2017 Hyundai Verna First Drive Impressions
Hyundai India brought the Verna for the first time in India back in 2006. This was basically the successive generation to the Accent sedan. The second generation car came in 2011 and got off to a brilliant start thanks to its styling. It was one of the initial cars to come with the Fluidic Sculpture design language and instantly won hearts. The third generation Hyundai Verna is all set to launch in India on the 22nd August 2017 and we got an exclusive chance to experience the dynamics of the car around the company’s test track in Chennai. Here are our first impressions of the all new 2017 Hyundai Verna.
To begin with, the 2017 Hyundai Verna has a very familiar design language. The company has perfected its design with the Fluidic Sculpture 2.0 design language. There is a new Cascade grille upfront and new longer headlight cluster with projector units and LED DRLs. The front grille is placed lower giving the car a nice stance. The sides remind you about the previous generation car but the car is slightly longer than before housing a longer wheelbase too. The 16-inch chrome alloy wheels fill up the wheel arches well. The rear features new LED taillamps, a new lower bumper and some blacked out sections on the lower section of the bumper. It is from the rear that this car resembles the bigger Elantra the most. Overall, the new Verna looks like a mini-Elantra and that could work in its favour.
On the insides the 2017 Hyundai Verna features a all new dual tone dashboard with a new instrument cluster and infotainment system. There is on a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system with voice recognition and automatic climate control. The company has also thrown in ventialted seats which is a class first. You get a rear AC vent and a electric sunroof too to lift the ambience of this interior. You also get a multifunction steering wheel and connectivity options like AUX, USB etc. Seats feel plush and comfortable although legroom at the rear still isn’t class leading.
The 2017 Hyundai Verna will continue to be powered by 1.6-litre petrol and diesel engines that develop 123 PS and 128 PS respectively. They will be mated to either a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic gearbox. The 1.4-litre petrol and diesel engines have been left behind, along with the aging 4-speed automatic gearbox. On our short drive in the diesel powered car we found the car offers brisk acceleration while both the gearbox options are smooth operators. The new platform and suspension tuning has helped the new Verna drive much better than before. The car has a smooth drive feel normally associated with German cars. The R&D of the car has been carried out at the company’s office in Frankfurt. Steering response and braking feel a lot more positive than it ever did.
The new K2 platform of the Verna has helped the car perform better at frontal offset and side crash tests. The new Super Body Structure uses 50 percent of high strength steel that offers the chassis more rigidity. Some of the safety features offered on the new Verna are 6 airbags, ABS, impact sensing door auto-unlock, cornering lamps, rear parking sensors.
The 2017 Hyundai Verna is set for launch on the 22nd of this month. It still cannot boast about class leading rear legroom but gets a long list of features. The driving dynamics feel a lot more confident than before and one of the departments the previous generation car was criticized for. It will be priced competitively as well in the range of Rs. 9 lakhs to Rs. 14.50 lakhs. Bookings for the Hyundai Verna have been opened and we suspect, the new 6-speed automatic variants will have higher demand. It will be interesting to see how the competition now reacts to the new Verna.
