Hyundai Verna

The interiors of the Verna are really impressive and you will see that it looks very futuristic. There is plush leather upholstery on the high end variant, a nicely designed sliding front arm-rest for the driver, a nice glossy trim and finish to the dash to give it a premium feel, head rests eve for the rear seat passengers, and nice comfortable seats with decent leg room for all. The car has a feel of high tech sophistication especially thanks to the instrument cluster and the overall ergonomics. It is very inviting and you will definitely love it.

There are many different variants available, but all are smooth and seamless with excellent power. There is a 1.4 litre diesel and petrol. The 1.4 litre diesel is mated to a 6-speed gearbox with 90bhp and the petrol is mated to a 5-speed gearbox with 105bhp – great figures for a 1.4 litre engine. Then there is a 1.6 litre petrol engine and a 1.6 litre diesel engine. You have the option of choosing either manual or automatic for both engines. The best performing variant we found to be was the 1.6 litre diesel mill with 125bhp and the manual transmission. The 1.6 litre petrol unit gives out 118bhp and both the auto and manual transmissions work wonderfully well.

The Hyundai Verna has the best ride quality in its class and it beats the competition not just in its suspension setup, but also in terms of its performance. The 1.6 litre engines are exceptionally good and they have fantastic power and acceleration. The steering is a little too light for my liking, but the response is still on key and the car doesn’t really sway too much, it stays on line wherever you point it. You get power on demand, although there is a very small turbo lag in the diesel, but once you get going the car picks up speed instantaneously. The braking works well and the tyres provide excellent grip. The overall experience is very fun, especially if you enjoy driving. This surely is a driver’s car.

Depending on your engine choices you will probably get around 12-14kmpl for the petrol variants and around 16-18kmpl for the diesel variants.

The Verna is also the best sedan in terms of you options for features. In the higher variants you get plenty of great features such as power steering, power windows, air-conditioning with pollen filters, keyless entry with smart key and push start/stop. There is also an in-built audio with steering mounted controls and tweeters, a cooling glove box and a rear view camera, driver information display and a shift indicator.

The Verna also has airbags including side and curtain airbags. Then there is ABS with EBD, impact sensing auto door unlock, fog lamps, central locking and reverse parking sensor with camera and park assist. No other sedan in this segment can offer these features.

The overall quality of the Verna is high quality and luxurious. The interiors are plush and the instrumentation clean and uncluttered. Everything looks very well made and built including the exterior quality and even the paint work. The Verna does however come with lots of electrical features so fining components for some of them can take time and can also be costly, but they are very well put together and they will not malfunction on you. Otherwise the regular servicing of your car is not a problem as it is engineered very well. The engines are sublime and the auto transmissions are trouble free and work very well.

Once again Hyundai offers a wide range of variants and this increases the price range. The base variants are very much worth every penny you spend and you will be guaranteed a pleasurable experience each time you drive your car. The higher end variant, especially the 1.6 litre diesel with automatic transmission is a little expensive, but you are paying for luxury and features that are not found elsewhere in this segment so it is also very much worth the money you spend. You need to ask yourself if the features and technology is more important than just a great engine and transmission.

The Verna is undoubtedly the segment winner in the mid-sized hatch back, and simply knocks out the European competition in terms of drive quality, performance and features. It also looks very good and is priced quite decently. You get a lot of variety so you can pick the perfect variant for yourself, all these little attention to details make it a great car.