I had the specs for the newest i20 in the door pocket, and the price kept winking at me. Every time I had to over-rev second gear just to get anything at all out of third, “£13,725 on the road” would flicker into my peripheral vision. It’s a cheap little car, OK? It’s not meant to be a Porsche.
It does a lot of things surprisingly well, it’s comfortable and roomy enough for a family of four (provided two have short, under-10 legs), and the acceleration in the middle gears only posed a problem on the bizarre roundabouts of Hemel Hempstead. It is unassuming but quite dainty, and people let you out at junctions. The boot can fit a guitar. I can think of estate cars of which that cannot be said. There’s an iPhone charger/display case at the front, to use as a satnav. This is great, until you’re trying to avoid a roadblock on the M1 and don’t have 3G, whereupon it becomes the most senseless, perilous system ever. An innovation I never saw the point of was a display of what gear it thought you should be in. It was like being told by your hairdryer what temperature to use: you know, all advice is appreciated, but it’s my head.
Short-haul motorway driving is very clement – once it’s reached the higher speeds, there’s no whining or kvetching. Top speed is apparently 106mph. I didn’t go anywhere near that. Travelling longer distances to the blustery north, the car was buffeted about and the more cautious driver might reach for words like “dicey” and “insecure” and “holy crap”. Having said that, it has six airbags. It’s like travelling around in bubblewrap. People who worry about crashing into things are so 20th century.
Dash-wise, the look is about 15-20% classier than you have any right to demand – it has none of that hollow, slightly Tupperware feel of the Atoz (am I the only person left alive still nursing a grudge against the Atoz?), and very often I expected something to be there that wasn’t (a parking camera) because of the features it did have that you wouldn’t expect at this price point (remote central locking). There’s an economy gauge to tell you how many miles you’ll do to the gallon, especially if you obey its gear instructions. The official combined figure of 55.4mpg was pretty close to what I got on a fantastically long drive to Lytham St Anne’s. The emissions are thrifty but not incredible (they have an incredible version, the Blue Drive, though its fans are hardly lining the streets).
Something has gone very right with the cabin design – you can drive for hours without needing a break. That’s the kind of driver I can see it was built for: someone with a long way to go, who has carefully calibrated and balanced all the things they might waste going there (time, petrol, emissions, money). OK, maybe this vision is a little short on romance; but £13,725!
Hyundai i20 Premium 1.2 (84PS) Manual: in numbers
Price From £13,725 (as tested £14,220)
Top speed 106mph
Acceleration 0-60mph in 13.1 seconds
Combined fuel consumption 55.4mpg
CO2 emissions 119g/km
Eco rating 8/10
Cool rating 5/10
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