It has been two months since I bought my ?passion red? Getz GLS. I have already covered more than 4500 kms and my love for this car only increase by the day. I also own an Accent CRDi and an Elantra CRDi ? No, I?m not fanatic about Hyundai, but the performance and maintenance costs of the above mentioned cars did have certain credence when I decided to go in for another Hyundai.
Though it seems a bit overpriced, it offers what I?ve paid for ? comfort, both for the driver as well as the passenger. The long wheel base (even longer than the accent) along with wonderful suspensions couple to give a very smooth drive. Though it looks compact, the Getz has much more interior space than one would imagine with a lot of leg room and knee room both in the front and rear. The tiltable steering wheel is smooth and handling this car is a joy, especially on long drives. You do not have a feeling that you?re behind the wheel of a compact car.
There are two features that make driving a pleasure even in the crowded Indian cities ? The Gear Box and the NVH factor. It?s 5 on 5 for the gear box and the noise, vibration and harshness levels are so low that even the Elantra CRDi just after a ride in the Getz sounds noisy.
I read a lot of reviews where the Getz was compared to the Ford Flair. The Flair? of all the good cars in the world ? well, maybe yes, it?s 1.3 vs. 1.3, three box vs. hatchback, but common have you driven the Flair. You could compare it with the Fiat Palio, but when you say Fiat, you invariably also say low resale price, though they have an array of excellent cars.
About the engine and performance: Though you do not have that sportive vroom that you have in the accent, the initial torque is good enough to get you going. 0 ? 100 took somewhere near 15-16 s for me. The 3rd gear easily manages speeds as low as 20km/h and as high as 80km/h. The pick up is a wee bit lower with the A/c on ? you especially feel it in the 2nd gear.
Mileage: I?m sure you all wanna know the truth from someone whose been driving the car around rather than from auto magazines. Well, the Getz is not disappointing, 16 ? long drive at an average speed of 110 with the a/c on. (I never put off the a/c) 12-13 in the city.
The speaker provisions for the Getz are of no use. You?ll have to spend more time and money to get the right speakers to get the acoustics working in this car. No matter what you do ? you just don?t seem to get the right output.
Hyundai has really done an excellent job when it comes to space management. All those small features that you do not notice at first come in handy more often than one would imagine. The hooks (behind the passenger seat and under the parcel tray), bottle holders (that can really hold bottles), cell phone charger at the right place, removable ash tray, double foldable seat, 60:40 split seats, rear seat reclination etc.
Summing it all up. The Getz is a good car, maybe a bit too early for its time. If you?re not someone who always travels with 5 passengers and a lot of luggage ? this is you?re car.
If the GLS had come with alloy wheels and ABS for the same price, I would have been more satisfied.