Hyundai has relaunched the Santro in India and after discontinuing the Eon, Santro right now is their cheapest entry level product. We have a previous generation Santro Xing (2013 model) with us and it served us really well. So we decided to get our hands on the new Santro too.
This is an ownership / user experience review, so rather than acting as advertisement of the company, here we share our ownership experience with this car and talk about the features, likes and dislikes as per our own usage.
Detailed Video Review of Hyundai Santro 1.1L Petrol
Exterior build, looks and design
New Hyundai Santro 2021 is basically a striped down version and rebadged first generation i10. It is build on the exact same platform but uses the modern version of previous Santro engine. From out side looks, Santro looks nothing like the previous generation and from every angle it will remind you of first generation i10.
With any Hyundai product, the exterior build quality always gives that solid feeling, specially when you compare it with similar priced Maruti products and here too, New Santro BS6 will not disappoint you. It is a tall boy design and personally I don’t like tall boy, I am more of a sedan fan but this car is purchased not for looks but for its practicality.
55/60W normal halogen reflector type headlights looks good design wise but really not meant for heavy duty highway driving, they are just ok for normal city usage and one may need to drop speed for safe driving at night hours due their very poor highway performance. But being a tall boy, it provides excellent visibility. Windows are large, lets in a lot of light and air when rolled down.
Interior Space / Seating Comfort or quality
If you are someone who has watched our YouTube channel, you may now, this isn’t our first Hyundai. We have the previous Santro Xing and for any Hyundai product, one may notice their interior quality is far better than their main competition Maruti.
In this New Santro too, you can feel the difference, the switches, plastic material used or the seats, they all feel very durable and better quality. Built quality wise, you can trust Hyundai with eyes closed that even with long term middle class house hold use or 8/10 years, this car will last & wont cause any rattle or those wear out marks.
The tall boy design comes with large glass areas. Windows are large and lets lot of light in. Light colour interior makes the car feel very airy and doesn’t give kids that car sickness. The rear A/C vents is also a very nice feature at this low end price point.
Performance / Drive / Engine
Although the new Santro shares the same exact platform of previous generation i10 but Hyundai has changed the engine. It uses the previous Santro 1100cc engine but with lot of modern modification.
New Santro is powered by a 4 cylinder / 3 valve per cylinder / variable valve timing / petrol bs6 engine. It generates 68bhp and 99nm of torque. Engine lacks outright punch. Wagon R with 1.2K series is miles ahead. This engine needs to pushed hard to extract what ever little performance it has. However, its smooth, gearbox is excellent, typical Hyundai, really smooth. Overall city driving is excellent, you won’t complain. However, weak engine means you may be pushing it hard often and that would lead to lower fuel efficiency.
If you are trying to extract mileage and driving really slow and low, yes, you can extract 15 kmpl but unfortunately, if you are in hurry and you are driving by keeping the speed up with the traffic, you will find yourself pushing the A pedal a lot and realistically, mileage in city with A/C is around 12 kmpl.
The car is stable in highway, as engine is the weak link, stay below 100 and you wont complain much. Its a tall boy so its not meant for corner curving but its stable enough to take those aggressive lane changes or hard corners if you are keeping it at sane speeds.
The main advantage of Santro is, its feather light controls. Steering is just super light, so are the gearshifts or the pedals. Breaking isn’t very sporty but as a family or city car within 80, it won’t cause any drama even with challenging hard panic breaking. It comes with ABS+EBD.
Safety / Crash Test Results
Hyundai Santro comes with mandatory Dual Airbags / ABS / Rear parking sensor in all version. Global NCAP has tested this car under their Safe Cars for India program and Santro has scored 2 star in crash testing.
