Steed

After a long time, I'm mobile again ! I bought a Hyundai i10 Asta towards the end of May and God, what a relief it is to not depend on auto-wallas again :) I've been meaning to jot this down for a long time, but finally getting around to writing about how I finally zeroed in on the i10.

Since mom and dad were absolutely hell bent on not allowing me a bike (YZF R-15 ?), I decided to opt for a set of two extra wheels. I was quite sure I wanted something small for my first car that had a petrol engine and definitely didn't want a Maruti. The Beat was just too radical for my taste. Finally, the hatches in consideration were Hyundai, Punto, Figo and Polo. While Figo is probably the best VFM out there, I wasn't sure about the quality of the build and the petrol engine. Ford has always been associated to the oil-burner in my mind and it was difficult to break that link. Looks-wise, I loved the Polo, but reviews have noticed a lethargic 1.2L and was expensive for its bracket. That left Punto and Hyundai. I really liked the specs on the Punto and almost decided to buy the 1.4 Emo Pk. The only thing that stopped me was having to deal with Tata showrooms and service centers. That's a big no-no.

Finally, after realizing that manual transmission in the i20 has the same 1.2L which brings down the power-weight ratio, I finally decided that the i10 is the right fit. I've not regretted it in the short time I've had it. Some good things:

• The interiors are plush, compared to the others.
• Seats are comfortable and the space for rear passengers is ample enough.
• It's got a very light steering which is a pleasure to drive in traffic
• The NVH levels are more than acceptable upto 110 kph
• The gear shift it precise
• The music system is sufficient for my use and
• You get good highway handling with ABS and EBD

And now the not-so-good:

• low-rpm grunt is sorely lacking
• Visibility is obstructed due to the front right pillar
• The gear shift sometimes refuses to shift into 1st or R
• The light steering is too light on the highway
• The headlights are bad. Really bad
• Well, there are just so many of them out there !

Overall, though, I'm quite satisfied with the package. For 90% of the time, it suits my needs. In fact, dad's considering getting an AT for himself. That ought to be fun.

What's not fun, though, has been the traffic. It's just crazy. It seems like only yesterday that I was weaving effortlessly out of traffic on my Pulsar. But somehow, seated in a car, you realize the mindless risks that people take to shave seconds. Rules are not even recognized, forget followed. Whoever said one has to stop at red light ?! The worst part is that akin to corruption, it is very difficult for an honest driver to make a fist of it. Basically, driving in India is more like loco motion rather than locomotion :)