2017 Hyundai Grand i10 facelift review, test drive

The Grand i10 is Hyundai’s best-selling car because it is a fantastic all rounder. It’s well-built, feature-loaded, spacious and easy to drive. Now, Hyundai has given it a mid-life makeover by freshening its looks and adding some much-needed features. But this isn’t just a cosmetic upgrade; the engines have been tweaked too. While the petrol promises to return marginally more out of every last drop of fuel, the diesel engine has been enlarged and has a bit more performance.

The new model split now comprises of five variants – Era, Magna, Sportz, Sportz (O) and Asta. While the base ‘Era’ petrol variant is almost Rs 40,000 cheaper at Rs 4.58 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), it falls short in terms of the kit when compared to its newest competitor, the Ignis, which gets dual airbags, ABS with EBD, tilt steering, speed sensing door locks and more. The top ‘Asta’ variants are around Rs 30,000 more expensive than the outgoing car priced at Rs 6.40 and 7.33 lakh for the petrol and diesel respectively, and consequently pack in more equipment in terms of daytime running lamps, touchscreen audio system, climate control and a reverse camera. Following the common trend, Hyundai has excluded the automatic gearbox option from the top ‘Asta’ petrol variant and has made it available only with the Magna and Sportz (O) variants, priced between Rs 5.99 and 6.83 lakh respectively.

Changes to the exteriors are subtle yet effective. The car gets a redesigned front air dam with a new large grille area and L-shaped fog lamp housings. New smart daytime running lights (DRLs), located beside the fog lamps, automatically turn off once the handbrake is engaged. There are new 14-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels and, around the rear, there's a new bumper as well. The request sensor (key-linked push-button) located on the passenger-side front door handle has been silently deleted with this update. And the new Grand i10, in an effort to improve radio frequency reception, gets a much longer roof antenna.

What’s it like on the inside?

Hyundai has managed to retain the Grand i10’s very upmarket cabin, even managing to improve it in many ways. Fit and finish in fact are every bit as good, with some bits feeling even better made, and quality of the bits you touch, like the gear lever and the steering wheel, feel so good – this still feels like a car from a segment above. There's now a new 7.0-inch touchscreen audio system, with an interface similar to that of the Elantra, and what's nice is that you even get Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as part of the software suite. The unit is intuitive and touch sensitivity is nice too. This new audio system will also support voice commands once your smartphone is connected to it. And the screen also doubles up as a display for the newly added reversing camera. The other big addition to the equipment list is the automatic climate control system from its compact sedan sibling. For those looking to buy the lower Sportz variant, even that gets a 5.0-inch touchscreen system with Bluetooth. Even the seats are very comfortable and supportive, and there's so much legroom in the rear that being chauffeur-driven is not a problem either. 

There’s just one complaint. While all variants come with a driver airbag, variants upwards of Sportz get dual airbags. And an anti-locking braking system (ABS) is only available only on the top-spec Asta variant. Neither of the variants gets speed-sensitive door locks, which is something that the competition from Maruti gets.