Hyundai i20 Active 2011 Review

Price Guide (recommended price before statutory & delivery charges): $18,490
Options fitted to test car (not included in above price): nil
Crash rating: Five-star
Fuel: 91 RON ULP
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 6.4
CO2 emissions (g/km): 152
Also consider: Suzuki Swift, Ford Fiesta, Toyota Yaris, Honda Jazz, Holden Barina, Kia Rio

Overall rating: 3.0/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 3.0/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 4.0/5.0
Safety: 3.0/5.0
Behind the wheel: 3.0/5.0
X-factor: 3.0/5.0

About our ratings

The bank has agreed to the loan, the insurance company is happy and the fluffy dice are ready to be deployed. The only task left for first-time car buyers is to choose a new car... And that's easier said than done in today's generously populated light car segment.

Hyundai's i20 is vying for attention in this market segment -- one that is home to dozens of models, some of them very good cars. So how can Hyundai's compact warrior separate itself from the class stalwarts Toyota Yaris, Honda Jazz, Suzuki Swift and Holden Barina?

Design is a strong point for the i20 -- neither too radical not overly conservative, the overall aesthetic is a combination of curves rather than angles. Our test car was finished in metallic green, which doesn't do the car's subtle lines any favours (white looks a lot better).

If the exterior styling is good, the interior design is better. Indeed this is one area where Hyundai and sister brand Kia are quickly making a name for themselves. The moment you hop into the Hyundai i20, you notice that everything has an integrated, modern look.

The centre stack (consisting of stereo and heating/cooling controls) has a contemporary motif, with blue back-lighting and a trio of basic LCD screens. This blue theme looks great at night, though on bright and sunny days the blue back-lit LCD readouts can be hard to read. Thankfully the instrument dials are large, sporty, and entirely legible, giving the driver an instant update on road and engine speed any time of day or night.

Other interior elements that made living with the car more enjoyable were the Bluetooth audio streaming and telephony as standard. Pairing up devices was not what I'd call intuitive, but once sorted only takes three button presses to connect a new device, and it has MP3 and WMA playback.

The seats are perhaps a little firm in their cushioning, but like the dash plastics are built to last.

Interior packaging is very good - the i20 features logically positioned controls and plenty of storage options, and rear seat room is also very good for a car this size.

Getting around in the spiritual successor to the Getz is dead easy and the four-speed automatic gearbox is one of the better units on offer, delivering faster shift times and smoother operation than some of its Japanese rivals.

Hyundai's i20 can be hustled along with relative ease, and it's brisk off the line (for an auto) thanks to close gear ratios and its free-revving 1.4-litre four-cylinder engine. The twin cam engine revs cleanly to its 6000rpm rev limit, and unlike the Holden Barina Spark won't run out of puff above 4500rpm.

The engine belts out 73kW/136Nm which doesn't sound like much, but paired with a light 1145kg kerb weight it makes for a nimble machine. And if you're in a hurry, just hit the O/D button on the gear shifter, which adds an extra 1000rpm, making the car a touch more lively.

The driving position is amiable presenting a good view of surroundings, while light, direct steering makes it a very nifty car both in traffic and around town. And it's awesome to park. I always forget how enjoyable parking a vehicle with a good turning circle and compact dimensions can be.

After four days of commuting to and from work, and running a few after work chores, the Hyundai i20 had about 230km on the trip meter, and had just over half a tank of fuel left. Not bad for an automatic model.

It's a good performer on the highway too, but it misses out on cruise control, an area where the Ford Fiesta has it beat. A three-hour round trip to the beach on a sunny Sunday arvo saw the engine tick over at 2500rpm in top gear, and it used just over a quarter of a tank of fuel to complete the 260km journey, which was impressive.

With a mixture of urban and highway driving, we put almost 500km on the clock and used three-quarters of a tank – that translates to fuel economy in the region of 6.7L/100, which is impressive for a four-speed automatic. Hyundai claims a combined rating of 6.4L/100km.

Initially I thought the car's ride quality was not up to scratch, riding roughshod over ruts and water-affected pot holes, but generally speaking it’s a good compromise between ride and handling. It's not the most compliant suspension setup in the light car class, but overall it is more than acceptable.

After spending a week in the metallic green machine (which garnered plenty of looks one Friday afternoon as I cruised through the city playing thrash metal at extreme volumes), I walked away from the Hyundai i20 in a very positive frame of mind. And a little bit deaf.

With a standard feature list that reads like a mid-sized car -- six airbags, ESP, ABS, Bluetooth, aircon and so on -- the i20 Active represents good value for money, and with five doors this particular model is practical to boot.

There's a huge amount of choice in the light car segment at present and though the Hyundai i20 doesn't push the envelope like the Ford Fiesta, it is nevertheless a very good car and deserves to be on your shopping list.

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