Santro Xing XO is my first car and I am more than happy at the decision I have made. I had Alto, Xing and WagonR to choose from. Alto does not have a powerful engine and WagonR although has a powerful engine, has a box shape. And since I had already driven bigger and powerful cars when in the US, I wanted a similar feel in the small car, which I get in the Xing!!!
Pickup is great especially in the third and fourth gears. Avoid accelerating too hard on the first, second and third gears. And when loaded with min 4 passengers, try not to lose momentum else it will show in the acceleration.
On long stretches, it even gives the Honda City, Chevy Optra and the Qualis an inferiority complex. Imagine driving continuously at 125-140 kmph (This is not advised though, considering that Xing is not built for that). Well, here I must point out that none of the cars from the Maruti stable are a match, not even the SWIFT !!! Thats the reason I call it the Ferrari of Small Cars!!! However once on the ghats and steep curves, it has a lot of sideways momentum. Hence avoid high speed in these situations!!! The Skoda will easily overtake Xing in the ghats and move out of sight before you realise:)
The mileage depends on the road conditions and traffic. In bumper to bumper traffic, it gives 12.5 kmpl and on highway and city combined, it gives 15.5 kmpl. Needless to say, AC is on all the time. And the first level of AC is more than enough 90% of the time. Infact sometimes, the AC has to be switched to a Blower mode due to excessive cooling!!! The max mileage I have got is 17.4 kmpl with city and highway combined. But that’s because I did not exceed 100kmph. The mileage will decrease incrementally above 100 kmph. I have even touched 160 kmph!!! The car was absolutely stable!!!
One more thing about the mileage. I have installed V-Kool sun film on all the 4 windows, including the 2 windshields. There is some temperature reduction inside due to this, which helps in reducing the load on the AC. This translates into better mileage. V-Kool is much better than other Indian brands. Go for a demo and you will know the difference!!! Another thing which I have done, is installed wheel caps which reduce the wind resistance in the tyre area. This also leads to an increased mileage! Even the seat color makes a difference. I have light cream color seat covers which reflects sunlight more than it absorbs. This translates into reduced cabin temperature-->less load on AC-->less fuel consumption. Lastly, the car color also makes a lot of difference. I get a mileage of 15+ consistently with Scarlet Sage color. A lighter color car SHOULD give you a better mileage!!! If it does not, something is wrong somewhere:)
Parking is a dream come true!!! Power steering helps you to avoid the potholes even at high speeds.
Brakes are powerful enough for the car to go from 5th gear to a full halt in no time. I have had the privliege of testing this situation a few times, thanks to the people crossing the road when cars are accelerating!!! Try to get Bridgestone tyres as they are the best tyres for your Xing.
The flip side is the boot space. good enough to accomodate 2 cabin luggage bags. Else, good enough to accomodate 15 days worth groceries and other items.
Every time I drive my Xing, I like it better than the last time. Now, it is like that Pug in the Hutch advertisement: Follows me everywhere!!!
So, if -
Your need is a small car with a powerful engine,
Have a parking constraint,
Are not too worried about the luggage space and
Want to compete with the Hondas and the Chevys on long stretches
go for Xing. You will be proud that you made the decision!!!
Happy Hai, Santro Wale Hai!!!
A few changes that I have done recently--alloy wheels with tubeless tyres (Indica specifications). The improvement in road grip is just amazing!!! However, the steering wheel has gone a little hard due to Indica specification tyres. The mileage has obviously reduced by 1kmpl. But that’s acceptable, considering the increased road grip. For a small and a light weight car, I would rather prefer road safety to mileage. This has increased the road noise though:( But you can feel the grip literally. Do not forget to get load balancing and alignment done regularly if you have alloy wheels. It’s a must. Let me not forget; the tubeless tyres are Michelin. I had the option of Bridgestone, which I have already recommended for Xing. However, go for Michelin in case of tubeless tyres.
Now, I have switched to Speed/Power. This has brought the mileage back to original!
Happy Driving,
Amaxing!!!