Posted on 10/31/2006 9:37:40 AM PST by Red Badger
The diesel Verna is likely to eat into the market as also expand it a bit. But the petrol version, despite being more value for money, will still find it difficult to unseat the current segment leader — Honda City.
Hyundai's new mid-sizer — the Verna — is a product that was much speculated about before its launch late last month. Will it replace the Accent? Will Hyundai at least retain the Accent Viva?
All these questions and more were answered when Hyundai decided to launch the new Verna, even as it sensibly decided to retain the aging, but popular, Accent sedan and the Viva notchback. While the new car is called the Verna in India and will vie for the car buyer's attention alongside the original Accent, globally this new model replaces the Accent.
Design and exterior
From the design standpoint, there are two differences between the Verna and the Accent. The latter's exterior design is that of a traditional sedan. Its simple straight lines, large headlamps, long-slab bonnet area and a full-size boot that balances its rear profile, give the Accent a very simplistic, but difficult-to-dislike design. The Accent is also big to look at from the outside, though not-so-big inside.
The new Verna is quite the opposite, at least in terms of design. Though its exterior design continues to be simple, like the Accent's, the Verna's styling definitely belongs to the contemporary automotive design school. With a relatively short bonnet, which almost gives it a cab-forward stance, and a stubby, notchback-style boot, the Verna, at first glance, appears smaller than the Accent.
That is where the Verna's deception lies. Its overall dimensions are only marginally more than the model it has just replaced worldwide, but the new car manages to squeeze out the most for its increased wheelbase. Being a full six centimetres longer, the Verna's class-leading wheelbase offers increased cabin space.
At the front, the Verna design comes across as being unique and surprisingly compact. Yet, the car's looks cannot be classified as being elegant or too distinctive to fall in love with. The off-beat headlamp design, the borderless bonnet grille and the elongated air-intake integrated into the front bumper accentuate the Verna's seemingly compact profile at the front, but don't exactly give it killer looks.
It is the Verna's rear that actually seems to give it more character. Tall, chunky tail lamps, that look like a cross between the Chevrolet Optra's and the Skoda Superb's, dominate over the short, stubby boot lid. Large chrome lipping for the number plate area on the boot lid catches the eye. The boot lid cuts into the rear bumper to allow easier access to the loading area, but with the raised rear, loading level is still a tad bit high.
Another highlight is the rectangular rear glass, which, unlike in the Honda City, does not wrap around the thick C-pillars. With the raised rear, this rectangular glass' relatively smaller size does tend to limit visibility for the driver.
The Verna's side profile is also one of its strengths. The gracefully curved roof ends at the rear with oversized C-pillars that merge seamlessly into the rear side panels. At the sides, the high beltline and shoulderline tend to reduce the Verna's glass area and give the car a tall look. Grab-type door handles and high-mounted rub strips are the other features of the Verna's side profile.
Interestingly, one other feature that will be unknowingly appreciated by Verna users will be the nearly equal size front and rear doors. Most global car model tend to have bigger front doors, partly perhaps many of them are sold as two-door versions abroad. This tends to restrict access to the rear seat. Verna users won't have to deal with that problem.
But the Verna's oversized outside rear-view mirrors could be a problem in crowded Indian road conditions. While they offer excellent rear visibility, they do tend to stick out quite a bit and run the risk of being nicked by indifferent road users.
Clean Interiors
Step into the Verna and its interior layout and build come are extremely clean and precise. The dual tone colour theme has a purposeful dark tan top portion and a light, fawn coloured bottom half to give the inside of the Verna an airy, spacious feel. High-quality, non-reflecting-type plastic has been put to use effectively to create a pleasing and well-engineered interior.
However, there is a lot of plastic and even in the top-end variant of the petrol-engine Verna, the only relief you get are the fake wood inserts on the centre console and door armrests. While this may be more practical and easy to maintain, it does tend to pull down the premiumness of the Verna's interiors compared with the Honda City or the Ford Fiesta. This was a problem even with the Hyundai Tucson, which seemed to have too much plastic for a vehicle in its class.
The elegantly designed three-spoke steering wheel, the green-LED lit instrument cluster, practicality-focused centre console with easy-to-reach controls, driver's armrest and rear centre armrest are all features that would be appreciated by buyers in this size class. Engine-rpm meter and a digital trip meter are standard for both the petrol and diesel engine versions.
The Verna comes with a fair bit of storage options, including a lighted glove box, portable ashtray, sunglass holder, storage tray under steering wheel, seat pockets for rear passengers, door map pockets, and bottle and cup holders in the rear armrest. Yet, with the floor console lacking in storage space, the driver and front passenger will find the options a bit restricted.
