Hi all,
This is my first review in MS.
I upgraded from M800(96 model) to Santro Xing GL in Aug’08. I basically wanted to own a Swift, but my wife wanted a Santro. Santro being voted as the most reliable hatchback in it’s segment and it very well suited my budget. These two points, which I feel are pretty strong made me to choose Santro over Swift, and I can say that I haven’t got a chance to regret my decision. I didn’t opt for GLS model, as the difference of 25000/- wasn’t worth(atleast to me!) having a body coloured bumper, and internally adjustable outside rear view mirrors and power windows for the front doors. Many people might feel otherwise, but I feel the black vinyl bumper is the best, because over the years, it’s normal to have dents and scratches on the bumper, which doesn’t look good on the black one, but it’s definitely very bad on body coloured ones. Regarding the power windows, there’s no point in having them only for front doors, hence personally I feel GL model is the most cost effective one.
Interiors are pretty good with decent upholstery and comes in pleasing colours.
The first thing I like about Santro is it’s spacious and has tall-boy design, comes with 1.1 litre mpfi engine, which is even though not as powerful as other midsize versions, but trust me, it’s has enough power to carry four medium sized adults effortlessly around. The new engine is very responsive and jumps ahead even at a small nibble on the throttle. Based on my experience so far, the Santro engine revs freely and I could easily reach 100kmph with four medium-heavy built adults seated inside in SH 88 between Mysore and Hunsur.
Seating and Driving position are very comfortable and there is ample of space in the cabin for five medium sized adults, but the chassis sits low with more people inside and the undercarriage especially the catalytic converter touches almost every hump. In other words, quite low ground clearance. I don’t get cramps in the calf muscles during long drives in Santro, which I used to get in M800, partly due to the fact that I am 5’10 and well built. Thanks to the tallboy design, which reduces the fatigue during long drives. Seating position gives good visibility all-round, provided we use both outside rearview mirrors, which comes as a standard fitment, which is a plus point. Gear shift knob is not positioned properly, while shifting to lower gears, we will literally be banging against the co-passenger, which is not comfortable if the person is of opposite gender(I mean friends and colleagues).
Suspension is good if not excellent, but definitely better than the entry level M800. Steering is more predictable and gives a feeling of good control, even during high-speeds, which I felt between Bangalore - Mysore highway, but very sharp turns are a strict no-no. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel much of a difference between Santro’s power assisted steering and M800’s rack and pinion steering, but it’s very much helpful during parking in Bangalore’s congested roads and parking lots.
Headlights are powerful and the new beam adjust feature in Santro is very helpful, when fully loaded with people. But I feel that providing Xenon lamps as a standard fitment would be better.
Brakes are pretty good too, with vacuum assist, one can stop the car safely in case of any emergencies.
AC is quite powerful and cools down the cabin in an acceptable time, but the louver controls still feature the same ones, which was first introduced in Santro LE/LP models. and it doesn’t have an option for directing the air flow to the passenger’s face and the windscreen together, which was in M800.
Overall, I am satisfied with the car and I will definitely recommend Santro Xing for anybody having a small family and looking for a reliable car.
The only place where Santro Xing falls short is the position of the gear shift knob, low ground clearance, light body build.