Hyundai’s new Santro brings with it a choice of five variants, two fuel options and transmission options. But which one is the most sensible buy for you?

The new Hyundai Santro is priced in the range of Rs 3.9 lakh to Rs 5.65 lakh (ex-showroom pan-India). Its offered in five variants - D-lite, Era, Magna, Sportz and Asta - two fuel options and two gearbox options. The 5-speed AMT is only available with petrol engine and is limited to the Magna and Sportz variants. If you are eyeing the Santro but confused about which variant fits your budget and serves your requirement the best, this handy guide should help making a decision easier.

Colour Options:

  • D-lite: Typhoon Silver, Stardust, Polar White

  • Era: Polar White, Typhoon Silver, Imperial Beige and Stardust

  • Magna, Sportz & Asta: Marina Blue, Fiery Red, Polar White, Typhoon Silver, Imperial Beige and Diana Green

Standard Safety Kit

  • Immobilizer

  • Driver airbag

  • ABS with EBD

  • Child safety door locks

  • Fire extinguisher (CNG only)

Hyundai Santro Dlite: Could have been more affordable; not a variant we would recommend

Variant

Price

D-lite

Rs 3.90 lakh

Exteriors: Halogen headlamps, clear lens tail lamps and 13-inch steel wheels with hubcaps

Interiors: Dual-tone beige-and-black dashboard with gold garnish, front and rear door pockets with 1L bottle holders

Convenience: Electric power steering, tachometer, 2.5-inch MID (multi-info display) instrument console with gear shift indicator, service reminder, average speed, dual tripmeter, door ajar and driver seatbelt and low fuel warning, and foldable rear seats

Audio: NA

Is it worth buying?

If you have considered purchasing the Hyundai Santro, it must be for its premium packaging. However, this variant is far away from being that as it misses out on basics such as an AC or even power windows. If you have a limited budget, we’d recommend you look elsewhere like the recently updated Datsun GO, which is priced at par and offers better safety kit than the Santro. If the Santro has plucked at your heart strings, then stay with us to find out the perfect variant for your budget.

Hyundai Santro Era: Chauffeur-driven and on a budget? Pick this

Variant

Price

Era

Rs 4.25 lakh

Premium over D-lite

Rs 36,000

Exteriors: Body-coloured bumpers

Convenience: Manual AC with rear vents and front power windows

Is it worth buying?

Yes, for those who’re on a budget and like to be chauffeured around. Why? Well, it’s got rear AC vents and since we’ve sat in it as well, we can confirm that it’s spacious enough at the rear. There’s ample legroom for average-sized adults here. Those who’ll spend most of their time behind the wheel or are considering it as their primary car will miss out some essential features that our now quite common in modern-day cars, including an audio unit and electrically adjustable ORVMs. We also find the premium of Rs 36,000 a tad high for the extra set of features the Era variant gets over the D-lite.

Hyundai Santro Magna: The most-affordable variant with Diana Green exterior colour. Go for it if you want the black interior with green seatbelts but are on a tight budget. Sadly, it gets only driver-side airbag

Variant

Price

Magna

Rs 4.58 lakh

Premium over Era

Rs 35,000

Magna AMT (extra over MT)

Rs 5.19 lakh (Rs 62,000)

Magna CNG (extra over Petrol)

Rs 5.24 lakh (Rs 67,000)

Exteriors: Chrome front grille, body-coloured door handles and ORVMs

Interiors: Opting for the Diana Green exterior colour options gets you black interiors with green accents. For all other exterior colours, you get champagne gold inserts on the door handles

Convenience: Rear power windows, rear parcel tray (CNG), ticket holder

Safety: Day/night IRVM, central locking

Audio: 2-DIN audio system with FM, Bluetooth, USB.. AMT variant gets front speakers, steering-mounted control and micro antenna

Is it worth buying?

The Magna variant’s chrome front grille and body-coloured door handles and ORVMs make it looks as good as the fully loaded Asta from the outside, especially when you consider that even the top-spec variant misses out on alloy wheels. That said, the Santro Magna gets 13-inch steel wheels without wheel covers.

However, in petrol-manual guise, it is still overpriced for what it offers over the previous variant. The add-ons don’t justify the premium of Rs 35,000.

The same holds true for the CNG variant as well because despite paying an additional premium of Rs 1.01 lakh over the Era variant, you only get a handful of features like front speakers and steering-mounted audio controls.

Although the Magna is the entry-level AMT variant, it is priced at a premium of Rs 62,000 over the corresponding manual variant, which is quite a lot for the convenience of automated gear shifts.

If we were to buy the Santro Magna, it would either be with the AMT or in the Diana Green colour. That black interior with the green inserts and the matching seatbelts is worth the Rs 35,000 premium over the Santro Era, and also one of the rare instances when we’d recommend a car just for its aesthetics. But it is important to note that it comes with just a driver airbag, so we would recommend it only to those who’re driving themselves most of the times.

Hyundai Santro Sportz: A worthier option if you are looking to get an AMT

Variant

Price

Sportz

Rs 5 lakh

Premium over Magna

Rs 43,000

Sportz AMT (premium over MT)

Rs 5.47 lakh (Rs 48,000)

Sportz CNG (premium over Petrol)

Rs 5.65 lakh (Rs 66,000)

Exteriors: Bigger 14-inch steel wheels with covers and turn indicators on outside rearview mirrors

Convenience: Rear defogger, electrically adjustable ORVMs, keyless entry, AC with eco coating technology, which Hyundai claims improves air quality inside the cabin

Safety: Front fog lamps

Audio: 7-inch touchscreen infotainment unit with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, MirrorLink and smartphone navigation, voice recognition, Bluetooth, USB connectivity and rear speakers

Is it worth buying?

This is the ideal variant if you are considering a Hyundai Santro as it gets some of the eesential features that are missing in the variants below it. That said, it still misses out on passenger airbag, speed-sensing door locks and height-adjustable driver’s seat. So we would recommend this to those who’re driving themselves.

What you get is a mix of convenience and safety features which will uplift your ownership experience by quite a margin. The highlight of its package is the touchscreen infotainment system, which has been borrowed from the Grand i10, that packs a host of connectivity options.

If you are considering the Santro with an AMT, the Sportz is the variant to go for since it gets a host of convenience-enhancing features The price difference between the Sports and Magna isn’t too much either. And the lack of an AMT option in the top-spec Asta variant furthers its cause.

Hyundai Santro Asta: We highly recommend this variant as it packs dual front airbags. However, it’s a bit pricey

Variant

Price

Asta

Rs 5.46 lakh

Premium over Sportz MT

Rs 47,000

Safety: Rear camera with parking sensor, front passenger airbag, front seatbelt with load limiters, speed and impact-sensing door locks

Convenience: Rear washer and wiper, and passenger vanity mirror

Is it worth buying?

Let’s make it clear up front, the Asta is priced at quite a premium over the Santro Sportz, especially when you consider the list of add-ons it packs. However, since it’s the only variant with dual front airbags and front seatbelts with load limiters, we would recommend this variant to anyone considering a Santro.

Before we sign off, let’s take a look at specification sheet of the Hyundai Santro.

Dimensions (mm)

  

Length

3610

Width

1645

Height

1560

Wheelbase

2400

Boot Space

235-litre

Engine

1.1-litre, 4-cylinder Epsilon

Power (CNG)

69PS (59PS)

Torque (CNG)

101Nm (86Nm)

Transmission

5-speed MT/ AMT

ARAI certified fuel efficiency (CNG)

20.3kmpl (30.48km/kg)

Read More on : Santro AMT


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