Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Turbo First Drive Review: The New Pocket Rocket In Town?

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The Hyundai i10 was launched back in 2007 in the Indian market. It was a successor to the Hyundai Santro, which sold in huge numbers. So since its inception, the i10's sales got a great response. Then in 2015, after the company discontinued the Santro, there was only one entry-level hatchback, the i10, left in the portfolio.

Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Turbo First Drive Review: The New Pocket Rocket In Town?

Over there years, the i10 has got a few facelifts and the current model looks pretty awesome for an entry-level hatch. However, earlier this year. Hyundai introduces the 1-litre turbo petrol engine and we were eagerly waiting to get out hands on the Grand i10 Nios turbo. So, we got a day with the all-new Grand i10 turbo petrol, and boy, the car is for sure a pocket rocket. Read more to find out.

Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Turbo First Drive Review: The New Pocket Rocket In Town?

Design & Style

At first glance, the Grand i10 turbo looks stunning due to the dual-tone Red and Black paint scheme. Now at the front, the car gets a blacked-out grille and on the top-left corner of it is the TURBO badge. Flanked on either side of the grille are the seven-LED lights that are extremely bright. The headlight unit features a projector setup for the high and low beam. The fog lights are also projectors, but again a halogen unit.

Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Turbo First Drive Review: The New Pocket Rocket In Town?

There is very little amount of chrome present at the front of the car, inside the headlight and around the fog lights. Now, less chrome is used to retain the sporty nature of the car. And yes, the hood lines and creases make the car look slightly muscular. However, the front bumper of the car features a lip treatment and gives the hatchback an aggressive stance.

Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Turbo First Drive Review: The New Pocket Rocket In Town?

Moving on to the side, the Grand i10 Nios turbo gets beautiful dual-tone four-spoke alloy wheels. Now at the side also there is no chrome present, instead, the top half of the car is finished in black. The pillars, roof and the ORVMs are all blacked out. It also gets a G-i10 badge at the C-pillar, right beside the quarter glass. It also gets roof rails just in case you are planning for a trip and have to mount a carrier. Overall, from the side, the car does not look too flashy as it does not get many sharp lines and creases, but the shark fin antenna and the wheels give it that sporty stance.

Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Turbo First Drive Review: The New Pocket Rocket In Town?

Now coming to the rear end of the car, nowhere the car features some amount of chrome in the form of logos and badges. You get the big Grand i10 badge on the left, the SPORTZ variant badge on the right and NIOS written right at the centre. However, there is a small Turbo badge present at the bottom right-hand side, just in case, anyone misunderstands it for a regular Grand i10. The tail lights also get halogen bulbs, but there is a LED stop light.

Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Turbo First Drive Review: The New Pocket Rocket In Town?

Interiors & Features

Step inside the car and you will be welcomed by a sort of sporty cabin. Everything is finished in black. The Regular Grand i10 features a dual-tone dashboard, whereas the turbo variant gets an all blacked out one. Along with the all blacked out theme, the car also gets red accents that accentuates its sporty nature. There are red inserts and stitching on the steering wheel, AC vents and the seats.

Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Turbo First Drive Review: The New Pocket Rocket In Town?

Speaking about the seats, the front two seats are shaped like bucket seats and get a fixed headrest. All along the border, you will find red stitching and surprisingly the seats do feel comfortable. Side bolstering is good that does not allow the driver to move a lot while cornering hard. But, there is too much under-thigh support, which at first feels uncomfortable, but after driving for some time we got accustomed to it. The driver side seat also features a manual seat height adjuster.

Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Turbo First Drive Review: The New Pocket Rocket In Town?

The second row is decent and can fit three people comfortably. The airconditioning of the car is excellent and since there are rear AC vents, the cabin cools down faster. You also get a charging socket right under the AC vents. However, it does not get a centre armrest. The boot space on the i10 Nios turbo is 260-litres, but the car does not get a split rear seat, so if you need a little more space for luggage, the entire row has to fold down.

Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Turbo First Drive Review: The New Pocket Rocket In Town?

The centre stage of the dashboard is taken by a seven-inch infotainment system. The touchscreen is very responsive and does not lag. Also, the screen is an anti-reflective one, so even on a bright day, the screen reads out pretty well without reflecting. You also get AndroidAuto and AppleCarPlay and a four-speaker music system, which is decent enough. The climate control system is placed under the infotainment system and also features an LCD screen for the temperature settings.

Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Turbo First Drive Review: The New Pocket Rocket In Town?

The instrument cluster on the Grand i10 Nios turbo is a semi-digital one. The tachometer is an analogue unit, while the other half of the cluster is a MID screen. The screen provides a lot of information such as speed, time, distance to empty, temperature, trips and many more. The cluster is placed in such a way that the readouts during a bright day are easy, and yes, it looks pretty awesome during the night.

Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Turbo First Drive Review: The New Pocket Rocket In Town?

We wished that the turbo variant of the i10 got a flat-bottom steering wheel. But, it gets a three-spoke steering wheel that is wrapped in soft-touch material and has red stitching around it. There are steering mounted controls on the left-hand side to operate the infotainment system and to pick-up or drop calls.

Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Turbo First Drive Review: The New Pocket Rocket In Town?

Engine & Handling

Now, coming to the heart of the matter, the 1-litre, three-cylinder, turbo petrol engine. This engine does its duty on the Hyundai Aura and the Venue (in a higher state of tune). The Grand i10 Nios turbo puts out 98bhp of power and 172Nm of peak torque. Now, these power and torque figures may not seem exciting but the car weighs only 983 kgs! And because of that, it is an absolute hoot to drive around.

Now, coming to the heart of the matter, the 1-litre, three-cylinder, turbo petrol engine. This engine does its duty on the Hyundai Aura and the Venue (in a higher state of tune). The Grand i10 Nios turbo puts out 98bhp of power and 172Nm of peak torque. Now, these power and torque figures may not seem exciting but the car weighs only 983 kgs! And because of that, it is an absolute hoot to drive around.

Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Turbo First Drive Review: The New Pocket Rocket In Town?

The five-speed gearbox is sharp and the distance between the shifts are small, making it easy to shift once you are in the mood of flooring the car. The power delivery is slightly learner at the start till the turbo spools up that is around the 1500 to 1700rpm mark. But the midrange and the top-end is amazing, especially the top end. I mean, reaching triple-digit speeds at not a problem in that hatch. There is no traction control so you will get a lot of wheel spin if you dump the clutch hard, however, there is ABS to watch your back.

Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Turbo First Drive Review: The New Pocket Rocket In Town?

Need to overtake someone? Well sometimes you don't even need to shift a gear down, just floor it and it will pull to the 7000rpm mark. The steering wheel feels somewhere slightly stiff, unlikely in the other Hyundai cars, where you can turn the wheel with one finger. The response from the steering wheel is awesome and shifting from one lane to another at high speeds if not a problem.

Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Turbo First Drive Review: The New Pocket Rocket In Town?

Surprisingly, the suspension on the Grand i10 Nios turbo feels somewhere between hard and extremely soft. The company has set it up in such a way that you will get the best of both worlds. Show the car some corners and you will be amazed how well it handled around them. It also absorbs all the bumps and potholes that the city had to offer. Also, if anyone is feeling a little more enthusiastic, go for a set of lowered springs and life will be sorted. All the body roll at high speeds will disappear, which in return will increase the handling a lot.

Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Turbo First Drive Review: The New Pocket Rocket In Town?

The insulation and NVH levels are also pretty good. outside noise does not enter the cabin that much. As far as the engine noise is concerned, the car feels silent till about the 3000rpm mark, but after that slight engine noise starts entering the cabin as the revs build up. But overall, the company had done a good job as far as the cabin noise is concerned.

Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Turbo First Drive Review: The New Pocket Rocket In Town?

As far as the mileage figures are concerned the company claims around the 20km/l combined figures. While we were testing the car in the city we got between 9 and 12, but were testing it! So if the car is driven peacefully, it can easily cross 13 to 14km/l in the city and more than that on the highway.

Hyundai Grand i10 NIOS Turbo First Drive Review: The New Pocket Rocket In Town?

DriveSpark Thinks!

Well, we are just surprised at how well the turbo petrol engine performed in the Grand i10 Nios. From the start, till we handed over the car there was a small grin on our face as it is an enthusiastic car to be driven around. The power delivery is just awesome and due to its lightweight, the Grand i10 Nios Turob Sportz makes one hell of a pocket rocket.

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Read more on: #review #hyundai
Article Published On: Monday, September 21, 2020, 11:00 [IST]
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