Hyundai Alcazar Review: Diesel SUV Driven

The Hyundai Alcazar is the latest entrant to the ever increasing tribe of SUVs in the country. Now they come in all shapes and sizes and within the Hyundai portfolio itself in India, it is the 5th SUV after the Venue, Creta, Tucson and Kona Electric. It has arrived in the market with a host of drivetrain options. You can choose between petrol and diesel variants and both get manual and automatic transmissions. Depending on the trim you can get 6 or 7 seat options on this 3-row SUV. I got a chance to sample the diesel manual version of the car with 7 seats, one that offers the maximum fuel efficiency among all the variants.

Also Read: Hyundai Alcazar Petrol 2.0 MPi Review

Dynamics

At 1,435 kgs, the Diesel Alcazar is significantly lighter than its rivals. 

Also read: Hyundai Alcazar SUV Launched In India, Prices Start At ₹ 16.30 Lakh

Unlike the petrol engine, the  Diesel motor is taken from the Creta. The 1.5 litre mill makes around 113 bhp and 250 Nm between 1,500 and 2,750 rpm. That makes it the least powerful offering in the segment when compared with other cars like Tata safari or MG hector Plus which come with bigger 2.0 litre engines. But there is something that works to this cars' advantage despite the less power and that is its weight. At 1,435 kgs on the diesel, the Alcazar is significantly lighter (more than 300 kgs) than its rivals and that ensures that power to weight ratio is very good on the car. Because of this even the smaller engine is able to carry the additional weight pretty well. With with the peak torque kicking in fairly early the drive doesn't feel sluggish for most part on the car. Of course we still have to see it it remains that way with all 7 passengers on board.

Also read: Hyundai Alcazar: All You Need To Know

The Diesel manual also promises the best fuel efficiency of 20.4 kmpl among all variants. 

One of the significant improvements when it comes to cars from Hyundai over the years has been the smoothness of gearboxes specially on its Diesel models. This is one factor where the Alcazar feels relatively ahead of its rivals. The gearshifts are slick and the need to do frequent shifts in traffic doesn't really worry you. The throws on this 6-speed transmission are short too which makes both upshift and downshift a trouble free process. The Diesel manual also promises the best fuel efficiency of 20.4 kmpl among all variants while the Automatic gives a lesser but still decent 18.1 kmpl looking at the dimensions and weight of this car. The NVH levels are kept in control which makes it a fairly silent cabin. Siddharth drove the petrol variant of the Alcazar and if you want to know more about that, head here!

Also read: Top 5 Highlights: 2021 Hyundai Alcazar

The 1.5 Diesel engine on the Alcazar is taken from the Creta.

A highlight on the Alcazar is its fantastic ride quality. The car is at ease taking on the bad patches of the roads and it was good to have 18 inch wheels on the mid-platinum I drove. The base prestige, however comes with 17 inch wheels. Surprisingly there isn't a huge amount of body roll either, which has been an Achilles heel for Hyundai cars in the past decade, more so for SUVs. Now, the Alcazar isn't the sort of car that you'll want to have fun in while driving or take to a drag race but its pickup doesn't disappoint either. When compared to the Creta, according to Hyundai, the SUV is slower by just 0.4 seconds between the speeds of 20 to 50 kmph and 60 to 100 kmph. On the 6-speed torque convertor Automatic, the difference is even more negligible. In case you're wondering, the weight difference between the Diesel models of Creta and Alcazar is around 90 Kgs.

Also read: Hyundai Alcazar vs Tata Safari vs MG Hector Plus vs Mahindra XUV500: Spec Comparison

Safety

The Alcazar gets disc brakes on all four wheels.

The list of features is very long and most of them are standard on the car. These include a tyre pressure monitoring system, hill start assist and ISOFIX child seat anchors. While Signature also gets front parking sensors, the side and curtain airbags are missing on the base prestige version. A really practical, safe and useful feature on the Alcazar is the Blind view monitor two cameras are installed on both the side-view mirrors. The moment you switch on the indicators video footage from that camera is relayed on your instrument cluster and shows what coming from behind you on either side. This helps in easy changing of lanes, especially in chaotic traffic.

Tech and Interior

Even the base variant of the Alcazar comes with a lot of features.

A lot of features come as standard on Alcazar so even prestige trim doesn't feel like a base variant. Here you get features like 10.25 inch touch screen infotainment system along with Hyundai's blue link tech connected car tech with over the air map updates and a bluelink integrated smartwatch app. The nice looking dual-tone cognac brown colour theme is also there as standard feature list along with the wireless charger on the front row and on 2nd row for all the 6 seater variants. Now I won't got into details about the tech aspect of the car because Sahil has covered those in his review so head there to know more.

Ambient lighting in 64 colours and finally voice commands to open the sunroof are also standard on the Alcazar. The Platinum trim with me gets features like an electric seat for the driver, a 10.25 instrument cluster with multiple displays and an 8 speaker Bose surround sound system. Front ventilated seats are only offered on the top trim, while the electric parking brake and air purifier and are absent only from the manual version of the base trim.

Also read: Hyundai Alcazar vs Tata Safari vs MG Hector Plus: Price Comparison

The 7-seater version has bench seat on the second row.

The Alcazar has been launched in 3 trims - Prestige, Platinum and Signature but with the diesel not all of them get both Manual and Automatic. 6 and 7 seat layouts have also been divided carefully amongst the trims with the higher ones getting 6 seats and lower ones 7. The mid platinum you see here gets 6 seats on the automatic and 7 seats on the manual. On the base prestige only the manual gets 6 seats, while both manual and Automatic get 7 seats. The top signature trim does not get 7 seater versions at all. Be it 6 seats or 7 the only way to reach the third row is tumble seats on second row. There is evident lack of space here. I, a 6-footer, could barely manage to squeeze in. My head was touching the roof and there was no thigh support, so clearly, long journeys for a person like me in the third row is going to be exceptionally tough. The third row sees features like reclining seats, AC vents and USB charging slots, which do bring in some cheer for passengers. 

Design

New grille and LED headlamps make the Alcazars face distinct from the Creta.

There's not much that changes in design between the petrol and diesel version. So if you want the big dose on it all, then head to Siddharth's review. 

Prices

Alcazar is more expensive that its rivals but also offers more features.

The Diesel variants of the Alcazar are priced between Rs. 16.53 lakh for the base manual with 7 seats and go up to Rs. 19.99 lakh for the top Diesel Automatic with 6 seats. For the dual tone options on the top trim, you'll need to shell out Rs. 15,000 more. The Tata Safari on the other hand is priced between Rs. 14.99 lakh for the base manual and Rs. 20.56 lakh for the top automatic. The Diesel variants of the MG Hector plus are available between Rs. 15.03 lakh and Rs. 19.61 lakh while the Mahindra XUV500 which only comes with a Diesel engine is priced between Rs. 14.20 lakh and Rs. 20.40 lakh, all prices ex-showroom. This means the Alcazar is more expensive to start with but remember car offers you a long list of standard features. Hyundai has always known to give a lot of features in cars and Alcazar is the prime example of that.

The Alcazar has what it takes to rule the segment with all the tech, features and practicality it comes with. And the Diesel engine which has worked wonders for Creta handles the load of this bigger SUV well while remaining frugal enough.