After being discontinued in 2014, the Santro moniker has made a comeback with a new tag line: “The perfect first car”. And in this review we’re evaluating it on a clean slate. We will not give it the unfair advantage of a piggyback ride on the success of the old Santro, nor are we going to hound it to live up to the former’s legacy. This is going to be a comprehensive and impartial review of the new-gen Hyundai San­tro. So, can the new Santro hold its own without the leverage of its past success?

 

Exterior

When you first look at the Hyun­dai Santro, it looks like your run-of-the-mill car targeted for the budget buyer, but with certain styling flairs that help it stand out in the segment. Surprisingly, Hyundai have foregone the iconic tall boy structure, opting instead to give it a stance more akin to the Hyundai Grand i10 with which it shares the K1 platform.

 

Some of the design elements inte­grated by Hyundai into the new San­tro are stylish as well as functional. The front fascia houses the Hyun­dai’s cascading grille, which cools the engine, sits wide across the face and encompasses the fog lamps. Angular, swept-back headlamps are mounted high up on either side of the grille.

 

On the profile you will notice that the shoulder line dips down on the rear door to give extra glass area as well as an element of style. Addi­tional design element on the pro­file of the new Santro comes in the form of boomerang creases over the front-wheel arch. The tail of the Santro gets a pair of simple tail lights and functionally wide-rear wind­shield. Overall, the exterior is well put together and gives the Santro a premium feel. However, that is only half the battle.

 

Interior

It’s when you step inside that the Santro truly begins to impress. For what is segmented as a budget car, the new Hyundai Santro is pretty well specced out. They have man­aged to maintain an air of quality in the cabin. It gets dual tone beige-and-black dashboard (with an option of all black) with smoothly func­tioning 7.0-inch touchscreen info­tainment system loaded with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, sitting in the center.

 

The infotainment screen doubles as a reversing camera in the top-spec Asta variants. There’s also a detailed MID, displaying useful information like average fuel economy, average speed and distance to empty. The sporty looking side air-vents that resemble those seen on some Mer­cedes models further help it achieve the upmarket appeal.

 

Apart from the headroom, all oth­er dimensions are increased from its predecessor. The front seats are comfortable, but the lack of seat height and steering height adjust­ment mean that it isn’t the best place to be for tall individuals. Rear pas­sengers fare slightly better with plen­ty of shoulder room and tremendous under-thigh support, not to mention segment first rear aircon vents. The air-con itself is possibly the best in class and chills the cabin rapidly, despite the huge glass area.

 

Performance

The same 1.1 liter Epsilon engine (G4HG) from the old Santro Xing and in the original i10 finds its way into the new-generation platform of the new Santro. The motor makes 69hp and 99Nm of torque which are competitive stats in the segment. Where it excels most opposition is in terms of refinement with little to no vibrations whether it is idle or on the move.

 

The engine responds well to your inputs and performs best when it’s in the mid-range. Gear shifts are slick and easy thanks to the light clutch; this makes life in stop-and-go traffic much easier.

 

It is not a rev-happy engine and feels a little stressed when pushed upwards of 5,000rpm, but the power comes in at 1000rpm and remains strong throughout the mid-range. With its ability to soak up road undulations with ease, the Santro scores high in terms of ride comfort. Nevertheless, sharp bumps do seep through to the occupants of the vehi­cle. It can also take on corners with comparative ease. Steering is light and easy to maneuver, with decent feedback. You will not run into trou­ble around tight traffic.

 

Verdict

The new Hyundai Santro is a decent car for the segment. It gets many things right and very few things wrong. While there are plen­ty of cost cuts, you still feel like you’re driving a car made for a different class.

 

Segment firsts like the rear aircon vent and rear parking camera defi­nitely take the Santro high up on the potential purchase list. Overall, the new Santro is a great new car and manages to punch above its weight. It is a very good first car, exception­ally good in many.