cars and bikes india

Hyundai Eon – review

Eon is launched and you can even spot it on roads.  After the very successful Fluidic Verna, Hyundai is on a song with Eon to shake up the entry level subcompact car. With the King of small car, Maruti Suzuki battling labor problems, Hyundai drives the wheels right into its competitors forte.

To begin with numbers, Alto clocks more than 20K units every month. Its a way huge number and a pie every car maker would dream to eat into.  With Hyundai setting a target of 1.5 L units in first year,  there is no guessing where their eyes are set upon.

First look at Eon, it would make feel Alto a car back from a time machine. Eon whips a drastically  refreshing feel, soul and flavor for a small car. The car specifically made for India and might do rounds in other markets after tasting success here shows the Hyundai’s commitment and involvement in the Indian market where even the likes of Toyota are going bit conservative in their design approach. The fact that they are the country’s second largest car maker with a good distribution network already set up would help Hyundai take the initiative and the risk that comes along, since they have already the customer’s faith.

The fluidic design that one saw in the new Verna flows into Eon.  Do note the almost artistic fluid stroke of lines that flow in the side profile of the car and the flow of the car from the front to rear. It is smooth, free flowing  presenting the  Hyundai’s new design charm.

The front sports a hexagonal face with Hyundai logo and a chrome strip wings,  chrome tipped radiator grille and sporting a  curiously large headlamp for a small car sweeping all the way back to the A-pillar. A look at the cute little  fog lamps (unfortunately available only in the top most model, more about this later) talks a lot about Hyundai’s eye for detail.

The tail light is equally a intriguing design element. While Hyundai calls it a half-moon shape, on a lighter note,  a closer perspective reminds me a pointed shoe design, the power of imagination is the key for innovation. So call it crescent moon or pointed shoe, the fact is the large tail lamp sits pretty going all the way up almost kissing the edges of the integrated spoiler. So that brings us to highlight the next nice touch – the integrated spoiler that is standard in all the variants. It adds the extra bit of charm for the rear.

So external look wise – Eon is a stunner that pales Alto into an antique design. Period.

When the exteriors speaks volumes, Interiors naturally have to speak the same language else would be a disappointment. Eon does not let you down.

A dual tone in small car is something worth mentioning. The cockpit is quiet modern, neatly arranged and again wakes up the entry level small car segment to new possibilities.

The instrument cluster gives a warm neon green glow. You need to check it out while the engine is on and moving  and in night it glows with quiet a bit of greens and few oranges in a warm glow.  All the variants sports the same instrument cluster that has a dual tripmeter, low fuel warning, graphic band fuel gauge, gear shift indicator.

The top most variant sports a trendy metallic finish 3 spoke steering wheel while the rest sports a 2 spoke non-metalic steering wheel.

Check that small spoiler type protrusion on the dashboard above the A/c vent, I like that small cobra hood effect that it brings.  Except for the base variant, rest comes with A/c fitted. While you have to burn the pockets  if you want to go for the music console since it is available only in the top 2 variants. Again, the metallic finish would go hiding in the starting two variants…

The glove box in beige color and deep enough and also a neat looking dashboard storage on top serves the practical needs…

side pockets …. and then you got couple of cup holders too…

The front seating is quiet comfortable with enough leg room and head room and the bucket type single unit front seats soaks you well into a riding position. While the rear can comfortably sit two adults. If you complain if the leg room is bit cramped, don’t get carried away with the exterior and interior look and feel, we are still driving a small car. So three adult means you would be stuffed with not much room to turn around.

For a small car, Eon comes surprisingly with a larger boot space. 215 L space is larger than even what Honda Brio sports. I wondered  if few inches of the boot space could have been released to give the rear leg room a bit more.

So that is about the interiors and exteriors – which are uber ocol and striking for the segment.

Hyundai comes in 6 colors:  Coral white, Sleek Silver, Mushroom, Dark Grey Metallic, Pristine Blue and Maharajah Red.

Now lets claw into the heart of the car…

Under the hood of the small wonder baby is a 814 cc , 3 cylinder engine that delivers 56 PS @ 5,500 rpm and 75 Nm torque @ 4,000 rpm.  If you want to compare it with Alto, again Eon is notch up  with Alto having the figures of 47PS and 62Nm.

So far irresistibly  good  but how it rides and performs?

So I revved up and went into the roads, Eon engine is fairly refined well. It’s a smooth rush forward and comfortable to ride in city condition. The steering feels good on your palms and responds well and it is easy to navigate through the  chaos of the Indian roads.  Eon has a good turning radius and turning, parking all is a pleasant affair. For a small car, the suspension is decent enough. A few complaining note would be gear shift is not very smooth and there is a vibration in the gear knob vibrates a bit. Also a dash of chrome on the gear knob would have added an extra zing to the look. It looks bit antiquated.  The road view is clear and great from riding position. For a small car, I think Hyundai has done extremely well both look wise and performance wise.

