Hyundai i20 review

The Hyundai i20 is a supermini that’s long held a reputation for being practical and sensible, pitching itself as an alternative to UK favourites in the Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Polo.

Remember that one very quiet kid at school? The one that seemed aced it in maths and had covered all the food groups in their packed lunch each day. Now got to their early 20s learned to ride a motorbike and became the lead singer of an Indie band — and you have the new Hyundai i20. Once understated in style, but decently practical and sensible in how it went about its business, this new i20 looks comparatively wild at a first glance.

Up front, a huge grille consumes the front of the Hyundai i20 and is headed up by angular headlights. The side is sprinkled in sharp creases while the rear looks a bit like the designer discovered what an angle was and went a little bit mad. It looks pretty good from the front, but the rear is just an overstyled mess.

Things are rather bold inside the Hyundai i20 too. The dashboard is two-tone and broken up by straked trimming that looks ripped straight off the side of a Ferrari Testarossa. Wild though it may be, it doesn’t feel very good, with the cabin loaded with hard scratchy plastics.

It is redeemed by its space, though. There’s plenty of adjustment in the driver’s seat and steering wheel, so you won’t struggle to get comfy there, while passengers in the back get a good amount of head and legroom for a car of the i20’s size.

Boot space is reasonable too, coming in at 352 litres — that’s a huge one litre over the Volkswagen Polo, and a very respectable jump over the Ford Fiesta’s 290-litre boot.

There's loads of stuff to help you avoid a crash, and loads of stuff to make every trip feel quite luxurious.

There’s only one engine for the Hyundai i20 at the moment, and that’s a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder turbocharged petrol which features 48v mild-hybrid tech to help cut fuel consumption. This engine produces 100hp and is linked to a six-speed manual gearbox as standard, though a seven-speed dual-clutch is available optionally.

It is a good engine — one that’s punchy enough for motorway use and works well around town — but more options would be great.

The Hyundai i20 does tick all the basics for pottering around town, which is probably why you’d look at this kind of car. Its steering is light, the turning circle is impressive and it’s super easy to park. A light clutch makes stop-start traffic effortless plus a seamless mild-hybrid system helps cut emissions and boost economy without you ever really noticing it — though firm-set suspension means you’re going to feel bumps a bit more than you might like.

It’s fine on a motorway as well. It’s nothing special and the Volkswagen Polo is comfier to spend longer journeys in, but the Hyundai i20 offers enough power for overtaking easily. It gets noisy though, with wind, tyre and road noise all filtering into the cabin rather noticeably.

Where the Hyundai i20 might surprise you most is on twisty roads. The firm suspension results in little lean and a lot of grip – though the steering does feel disconnected. It’s fun, but not quite so much as the Ford Fiesta.

That quiet kid-turned-Indie rocker will still be the smart, sensible mind at heart and that’s the same with the Hyundai i20. It’s practical, good to drive and ticks all the basics of town driving — but the visual transformation is maybe just a bit too much.