The first-generation Hyundai Santro was the first car to make the tall-boy design very popular in the Indian market. Later, the likes of Maruti Suzuki WagonR joined the bandwagon and its popularity rose through the roof. WagonR remains one of the best selling cars in the country even today. The all-new Santro has made a comeback to the Indian market and it would take on the likes of Tata Tiago and Renault Kwid in the market but the Maruti Suzuki WagonR would be the direct rival to the Santro in the market. Here is a detailed comparison showing which of these two offers the best in the market.
Exterior: Design and dimensions
The all-new Santro shares nothing with the older model except for the name. Even though Hyundai still calls it the “Tall Boy”, the all-new Santro has lost around 30mm of height. It is based on the now-discontinued i10 hatchback and the design is inspired quite a bit by it. Hyundai has made the Santro look modern with the deep creases around the body. The hood, side of the body get deep creases. The front chrome grille belongs the Hyundai’s signature cascade design and it gets a black cladding that also houses the fog lamps. The all-new Santro looks modern and has enough elements to excite the onlooker.
The Maruti Suzuki WagonR has been plying on the Indian roads for a long time without any substantial update to it. The WagonR looks similar to what it looked like when it was launched in 1998. The WagonR gets a boxy and plain design without any bells and whistles. It has a tall body and straight line design. Even though WagonR launched the Stingray version of the WagonR in India with updated looks, it was based on the regular car and failed to excite the market.
The WagonR is longer and higher than the Santro but it is not as wide. The WagonR measures 3,636mm in length, 1,475mm in width and 1,670mm in height. The Santro gets 3,610mm in length, 1,645mm in width and 1,560mm in height. Both get 2,400mm wheelbase and an almost similar ground clearance of 165mm (WagonR) and 167 mm (Santro).
Interiors and features
The all-new Santro gets a long list of bells and whistles just like any other Hyundai product. The Santro gets dual tone interior with a few first-in-segment features. The Santro is the first car in the segment to offer a 7-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. There is also rear AC vents and Eco coating on the AC to make it more effective. Hyundai also offers a slew of standard safety features like the driver-side airbag, ABS, EBD across the variants. The high variants also get a higher number of airbags, speed sensing door lock and unlock, reverse parking and more.
The WagonR gets a simple interior that matches the exterior look of the vehicle. The interior is kept as simple as possible. It also gets dual tone interior with contrasting black coloured parts like the glove box, infotainment system and the lower part of the dashboard. Feature-wise, the WagonR is not very attractive too. It only offers a driver-side airbag and ABS. The WagonR does not get a touchscreen infotainment system or rear AC vent. It offers a lot of space though, which makes it quite popular in the segment.
Engine and transmission
Hyundai uses a re-worked version of the 1.1-litre four-cylinder petrol engine in the Santro. The engine is available in petrol and bi-fuel version, which can run on CNG too. The petrol powered engine produces a maximum of 68 Bhp and 99 Nm. It gets a 5-speed manual or AMT automatic transmission. the AMT is not available with the CNG variants though. Hyundai is not offering a diesel engine options with the Santro.
Maruti Suzuki WagonR is powered by the 1.0-litre, three-cylinder engine that generates a maximum of 67 Bhp and 90 Nm. The WagonR is also offered in factory-fitted CNG versions and is available in both 5-speed manual and 5-speed automatic. There is nothing much of a difference between the Hyundai Santro and the WagonR in the market.
Fuel efficiency
Now, this is one of the most important aspects Indian car buyers look at when buying new cars. The Hyundai Santro with its 1.1-litre petrol engine returns a maximum of 20.3 km/l, which is quite good. The WagonR also offers a similar 20.5 km/l. It is not much of a difference between the two when it comes to fuel efficiency. Interestingly, both the models offer AMT version and both manual and automatic versions offer the same fuel efficiency.
Price
The Hyundai Santro is available in 5 trim levels and 9 variants in total. The D-lite version of the Santro is priced at Rs. 3.89 lakh but there is no air-conditioner in it. The top-end Asta petrol version of the Santro is priced at Rs. 5.45 lakhs. The WagonR is priced from Rs. 4.15 lakhs and goes up to Rs. 5.21 lakhs. Hyundai does not offer the AMT in the top-end Asta version.
Also Read: New Maruti Dzire gets a HEFTY Rs. 57,500 Diwali discount