Thread Starter
#1
Hey everyone, it’s been a long time since I posted anything on TAI, apart from my introduction and one post in photoshop works.
I just graduated, which makes it a perfect time to write a review of my car (which Niku and Akash1886 suggested) . I am no expert or have knowledge about writing a review, but yes I will try my best to explain everything about it.
I just graduated, which makes it a perfect time to write a review of my car (which Niku and Akash1886 suggested) . I am no expert or have knowledge about writing a review, but yes I will try my best to explain everything about it.
So here it goes, a few details of my ride before actually starting the review :
Car : Hyundai Santro Xing XL (2007 Model)
Owner : Second
Odometer reading (in 2012 when I bought this car) : Around *40,000 km*
Odometer reading (now) : 80060 km
Fuel : Petrol + CNG
Prerequisites :
Prior to this car, we had a 1996 Maruti Suzuki 800 which was also a used car. It started giving many problems, so decided to sell it off and buy a new car.
Back in 2012, the hunt for a new vehicle started, well *new* here means a used car. The only choices came in mind were the famous hatchbacks : Maruti Suzuki Wagonr and Hyundai Santro. Chose Santro amongst the two, the criteria being styling and curvy design. Took test drives of a few Santros, when one just stole my heart away, sitting there in the dealer’s parking area. It was shining brightly as if it was a new car which came straightaway from the showroom. The color(Silver) of this one was the one I was looking forward to, when I was reading some reviews on the internet about Santro. Then I took a short test drive, after which I told my mom that we’ll buy this car only ( like a small boy telling his parents to buy a toy car in a shop 
)
)
I was so excited that I named this car even before buying it, came home and started searching names with the word Silver in it, then I found one which is the name of a decepticon in transformers series, so Silverbolt it is.
A few days later, that is on 16th March 2012 Silverbolt finally came home
![[:)]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Smile.gif "Smile [:)]")
The initial days with this car were brilliant, ran smooth on petrol for 6000km or so, after we decided to convert it into CNG because my college was about to start and there was no public transport that was easily accessible and took less time.
The problematic phase:
Now the first problem encountered was the battery became completely dead, so replaced it with a new one. But a year later around 51000 km on the odo the next problem came which was quite big and set us back by 7500 bucks! We took our car to one of the Hyundai service center, where we got to know another shocking news, that our car has clocked over 1 lakh kms! The executive asked us is this a used car? We replied yes, and asked him how did he know? Then he replied that we checked it with our computer, that the car has clocked 1 lakh+ kms and the odometer reading says 40k km. That was a major setback, we were cheated by the dealer who sold us this car. The reason for the above 40,000 km I wrote in bold letters was due to this fact. Getting back to the 7500 bill, the work done was ECM and Sensor setting.
A few more problems were waiting to be addressed, first steering oil leakage problem, and second, two of the tyres just gave up, they were swollen. Many a times I have faced heating problems also due to one or the other reason, and in 2015 its clutch plates were also changed
Another point I would like to highlight for owners of Santro (with CNG), that if you are facing problems like car is stalling on CNG while you brake, or its in motion and you change the gear and it loses power, then get your car’s Lambda removed. I had these problems, so our mechanic and few others suggested to get that Lambda removed, which eventually solved these problems.
Well lets keep those problems aside, and talk about its driveability, running cost per km, and the good things about this car.
Another point I would like to highlight for owners of Santro (with CNG), that if you are facing problems like car is stalling on CNG while you brake, or its in motion and you change the gear and it loses power, then get your car’s Lambda removed. I had these problems, so our mechanic and few others suggested to get that Lambda removed, which eventually solved these problems.
Well lets keep those problems aside, and talk about its driveability, running cost per km, and the good things about this car.
Driveability :
It is a breeze to drive this car in the city, especially in B2B traffic. The best thing is the low-end torque this car provides!
Tight parking space? No worries, it will squeeze into it easily.
