Hyundai i20 1.4 Comfort review

"The liitle i10 and larger i30 are great. But the i20 falls a bit short"

What is it?

Sandwiched between the small-but-really-rather good i10 and the VW-Golf-worrying i30, the i20 is Hyundai’s answer to the Ford Fiesta and Honda Jazz. And as you can imagine, in cash conscious times, the i20’s five-year-warranty and competitive price makes it a very relevant buy, on paper at least.

What’s it like on the outside?

The i20 is about as middle of the road as car design gets. Hyundai is keen to plug the fact that it was styled at the firm’s European headquarters in Russelsheim, Germany. But to be honest, if you just glance the i20 you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a current Vauxhall Corsa – itself not exactly a vintage piece of design. The Fiesta and Jazz are leagues ahead.

What’s it like on the inside?

Just like the exterior, the inside of the i20 isn’t going to win any design awards. Some of the plastics are scratchy, but everything seems well screwed together, the buttons have a Germanic solidity to them, the seats offer excellent support and there’s plenty of kit as standard – air conditioning, AUX and USB inputs for the stereo and so on. It’s actually a pretty impressive effort, and feels more spacious than the Fiesta. Can’t best a Jazz though.

What’s it like to drive?

Korean cars do tend to lag behind their European rivals when it comes to their chassis, but this i20 is pretty good.  It’s not just the buttons that have a Germanic quality, the ride is firm and ‘schporty’ like a Polo’s, meaning that the i20 clings on well in the bends but won’t bust your spine when you drive over a speed bump. The little 1.4 isn’t too bad either, and the noise it makes is kept to a minimum by its tall gearing.

But if you’ve even got a passing interest in how a car drives, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that the steering is really artificial, rubbery and feels like it’s connected to the front wheels purely by electronics, rather than oily bits; the gearbox is imprecise and the pedals – especially the throttle – are so light to press that you can hardly feel them under your feet. Shame, as both the i10 and i30 are more fun, and that’s a problem given the quality of the i20’s rivals.

Verdict

If you just want a Ford Fiesta sized car that won’t go wrong, won’t use much fuel and will get you from A to B without fuss, then you could buy a Hyundai i20. If you must. But whereas the smaller i10 is good, honest scrappage-friendly fun, and the i30 is seriously good enough to lure non-badge-snobs from the Golf and Focus, the i20 doesn’t deliver anything particularly special at all. And that’s tricky, as its rivals are some of the best cars in the business.

By Tom Phillips