Long Term Report 1

Pros:Sharp Looks, Good quality cabin materials

Cons:Few essential features missing

I’ve lost count on the number of times I’ve gone out for dinner that I didn’t bother to change for, ended up being classier than expected. Clearly, dressing appropriately isn’t really my forte. If anything, it has been an eternal struggle for my conscience, and that’s how I feel sometimes as I walk up to our new Hyundai Verna.

With its cascading chrome grille, laser-cut alloy wheels and a full suite of LEDs and projector bulbs, it’s a good looking thing. The Verna, in fact, makes me want to dig deep into my wardrobe and neaten up before taking the wheel. All in all, it’s a nicely balanced design with the right amount of glitzy details, particularly in our silver colour car’s range-topping SX (O) trim which adds projector lights, LED taillights, chrome door handles and a shark fin antenna.

The Verna shares garage space with Vikrant’s newly acquired Honda City (you can read about it here) and in the last couple of weeks since it’s joined our fleet, it has spent all its time over Bombay roads. So far, it’s been smooth sailing in the city’s rush hour traffic despite being a manual. I love the 6-speed gearbox for its direct and clean shift action although it could use a less springy clutch pedal. The steering, too, is light and well weighted to negotiate through the endless diversions that are involved within my commute.

Inside, Hyundai has been generous with quality plastics and that tactile feel across the dashboard and the doors is remarkable for this segment. So what’s the catch? Well so far, there’s nothing really to fault or pin point except for the fact that Hyundai isn’t offering essential features like automatic wipers and auto folding wing mirrors at this price.

As for the fuel economy, the Verna has been consistently returning around 13kmpl under varied driving conditions which isn’t bad at all. Better still, it’s done only 5,500km since new and the efficiency is expected to improve over the next five months once the engine is fully freed up. Let’s see if I can get any closer to the official figure of 17.70kmpl.

Vehicle Log -

Odo - 5575km

Km this month - 753km

Fuel – 59.20litres

Fuel Efficiency - 12.6kmpl

Pictures by Kaustubh Gandhi

Click here for our first drive review of the Hyundai Verna