So you expected to see a hot hatch that can go like stink and raise hell everywhere it went. Well think again, cause the new i20 is anything but a rabble rouser. Sure, it likes to imitate the best and most well dressed personalities and has a very sporty veneer, but where it really matters the i20’s focus is on fuel efficiency and not performance. The 1.2 litre kappa engine to be found under the i20’s macho hood is refined and economical. You may have seen this engine powering the i10, but in a hot hatch it lacks the depth and vitality to excite its audience. With 80PS of max power on tap and 112Nm of max torque the i20 is adequate for most city jaunts. But pit her against her closest competitor and you can see that there is need to get a bit more spice in the mix.
The advantage of the i20 lies in the fact that you get a lot of car for very little money. By falling under the 1.2 litre engine and the under 4 metre length tax bracket the i20 manages to keep a relatively inexpensive price tag, which by the way is just 5.6 lakh ex-Delhi. So Hyundai have managed to stuff her to the gills and more, and all of it is packaged tightly in very neat trim that speaks volumes of just how classy Hyundai have gotten. The Asta variant we tested comes with ABS, driver and passenger airbags, a geek-loving audio system that will hook up with any portable audio device, a multi information digital display and climate control. But what you don’t expect to get is the kind of space reserved for a C-segment entrant. There’s loads of leg and shoulder space in the rear bench area and you also get a very useful boot. That makes it a very practical and utilitarian car.
And slightly boring in the bargain for the enthusiast driver, it must be said! You cannot get both fantastic fuel efficiency and fantastic performance rolled into a single package. Forget it! So since the i20 does some 13.8kmpl in the city and 18.5kmpl on the highway you get a 0-100 sprint of 13.36 seconds. Not slow but not too fast either and certainly nothing that is going to have the enthusiasts lining up outside the showrooms. Quarter mile is demolished in 19 seconds and she will push herself to a (mere?) 147kmph. This is a basic attribute of her gearbox which is attuned to easing revs for better efficiency not rushing them on to glorious 0-100 times.
The person Hyundai is looking at attracting, however, is a more sensible more mature clientele for whom the over-servoed steering works wonderfully. It’s so light that it requires little more than one finger to execute a lock to lock turn. Sadly the lightness does not go away when on the highway which is what enthusiasts are looking for so that there is a bit more precision and confidence evoked. Enthusiastic wheel twirling is not a rewarding sensation and mountain road bashing is not at this Hyundai's heart of hearts.
Nevertheless Hyundai have built in a fantastic braking system which has ABS with EBD to make it stop on a dime. 100-0 takes just 43.02 metres and 80-0 is done in 26.86 metres. Now go look at what the competition has to offer, go ahead take a look, and be amazed.
In the overall the i20 comes across as a very competent car and one that will do quite well for the short inner city commute, creating little fuss and enhancing ownership costs. And that in this day and age is all that the masses ask for from their personal wagons.
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