Our in-house video editor, Rohan, broke his leg while playing football and the next thing I know I have been handed over the keys of the Hyundai Exter! Actually, I asked for it, citing the reason that I could pick up and drop him off to and from office (wink wink!). The real reason though, was to check out why everyone in the office, including Ed, were so impressed with the Exter. Also, getting to drive the newest entrant in the fleet is an opportunity I didn’t want to miss!
Unlike most recent Hyundai cars, the Exter’s design doesn’t take much time to grow on you. It gets an upright front and rear-end, flat bonnet, roof rails and black cladding all around to give it an SUV character. Being a fairly new offering in the market there are not many of these on the road yet, so it does garner quite a bit of attention.
Every time I had a new passenger in the car, be it my parents or friends, they were surprised by the list of features packed in this small car. No points for guessing what the fan favourite feature was – the sunroof! The Exter has the ability to make you feel like you are sitting in a more expensive car, a trait I feel, would be highly appreciated by first-time buyers. Special mention to the air-conditioning system on the Exter which cools the cabin in no time. I appreciate the large window area which, apart from making the cabin feel airy, provides brilliant all-round visibility.
Looking at its size, one would assume the Exter to feel cramped on the inside. But here again it surprised me! In a couple of days, Siddhant had joined the carpool with Saneet being an occasional guest. The four of us were more than comfortable in the car and there was no rubbing of shoulders. The suspension gobbles up most of the road imperfections with ease but tends to bog down a bit at the rear when the car is fully packed.
The 1.2-litre Kappa engine in our long term Exter is paired to a five-speed manual gearbox. Despite heavy traffic on my everyday route to the office, I didn’t mind shifting gears thanks to the light clutch and short throws of the gearbox. The engine is refined and has enough low end grunt to close gaps in bumper-to-bumper traffic. I personally would’ve liked more performance, though. And Hyundai can easily fix that by plonking in the 1.0-litre T-GDi under the hood. An N Line version would be the cherry on top!
My first impressions are that the Exter is an impressive city car. While I have been mainly using it to pick-up and drop Rohan off, I do plan to take it on an outstation trip (probably to Mumbai) soon, to test its highway capabilities. Maybe Rohan needs to seek a second opinion about his fractured leg in Mumbai, would be a good reason to seek permission, no?
