Hyundai i20 [2012-2014] User Reviews

Exterior

I like i20 and Grande Punto for its exterior Stying.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort)

The 2009 i20 Asta 1.2L comes with all goodies, although i'm disappointed with Hyundai by not providing DTE (Distance To Empty), Vanity Mirror etc.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox

Engine - For me its good enough as i'm not a 0-60 in sec person.

At present i crossed 11000 K.M and what i learned is Speed of 100 and Above and continues use of A/C spoils your FE. If you keep a speed of 80 you can get most out of it.

The top mileage achieved so far is 19.23 (100% High way run, sparingly used A/C, speed of maximum 80kmph, Tank full method)

In city wost mileage recorded was 9.50 (100% A/c, Bangalore Traffic), But mostly i'm getting a mileage of 11-13 in city traffic now with full time A/c. So putting the Mileage as 13 in the Fuel Economy Column of this review

Gear - Its butter smooth, but i have problems while putting in Reverse as well as some times in 1st Gear.

Ride Quality & Handling

Well i have not tried any other cars @ high speed so my comments are based on my car.

Driven only once @ 150 kmph on highway and i was very much comfortable with the ride and handling. Rest of my 99% usage was on city roads, so never really got a chance to cross 40kmph.

Final Words

Yes its overpriced, But its really a premium featured car. 

Areas of improvement  

By seeing the other brands prices now, I ll say Hyundai should lowered its price.

Hi folks,

           I got my i 20 delivered on the 21st of May and have driven 2400 kms...the first service is over..I just graduated from from santro xing of four years...I LUV my car and does not regret my decision to choose i 20 over swift Vdi....(with due respect to the wonderfull engine in diesel swift)....

          I welcome u guys to put forward your queries and wud be most happy to reply to the best of my knowledge....My decision to choose the vehicle has been very much influenced by the inputs I got from this site and hence no disappointments awaited.....cheers...GO FOR i 20....it rocks... 

I love this car. Few things which I loved in this car as follows,

Pros:

- Extremely comfortable in Highway and for city ride

- Decently spaced for 5

- Stunning looks 

- Powerful Engine(6 speed MT is very good in high ways but in cities I don't feel 6 speed is usable) 

and overtaking other cars can be just like that

- Nice and Luxurious interior

- Loaded with all features u need(in Asta model) 

- Good fuel efficient car(city 17, highway 20) with AC

Cons:

- Suspension is so smooth so that u may hear a bang sound while taking a big potholes 

- Average fuel indicator is missing 

- You may feel the ground clearance is too low while the car is fully loaded and while u taking sharp 

speed bump(But the ground clearance of 165mm is really good at high speeds and u cruise on highway with confidence)

- Horn sound could be better.

Well nothing is perfect in this world. Overall this car is really cool. People who love comfort,  top speed, fuel efficient, looks, and features will love this car. If you are looking for Economy,  less comfort, low price car then pl don't have this car in your option list as you may feel its too expensive. I just love this car. Its really that good.

Areas of improvement Better Suspension setup to take the big Indian potholes, Avg Fuel Indicator can be added, Poor Dealer service, Horn sound can be improved, May add xenon Headlights for better highway visibility, Thats all I can find in my car..

WHY I20...

Hi everybody I ve completed around 2k kms on my new i20 magna crdi. Now that I am going to share some of my observations with the prospective buyers I must confess that my decision on i20 was purely guided by my heart and not by brain. So I ignored many of the disadvantages of i20 and went for the same.

The main options before me were polo, micra, Dzire and swift. Swift nd Dzire were out of question due to the inhuman waiting period. Morover I didnt like the Dzire facelift.

Micra is too small a car for someone looking to upgrade from swift. I felt its too much cramped to sit in and it almost felt like being in an alto.  The engine also is not that promising on power grounds though the drive at usual city conditions is smooth and easy. But the weghtless creature could be a menace above 100kmph sspeed. Its unstable and high nvh reminds us that the small engine is not meant for any serious speeding.

