Plonking an auto ‘box in the Verna diesel seemed the obvious thing to do for Hyundai motors.  For one, the Verna’s 1.5-litre 110bhp motor has a surplus of grunt and can well afford to relinquish some of it to a power-sapping torque converter without the fear of turning into a sloth. In fact, it’s the smallest and cheapest diesel automatic you can buy, except that at Rs. 10 lakh it’s not exactly cheap. So should customers pay the extra Rs. 75, 000 over a manual for the price of convenience? AutoCar (April ’09) takes a road test to find out…

The talking point is the Verna CRDi’s four-speed auto ‘box, which is similar to the one on the i10 Kappa. The only difference is that the mechanicals have been strengthened on the Verna’s motor to cope with the higher torque output. The gearbox is very simple and conventional. It doesn’t have an option of paddle shifts or a manual mode. Instead, it has ‘L’ mode and a second gear where the gearbox is kept in a lower gear ratio for steep climbs and for emergency overtaking manoeuvres. The auto as only four ratios to play with and the gears are taller, so it can’t extract the maximum from the engine. The plus side is that the Verna auto accelerates in an extremely relaxed and linear manner. It’s like an aircraft, slow to start with but after a certain point it gets going. The auto ‘box eliminates some of the turbo lag which is prominent in the manual version. As a result, the car is easier ad smoother to drive in the city and the convenience of an automatic considerably reduces driving stress.

On the highway, the Verna cruises nicely and doesn’t feel taxed even at max speed says AutoCar (April ’09). It goes from 0-60kph in 7.03 seconds, which is more than two seconds slower than the manual version. And 100kph comes up in 14.1sec, as compared to the 11.35sec taken by the manual. On the drive ability front, the Verna is not that bad. It takes 9.43sec to reach from 20-80kph and 12.16sec for 40-100kph.

The Verna still rides on the same soft suspension set-up as before. The soft springs keep most small irregularities out of the cabin at low speeds, but at higher speeds, the car bobs on large dips and isn’t as composed as it should be. The Verna gets unsettled rather easily when you hit a series of bumps at speed. BS and four-wheel disc brakes are standard on the SX. The brake bite and pedal feel is good, but braking composure could have been better says AutoCar (April ’09).

Being an automatic, fuel consumption takes a slight hit. The Verna manages 10.3kpl and 16.1kpl in the city and highway cycles respectively.

To conclude, Hyundai has filled a huge gap with the Verna auto as the next diesel automatic is only the Scorpio and that’s an SUV. It provides the economy of a diesel and the user-friendliness of an auto at a price which isn’t too over the top. And if you look at it from the point of view of convenience rather than performance, you really can’t go wrong.

At A Glance

Price: Rs. 10 lakh (on -road, Mumbai), Power: 110bhp @ 4000rpm, Torque: 24kgm@1900-2750rpm, Acceleration: 0-60kph – 7.03s, 0-100kph – 14.10, Top Speed – 183kph, Fuel Efficiency: City – 10.3kpl, highway – 16.1kpl, Overall – 13.2kpl For: Convenience, Against: Slow-shifting gear-box