Eon comes in 6 variants:  D-Lite (the starting variant) , D-Lite(o), ERA, Magna, Magna(o), Sportz.  Personally, I hate digging into information of so many variants, it just confuses a customer. One has to sit and analyze, ponder and figure out his best buy pouring into various spec sheets.

As far as mileage is concerned,  Eon boasts of  ARAI certified mileage of 21.1 kmpl, again a best in the class.

GingerChai Verdict: It’s all about Money, honey! Why Alto sells? It is perceived to give a good value for money. After the demise of 800, Alto fulfilled the motor dreams of vast majority of middle class households who wanted a budget car that would be their first car.  So with Eon eyeing at the share of Alto pie, it has to got the pricing right and the value for money factor. Looking at the spec and price chart, obviously Eon is pricey entry level small car.  The top two variant (you can include the middle fourth variant too) are too pricey that If you relax your purse strings a little bit more you get the likes of Beat, Figo etc who sports a better engine and other specs. So Hyundai is actually placing their bets on carving a new segment on the entry level small car with its premium offering.  Definitely, the car has is futuristic, no doubt it has turned the notion of entry level small car with its out of box offering but then it also comes for the extra price.  Being a price sensitive market, how far it would rattle the Maruti Suzuki’s Alto cart, we need to wait and watch.  One thing, Eon will sell. It will bring numbers to Hyundai.

Yamaha YZF R15 Version 2.0 – review

Yamilicious! Here come’s the track blazer and city slicker, which got graduated, got revamped and relaunched in the new avatar and it is the hot Yamaha YZF R15 version 2.0

Now let’s do a quick rewind of the earlier version of R15,  version 1.0 of R15 marked the new beginning for the skilled riders who wanted to upgrade to an urban sport bike and it helped push the amateur bikers fall in love with the sporty looks and track worthy riding with comforts of a ever day use sports bike. There were few glitches and scope for improvement and thankfully Yamaha was quick to respond and unleashed version 2.0 with a perfection mantra.

There were quiet a few letdown’s the earlier version faced and aesthetically speaking  the  rear of the bike  lacked a proportion when compared to the overall good styling of this city sleek racer bike. Now with the version 2.0, Yamaha has almost solved all the nagging issues  and has gone ahead and packed few more goodies too.

So what is the thumps up in the version 2.o on visual note? Yamaha truly has created an urban super sport bike in version 2.0, a class apart its competitors in speed, style and design. On a quick glance, the first few visually noticeable changes in the new R15 are a much sharper tail with impressive LED tail lamp which compliments the bike’s sporty look, a single piece seat of the earlier version is now replaced by a more sportier, trendier split seating and the rear number plate hanger which borrows styling cues from the bigger brother YZF R1. Slight changes have been made in the front fairings also which gives the bike a degree of cosmetic freshness.

The slight design tweaks in the middle cowl means improved aerodynamic performance at higher speeds.

R15 sports a fatter rear tyre which is 130 mm wide and also gives an extra shot of masculinity and sportiness to the bike.

And the upward angled silencer adds to the high performance bike image plus the fresh design element of the silencer protector adds value to the sleekness of the bike.

And visual sore note? The rear tyre hugger is a put off as well as  the awefull looking saree guard. And the lack of grab rails at the rear end counts too.

But overall R15 design is youthful, sleek, trendy and sporty.

The heart of the bike: Firing the bike is a liquid cooled engine, a first of its kind in Indian made models. So we got a 149.8 cc liquid cooled, 4 stroke, SOHC, 4 valve engine type delivering 17 PS @ 8,500 rpm and max torque of 15 Nm @ 7,500 rpm.  What it serves is a stable performance, reduce vibrations, and offer a high quality ride.

Ride & feel of the 2.0:

As I saddle up all is forgotten, the seating position is impressive like mounting on a fine bred race horse. The R15 now looks and feels more of a sure-shot sports bike, the handle bar and foot peg positions remains the same and this gives a better hold on the bike with improved straight line stability.

Brakes too have got noticeable upgradation for better performance along with an aluminum swing arm that gives good stability and feel on high speeds thanks to its long swing arm design.

Plus now R15 sports a  130 mm wide radial rear tyre and a large 220 mm diameter rear disc to match the tyre brake which immensely helps in the grip, stability and holds much better road support than before. YZF-R15 version 2.0 is equipped with a linked type monocross suspension that delivers a comfortable ride and a cushioning performance.

R15 comes in 3 colors – racing blue, sunset red and midnight black.

 Click here to check out the new 2013 color variants

The R15 now sports a lethal combination of comfort,maneuverability and stability  on virtually all types of situations, it provides a sporty ride on city roads and is fun to race on long isolated stretches and tracks with its obedient handling, decent acceleration, good top speed, great handling around bends and sharp turns. Infact R15 easily smokes every other bike out of track in 150 cc segment and stamps itself as the sport bike’s enthusiasts choice in this category. Yes, you cannot compare it with the likes of CBR or a Ninja for that matter but R15 surely never lets you down and a total value for money bike in that category and for the price tag of  Rs.1,11,500/ (On road price, Bangalore)