Coming to polo, the ride quality is superb, unmatched and the suspensions do a great job at whatever speed you gain. But the three cylinder engine again asks for more flooring of the acc pedal and sluggishly takes more time to gain decent speeds. The first gear needs special mention here...terribly disappointing. On top of all these it has a surprisingly cramped idiotic rear seat with inadequate thigh support, nil leg space. All these made me walk away from polo. Morover the very thought that  vw and skoda are brothers made me run away..😱

Coming to i20, I knew some of  the main disadvantages like compromised handling, chance of steering issues and hyundai badge which might haunt me while I try to sell it out. But these disadvantages were masked by the numerous tremendous positives for which I loved this car. 

EXTERIOR AND BUILD QUALITY

Exterior looks and styling...though its personal, I like the shaping and styling very much. I have done negative alloys 15inch with 195/60/15 bridgestone tyres....wwith all these the looks are simply amazing, stunning....(personal opinion). With this tyre upgrade there is a gain of 1.5cms in ground clearance and thats a great advantage for me.
Apart from the looks I felt that the build quality is quite solid and heavy. The door thud is so reassuring and the metal quality is superior compared to maruti. Its definitely a sturdy body all in all.

INTERIORS

The interiors make the most important plus of this car. Sitting inside you get a real plush feel with a class apart displays, keys, dials and the blue lighting. The leg space and head room are unmatched both in the front and for the rear passengers. This attracted me the most. The rear drive is also very much comfy with adequate leg space and thigh support. All the seats are erginomically designed and gives zero strain.  Coupled with such a roomy cabin you get a surprisingly large boot space which again makes it a perfect family car. Actually the space inside makes us feel that we are in a sedan. This is not at all exaggerated.

ENGINE..RIDE QUALITY AND HANDLING

This is the most powerful engine in its league (on papers), though you need to learn a lot of peculiar driving tips to get that power delivered to the wheels. Yes this is an important drawback of this car...the gear ratio. You cant confidently move on to overdrive unless you cross 60kmph. Thats a true menace. Its true that you can drive in 5th even at 55kmph but you will be constantly worried whether the engine is stalling/knocking... So being in an i20 you got no choice to drive below 55kmph.  Doesnt that sound to be a trouble...? well I feel so... Next problem comes with the turbo lag.  You need to train yourself to drive in the upper rpm range if you need to feel the power. So you will be running in lower gears most of the time if you look for a powerful peppy drive. Swift scores here. For swift, in the 5th gear rpm touches 2k at 80kmph speed. So you get a quick drive in the 80 to 100 kmph range. But in i20 the ratio is so maintaned that rpm touches 2k only when we cross 100kmph. So you get the best peppy quality drive above 100kmph which is not much practical in most of our country roads.  If you drive mostly in the 80 to 100 range then you are looking at frequent gear shifts for quick overtakings. But with gears downed properly the beast shows its true color and there is no looking back. The power delivery is too easy and the nvh is also very low compared to swift. So we never feel that the engine is running hard. Its quite effortless delivery of thrilling amazing power and the machine shoots in the traffic like a rocket. 

Theoretically thinking, the above mentioned trouble with gear ratio can have a positive side too. That is even at speeds between 80 to 100, the rpm is kept as low as 1.5k to 1.8k. This can give you a better fe if you are a  conditioned fast driver with no interest in sudden peppy overtakings...so again it scores as a family car.

Breaking... No comments needed...if you have ABS...its incredible... and if you dont have it...breaking from high speeds remains a dream. This is the same with alll cars in the market, no one is ahead of anyone else...

Handling....
This is another important drawback of i20...  The ride is quite bumpy on uneven roads. It has a totally non sense suspension system. Its not soft enough to get all the benefits of a soft suspension but its soft enough to provide us with all the demerits of a soft suspension.  On a raised bump you are mercilessly thrown up in the air unless you slow down properly. You cant count on your machine to mask your rash driving. Cornering at high speeds makes us feel bad with considerable body roll.  Still,  if you drive mostly with your family, in the 60 to 90kmph band, then none of these problems shows up bcoz these mistakes trouble us at high speeds on bad roads especially when we are looking for a small pirsuit with a fellow driver.... To put it simpler, the engine is tuned so precisely for high speed rides and the suspension is not meant for that.

