typical AMT jittery shift feel is at its minimum, power delivery is very positive and the shifts are quick and smooth. You have to accept the fact the Santro is a family small car and not a performance car, the engine has been tuned for a fuel efficiency claimed of 20.3kmpl and rightly so in today’s real-world scenario.
Verdict
The Santro is back and how! As per Hyundai’s tradition and protocol, they have loaded the Santro with a long list of safety, comfort and tech feature many of which is a segment first. The AMT transmission is a real boon in daily driving condition. The car is compact from outside, spacious from inside and fun to drive at all times. The Santro does look and feel a lot trendy and in-tune with today’s time and age, so we may agree and say, the legend is really back!
