We drove the new 2017 Hyundai Verna (called the Next Gen Verna by the brand) at the test track in Chennai plant of Hyundai India today and in this post, we share our experience of the 2017 New Hyundai Verna First Drive Review with you. Please note that this is not a full fledged review as it will follow after we spend some more time with this car. We drove the top of the line Diesel Manual as well as automatic transmission variant of the car and we will share the experience of these two variants. We will cover the petrol variants in our full review on a later date. Photography and videography were prohibited in the premises so we are posting only stock images here which were provided by Hyundai. We will be posting more pictures very soon.
2017 New Hyundai Verna Test Drive Review Video
Exteriors
Verna has always been among the better-looking cars in its segment for many generations now and the trend continues. It does look very appealing on the exteriors and uses the signature Hyundai styling. The front is now bolder and the grille resembles that of the Creta, which is a good thing.
There is a touch of premium all around the exteriors be it the grille, large projector headlamps with DRLs, projector fog lamps, nice body lines around the side or the side sweeping tail lamps which look similar to the larger car Elantra. The diamond cut alloy wheels and shark fin antenna, chrome on rear door etc. are things which make it look like a car which is quite premium.
Interiors
Interiors of the 2017 New Hyundai Verna remind me of the Hyundai Elite i20 here, it is not much different visually from that. The quality of materials used is good and the feel of the cabin is premium. There are oodles of features which are usually not seen in this segment like ventilated front seats (which are probably even one more segment higher for most brands).
Cruise control, 7 inch IPS display infotainment system with maps and apple car play and phone link support etc. make this car one of the most equipped ones in the segment. The equipment list of the2017 New Hyundai Verna is quite long, some of the key features are as below:
- Projector headlamps with LED DRLs
- Hexagonal grille
- 17-inch alloys
- Rear decklid spoiler
- LED taillamps
- LED turn indicators
- Cooled front seats
- 7-inch touchscreen infotainment
- Apple CarPlay
- Android Auto
- Satellite Navigation
- Standard ABS and EBD
- Standard dual front airbags
- Reverse parking camera
- Six airbags
- Disc brakes front and rear
The seats are comfortable and there is plenty of room in the cabin as well.
Ride & Handling- 2017 New Hyundai Verna
This is one area which impressed me a lot about this car. It drove really well on the track and felt very well in control. The steering feedback is ample, and the steering is neither too light nor too heavy, which gives you confident inspiring driving feel. The road we tested the car on was quite good, so we can’t comment on the ride quality on bad roads, but for the small undulations on the track (meant for testing) were handled pretty well by the car. Suspension seems to be tuned very nicely, even better than the previous generation Verna which was itself quite good on suspension tuning. It is among the most impressive handling cars in the segment. Also, the braking performance is quite good and confident inspiring. Braking distances were short and brakes had ample bite.
Engine & Transmission Performance- 2017 New Hyundai Verna
We drove only the 1.6-litre diesel engine for now and the engine felt quite powerful. It has ample of torque delivery right from the beginning of the rev bands. There is no noticeable turbo lag and the car felt very enthusiastic and agile. It is driven by a 1.6 Litre U2 CRDI VGT fitted diesel engine which churns out 128 PS power (which is again segment leading). The car drove quite well with the manual 6-speed gearbox and felt very agile and well connected. The automatic, however, felt a bit unenthusiastic to drive. It seems to be tuned towards providing more fuel economy. However, if you provide more throttle input, it delays the gearshift and gets more responsive, but it did not match the kind of agility we experienced on the manual version. We are yet to test the petrol automatic, we hope that petrol automatic will fare better than diesel. Overall, the NVH is very low, the car feels quite and comfortable, accelerates with ease and gives a lot of fun and zippy response especially with the manual gearbox.
Verdict- 2017 Hyundai Verna First Drive Review
2017 Hyundai Verna First Drive left me quite impressed. The car is no doubt among the most powerful one in the segment, handles extremely well. The diesel motor is extremely fun to drive with the manual gearbox. The safety and comfort features are clearly best in the segment. A lot now depends on how Hyundai decides to price it against the competition, if priced right, this car has potential to give a real tough time to the competitors.
