Hyundai i10 Review After 7 Months

After 7 months and 5,000 km from the day I bought my Hyundai i10 car in Egypt I have formed kind of a picture on the pros and cons of the i10 in particular as it applies to owning and driving one in Egypt.

Pros
What I love about the i10 is its small size which enables it to easily park in small spaces and make it able to successfully penetrate between closely standing cars in a narrow street through which cars with larger bodies fail.

Other things I like about the i10 is its maneuverability, general smoothness of drive and its strong breaks. The i10 simply provides you with good control as you drive.

Cons
Although the i10 is cool to drive and indeed can go fast (I've tried it up to 140 km/hour), yet still it is basically a city car. If you travel a lot or you work far from your home then you ought to aim for a larger more powerful car. The i10 is not designed for travelling or for daily long distances. Yet it could be perfect for in-city driving.

Furthermore, the i10 would drive amazingly smooth on a good read, like in the case of my trip to Ain Sokhna where the road is amazingly well constructed, yet it performs poorly on badly constructed roads which unfortunately is the case in the large part of Egypt. Going over a lot of speed bumps, road irregularities and obstructions makes the ride feel uncomfortable with the i10.

Hyundai i10 in Bahariya Oasis

Last week I've taken my i10 to the longest drive yet. The drive to Bahariya Oasis from Cairo is some 360 km (220 miles) and a bit longer when coming from east of Cairo like Nasr City as in my case.

The gas tank was not exactly full yet my i10 was able to make it all the way there till Bahariya. The tank was almost empty as I arrived for the gas station in the middle of the way to Bahariya had no gas!

I stayed two days at Bahariya Oasis then had to come back to Cairo for work but guess what, the gas stations at Bahariya had no gas! I also came to know that gas at Bahariya has an octane rating of 90 only while my i10 was only fed 92. At the end of a deep search, we managed to find someone (not a gas station, but a guy selling gas having brought it all the way from Cairo) who sold us gas. Of course he asked for a much higher price than its otherwise fixed price in Egypt.

I drove some 400 km (250 miles) back to Cairo alone and gave my i10 a 15 min break in the middle of the way (although the rest house/gas station still did not have any gas) and I too breakfasted on some dates during those 15 minutes as I had started moving from Bahariya Oasis at the crack of down.

I was driving back at a speed of 100 to 120 km/hour (62 to 75 miles/hour) with an occasional 140 km/hour (87 miles/hour). I did enjoy (most) of the ride back, specially the middle part which was after my dates breakfast and before entering Cairo at 6th of October City where I started to get lost a bit and hence the extra miles. I guess it's time to get a GPS gadget since it seems it will start to gain popularity after the Egyptian government ended its ban I guess last year or so.

I guess now I'm approaching my second maintenance mark which is the first 5000 km (3000 miles) after I've already done my first 1000 km (600 miles) maintenance.

After getting back safely, I filled my tank with some 25 liters of 92 (octane rating) gas to quench my i10's thirst for its preferred energy drink. I'm glad it made it all that way with the 90 (octane rating) gas I had bought from that guy back at Bahariya Oasis. I'm looking forward for its 5000 km maintenance now.

The Fear Factor in Cairo Driving

In order to be able to drive safely in Cairo you must understand the fear factor which control the dynamics of driving in the streets of Cairo.

Fear Factor
As a driver, the more fear you are able to instill in the hearts of other drivers around you the easier it would be for you to drive and the safer your overall driving experience wold be.

Assumption

The underlying assumption behind this rule is that if other drivers fear you, they will try to stay away from you, will not come too close to your car, will leave enough space between their cars and yours, will wait until you pass first and will not annoy you in any thinkable way.

Applications

Application of the fear law would lead us to a number of conclusions. You can make others fear you using any of the following methods:

• Law of Size: The larger your vehicle is the greater fear it wold instill the hearts of other drivers who are driving vehicles of smaller size. According to this sub-rule, a truck would instill the largest amount of fear in the hearts of other drivers and thus would gain the highest degree of respect followed by buses then micro-buses then large cars and finally small cars.
• Skill Level: Your driving skill can have a direct relationship with how 'adventurous' you are in driving. The more driving skill you have the more adventurous you can be and thus the more feared you are by other drivers. That is way taxi drivers get the most respect due to their high skill level. Also micro-bus drivers manage to get and extremely high respect rate due to their adventurous driving style.
• Clumsiness: Although novice drivers who drive slowly and are so afraid to take any risks while driving instill the least amount of fear in other drivers and are often taken advantage of (which makes driving even the more difficult for them), yet some unskilled novice drivers are at the same time bold and risk takers. This combination of lack of skill combined with risk taking often results in dangerous and somewhat clumsy driving. Usually such kind of driver is highly feared even by the experienced skillful drivers (for instance the taxi drivers). Upon observing his dangerous clumsy (and often fearless) driving style, other drivers try to avoid him and stay away from him. This kind of driver also instill a high level of fear into the hearts of others.

Speed Factor

Aside from the fear part of the story, speed can also matter in getting others off your back and enjoying a 'safer' ride.

When you are driving slow, all cars try to pass you by, they try to overtake you or keep honking behind you making your furious and thus decreasing your ability to drive safely. On the other hand, if you are driving fast, you will not suffer from anyone honking behind your back or attempting to overtake you. You will also be able to easily change lanes and go in and out of intersections with ease.

