Hyundai i20: Mixed bag of pros and cons

Pros : stylish look, powerful mid range, space, comfort

Cons : ground clearance (city), 2nd gear pull capacity, too smooth suspension

Friends, now its been just more than two months when I bought my admirable hatchback Hyundai i20 MAGNA with CRDI diesel engine. This is my second car, prior to this I had top end model of Maruti Wagon R, here in Pune. I bought the car in March 2012, meter now reads 2812 kms and that too without single rupee spent on maintenance till now. Initially I use to think it as most expensive hatchback in India against its competitors like Nissan Micra, Volkswagen Polo and Honda Jazz. But after driving it I realized that it’s actually affordable luxury at satisfactory cost, with truly worth the price tag of around Rs 7 Lakh. Now, I like my Hyundai i20 for its roomy feature filled cabin, comfort, loads of space at boot and its dashing looks, of course salute to Hyundai for providing such a powerful variety in midrange models.

As of now it is delivering mileage of 16-17 kmpl with AC on (city), which I hope to improve after couple of services. The Hyundai i20 has got issues like very smooth suspension that makes you feel real big bang when to take over a pot hole in city-ride. Ground clearance of 165mm I think, is lower for city drives, especially when it is packed comfortably with 5 people, although no doubt it is heaven in highway at higher speeds. Lastly, horn should have been better.   

Till now, I have clocked a rocket top speed of 150+ kmph on Mumbai-Pune express highway and was really thrilled to have such a remarkable speed in a hatch. It just goes smoothy after it achieves above 2000 rpm and is pleasant at 130+ kmph. Ok, one thing I noticed was that it didn’t gave its best on 2nd gear puling along with light steering which I don’t prefer for high speeds, but again it depends from person to person.