The top-end variant of the petrol-engine Verna also get other features such as a 2-DIN music system, alloy wheels, automatic climate control and leather wrapped steering wheel and gear knob. Rear wheel disc brakes and ABS are optional additions for this top-end petrol variant.
The Verna's power-assisted steering is adjustable for tilt. The steering feel is light and power assistance in city traffic speeds is excellent, with manoeuvrability getting a big boost. However, though the steering does get considerably firm at highway speeds, it still doesn't seem to exude the kind of confident feel of the Honda City or the Ford Fiesta.
Engine and Transmission
Hyundai is offering the Verna with two engine options — petrol and diesel. Thanks to its character, the diesel is clearly the more engaging to drive. The numbers speak for themselves in terms of peak power and torque, but that still is only half the story.
The diesel engine that has been shoehorned into the Verna is a new 1.5-litre, 16-valve CRDi burner that Hyundai had developed in-house. Endowed with a variable geometry turbocharger that boosts the engine's breathing irrespective of the rpm-level, this new VGT, CRDi engine produces a whopping 110 PS of peak power at 4,000 rpm and a maximum torque of 24 KgM from as low as about 1,900 rpm.
This diesel engine is a delight to drive and is quite literally a pocket rocket. Despite the VGT's assistance, the CRDi engine does not respond instantaneously to the throttle. However, the lag in the time the turbo takes to spool up is still lower than some of its rivals.
But once the rpm-needle glides up to the 2,000-rpm level, the diesel Verna simply takes off. In fact, the G-forces that you will feel when the gas pedal is floored in the second and third gear slots will be so addictive that you will want to repeat it again and again, much like a child who has just felt the rush in a monstrous roller-coaster at Disneyland.
With 110 horses on tap and class-leading torque, the new CRDi engine in the Verna will thrash most of its petrol and diesel competitors on the highway. However, the dampener here is the five-speed manual gearbox, which has not been set to handle crawling city traffic conditions.
Gearbox feel into the second and third slots is also very `notchy' and too prominent, an issue that no other Hyundai car has. This is also the first Hyundai model in India to feature a shift forward for the reverse gear. Chevrolet cars have had this type of shift pattern with the reverse being placed before the first gear slot. The problem that (at least, in our test car) the Verna has is that the fake leather cover for the gearshift stick is so tight that the ring that needs to be lifted for shifting into reverse tends to slip out of the driver's hands.
The 1.6-litre petrol engine that is being offered with the Verna has also been carefully chosen to offer class-leading performance. Featuring the VTVT — Variable Timing Valve Train — technology, somewhat like the ones used by Toyota and Honda too, the petrol engine in the Verna generates a peak power of 103.2 PS at 5,000 rpm and a maximum torque of 14.9 KgM at 3,000 rpm.
This petrol engine in the Verna is a very refined unit and behaves well in city conditions. But with gear ratios and engine mapping done with the intention of still attempting to squeeze out better fuel economy from a mill that has been otherwise built for performance, the petrol Verna's performance tends to feel much less prominent compared to its exuberant diesel sibling.
NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) packaging has been done extremely and the cabin noise less are low, though the Honda City will still be the leader in this department. But, the diesel Verna is clearly the winner in the diesel segment, with cabin noise and steering wheel vibration almost non-existent. The familiar clatter of a diesel engine sneaks into the cabin only during the engine warm-up idling cycle, after that it will be difficult to make out that it is a diesel.
The Verna's suspension set-up features MacPherson Strut with coil springs and anti-roll bar at the front and a coupled torsion beam axle at the rear.
Competitive pricing
Hyundai has chosen to launch the Verna with three trim levels for the petrol and only one for the diesel. With the strong likelihood of the diesel forming a major chunk of the car's sales, Hyundai should offer a higher trim variant of the diesel with more options, instead of the stripped-down model that is currently being offered. Of course, pricing would have been an important reason for the decision.
Pricing is competitive, starting from Rs 6.26 lakh for the base petrol Verna to Rs 7.42 lakh for the CRDi VGT model.
We feel that the diesel Verna will both eat into the current market for diesel sedans and expand it too. But the petrol Verna, despite being more value for money, will still find it difficult to unseat the current segment leader — the Honda City.
The Accent and the Verna will co-exist at least for now. And with the latter's design being one that Indians will take a while getting used to, the older model can possibly still rake in a fair share of buyers in this segment for Hyundai.
Diesel Ping List
If you want on or off the DIESEL "KNOCK" LIST just FReepmail me........
a lot of techno-babble for crank-heads.
What's it's MPG rating.
No mention of MPG in the article........
This is an article pertaining to the Indian market. I doubt it will ever make it to the US.
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