Hyundai I20 road tests and consumer car reviews

Hyundai i20 Pony 1994

Bought second hand. Best buy ever. Always starts up first time even after being left for days. Economical on petrol, easy to drive, comfortable. Has got us out of trouble on many occasions when the main family car was off the road. Didn’t cost a lot to buy, not all singing, all dancing, only a P registration but wouldn’t change it for the world, will run it until it drops!!

Hyundai i20 1.2 Classic 2009

Great specc’d car. Air-con, 6 air bags, ESP and all round disc brakes for the base 2010 model. Good power, mpg and emissions - top of the class! Good looks and unbeatable 5 year warranty. Only tiny gripe is: could try harder in the boot area! :-) Engine bay is very open - I’d say it looks easy to work on and find all the bits and check up on fluid levels. Hopefully someone from Hyundai will read the next bit about the boot and seat tipping (the ONLY bit I could find fault that makes any difference - and I’ve seen a lot of cars): Interior is ok, nothing fancy and a bit plain. The seats in the 2 door model don’t offer the best access to the back, the back tips and then the whole lot slides forward - unfortunately you have to reposition the angle of the back and slider every time. A lift/tip seat that goes back to the original position automatically would be much better. The boot floor isn’t level when the seat are folded, there is a step - but the bottom section does tip forward stopping bits sliding into the backs of the front seats (take note Mazda!) The space in the rear corners of the boot are covered by a piece of plastic. There must be a big empty space that could make the boot bigger - very useful for putting those odd bits in. From looking in the dealer the boot carpet is a shame - the ’cheaper’ i10 has a neat black moulded board, the i20 has thin floppy carpet that is backed by a piece of hardboard only covering 2/3 of the floor. The loose bit of carpet isn’t held down by anything, creases up and looks very cheap. This lets the rest of the car down!

Hyundai i20 basic 1.2 2009

Hi everyone, I got a red basic 1.2 i20 about three weeks ago. Nice car to drive, smooth etc. My version doesn’t have the automatic mpg calculator. Looks like I’m getting somewhere in the neighbourhood of 46mpg on a long run and about 40 around town - avg about 44 anyway (I only got 37 on a tank when my wife drove it - her run is 4 miles much stop-start). I’ve done about 1000 miles so far (2 long journeys) Does this all sound about right to everyone? (I was looking wistfully at the govt figures - 54mpg overall, but was I being a bit hopeful with that?) Any feedback helpful Stu, Durham

Responses to this review

After around 2000 miles on the clock, the not so little i20 was taken on a 300 mile round trip of mostly motorway speeds of 65 to 70mph. It managed to achieve 53mpg avg, so not too bad. I estimate stop/start driving lowers this to around 38mpg on a 75min 18 mile journey. The biggest difference seen is the incredible performance increase since new. It now can easily keep up with the big boys, although the take off still is a little restricted especially when cold. Overall still very impressed - AJ West from Yorkshire

Hyundai i20 Comfort 1.2 2009

Waited 3 months and 30 days for the my i20 (the dealers were cutting it fine a bit to abide by the scrappage deal rules!) but it was well worth the wait. Due to the delays, I even got the latest 2010 model with ESP so effectively got this without paying the extra - fantastic! It looks fantastic in sparkle blue. Surprisingly nippy for such a low powered engine and very easy to drive. The clutch and steering is amazingly light and the gear changing is very smooth. Have only done 200 miles so far and getting 35mpg at the moment. I’m hoping this will improve but have only been doing short distances and with the stop/start of South London traffic, it’s not too bad. The seats are nice and firm and you should be able to get the right position with all those seating permutations. However, saying that the missus struggles to find the right position; if she sits too close, here knee rubs against the dash. I reckon if you’re over 5" 2 then you should be okay. All in all, a great little car and really happy with it considering it was just over 7K with the scrappage deal. I say it was a bargain.

Hyundai i20 1.2 Classic 5dr 2009

Can’t fault the value in this car. No other supermini can match it, even our base model. Looks great in sparkle blue metallic. Standard fittings are just awesome, remote CL, A/C, tilt/reach column, 4spkr CD, Ht adj seat, el Frnt windows, etc You even get a spacesaver spare and not the can of gas so regularly being offered these days. The thing that strikes you the most is the internal width of this car plus space; it makes for a very comfy feel; very palatial! The practicality of the 1-20 is about as good as it gets with flat folding seats (Ford take note) and a huge boot that can swallow suitcases. Top marks Hyundai. Not as quiet as a Mazda2, but much better at speed ~40-60mph where the engine pulls like a dream and is very smooth witha a nice gear change. Only neg point is the take off bogging down, strange cos it is only just as you take off but this prob helps economy (or could it be an engine mapping prob?). Dash is very nice & not gimmicky unlike some recent cars (Fiesta and Corsa inc). The ride is excellent,as is the steering.Brakes are brill. The paint and fabrics are also 1st class. The high driving position reminds me of an MPV. Overall a very easy car to drive. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED esp if the low % depreciation that is forecast is to be believed.

Hyundai i20 1.2 Comfort 2008

Done about 600 miles so far and taking it easy to run the car in. The trip computer shows up to 54mpg on the motorway and 47mpg on short journeys which is particularly green. I was too tight-fisted to pay for anything other than the standard ’Electric Red’ and quite a few people have noticed that this is particularly red. My favourite car is still my red 1987 1.4 Mk2 Vauxhall Astra which made 220,000 miles at an average of 6500 rpm without breaking a single part of note but after ’Corsagate’ they can whistle for my money and beg to the taxpayers. Sad to say I really can’t see much reason to buy a European made car anymore. £9400 for a new car and the Indians were even on our side in the second world war..... Bargain!

Hyundai i20 1.4 Comfort 2009

I’ve had my 1.4 Comfort 5 door in black for nearly 3 weeks now and so far I can’t find any fault... I’m currently getting 45mpg and it’s going up each week as the car runs in. Lots of features that I’m still discovering and getting used to... Fab, would recommend one to anyone.

Hyundai i20 1.4 Comfort 2008

Just taken delivery of 1.4 Comfort 5 door, colour solid red, averaging 42mpg, engine good, good feel on brakes and precise gear change, handling good, ride a little on hard side but overall comfortable. Good driving position and lighting. Comfortable on motorway and not too noisy. Current dislikes: dashboard shows finger marks, audio quality could be better and is over complicated to adjust, boot floor covering creases up - most irritating.