We have an i20 hire car at the moment, substituting for the Roomster that had a door mirror violently amputated on Monday.
It has a 1.2 litre, naturally aspirated petrol engine of modest power - they come I believe with either 75 or 85PS, and I expect it's the lower of the two. There are also two "CRDi" options, 1.1 or 1.4 litre, and a 100PS turbo petrol. The auto I believe has a 1.4 petrol.
Trim level isn't badged, but checking the options list reveals it is an 'S' Air, the base trim with added air conditioning (manual). It has DRLs, but not stop-start. Unlike the top models, it doesn't have a touch screen, which for me is a positive - a button you can see is better than a menu as far as I am concerned. The radio is a basic thing with and aux jack and a USB; no DAB or CD slot I can find. It sounds OK.
The engine is actually quite pleasant and flexible in use, and will accelerate gently without complaint from c 1250rpm. It's a 5 speed manual. Performance of course is modest but pefectly adequate for everyday use. Ride is acceptable, and noise is low. There's no sign of the dreaded (by me) 3-cylinder thrum, and a brief underbonnet inspection revealed 4 cylinders, against the current trend.
All controls are light, and it's very easy to drive. The steering seems fine in normal use and it feels secure in corners.
It claims to be doing around 48mpg in local use and the LCD fuel gauge has only moved by one of its twelve segments in 80 miles, so that might well be correct.
Rear legroom is surprisingly good for a supermini, and the boot is a fair size too, as they go in this class. It doesn't look bad either to my eye.
Comfort-wise, it has a height adjustable driver's seat and a steering wheel with up-down and fore-aft adjustment. In theory, most people should be able to find a comfortable driving position but it took us both a while. The backrest support feels poor in the lower back area and the head restraint (adjustable) is too far forward even in its rearmost position unless the backrest is well back from the vertical. We both managed it in the end, but I'm not confident in the comfort for a long drive yet.
Only other concern is overbright panel illumination, dials, buttons, radio, heater, everything. The manual shows the location of the adjuster "if so equipped". This one isn't. Fine in daylight but far too bright at night.
It's a 66 plate 10,000 miler, it is free of rattles and everything works.
If this is around the average for its class, I's say cars are pretty good these days. Not much to "surprise and delight" in this base model, but I can see why Hyundais sell. But I'd have to have one with adjustable panel lighting.
Good car, subject to my reservations about the seat. Lots of delivery miles manuals on Autotrader under £10k, some with higher trim. Given that, I wouldn't see the point in an i10, which don't seem to be much cheaper.
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Do the panel lights dim when the lights are on?
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The big dials dim very slightly, but at the same time the buttons across the dash light up bright blue with red highlights, and it's Christmas in Regent Street.
Even the tell-tales for lights on, handbrake, main beam are piercing.
Last edited by: Manatee on Sun 12 Mar 17 at 21:01
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We've had a 2015 i20 1.4SE from new. No problems. Big enough for our annual trip of 520 miles each way to Skye. No issue with comfort of seats. Cornering headlights, lane departure system, etc. The 1.4 petrol manual now replaced with 1.0 litre turbo.
The control to dim the instruments should be to the right of the steering wheel/ignition.
Certainly a step up in quality from the first generation (2009-2014).
Would not hesitate to buy another.
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We've considered an i20 to replace the i10 we bought new in 2009. May not be for a couple of years though as we plan to run this one till it starts costing silly money to fix; so far apart from a new clutch and an oil leak it's been fine. Sice it only cost us five grand as we bought it through the scrappage scheme, we've certainly had our moneys worth out of it.
Thanks for the info, I shall share it with herself.
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>> The control to dim the instruments should be to the right of the steering wheel/ignition.
This one just has a blanking plug in it. Next to the ESP switch IIRC. I might have missed it, but I looked with a torch.
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I quite liked the look of the ix20, but bigger, higher and more spacious than the i20 but used to come with quite a price difference. Not sure what it is now
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Had one in Spain last year. IMHO it was Meh! easily forgotten.
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>> Had one in Spain last year. IMHO it was Meh! easily forgotten.
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I suppose, to be fair, they're not exactly made to be exciting or inspiring. So long as it does what you want reasonably well, and reliably, at their price you've got what you paid for.
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Exactly. It would not have been as forgettable had it been rubbish.
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I remember the awful gear change action.
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>> I remember the awful gear change action.
This one seems OK, never missed a gear. Not exactly rifle bolt, but then I expect it is cable operated.
However, a week's acquaintance has both of us agreeing that we would not buy one. It's easy top drive with light controls, fairly refined for a small car and seems economical but the deal breaker is the seats.
I find the driver's seat lacking inback support, there's no lumbar padding and whilst it's not unusable it feels to me like sitting in a deck chair.
The squab isn't bad for me, but the boss finds the front of the squab too high regardless of seat height setting. She's 5'2", in the 'normal' range I would have thought, but finds there is too much pressure on the back of her legs. She normally sits back from the steering wheel, but in the i20 finds she has to get nearer to take the pressure off her legs and allow comfortable clutch pedal operation. Perhaps it's a common problem, and that's why so many people of shorter stature, mainly women, seem to sit with the wheel in their ribs and their noses pressed up against the windscreen.
With luck we will have the Roomster back in a couple of days.
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Hyundai - i20 impressions - Old Navy
