The ride, suspension, interior quality, presence of an air conditioner, looks, tallboy design and so much more. I absolutely loved the car and was waiting for my chance to drive it.
BHPian JoseTheScorpion recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
The topic(King before the Xing) has some meaning. Basically it means that Santro Zip drive and Zip plus were the king of small-premium car segment before the Santro Xing came into existence.
Our car was the Hyundai Santro LS Zipdrive Manual EURO II (Amazon green colour), from the year 2000.
We kept our first car(M800) for 12 years(1988 to 2000). You can find my write-up on our Jumpy(M800) here :https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-…uti-800-a.html
My Dad sold it to our relative (my cousin brother in Kerala) after my continuous request, begs, blackmails since 1998 for moving on to another car.
Which car would make sense after M800
A huge decision to make, as to which would be the next car to fit our requirements. It basically boiled down to Matiz and Santro, with Santro being my favourite and Matiz being everyone else’s. Anyway, me being the most knowledgeable on cars in the family, helped win this battle which lasted for 2 years. The colour(Amazon green) was also my choice and the variant as well. I mean when we were on the way to book the car, it was the top model(dx), but on the way Dad very smartly convinced me on how expensive the car was and that it would be better if we could buy the mid variant – LS. Well since I was in school and didn’t have any say on the budget and financial matters, I was like, at least we will still have a new Santro, so I reluctantly said yes to my Dad’s ad hoc request on the way to showroom. One of my conditions, was to install the wheel covers and stereo as soon as possible, which my Dad was very happy to accept.
How is the Santro compared to M800
Santro was a big leap forward comparing to the M800. The ride, suspension, interior quality, presence of an air conditioner, looks, tallboy design and so much more. I absolutely loved the car and was waiting for my chance to drive it.
My long wait to drive the car
I was in class 11 so, had a couple of years to start driving. My Dad was very much particular in making sure that I don’t start driving the car before I turned 18. I always used to sit in the front seat next to Dad, continuously observing on how he drove the car and that helped me to understand the ABC pedals, the gear, handbrake, mirrors, indicators…etc. I was practically ready to drive the car since the age of 15, but unfortunately Dad didn’t allow.
Now, being a parent, I do understand his fear and I will also be following the same principle (18 yr rule) when my son grows up. As of now, there are 8 years more for my son to drive, unless the Indian Govt. decides to lower the driving age to 16, like America.
Even though I didn’t start driving the car till the year 2003, I was the one who took care of the car. I was like a reminder service for Dad.
• Car service time, Dad, please book in Hyundai.
• Let’s have a car pressure/foam wash done, it’s been a few months.
• The cars right indicator is not working, please let’s get it fixed on the weekend
Finally, I started driving
When I started driving the car, of course, the day I turned 18, I applied for a learner’s license, my Dad was like “ab aaya uth pahaad ke neechey”(Now it’s my turn to criticize your driving style). He was very loud on any corrections needed, as though taking revenge on all the corrections I pointed out to him whenever he used to drive . I don’t want to exaggerate, but I didn’t need any training and saved both time and money by not taking the 15 days car learning classes. In my mind, I was already a pro driver even before I ever started the engine of our Santro.
How Santro changed my life
I was very lucky to drive our Santro to college, where the lucky part was that my mom’s office was nearby. So, whenever Mom was late to work, Mom used to request me to drop her and proceed to college. So, I always prayed that Mom would say those golden words to me every day . Dad used to take the car to office very seldom, as he had a dedicated office bus for pickup/drop and, he never enjoyed driving as I did.
For me driving was like going to a different world, altogether. I enjoyed peak time, non-peak time, day drives, night drive, city, highway, anytime or anywhere. It was like Yoga for me, entering into the spiritual world and attaining peace of mind.
I was always more interested in driving a car, rather than riding a bike. My liking towards cars, was also liked by my parents, as they always found two wheelers unsafe. Anyway, so the Santro was the first car I drove, and I never knew it will open the gates to an ocean of cars to be driven in the future.
I have an old video where I share some funny goof up stories on the Santro (Pet name Comfy). Please do watch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_6r…tSudm3&index=3
I don’t have the pics of the car when we bought it in 2000. Not sure, why we didn’t take the camera, but fortunately I found the pics of the car from 2008, when we were planning to sell it, by then we had camera phones, so taking pics was easy. We did keep the car of 8 years.
Here are some pictures of our Comfy (Santro)
There was no tachometer in cars earlier
This pic is modified with photoshop, I couldn’t find the original pic.
This pic is modified with photoshop, I couldn’t find the original pic.
The kids broke the wiper, I am still sad about that.
Santro interiors were good. It was all hard plastic but good quality.
The wheel covers used to fall off, so had changed them multiple times in the 8 years we kept the car. Hyundai ones were exp, so fitted maruti ones(Wagonr), as seen in the pic.
I loved the colour. Even after 8 years, the shine was amazing
As I had started earning, I replaced the old fM/tape player to a CD player with powerful speakers. 
Likes
- Tall boy design
- AC was powerful
- Silent cabin and spacious
- Plush ride compared to other small cars
- Engine performance as good, we could actually zip through traffic
Dislikes
- Service seemed a little more expensive at first
- The battery always used to run only for 2-2.5 years, not sure why.
- Hmmm…can’t think of anything else. It was bulletproof in reliability.
Conclusion
I think Santro was one of the best small cars sold in India. It was also known an the Atos in other countries. I also liked the Santro Xing, but I feel the Zipdrive/Zipplus models were the best looking, as they were very different and looked taller somehow.
I remember the 2nd gear was so tall that you could even touch 80kmph in that. Also the brakes, shockers and seating are good for even short highway sprints(2-3 hrs). As, it was the first car that I drove and maintained, I have a soft corner for this car(Santro) and I still notice the old Santros running around in Hyderabad.
Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed reading this thread and also enjoyed the AC goof up story I shared in my video. Thank you and God bless.
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