Hyundai Xcent review, road test

The tail section doesn’t look like it was tacked on to the rest of the body as an afterthought, as in the case of the Maruti Swift Dzire. Instead, there’s a nice sense of proportion here, with the roof flowing smoothly into the boot, which has a smartly contoured bumper and an attractive lip. If anything, the boot looks a bit too tame, and the well detailed but tiny tail-lights don’t help give it presence either. On the whole, the Xcent looks neat, with styling that’s a pleasing, if slightly subdued iteration of Hyundai’s Fluidic Sculpture design language.

Under the skin, the Xcent sticks to the norm with its suspension setup – MacPherson struts up front
and a rear torsion bar. However, Hyundai has stiffened the rear suspension compared to the Grand i10 to deal with the additional weight loads sedans are generally subject to. For the record, the petrol and diesel Xcents are each 15kg heavier than their Grand i10 counterparts. In terms of safety equipment, ABS is standard only on the top-spec SX trims, while driver and passenger airbags come only on the S (O) and SX (O) trims.

What’s nice is that you can see the benefits of these improvements in the real world. There’s very little of the turbo lag you’d typically expect from such a small-capacity diesel motor. Progress is smooth right from the get go and the gradual build up of power makes the Xcent diesel a very friendly car to drive in the city. Things stay that way till about 3,800rpm, after which the power simply falls off a cliff. This is best (or rather worst) experienced when attempting to overtake at highway speeds. There’s nothing to gain by holding gear, so it’s advisable to short shift and keep the engine in the mid-range. Shuffling through the gears, though, poses no problem. The five-speed gearbox is smooth and the clutch light by diesel car standards. And for a three-cylinder diesel engine, refinement levels are fairly good. There is some patter from the engine and vibes at low engine speeds, but things smoothen out as you build speed. The engine does get quite noisy as you rev hard, but like we said, there’s no point venturing into the upper reaches of the rev band.
In terms of outright performance, the Xcent diesel is seriously off the pace compared to the Amaze and Dzire. 0-100kph comes up in a lazy 18.61 seconds. It’s slower through the gears as well but what the numbers hide is the linearity with which the Xcent diesel gathers pace. 

The Xcent petrol is similar to the diesel version in the way it grants you easy access to power at low speeds. Variable valve timing and drive-by-wire on the 1.2-litre, four-cylinder Kappa 2 motor help bottom-end responses and make the car feel peppy and light on its feet. The responsive nature of the engine also lets you occasionally get by in a higher gear than usual. Not that gear changes call for much effort – the light clutch and slick-shifting five-speed gearbox ensure that. To be honest, in the confines
of a city, there’s little more you’d want from your car.

When in the mood for some fun, the Xcent petrol doesn’t disappoint either. The wide spread of torque provides ample power right up till 5,000rpm. Performance, indeed, is far better than just being acceptable for this class of car. 0-100kph takes 14.23 seconds, with the car topping out at 172kph. You’d also like this motor for its refinement – it’s smooth, quiet and a match for the best in this class. There is some gearbox whine though.