Hyundai Aura Test Drive Review – Better Than Dzire?

Performance – The Hyundai Aura is offered in a total of 6 powertrain options, 4 of which are old. Just like the Nios, the compact sedan gets a BS6-compliant 1.2-litre Kappa petrol engine along with a now BS6-compliant 1.2-litre diesel engine offered with both a manual and an automatic transmission. What’s new? It is the addition of a 1.0-litre turbo petrol engine lifted from the Venue but detuned to offer less power; 20 PS to be exact. Last but not the least, Hyundai is also offering a 1.2-litre Bi-fuel petrol engine with a factory-fitted CNG kit. While the first two engines are tried and tested before, the 1.0-litre turbo petrol bought in a little bit of surprise. Even though it has the ‘turbo’ in its name, it doesn’t really kick in the pants. The gears are extremely tall as the first gear will take you to 60 kmph, the second will touch 100 kmph in no time and so on. Basically, you don’t miss the sixth gear as the Aura offers a 5-speed manual and a 5-speed automatic transmission. It’s a bummer that the turbo-petrol is offered with a 5-speed manual only.

The turbo petrol engine suffers from turbo-lag lower down but has a good mid-range and top-end

Driving Dynamics – The steering lacks any feel and feedback and gets a little scary at high speeds. Having said that, it is quite better than other Hyundai models. The suspension is neither too soft or stiff, it tackles the potholes and undulations with ease and without causing too much unnecessary movement in the cabin. When you pass over really bad patches of roads, it does tend to get slightly unsettled but otherwise, there are no major complaints. The brakes are strong and offer good stopping power.