Throughout the drive, I never felt the need for more engine power – be it on the highway, ghat roads or the two way roads.
BHPian sunil_k_u recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
I recently completed a 1200+ km round trip with a mix of highway, ghat roads, and two-way roads with moderate traffic. The distribution of the travel one side is as below:
- Highway: 400 km.
- Ghat roads: 100 km.
- Two-way/ country roads: 100 km.
This being the first sort of long drive after I acquired the Alcazar, below are are my observations. Please take note that these observations could be influenced by the driving experience with my previous vehicles (Tata Safari Lxi 2.2VTT – 13 yrs, Toyota Corolla 1.8 Xli automatic – 7 years).
Positives:
- Very smooth diesel engine with excellent drivability. Throughout the drive, I never felt the need for more engine power – be it on the highway, ghat roads or the two way roads. Acceleration on the highway, maneuvering along the ghat and quick overtaking during two-way roads – all were achieved without fuss. Also wanted to mention that the last row seats were tumbled and luggage/ bags are loaded (let me confess that my travels are luggage-heavy).
- Excellent TC auto gearbox did the needful throughout. Never felt the need to switch to manual mode, or use the paddle shifters (except for testing how they behave during the drive). The auto box was ready with the right gear throughout the drive, the moment you take your right leg off the pedal or press it to accelerate, the gear box exactly knows what to do. This is was slightly different experience with my 4-Speed TC gearbox on the Toyota Corolla back in 2000. I think the availability of a number of gears and the torque of the diesel engine helped the case here. Set the cruise control at 80 or 100 km/hr and the car maintains the speed irrespective of the road inclines or gradients. The kick down and the acceleration to achieve the set speed is quite rapid (and a bit breathtaking sometimes).
- The vehicle gives a comfortable drive at all speeds – very minimal vertical or horizontal movements. Quite planted at corners during the ghat drive too. There was a world of difference (for obvious reasons) comparing the previous drives on the same route on the Safari. This one is more car-like in that sense.
- The Alcazar gave an impressive efficiency of 21.5 km/ ltr for the overall one way drive, in Comfort drive mode throughout. I forgot to test how would it fare on other 2 modes (Economy/ Sport). I think I did not feel the need to switch the modes looking at the efficiency, and the way the engine was performing without hesitation.
- Very comfortable seats with adequate under thigh support. No tiredness after spending around 13 hrs in the car; family was comfortable as well – I suppose the flat ride was helping this point.
- Excellent braking, without any drama even at high speeds. Enough engine braking during downhill as well – even if you take your right leg off the pedal, the vehicle is on the right gear to provide the much required engine braking during inclines. I found this was different in my Corolla back in year 2000. Things have changed for good over the years
- Panoramic sunroof helps the entertainment factor inside the car, especially during rains. It was raining enroute to Bangalore and wifey and kiddo enjoyed the view of the rain through the glass on the sunroof.
- Ground clearance is adequate, nowhere did the underbelly touch while negotiating potholes/ humps throughout the drive.
- Headlamps (both low/ high beam) has enough lighting and adequate throw as well.
- The doorsills and the plastic cladding below throughout the car’s side ensure that the painted surface is not scratched by your footwear during ingress/ egress.
- Tested full capacity (6 medium built adults and 2 kids) drive and never it felt underpowered during uphill too. Please take note that I prefer relaxed driving, and usually avoid rapid acceleration/ pedal-to-metal scenarios, so my opinion could be subjective.
Not so positives:
- The drive on pothole-ridden roads is not plush. One needs to slow down (unlike the Safari), though the R17 wheels on the Prestige(O) help a bit (compared to R18 ones on the platinum and Signature models), there is no comparison with Safari’s soft suspension.
- There is a dead zone around 35 – 40 km/hr sometimes- if you stay around that speed and try to accelerate, it takes additional couple of seconds. However, if you pass this range quickly you wouldn’t notice it.
- The back of the car, including the number plate area got unusually dirty during high speed driving during rains. I suppose the rear wheel placement (helping the wheelbase) could be one of the reasons. I had to take the vehicle for a pressure wash to clear all the grime in this area after returning to Bangalore.
- The setting for lane change indicator flash gets reset upon vehicle restart. I had set it to 5 before starting the drive, but upon restarting the vehicle it defaulted back to 3 blinks.
- The roof of the vehicle is a bit low slung to my liking, and my forehead hit the edge of the roof a couple of times while entering the middle row. Muscle memory due to the 13 long years of use of Safari will take some time to get adjusted to the new vehicle, I guess .
Overall, I liked the vehicle and thoroughly enjoyed the drive. I was originally skeptical about the capability of the vehicle on ghat roads with the luggage loaded, however was pleasantly surprised, and am more confident now to take the vehicle on any route.
The ‘Drive info’ after the return journey (indicating the kilometers covered, time it took and the fuel efficiency), and some random pics along the drive ate attached below. Apologies for the low quality of pics clicked using mobile camera:
Keyword: Hyundai Alcazar diesel AT: Observations after a 1200 km trip