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Quick overview
- Well equipped for the money
- Generous rear seat space
- All use mild hybrid tech
- Easy to drive in town
- Not huge fun to drive
- Mediocre ride comfort
- Drab interior materials
- Motorway refinement
Anyone considering the Hyundai i20 as their next small car will find themselves with a small conundrum to solve. Do you choose the Hyundai i20 for its generous equipment, low running costs, and roomy cabin? But, can you overlook the slightly dour cabin colours and slightly too firm ride?
If you go with objectivity and let your head hold sway, there is almost nothing to unseat the Hyundai from being a very sound choice. It’s affordable when compared to rivals as it’s well fitted out with standard kit and the all-mild hybrid engine line-up offers low running costs allied to strong reliability. You also get lots of rear seat space, decent boot, and a perfectly good driver’s environment.
For those who let their heart have the lead when deciding on a car, the Hyundai i20 does have some deficiencies that can tip the balance. For starters, the cabin may be functional, but it’s also a bit drab and misses the panache of a Ford Fiesta or Volkswagen Polo, never mind the pizzazz you get in a Citroen C3. And while the Hyundai i20 will carry you and your passengers any destination with minimum fuss, it also completes the journey with little in the way of fun. Where a Fiesta always has a puppy dog eagerness to make the most of any opportunity, the Hyundai feels more like it just wants to get there and not much more.
None of this takes away from the ease of ownership you’ll experience with the iHyundai i20, so it really does come down to what you want from a supermini over and above the basics.
Prices
The i20 follows Hyundai’s familiar trim levels and starts with the SE Connect that costs from £19,035. Adding the seven-speed automatic gearbox in place of the six-speed manual will add £1250, as it does with every i20 model. Next up is the Premium, which is £220 more than the SE Connect at £21,235. From here, the range goes in two directions, with the Ultimate offering more of a luxury outlook from £22,535. For a sportier choice, the N Line gets its own 120hp engine and costs from £22,630. There are savings of around £600 to be had with the i20 SE Connect, while the top of the line Ultimate and N Line trims can be found with savings of up to £1500. Choose a nearly new i20 and you could shave around £2300 from the list price for a car with around 3000 miles on the clock. A two-year old i20 with 15,000 miles under its wheels will cost from around £13,000.
Infotainment, comfort and practicality
Open the door to the Hyundai i20’s driving seat and you find a large aperture to step through. This is the first hint that this is a car designed to make life as easy as possible for its an owner and users. Once installed the driver’s pew, you’ll find all trim levels have a height adjustable seat, and it also slides back and forth a long way to cater for people of all heights. With rake and reach movement for the steering wheel, as well as generous amounts of head, leg and shoulder room, the i20 is one of the most accommodating superminis you could wish for.
The interior of the i20 is a relentless procession of grey and black materials, which is only alleviated in the N Line thanks to its red stitching on the seats and gear lever. This mass of dark colours lends the cabin a dour feel, though there is nothing to complain about regarding the quality or durability of the i20’s interior. Another bright spot is the 10.25-inch Driver’s Supervision Instrument Cluster, as Hyundai calls, it what you and I would refer to as the main dials. This digital display looks good and is easy to read, as well as being configurable to some degree about what information is presented to you in the screen.
While this main dash screen is standard in all i20s, the matching 10.25-inch infotainment touchscreen is only offered in the upper three trims. The SE Connect makes do with a smaller 8.0-inch touch display that still works with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, so you don’t miss out that much. With the larger infotainment screen, you get integrated sat-nav. Whichever trim level you opt for, every i20 uses the infotainment display as a screen for the reversing camera that saves craning your neck when backing into or out of space.
Pull open the rear doors of the Hyundai i20 and you’re presented with a rear bench that seems to have been transplanted from a car from the class above. There is so much space in the back of the i20 that carrying two adults in here is a walkover. Fitting three abreast is asking a bit much of a supermini, and the i20 doesn’t have the same amount of versatility as a Honda Jazz’s rear bench. However, for no-nonsense space, the Hyundai is hard to beat and you get Isofix child seat mounts on both outer rear seats. There’s also a trio of three-point belts.
Round the back of the Hyundai i20, the tailgate swings up to leave a big opening. However, there’s quite a drop from load sill to boot floor, making it more of a chore than it needs to be when lifting out heavy bags. The boot offers 262-litres with the rear seats in place, or with the 60-40 split seat back tumbled forward you can release up to 1075-litres of room, which is among the better load capacities in the supermini sector. A neat feature in the i20 are the runners in the boot sides where you can slide the load cover when not needs, such as when you have the family dog in the boot.
Which 2020 Hyundai i20 model should you buy?
Picking the SE Connect trim with the Hyundai i20 does not mean missing out on lots of standard equipment. This model comes with 16-inch alloy wheels, lane keep assist, and rear parking sensors with reversing camera. This is displayed on the 8.0-inch infotainment touchscreen, and there’s a 10.25-inch digital main dash display. The infotainment comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and you also get air conditioning and cruise control. Safety is taken care of by six airbags, autonomous emergency braking, forward collision avoidance, and eCall to contact rescue services in the event of an accident. Move to the Premium trim and you gain 17-inch alloy wheels, automatic wipers, front foglights, rear privacy glass, and electric folding door mirrors. Inside the Premium, there’s climate control, heated front seats and steering wheel, and the 10.25-inch infotainment touchscreen with integrated sat-nav. The Ultimate builds on this with Lane Follow Assist, keyless entry and ignition, and Blind Spot Collision Warning and Forward Collision Assist. The stereo gets a boost with a Bose Premium Sound System, and there’s a wireless phone charging pad. Or, you could take the N Line which, over and above the SE Connect, has its own design of 17-inch alloy wheels, climate control, auto wipers, twin exhausts, and unique N Line body kit. Inside, this trim has N Line seat trim, keyless entry, interior mood lighting, and the larger infotainment screen.
Value for money: how much does a 2020 Hyundai i20 cost to buy and run?
Running costs with the i20 are very affordable. Fuel economy is best with the SE Connect model with six-speed manual gearbox, which delivers an official combined consumption of 55.4mpg along with 116g/km of carbon dioxide emissions. The least efficient i20 is the Ultimate with automatic gearbox, which still serves up 53.3mpg and 122g/km. With the others sitting in between these figures, all new Hyundai i20s attract a first year VED road tax of £180. Insurance will also be easy on the pocket as the i20 range varies between groups 12 and 16 depending on trim and gearbox choices.
Verdict: Should I buy a 2020 Hyundai i20?
The Hyundai i20 is a great example of where letting your head make the decision, your heart will most likely catch up and agree with your choice. It is a seriously good supermini that does everything you ask of it when it comes to all of the things a supermini must tick off to be a top contender. It’s cheap to run, spacious inside, well made, and it comes with a long list of standard kit and safety gear.
The Hyundai i20 does come with the caveats that it’s not as exciting as a Ford Fiesta to drive and nor is it as refined as a Volkswagen Polo. You might also find the interior a little dull, but there’s no doubting the appeal of its digital dash and the large infotainment screen fitted to all but the base model.