Hyundai Verna

The fifth-gen Verna has us convinced that Hyundai has finally figured out ride and handling

- Ouseph Checko

THE NEW VERNA IS fun to drive. Hyundai were so stung by criticism of the earlier Fluidic Verna’s vague high speed manners that they have gone all out to make sure no one says the same thing about this car. To that extent, this fifth generation Verna (the first Verna in India way back in 2006 was the third generation car) it is built on Hyundai’s new K2 platform, the same as the one in the Elantra. Because it uses a modern chassis, Hyundai says the noise, vibration and harshness levels are at an all time low and, because the chassis is now much stiffer it now drives like a Ferrari. Well, I’m kidding, they didn’t say that. But they do say that at every generation change that the new car is fun to drive. Is it true this time around? I had a 160km go in it and here’s what I think.

Really all-new?

 Well, you already know the chassis is new. Fifty per cent of the chassis comprises of advanced high strength steel while the rest is made up of high strength steel, ultra high strength steel and hot formed steel. What all this means is that the car is stronger and is more crashworthy than before.

The obvious pointer that this is a new car is, of course, the design. It is, for one, a bigger car – Hyundai says overall length is up by 65mm, width is up by 29mm while the height remains the same. It looks a lot like the Elantra with its trapezoidal grille and swept back projector headlamps. Sharp creases run along the side and the rear roofline is almost like a fastback which looks really neat. The tail lamps are very cool with their LED elements (available only on the top variants) and there’s an interesting blacked out section on the lower part of the rear bumper that gives it a nicely squared off-rump. On the whole, the shrunken Elantra looks may not lend it the visual size that the Ciaz has but this is no doubt a very nice looking design.