IMPRESSION...

But friends, if you are planning on i20 dont get disappointed with what I have mentioned above. This is the maximum 'negatives' that anyone can find in this car if you try your hardest. Its not necessary that everyone will feel all of em.  All those negs count only if you drive in small narrow crowded  country roads all the time. If you are more on to highways and long drives, this is the perfect choice. If you are looking for a good, plush, premium affordable  family car with lots of space for the children and lots of power under the hood to thrill you. this is definitely your pick.  But if you are more into raceing and high speed chases with every other person on the road, this is not your piece of cake...go for swift or punto 90bhp.  If you are not much concerned about the rear passengers, initial pulling and vfm...POLO would be better. 

Please feel free to contact me if you want to know anything else.

Exterior Stylish, good. One of the stylish car among the hatches. Some times I feel the headlight is not powerful enough - but that could be my own experience. I cant believe - there is no boot lid :(

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Good, acceptable for a premium hatch. Good boot space. Good leg room in front row. Rear is little cramped, but equal or better than the competitors. Enough features you could expect from a hatch. A/C, auto climate control is good. Display, dash board and centre facia are very beautiful, esp in night. Seats are good and comfortable, attractive interior colour combination.

Rear is little cramped, but that is the best you can expect with a 60:40 boot space. Stereo system could have been better, it looks like a 1000 rupees assembled set. Nowadays you get excellent systems for even Rs.5000/- . The difference between Era and magna is over Rs.40,000/- What you get are some cosmetic changes+audio system. The audio system is not worth the difference. You could rather consider upgrading an Era.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Very poor pickup. Unresponsive engine. The 2nd gear takes 5-6 secs to respond. Very disappointing when you look at the paper specs (90ps/220kg) and practically on road. Turbo lag is more. However, when the trubo kicks in (at around 2000 rpm), it is a rocket. It is performing very great on NH, but in city you will be very disappointed when you rush to the office.

Gear shift is good. Too close gear some times misguides you between gears. The reverse gear is at the far off end of 1st gear (unike the traditional one - at the rear end off the 5th gear) is not very welcoming for a 5 speed gearbox. May bbe it suits the 6 speed engine. But note, Hyundai has stopped the 6 speed machines abruptly (without even notifying the customers who had booked - shame on you Hyundai!)

Very noisy engine.

Ride Quality & Handling Handling is normal and ok. Ride quality is not that great, bumpy on the rear. EPS (power steering) is not accurate - very unreliable and wobbling when you cross 110kmph. 120-130 is a total unsteady ride. I didnt dare to go over that.

Mileage: avg 18 on NH (with AC), 10-11 in city.

Final Words I bought this car with lot of expectations, as I did quite a lot of research before buying. The paper specs of this car makes it rank 1. No hatches have 220kg Torque. Majority of them are under 1.3L. i20 ranks top with 1.4L, 90BHP & 220kg Torque. Innova with 2.5L has around 280kg. So when comparing the power to weight ratio, i20 is well off than any other hatches. All these look fantastic on "paper". However, when it comes to practice, enginewise it is no better than an ordinary car.

I have driven my new i20 Magna over 1,600 kms in one week (1100+ in NH, 500+ in Bangalore City). With this my final words are:

- If you are a white collared family man with a relaxed life - then this is the car for you. It has all the features that you could imagine.

- If you are a young car enthusiast, then this not you cup of tea. Think "thrice" before you buy. You have sevaral other options, You dont get what you pay for.

Areas of improvement Suspension, engine pickup, cost, customer service.

Exterior I guess I don't have to say anything about the interiors. The car does have excellent looks. The alloys could have been better. Btw, the wind shield cracked on its own the 2nd day. It got replaced under warranty.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Interiors are good too. Space is better than any available hatch-backs. It is reasonably comfortable. Can't complain. 

