For those in a hurry, I have one word:
AMAZING
Some more adjectives suitable to the Santro Xing are amazing, mindblowing, incredible, wonderful, astonishing and marvelous.
Well, let me start at the beginning. I previously owned the Maruti Zen (and an 800 7 years before that), and desperately needed a change from the Maruti stable. The only other options for the Zen class of cars seemed to be the Santro Xing and the Indica Diesel. I was initially planning to go for the Indica Diesel, but considering that the use would be mainly city driving and less weekly running, that option was ruled out.
I’d read quite a few reviews about the Santro Zip being the maintainence free car of the year and such, and most other reviews on this site were also quite positive. I therefore assumed (correctly, as I have discovered now) that the Xing, if anything, can only be better.
The first thing you will notice when you get in the car is the spaciousness. Having been cramped in the Zen for 7 years, it almost seemed to be the size of a large jeep on the inside.
Start the vehicle, and hear the faint rumbling of the 4 cylinder 1086cc engine. And by faint rumbling, I mean no whining like the Zen engine. Shift to first, touch the accelerator, and feel the power. It rocks!
The acceleration is something that the Zen comes nowhere close to. You probably will never have to press the accelerator more than a centimeter, but if you do, you’ll find yourself moving so fast so soon that you’ll only be able to goggle with amazement.
The next best thing to acceleration is comfort. Along with tons of head and leg room, there are heavenly suspensions. You simply glide over potholes with the bridgestone radial tyres provided.
The rest of the pros include a HUGE boot space (the rear seat double folds) and the standard comfort features like power steering, power windows and central locking.
And now for the cons: I found just one major con... you can feel the engine through the gearshift. Sudden acceleration or racing the engine in neutral causes the gear stick to vibrate a lot, so if you are the kind of person who drives with one hand on the gearshift, check it out when taking the test drive.
But that is just nitpicking; all in all, I feel that the Santro Xing is the best car you can get at its price, and if you’re choosing between the Zen, Indica Diesel and Santro Xing, and don’t have a lot of daily running (<25Km per day), go for the Xing.