Back in the day, the Indian market offered two particular tall boy hatchbacks, the Santro and the WagonR. While the WagonR has stayed in the market since then, the beloved Santro was not to be found anywhere but the Santro now has made a comeback with the All New Santro and now again the two hatchbacks will face each other in the Indian market. However, with scarce information available on the Santro as of now, this will be a brief comparison from the limited information available. We will do a full-blown comparison of the two once more information is out.
Looks:
Both the cars carry the tall boy design language but in very different ways, the WagonR is more of a boxy car with its sharp corners and follows a rectangle theme while the Santro follows a more curvy and complex design. While the WagonR has only straight lines across its body, the Santro does not have any straight lines on the body. That said, looks are a very subjective matter and it all depends on what you like but if you ask me to pick the better looker, I’ll take the Santro.
Equipment:
The Santro scores high in the equipment department, it gets a touchscreen infotainment system, rearview camera, parking sensors and an additional USB port below the touchscreen panel. The WagonR, on the other hand, gets an old-school 2-Din music system and does not even get rear parking sensors. In terms of safety equipment, the Santro offers ABS with EBD and a driver side airbag as standard while the WagonR offers ABS and dual airbags only in higher trim levels and misses out on EBD.
Engine and Transmission:
Both cars come only with petrol engines and both offer the option of a CNG conversion from the factory. The WagonR uses a 1-litre 3-cylinder engine which develops 67 hp and 90 Nm of torque while the 1.1-litre 4-cylinder engine in the Santro makes 69 hp and 99 Nm of torque, making the Santro a winner. Moreover, a four-cylinder engine is generally more refined and smoother than a three-pot motor. Both cars also get an option between a five-speed manual and an AMT gearbox and while the AMT in the WagonR is tried and tested we will not be able to comment on the new AMT set-up in the Hyundai.
Also Read: Tall Boy Wars II: Next-Gen Maruti WagonR Will Take On The New Santro In Early 2019
While we wait on more details of the Hyundai to come out, this is the comparison we can offer between the two cars, the Hyundai may seem like a good package but the main aspect is yet to be revealed, that is, the price. The WagonR is priced from INR 4.98 L to INR 6.36 L, all prices are Ex-Showroom, Mumbai and given the extra equipment on offer the Hyundai can be expected to be a bit more pricey. Keep looking at this space in the future for a more in-depth comparison. Below you will find a gallery of the limited edition WagonR.
