Hyundai Verna 1.5-litre NA Petrol vs. 1-litre Turbo-Petrol Automatic: Performance And Fuel Efficiency Compared

The Hyundai Verna already boasts a decent in-cabin experience, an extensive feature list, and adequate space for four people. It’s also got a couple of petrol engines and automatic options to play with. But which of the two is the ideal choice, really? 

We pit the Verna’s 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol (paired with a CVT automatic) against the 1-litre turbo-petrol engine (with a 7-speed DCT) to find out which one’s the better option, both in performance and fuel efficiency. 

Spec Check

On paper, the difference in grunt isn’t much; the 1-litre turbo-petrol delivers 5PS more than the 1.5-litre naturally aspirated mill. Also, the former is a good 28Nm torquier than the latter. So how do these differences translate to the real world?

Performance Runs

Here’s where things get really interesting. In the 0-100kmph sprint, the 1-litre turbo engine’s additional grunt (combined with the DCT) came out on top by a whisker. But in the 20-80kmph kick-down acceleration, the advantage swung to the 1.5-litre naturally aspirated mill (with the CVT), which did the job in 7.21 seconds as against the turbo-petrol’s 7.78 seconds.

Fuel Economy

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The 1-litre turbo-petrol returned 12.25kmpl within the city and 18.04kmpl on the highway. Unfortunately, we couldn’t test the 1.5-litre NA engine’s efficiency figures, but it delivers an ARAI-claimed 18.45kmpl. Also, considering this engine is paired with a CVT, it should theoretically be more frugal than the DCT.  We shall update this space once we get our hands on the sedan, so keep following ZigWheels.

Price And Verdict 

 

Let’s just put it this way; both petrol-automatic options have their strong points and are indeed closely matched. The 1-litre turbo-petrol DCT may have the edge in performance, but the 1.5-litre CVT may just make up for it in fuel efficiency (at least theoretically). Also, it has a more affordable entry-level variant, the SX, unlike the 1-litre turbo-petrol DCT that’s limited to the sole SX (O). Even when the two transmission options are compared in the same SX (O) trim, the CVT is the more affordable option by Rs 5,000.

All in all, if you’re willing to sacrifice a bit of performance for more frugality and affordability, the 1.5-litre petrol CVT is the ideal choice if you’re opting for the petrol-powered Verna.