What makes the Hyundai Grand i10 Nios worth the extra buck?

What makes the Hyundai Grand i10 Nios worth the extra buck?

We all fonder massive and butch SUVs, don’t we? But when it comes to practicality and sheer pleasure of driving through small gaps in a rather enthusiastic way, the choice consequently boils down to hatchbacks. After all, it’s these small cars that we can take anywhere – barring the off-road paths, of course – and the ease of driving is just spot on. Take, for instance, the Hyundai i10.

Launched in 2007, the Hyundai i10 has been the catalyst to bring in the sheer pleasure of driving and comfort in a rather affordable package.

After the success of the i10, Hyundai added another generation of the i10, the Grand i10 to its product portfolio in 2013. Since then, the Grand has been munching some Grand sales numbers for the Korean brand. Now, in its third-generation, the Hyundai i10 is called as the Grand i10 Nios.

However, some marketing geniuses at Hyundai decided to retail the Grand i10 alongside the Nios – at an affordable price, that is. So, is the new Nios worth the extra buck over the Grand? Well, let’s dive in our Hyundai Grand i10 Nios review to find out.

So, while the silhouette remains largely unchanged, the Nios sports an all-new design that cannot be mistaken for its predecessor. The face is all-new and is a lot edgier than before. The strong lines on the hood, massive cascading grille, funky DRLs pushed to either end of the bumper, projector headlamp and foglamps really work well for the front design. But the edginess is a little lost once you transition from the front to the profile. Sure, the 15-inch alloy wheels look scintillating, and not to forget the funky G-10 badging on the C-pillar that’s embellished in a honeycomb pattern, but it somewhat resembles the older model.

Enter the cabin, and the differences are much more prominent here. The cabin is all-new, and gone is the beige-black layout for a fresher grey-black layout. In my opinion, the grey cabin looks nice and airy, especially in comparison to the beige of just any other car in our market. The touchscreen is

now an 8.0-inch unit, the speedometer is integrated into the 5.3-inch MID, and the steering wheel is borrowed from the Venue.

Under the hood, the Nios remains mechanically unchanged. The engine in power here is the 1.2-litre four-cylinder BS-VI compliant petrol and the 1.2-litre three-cylinder diesel. Now, considering the diesel Grand i10 is now discontinued, the Nios is the only option if a diesel engine is in your bucket list. Overall, the engines remain to be extremely refined and throttle response is very linear. Both the engines can either be mated to a 5-speed manual or an AMT. So, to answer the question, is the Nios worth the extra buck? Well, the Nios is longer, wider and can easily fend off the Swift. The Grand, however, now sits in a segment lower. But given how stark the difference is – at least on the interior front – it is worth spending the extra buck on the Nios.

However, if you’re on a tight budget, the Grand won’t disappoint either. To read our full Hyundai Grand i10 Nios review, be sure to tune in to autoX.