Usually I am not one to get too excited about the small car segment. The last time I remember being behind the wheel of a small car was when I was doing my drivers license, and that was many years back. When I was handed the keys to the Hyundai Grand i10, I knew that the only fair thing to do was to give what is known as “South Africa’s most loved compact car” a chance. Do I regret it? Let’s find out.
The all new Grand i10 has a redesigned body and is rather sporty looking, in fact much sportier than the previous generation. At the front, you have a hexagonal cascading grille with a honeycomb mesh finish, as well as a redesigned fog light enclosure with an added strip of lights. At the rear, you get an integrated spoiler with brake lights now housed in a strip of black plastic panel. The side is also kept sporty with a curved indentation and 14″ silver alloy wheels, standard on the Fluid model. Those of you who know the standard i10, which should be all of you, as 99% of the seniors in Cape Town have one, will notice that this i10 is slightly larger, hence the grand in the name. In fact, the Grand i10 which measures at 3.7m in length and 1.6m wide, is the largest vehicle in its segment! With 5 doors and a low roof line, this compact vehicle has an athletic stance.
The inside of the Grand i10 is simple yet modern. The dashboard is made of a soft to the touch plastic and houses an analogue speedometer and rev counter with a digital trip computer. The centre console houses the sound system with a radio, CD player, USB and aux ports as well as manual controls for the air con. I was pretty upset to see that there is no infotainment system but the standard sound system was surprisingly easy to use and my music played from my flash drive so I was satisfied. Bluetooth is included as standard on all models which is great for hands free calling and playing music from your phone. There is one power port to charge your phone though I did charge my phone via the usb port and it did supply ample power. The steering wheel has controls to change music and volume but unfortunately there is no button to answer a call.
The 1.25 Fluid Manual model offers remote central-locking, remote key-less entry, electrically adjusted side mirrors, electrically operated front/rear windows, and a rear park assist system as standard while the Motion and Motion automatic model miss out on these nifty features.
There is a fair amount of space inside for 5 adults but they better not all be tall. At about 6 feet tall, I had the driver’s seat pretty far back as my knees kept hitting the steering wheel. If another tall person had to sit behind me, they would have a bit of a problem (This can be seen in my video here). Surprisingly the boot has space for up to 256 Litres with over 1200 Liters with the rear seats folded down.
The Grand i10 comes in three models (Motion Manuel, Motion Automatic and Fluid Manual) all with a 1.25 Kappa Engine. The engine is actually surprisingly pretty nippy and puts out 64 Kw with 120 Nm of Torque. With a low fuel consumption of 5.9L per 100 km in the Manuel models and 6.9 in the automatic model, the Grand i10 is a great car for those that want something fun but fuel efficient. I drove over 90 Kms over the weekend and the fuel gauge barely dropped!
To keep you safe on the road, all models come standard with anti-locking braking system (ABS) and Electronic brake-force distribution (EBD) as well as driver and passenger airbags. Transponder Immobilizer is standard on all models with an Alarm in the Fluid model.
The small car segment is very competitive and the Grand i10 is competitively priced. At R139 900 (Motion Manual), R149 900 (Fluid Manual) and R159 900 (Fluid Automatic) the Grand i10 may be a bit more expensive than its competitors such as the Ford Figo or the Honda Brio but you are getting more as standard. You get a 5-year / 150 000km manufacturer’s warranty and additional 2-year / 50 000km manufacturer’s powertrain warranty which is plenty for the average driver of an i10.
The Grand i10 looks great
at the Beach
on the Road
in the City
When parked
When exploring
and waiting for the sunset
If you are looking for a compact vehicle that does not lack that much when it comes to comfort, features and style, then the Hyundai Grand i10 may be the vehicle for you.
P.S. To answer the above, I do not regret driving the Grand i10!
