Hyundai Aura

The sub-compact sedan Aura was launched by Hyundai in 2020, and most of its features have been borrowed from the Hyundai Xcent, while some of the style and design elements have been borrowed from the Grand i10 Nios. The car is available in multiple petrol variants, while some are available in diesel variants, and the Aura S MT is available in dual feature, which means petrol with CNG.

How’s the design?

Coming to design and style, the all-new Hyundai Aura looks attractive with a coupe-like side-profile which compliments the sporty stance of the car. The captivating first-look of the sedan has been made more stunning with the car’s hood design. The front segment of the car comes with a Satin Silver large grille, which is mated with a 3D mesh pattern, and supported by a chiselled bumper, twin boomerang DRLs with chrome surround, as well as an angular sweptback projector. Adding more aggression to the car is the protruding wheel arches, diamond-cut alloy wheels, and wheel air curtain. The rear end of the car is featured by tail lamps, and the boot line is finished with a touch of chrome accents, and this magnifies the Hyundai Aura’s overall beauty.

How does it perform?

The performance of the Hyundai Aura is exceptionally dynamic and the limited optimised capabilities of the car delivers a smooth and powerful experience to the driver. The Eco TORQ variant of the car ensures higher compliance with emission, improved performance, increased fuel efficiency and higher durability. It is the only BS6 compliant Diesel engine in India. With the new Hyundai Aura, driving through the traffic feels like a breeze with the New Aura Smart Auto AMT, and it is available in both diesel and petrol engines, and it ensures accurate gearshifts, with optimum performance. The crankshaft bearing of the car with material and optimised thickness reduces friction and allows seamless and smooth driving even under usual city conditions, and it also enhances the engine life.

How’s the mileage?

The Hyundai Aura returns a fuel economy of 20-28 Km/L. As per the ARAI mileage, the petrol manual delivers a mileage of 20.5 Km/L, while the petrol automatic returns a mileage of 20.1 Km/L. The CNG manual on the other hand returns 28.0 Km/L.

How’s the driving experience?

Under any road conditions, the Hyundai Aura feels comfortable to drive. The crankshaft bearing with optimised material and thickness reduces friction on any road condition, improving the overall drive quality of the sedan. The gearbox of the Hyundai Aura has undergone a number of tests and therefore, it delivers high strength as well as improved clutch friction material. All these features combined together to make it convenient and easier at high speeds, hill-side, off road and even in harsh weather conditions.

How is its off-road capability?

The off-road capability of the Hyundai Aura is not up to the mark, and therefore riding on rough terrain can be painful. Furthermore, the car does not come with the hill assist feature, and therefore, it is not ideal for the driver to drive this car through the hills and mountains. The hill assist feature stops the vehicle from rolling back the slopes by operating the brake system automatically, for about 3 seconds, even when the drivers release their foot from the brake pedal. It has a ground clearance of 165 mm, and therefore, performs best under normal city conditions.

What’s the interior like?

The Hyundai Aura comes with a beautiful interior, which compliments the overall sophistication of the car. The leather works on the steering wheels and gear knobs comes with a chrome finish. Furthermore, the dual grey colour tone of the car contrasts perfectly with the black dashboard, leading to a great ambience. The sedan comes with a number of other features in the interior including glove box cooling, USB charger, luggage lamp, 20.25 cm touchscreen infotainment system, which comes with smartphone connectivity, rear parcel tray and rear adjustable headrest.

Tech and infotainment

The Hyundai Aura is loaded with a number of modern tech features, and when it comes to car selection, it plays a great role. All the Hyundai Aura variants feature tailgate and door ajar, along with low fuel indicator or warning. It also comes with a MID (Multi-Information Display) as well as a 13.46 speedometer. The MID displays a number of useful information including Dual Trip Metre, average fuel consumption, average vehicle speed, service reminder and elapsed time. Apart from this, the car also features a touchscreen Infotainment system with Apple CarPlay, smartphone connectivity, Android Auto Connectivity, Bluetooth Connectivity, Voice Recognition and so on.

Safety Equipment

Coming to safety, at least 65% steel makes up the body structure of the Hyundai Aura, ensuring the safety of the driver as well as the passengers. There is an emergency-stop signal available in all its variants, and it is very useful for avoiding rear-end collisions. A rear-view monitor is also integrated in the car, enabling the driver to check the rear-view while driving, and this does not involve the function of the reverse gear at all. The sedan also features a rear parking sensor and some of the other safety features of the car includes passenger airbags, side airbags, ISOFIX child seat mounts, and so on.

Which variant to buy?

The price difference between the base variant and the top variant is about 2 Lakhs, and from the analysis, it can be observed that almost all the variants of the Hyundai Aura are packed with features. Even the base variant has a number of safety features. So, overall, all the variants are safe. The S AMT Petrol features automatic gear, and therefore, this variant would be ideal for anyone looking for an automatic vehicle.

Which cars compete in this segment?

There are many other cars competing in the same segment as Hyundai Aura and these include Maruti Suzuki Dzire, Tata Tigor, Honda Amaze, Grand i10 Nios, and so on.

Verdict (Value for money)

The Hyundai Aura is a practical car for daily commuting and with all the standard techs and features, it serves the purpose really well and therefore, the sedan is expected to return value to the customers.