What can I say about my Santro....its the first ever car I have ever owned.
We use to have the old Premier Padmini and grew tired of it....and so we booked a Maruti Zen. But at that time....The santro had just been launched (1999) and people didnt really trust a Korean company....they were happy with apni-maruti. And so didnt we and so did we respectivley.
But then one day after we booked the Zen....the Premier conked out on us....so bad...nothing could fix it....so in desperation we called Maruti....but they said....they couldnt speed up our waiting....it was still a month minimum before we could get the Zen. There was no way the Premier could last that long....so we thought....why not plunge our head since we are in the dump anyways....Lets try Hyundai.
And so we did....and let me tell u...its been a dreamride. We liked the car so much....we eventually got the Hyundai Accent too.
Anywys...my Santro. Its was an ordinary 999 c.c MPFI (the first car with MPFI in India) and some normal 63 bhp of output. Base Version. No Power Steering.
Hand rolling windows....One single Right hand side Mirror.....no fancy stuff....All basic.
But it was my car....it was the car...in which I took my first crush out for coffee....who was at that time complaining about the car not having power windows and a mirror behind the visor so she could arrange her pretty hair....but what the heck.....i didnt care. It was my car....and it was lovely.
The car ran like a dream. I drove a friends Zen later on.....and then went to the temple thanking God that I had chosen the Santro over the Zen. And it was cheaper than the Zen too. We got the whole car on road for 2.94 lakhs....the Zen came in at around 3.25 Lakhs.
Anyways.....comming back to my lovely. The Frog-car had given me some scares too....
Going around a road winding left....at a slow 40 km/hr....the Right hand side front and rear wheels took off from the ground for 4 seconds and then came back. Those 4 seconds were like 4 hours for me....I was thinking ....’’Oh God, if I survive this crash....Dad is going to kill me’’. But I did...and he didnt.....(I never told him)
But all in all....the car gave me great performance.....marvellous low-end-torque. Pin-point Gear ratios. Super responsive Acceleration and superb comfort.
It has a small advantage of having a foot rest besides the clutch. Has 2 advantages. Your foot doesnt get tired....and it reduces clutch wear and tear.....as you dont rest your foot on the clutch pedal. And the Clutch Plate comes at 15000 Rs.....so its a good thing. All Hyundais have this feature except obviously a Santro Automatic which doesnt have a clutch....so no need for a foot rest.
All technological goodies....power, performance...and.....comfort.
It was, is and will always be my first love. (to be borrowed from TVS scooty by copyright)
Buy a santro all you potential buyers.....you wont regret it ever...and the new Santro ERLx is too good.....a Gem of a Car.....A must buy!!!