The Hyundai Aura gets a facelift for 2023. We spent a day behind the wheel of this car to bring you up to date as regards all the important updates.
Story: Azaman Chothia
Photography: Sanjay Raikar
The Hyundai Aura is a car that replaced the Xcent in the compact sedan space in 2020. The Aura is essentially a Grand i10 Nios with a large boot and, for 2023, the car gets a facelift along with some additional features.
Starting from the exterior, the car’s front end now gets a new bumper sporting a mesh grille. Now upside-down L-shaped LED daytime running lights (DRL) have replaced the fog-lamps on the previous model. At the rear, the Aura now gets a blacked-out C-pillar, chrome door-handles, and a really nice touch in the form of a spoiler that gives it a sportier stance. The mid-trim gets steel wheels, while the top trims are offered with diamond-cut alloy wheels. There are six monotone colour schemes to choose from: Polar White, Titan Grey, Typhoon Silver, Starry Night (new), Teal Blue, and Fiery Red.
As soon as I got inside the car, the seats felt comfortable and they had a premium touch. For my 5.7-foot stature, this compact sedan is fairly spacious and you also get a lot of features. The list includes an eight-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, electrically adjustable outside rear-view mirrors (ORVM), automatic headlights, voice recognition, wireless phone charger, Bluetooth connectivity, and cruise control, to name but a few. In this updated model, you also get a Type-C USB charger, foot-well lighting, and an updated dashboard sporting an analogue tachometer and speedometer along with a tiny display in the middle. At the rear, the seats are comfortable for two occupants and have decent leg-room.
In terms of electronics for safety, the Aura is equipped with ESC (electronic stability control), VSM (vehicle stability management), and hill assist control. The facelift also comes with four airbags (dual front and side), the option of six airbags, a TPMS (tyre pressure monitoring system, in the Highline trim), and a curtain airbag.
Hyundai have discontinued the 1.0-litre turbo-petrol motor, so the Aura is now offered with the option of a 1.2-litre Kappa petrol engine with a manual/automatic transmission or the 1.2-litre bi-fuel petrol with CNG engine, mated to a five-speed automatic transmission. The 1.2-litre Kappa petrol engine churns out a good 83 hp and 113.8 Nm of torque. This motor is also E20 flex-fuel compliant. On the other hand, the CNG powertrain with a five-speed automatic transmission develops 69 hp and 95.2 Nm of torque.
For this review, we have the 1.2-litre Kappa petrol with the manual gearbox. It is perfect for city use; the clutch action is light and it is easy to shift through the gearbox. The power delivery is linear and a slight surge in power is felt past the 4,500-rpm mark. It is also fairly tractable. During our test, the car was able to cruise around in third gear while being surrounded by light traffic.
We spent our time with this car mostly driving around in the city and the car returned a fuel efficiency of 9.0 km/litre. The steering is light and, combined with the compact nature of the car, this makes it easy to wade through city traffic and narrow roads. This motor makes the experience of driving really engaging owing to its smooth and relaxed nature.
The suspension set-up is on the slightly softer side, which is another factor that makes it a great car to tackle unpredictable roads and, given a good amount of ground clearance, it is also able to clear tall speed-breakers. The braking set-up is sharp and you get really good feedback from the brake pedal. This makes it easy to have control over the car at all times and even get on the brakes suddenly to stop in an emergency.
The price of the updated Aura ranges between Rs 6.29 lakh and Rs 8.72 lakh for the petrol options, while the CNG variants range between Rs 8.10 lakh and Rs 8.87 lakh (all prices ex-showroom, Pune). With a slightly sportier look, a refined 1.2-litre petrol motor, a fairly spacious interior, large boot space, and packed with features, the facelift Hyundai Aura is a superb compact sedan for the city. Like all Hyundai cars, the overall fit and finish is premium, so the Aura should appeal to those who are interested in owning a sedan on a budget.