Lesson #1: Drive a Large Car

If you are no truck, bus, micro-bus or taxi driver, then you better get a large SUV or the largest (in terms of length, breads and height) vehicle you can afford to buy. This would be your best bet of using the fear law to your advantage.

Lesson #2: Take Initiative

Next, try always to take initiative and show drivers around you that you are skilled in driving. Never become a passive driver. Taking initiative, taking the lead and showing that you are a go-getter makes others relax letting you do what you want and always giving you priority.

Lesson #3: Drive with Speed

Try always to take the lead and be among the fastest cars around if not the fastest.

Driving on an Empty Stomach

Yesterday I arrived safely at home without a scratch after having done some tough driving. I was extremely tired as I arrived but was glad that I had finally made it back home safely on that day.

The main issue was that I had two additional short trips to make that day besides the bit longer afternoon drive. What complicated matters a bit further was an additional unplanned trip, which was not very short it actually took some 2 and a half hours or so round trip. The distance was not far, but the traffic was extremely slow in several parts of the way not to mention we did not know the way and like got lost several times! Despite of that, I was satisfied to have done it for it involved some good cause not to mention the lessons learned.

I had done all that on an almost empty stomach for I had just snatched some brief spoons of a sugary snack for a breakfast for I did not have an appetite in the morning. After the long slow drive the time for my evening trip neared. I became short of time, did not have time to lunch so I again snatched a brief two spoons of honey to give me some energy. I needed the energy not just for driving, but mainly to be able to stand and teach for hours in between my final evening trip.

It was clear I did not have enough 'fuel' for my body on that day which caused my driving to be a bit sluggish at times. Although I did not get any scratches on the car yet I received a few honks from other drivers.

I guess one should not have long drives while hungry for this could result in sluggish driving. One should also try to avoid rush hours because this leads to the most tiresome driving for the driver, the car and the passengers. Finally, it's a good idea to check Google Earth or any sure guide to know your way before going.

Lesson: Never drive without enough 'fuel' for your body.

Deep Scratch

Is this a self fulfilling prophesy again? Today is the 13th of the month, almost the middle of the month near which I was trying to be extra careful in order not to make a new accident, bump or scratch for my i10. I had in mind to watch out for the 15th of the month, but hey, it happened today, unfortunately.

I was trying to park at night yet the narrow street I was at was so busy. I usually went to that place on Friday mornings when it was rather uncrowded. Today I went on a Wednesday evening. Not finding a place to park I waited a few moments on one side of the road with my emergency flashers on to allow the traffic in this narrow two-way side street to pass. I then reversed moving backwards and stopped to give more rooms for the rest of the traffic to pass by. After the street was finally empty from any traffic, I attempted to move backwards in search for a place to park in. I heard a load a long bumping sound, it came from my left side. It turned out that I was sharply scratching against a perpendicularly parked car on my left side while I was reversing back. I was shocked and extremely unhappy about that.

Later on when I checked the damage after I had parked I found that the scratch in my car was deeper than anyone I had before, yet thank God its length was not much.

Lesson: No matter what, whenever you are reversing make sure you are at a safe distance from cars parked next to you. Then and only then can you start reversing.

Sharp Braking

Yesterday I was saved from an almost sure accident. I was driving back home on the fast lane and there was that car in front of me going forward with high speed. I was driving behind that car and matching its speed. Never had it crossed my mind that the car in front of me might suddenly make a sharp stop, which it actually did. Seems there was some sort of speed bump or actually low remnants of some sort of 'unofficial' speed bum which the car at my front did not notice until the very last moment causing the driver to take a sudden decision to stop sharply. Me being behind that car and not expecting it to stop sharply I had to hit the brakes even more sharply managing to get my car to a complete stop just a few inches before colliding with it. In my brain, the the last split second I believed I was going to collide with it. Thank God I have not. Anyway, now I have a new lesson to learn, and learn well I should.

Lesson: No matter what, even if you are not expecting the speeding car in front of you to make any sudden sharp stops, keep a good distance between it and your car just in case anything unexpected happens. It's worth it.

Forgetting Parking Lights On

The day before yesterday, which coincided with the last day of 2009, I forgot my parking lights on after parking the car and went upstairs to my house without noticing they were on.

The reason why I forgot them on was that I was driving during the day and normally when I drive during the day I do not turn the parking lights (nor headlights for sure) on. So that is why as I parked the car I left it without noticing that the lights were on, since it was still daylight and I know I do not switch the lights on when during the day.

It was not until I looked at the car from the window as the night approached that I observed my front lights were not dim but were shining. At first I believed it was the reflection of the street lights next to the car that made them shine. Yet observing that all the cars parked next to mine had their front lights so dim I realized that indeed my parking lights were on. I thought of getting down and switching them off but was a bit lazy to do so. I was planning to go out in an hour or so anyway so I postponed switching them off right then. As the night approached more, it was so clear my parking lights were on for they shone brightly in the darkening street.

Although I was about to change my mind about going out yet the state of my parking lights being left on encouraged me to go out. I waited till the time came and went down stairs to shut the parking lights off. I then went to the place I was going to, it was close by my house so I went walking.

Lesson: Remember to make sure that your parking lights (and headlights) are turned off as you take your keys out and get out of the car. This can be easily checked from the dashboard which is lit up when the parking lights (or headlights) are still on.