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Here comes the disappointing part. I had a budget of 8 lacs and wanted to upgrade to a bigger car (bigger than my lovely Punto). Test drove Fiesta Classic, but due to old looks and cheap interiors, didn't go for it. All other cars were either of Punto's stature in terms of size and price or above 10 lacs. So, WITHOUT test driving, I booked i20 CRDi Sportz. Biggest mistake I made to buy my contliest car till now.

The usual driving thing, applying brakes on 3rd gear while turning and guess what, Ms. Sportz doesn't pick-up on 2nd gear, even at the speed of 20 kmph, You have to downshift from 3rd to 1st gear. Okay, got kind of used to it. But here comes the shocker, last weekend, gave the parking slip to the guy while taking out my car from a basement parking at a mall, and the car went out of breath at 1st gear on a slightly steep turn. Had to use the hand brake, gave extra push to race paddle and picked the car somehow, resulting in clutch plate burning smell. So much for the 4 cylinder, 1399 cc, 6 speed engine! And please, I have over 15 years of driving experience, ranging from petrols to CNGs. So I know how it works. 3 weeks old car and I am already repenting.

Ride Quality & Handling Good in city when you are playing above 1500 rpms. Very confident while jumping into those gaps in traffic. Come to above 100 kmph speed and a slight turn will baffle you up. The suspention is tooooo soft. You can never be confident with the steering. Whats the use of 6th gear and all?? 

Final Words I won't recommend this car to ANYONE. No matter how old you are or what's your budget, usage etc. Wish had gone for Punto 90HP or Sport.

Areas of improvement This is an engine fault. I don't think Hyundai can do anything about it.

Exterior I got a white colured baby and believe me people stare at it, the looks are the best in this segment of all cars like swift,polo,punto etc. It look so beautiful from the rear as well as the front(also from the sides),hats off to the hyundai car designing team.I am in love with my white baby.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) The car is very spacious from inside and is very comfortable. I had an Alto before this and as compared to that this baby feels like a big hall.The music system with the USB and IPOD connections is just awesome, the small chiller is a cool feature and the digitl display is nice.The seats at the back are also good,there is ample boot space(a child can comfortable sllep in it!!!).But the AC is not that effective as that of Swift.You can place 2-3 bottles between the 2 front seats.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox I did a test drive of swift,swift dezire,punto,polo and i found i20 to be the best as far looks,road grip was concerned.The gear box is covered leather and is stylish,also switching gears from one to other is pure luxury and very smooth.The engine is so silent that when i switch in the ignition,sometimes i have to press the accelerator to make sure whether it has started or not, the engine noise is absolutely minimal.I drove it from Bhiwani to Lucknow on the first day of its delivery from Bhiwani and it was a total distance of about 700km,and it gave me an amzing mileage of 18.I have driven it for about 950Km and it gives me an average of 13 in Lucknow.Whoever says that the pickup of i20 is not good is wrong.It has a fine pickup and its so smooth it feels like a hot knife going through butter.The pickup is not good when the AC is on but its ok.I would like to add here that in terms of pickup,swift is better.

Ride Quality & Handling The shockers are not that good as i thought but the electronic steering is amazing,it makes for an excellent city drive and makes for an easy handling of the car,you can drive it with a few fingers,i make by baby go zig zag easily.The clutch and accelarator footrest add on to the comfort.

Final Words If you are going for style,luxury and comfort then no other car gives it to u all in one package other than i20,it gives the luxury of a big sedan.Also it looks sophisitacted and pretty,the only reason i did not go for swift was beacuse of its odd looks(looks like a fat toad).

Areas of improvement The pickup decreases sharply when the AC is turned on and the AC in itself is not that powerful(as compared to swift).But overall this baby is babilicious,pretty and luxurious.If you are looking for fuel efficiency then maybe you will not go for it.If your budget i till 5.5l and you want luxury and style.go for this baby...i promise you it wont let you down.