My experience with i-10 Magna 1.1(driving for 7 months).
Requires a few design improvements, despite a generally excellent experience.
Fuel=13 KMPL, with AC in city. Best possible in city was 14 KMPL when traffic is less, and with only one occupant in the car and 50% AC use. Highway fuel consumption not yet tested.
A few disappointments in an otherwise outstanding car:-
The light coloured beige dashboard top reflects too much light onto the front windscreen, severely reducing visibility, specially while driving in bright sunshine. This is bad for safety. I understand that the i-10 for europe has a dark coloured dashboard top, whereas i-10 for India has the light coloured dashboard top. Drive the car on a road with bright sunlight shining through trees, and the effect is terrible. There are very few cars with light coloured dashboard top for this precise reason.(Even Honda Accord has a dark dashboard top) Hyundai has probably chosen to give an up-market feel at the cost of driving comfort and safety. HYUNDAI- please note:- We prefer safety and good visibility to false luxury. Please change the dashboard top to a dark non-reflective colour.
The sound insulation is not too good, specially the roof. The roof amplifies engine and road sounds, specially at high RPM. The poor roof insulation can be felt during heavy rain, when the roof sounds like a drum beating. Above 3000 RPM the music system is inaudible at normal volume. Above 4500 RPM, the car sounds like a banshee. At idle, and low RPM there is no engine sound. A good way to test noise is to set music volume to comfort level at engine idle, and then check out engine and road noises at different RPM/speeds.
The front shock absorbers are weaker than that of a Santro. A loud knocking sound occurs when crossing speed breakers at normal speeds that a Santro can negotiate without a problem.
The mirrors behind the sun-shades are low quality.(distortion). This is a very minor problem, but an irritant none the less, and speaks poorly about the care taken in selecting components. Come on HYUNDAI, YOU CAN DO BETTER!
Reverse gear does not engage 50% of the time. Have to shift to some other gear first and then try reverse again.
Weak acceleration.(With 1.1 Santro engine)-Since the weight of the i-10 is more than the Santro.(The 1.2 Kappa engine would not have this problem)
Weak headlights. The headlights produce a very short length beam in dipped mode, which is unsafe on dark roads. One is forced to use high beam head lights on dark roads. However, there is an adjustment control knob to raise/lower the beams, which is a nice feature. Use this control to optimise beam height. Perhaps increase in wattage of the bulbs will improve the situation.
Overpriced a bit.
HYUNDAI- Please do correct these issues urgently.