I was always anxious to know like others whether the new
getz prime will hold onto the market and was very interesting in
getting a test drive in a proper location which had a mix of inclines
to test its power. my main concern was the pulling power of 67bhp and
how it compares to the palio with the getz having a 4 valve SOHC while
the palio had a 2 valve SOHC. So off i went since one person in trident
was more than willing to help me drive it since a month back. he told
me he would call me when the car was available. as coincidence would
have it when i returned from the palio TD i got a call saying the
hyundai TD is ready!
Now getting a juicy offer and considering the fact i could drive from
indiranagar to koramangala via the flyover and also test its higher
speeds, i immediately ran away to trident. after a brief look at the
getz prime it was now time to drive. but before that experience, a talk
on the features.
the model i saw was a 1.3 glx, and the model i drove was a 1.1 gvs. the OTR prices in bangalore are
1.1 GLE 4.85, 1.1 GVS 5.27, 1.3 GLS 5.56 and 1.3 GLX 6.02 (shucks
anymore and they are entering over and beyond logan high end diesel
territory!!)
some small things:
1. tilt steering available, not there in palio, common fiat!! wake up
2. comfortable seating position
3. aluminium brushed door handles and front panels, good
4. lots of space on dashboard for piling up lots of things!
5. the boot lock is integrated with the mechanical central lock itself. so if main lock is open, boot is open else no
6. boot can also be closed by key
7. 40-60 seat split, quite useful (common fiat, look at these guys and learn)
8. huge boot space which is very very practical.
9. speaker space on each door
10. defogger, rear wiper(not availble in rear on low end versions)
11. sexy gear shift, and smooth clutch (not hard like fiat)
12. dead pedal near clutch and spacing of pedals very optimal and practical for usage
13. no 12V socket like fiat, so no laptop usage! but cup holders are very practical in getz
14. odometer is digital, good job hyundai!! clock is black over green
bkgnd, and not green over black bkgnd like fiat, sheesh wish these fiat
guys had colour sense!
15. tyres are smaller in basic models of 1.1 and only bigger in 1.3 and no tubeless either. bad hyundai.
16. no ring protection for slotting into reverse like palio. so much for safety.
Now to the drive:
1. There is no way you are going to know if the car is off or on. NVH levels are the best, good job hyundai, wonderful!
2. 1st gear gets rich too early much like palio, and demands a shift
3. gear shift being good its almost effortless to move into any gear!
4. put the a/c on before the flyover and i was in fifth gear by the
time i reached the flyover ramp. the car moves steadily on 5th gear
onto the flyover and maintains steady, however press the pedal and
there is no surge in activity. its so boring. with 2 people and aircon
it struggles to go above the flyover. no one to overtake so cant judge
if power is enough.
5. get down the ramp, still on fifth gear, torque is amazing at this
gear, switch off the a/c and rip upto middle of ring road, never
noticed what speed i was in, but it was simply effortless without a/c
on fifth gear to get to high speeds. and the steering is just perfect
with a 4.9m turning radius allowing you to complete u-turns! good
hyundai.
6. one U turn and was on second gear, didnt feel like driving in that
much, moved to third, here again no use, moved to fourth. fourth seemed
better, switched a/c on again power dropped, moved to fifth since i was
at some speed already. truck in front of me i approach a flyover ramp
again.
7. honk like mad, the truck moves out of way giving me just millimeters
of space and challenging me to either overtake or shut up. with fifth
gear i try overtaking with ac no use, slot into fourth try again, still
on parallel with truck, cant make it, slot into third and revv hard and
finally finish the manouevre. no sense of racing enthusiasm at all. my
maruti is better. i am able to slot down and confidently overtake even
with a/c on. sheesh hyundai you have disappointed me with power
delivery in the gears with the a/c. and this was exactly the concern
area mentioned by many bhpians earlier. quite true i guess. just for
power hyundai makes me spend upto 5.56 lacs! hyundai what are you
thinking?? is someone mad to take ur getz at that price vis-a-vis swift
diesel at 30k more?
8. the brakes arent so sensitive like palio (holy cow!) so i was more relaxed.
finally what?
– pricey, very pricey
– half the features what palio offers at much lower prices
– torque is good only in fifth and fourth gears, 1st and 2nd are disappointing, 3rd is well only required to overtake probably.
– great a/c
– good cabin and boot ergonomics and speaker placements
– needless to say costly hyundai service vis-a-vis tatas.
maybe hyundai might manage to sell it in india, but i think abroad,
people will really be disappointed with the performance. i am sure the
crdi diesel will be 7 lacs where no middle class guy can dream of it
even. good bye hyundai.
