Verna revamp puts rivals on notice

Making a comeback

Hyundai Motor India, the country’s second-largest car manufacturer and the largest car exporter, is known for its attention to detail. The revamped 4S Fluidic Verna has lived upto the expectations of not only Indian customers, but also the global audience.Verna 4S is looking to further redefine Hyundai’s automotive excellence in India in the sedan segment for the stylish customer.

4S really stands for Style, Safety, Speed and Sophistication. Hyundai Verna was already powerful and known for its safety. With the facelift, Hyundai has added a bit of spark in the styling and sophistication department. Hyundai’s experiment with the Verna facelift is very evidently intended to make a strong point in the sedan segment, more so because of the stiff competition from rivals in the niche. Verna has always maintained its market lead in the C-segment sedan class and this new breath of life could propel the Verna to new heights.

Exteriors get a makeover

The exteriors have undergone a total revision. What is the big change? Well, the front and the rear exterior design gets more polish for one. The front of the new Verna 4S is brand new. It gets a handsome horizontal chrome grille, coupled with a new angular pair of focal headlamps and re-positioned fog lamps. With the new Fluidic version 2.0 design philosophy, Hyundai has added more value to the new Verna. The rear of the car gets LED treatment for the taillights, though the concealed exhaust makes the rear bumper look large. The 16-inch diamond cut alloys are retained in the new Verna 4S.

The Fluidic version 2.0 design philosophy makes the revised Verna 4S look a lot like its elder sibling, the Sonata. However, the car retains its predecessor’s silhouette, which makes it easily identifiable as a Verna. The creases along the side profile and the character line on the bonnet have been reworked, giving the car a fresh appeal.

Ergo Lever does the job

The interiors do not see much of a revision except for the updated 1-GB onboard memory to store songs, and the new ‘Ergo Lever’ at the front passenger seat which saves trouble for the rear passenger in requesting the passenger in the front to move his/her seat forward to make some knee room at the rear.

This lever placed at an arm’s length of the rear passenger does the job. The rear seat armrest is also revised with twin cupholders. The under-thigh support is much better and comfortable on long journeys. The upswept windows at the rear, however, is an acquired taste as you also sit much lower to the ground. It is a nice cabin to be in on long journeys.

We liked the manual gearshift indicator which signals you to change gears. When you are in a hurry, you may not agree with the shift indicator, but when you are trying to be politically correct, well, that helps. The car sadly misses out on the rear A/C vents but makes up for safety as it gets ABS as standard throughout the range and gets six airbags as standard on the SX variant. The steering wheel still feels lighter in low speeds but gets better when nearing triple-digit speed. Having said that, the feedback is quite low and the body roll creeps in while cornering at high speeds. Hyundai, to infuse driving confidence, now gives ABS as standard across all variants.

Potholes and bumps are not felt that often as the suspension setting is further tuned to offer a more comfortable ride at high speeds. But the Verna 4S misses out on rear-disc brakes in the manual gear-shift variants. It is an everyday car, responds well to lower city speeds, and drives smoothly on the highways.

The new Verna 4S 1.4-litre petrol variant is priced at Rs 7.83 lakh and the 1.6-litre petrol variant is priced in the Rs 9.94 lakh to Rs 10.27 lakh range. The Petrol automatic variant is priced at 10.23 lakh.

The diesel 1.4-litre variant is priced at Rs 9.06 lakh and the 1.6-litre petrol variant starts from Rs 9.94 lakh and goes up to  Rs 11.60 lakh. The diesel automatic variant comes at Rs 12.34 lakh (all ex-showroom Bengaluru prices).

Choice of engine specs

The new Verna gets the familiar 1.4- and 1.6-litre VTVT petrol units producing 106 and 121 bhp respectively, and a five-speed gearbox. The diesel Verna also retains the tested oil-burner, the  1.4- and 1.6-litre CRDI diesel units, churning out 89 and 126 bhp respectively with a six-speed transmission. Both the 1.6-litre diesel and the petrol engines get a four-speed automatic transmission. With a variety of engine specifications to choose from and with Hyundai offering ABS on all variants, the 4S Verna is marking its territory in the C-segment.