I have not tested a Hyundai in a while so I thought it was about time I did. The car you see before you is the i20 Coupe which in my book looks ok – but does not ignite my fire as much as some other brands – but it has turned out to be better than I expected it to be and I would say that it’s a much better buy than Vauxhall Corsa in a like for like comparison.
Power and Efficiency:
My test car was fitted with the new 3 cylinder T-GDi DOHC 1.0 litre petrol engine that has 120ps and 171Nm of torque, and a top speed of around 118mph and it replaces some of Hyundai’s older engines which were slow and not very powerful at all.
You also have another two petrol engines to choose from in the form of an 84ps 1.2 litre 4 cylinder or 100ps 1.0 litre T-GDi 3 cylinder. The 120ps engine fitted in my test car was actually very refined for a 3 cylinder and if it was me I would always opt for the more powerful engine because ‘more is better’. Also in the 120ps version you get a decent six-speed manual gearbox as standard instead of a five-speed you would get in the 84ps or 100ps for that matter. Fuel economy is also good and I achieved a figure of around 54.4mpg (combined).
On the road:
As I expected the i20 is easy to drive around town and the same can be said for motorway driving. The ride quality is not what I would of liked it to be – but then for a car only costing around 16k I can’t expect too much. What I will say though is that it felt good into the corners and the suspension dealt with most surfaces with ease and although the ride itself was a little choppy – it was actually very good.
Design & Technology
On the outside the i20 looks relatively elegant – but then when you get to the inside it really is quite bland. Maybe I am being over critical – but in the past I have said this about VW and Seat because they also produce some bland interiors on some of their models. So, the i20 is not that nice on the inside – but it is practical and you do get quite an assortment of kit fitted as standard in the Sport Nav line up.
Some of the standard kit on the i20 Sport Nave includes; DAB radio & seven speakers, 17” alloy wheels, auto headlights & wipers, cruise control, 6 airbags, ABS with ESP & ESS, 7” touchscreen satellite navigation with rear view camera and LED daytime running lights.
To sum up:
The i20 Coupe is a decent car which has lots of rear leg room, interior space and a large boot. If you are thinking of buying one then I would still go for the 120ps version because it’s easier to live with and cheap to run.
Price: £16,750 (as tested)