When running on CNG, the pickup is on the low side, but it is still acceptable and enough for overtaking other cars, that being with the AC off. Otherwise keep your hand on the AC button to switch it off whenever you need to overtake.
Best driven at 50-60 kmph in cities, and 70-80 kmph on highways.
Fuel Efficiency :
This area is one that everyone talks about while purchasing a car/bike.
In city :
Petrol – 10-12 kmpl (with AC) & 12-13 kmpl (without AC i.e. in winters)
CNG – 15-17 kmpl (with AC) & 22-25 kmpl (without AC)
On highway :
Petrol – 14.5 kmpl (with AC)
CNG – 26+ kmpl (with AC)
Recently, Silverbolt completed a long trip from Delhi to Punjab and back to Delhi (885 kms) successfully and the FE figures it returned still keeps me wondering how I was able to achieve those
![[shock]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Shock.gif "Shock [shock]")
The FE figures are as follows :
On petrol – 19 kmpl (with 80% AC, 2 people on board, speed kept constant at 80 kmph)
On CNG – a staggering 30 kmpl! (with same conditions as above)
And while returning from Punjab, the car was fully loaded with 5 people on board and some luggage in the boot, with speeds 65-70 kmph, the mileage on petrol came out to be 17 kmpl.
Tips for those who want to extract best mileage from their cars, be it petrol/diesel/cng, drive your car sedately and keep it constant. 70-80 kmph speed bracket is enough on the highways, even those who are driving at 120+ will definitely meet you somewhere on the highway, and it roughly takes the same amount of time to reach a place from A to B in both the cases. Be light on the accelerator, enjoy the ride and get amazing FE figures. Though in cities its tough to get nice FE figures but yes there will be a 3-4 kmpl rise in your FE. Also remove the extra stuff if any which is not necessary as this also plays a role in improving the FE.
Some points to note :
- In my recent trip to Punjab, I observed that on petrol, it still has that grunt which is needed for overtaking, most of the times I didn’t had to switch to a lower gear, even with AC on. It is a fun-to-drive car.
- The low-end torque does not let your car's tyres spin while you are going up on a flyover in traffic, release the clutch halfway and it goes forward. Unlike in i10 (my uncle's car) sometimes I have to rev hard to make it go forward.
- The front visibility is quite good, with not so thick A-pillars.
- The boot space is adequate (without CNG) it feels larger than the i10 which has slightly more space.
- Even with CNG, the boot space is okay, it can accommodate 2-3 backpacks easily.
- For CNG Santro owners, it is advised to change your stock tyres from 155/70 R13 to 165/65 R13 to maintain the ground clearance of the car and also to improve the ride handling of the car.
Modifications done till now :
- Sony headunit, speakers and amplifier
- Pioneer woofer
- Hella supertone horn (earlier it was Roots windtone)
- Running on Bridgestone S322, 165/65 R13 Tyres
- Tinted tail lights
- Changed ORVMs (from vertical to horizontal ones)
Planned upgrades :
- Upgrade stock headlight bulbs to Phillips Xtreme vision plus
- Install fog lamps
Well this concludes the ownership review of my car. As stated before, I am no expert in writing reviews, so suggestions are most welcomed.
Lastly, no review is complete without photographs, so here you go :
A few days after I bought this car :
Running on puny chinese tyres, which gave up too soon.
The bridgestone S322s
One thing I want to ask is, is it true that the paint of the bonnet on Santro Xing fades away quickly (my mechanic told me this)? As you can see in this image :
Near Buddh International Circuit :
Pathetic low beams :
High beams comes to the rescue, but still these bulbs are not sufficient
No Boot space with the speaker and woofer box, but the good thing is it does not hamper the rear visibility. Love the setup done.
Boot space without the box, keep one bag to the left, one to the right and one in the center
Last edited:
![[:D]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Big%20Smile.gif "Big Smile [:D]")