Hyundai Elite i20

Hyundai has launched the updated i20 amdist a slew of launches by manufacturers in this segment. Is the new i20 as ‘Elite’ as its name suggests?

When  product engineers insist the new elite i20 is far more dynamically sorted than the old i20, that
special attention went into making this car at least as much fun to drive as its rivals, my ears perk up. the hyundais I know, at least those from the Fluidic era, have always had strong diesel engines, sharp styling and a lot of equipment. Fun to drive they really weren’t. that’s set to change now with this elite i20 at least that’s what hyundai insists.

a lot of this improvement comes from what underpins the car. The  floorpan is now longer (the wheelbase is up 45mm to 2570mm), the car is wider by 24mm, the height remains the same and interestingly, overall length is 10mm less. the petrol and diesel engines have been carried over from the old i20 as is the basic front and rear suspension and electric power steering. but the spring rates have been further tweaked for this car and the suspension struts are more vertical than before to better control wheel geometry and deal with bumps and cornering loads. the front suspension is the typical Indian hatch macpherson struts, while the rear is a non-independent coupled torsion beam affair. hyundai thinks it is different enough to be called a second generation car.

It is definitely new generation in the way it looks. hyundai calls this new styling theme “Fluidic Sculpture version 2.0”. It’s more subtle, more toned down with less edges and angles and the focus was to draw lines that appeal to a wider bunch of people. to that end, the elite i20 looks more european supermini than most european superminis.

When  you  lock  eyes  on  it  for  the  first  time, there are plenty of things that grab your attention. the thrust out, hexagonal grille with its honeycomb mesh and the pulled back headlamps for example, the strong character line and the blacked out C-pillar on the sides, and even the alfa Romeo-like tail-lamps. Look at it from the rear and there are strong hints that a hyundai designer had his eye on the alfa giulietta when drawing the elite i20’s lines. the 16-inch alloy wheels come standard on the Sportz (O) and asta, while lower variants get 14-inch steel rims with wheel caps.

 

the interiors have been thoroughly refreshed as well. It’s an appealing looking dashboard that follows the now common slab theme by which we mean there’s a big slab of beige that runs across the dashboard. Quality has improved and there is appeal in the way the centre console is angled slightly towards the driver. there’s an air of classiness to the design but overall, we liked the punto evo’s dash design and the vW polo’s choice of materials more. the elite has too many hard surfaces where the others have soft touch ones.  Nonetheless, it’s easy to find  a comfortable driving position the steering adjusts for reach and rake and there’s seat height adjustment as well.

the rear seats are seriously spacious now with great leg room, head room and width. the elite i20 does feel like a properly big car from the inside. the 285-litre boot is massive too and the rear seats split and fold.

the engines have been carried over from the old i20 and that means you get the 1.4-litre, 89bhp common-rail diesel and a 1.2-litre petrol motor. First the diesel and, there is lag. the engine fully wakes up only at around 2500rpm and from there on the i20 elite feels quick. It’s best to upshift around the 3800rpm mark as power delivery starts to flatten out after that.

that said, there is enough grunt below 2500rpm for trundling around town in high gear and low rpm, it’s just that you will have to downshift through that light, slick six-speed manual if you want a quick overtake the ratios for second, fourth and sixth gears have been changed to make it more responsive.

the other stand-out feature of this engine is its sheer smoothness. at idle and low revs you will be hard pressed to tell it is a diesel and this is true even if you are standing outside the car. It really is that good. 

the petrol feels responsive initially, but then  there’s  a  curious  flat  spot  in  the  power delivery that disappears only after the engine starts to spin past 4000rpm. From there on it pulls hard right to its redline, but really, that mid-range could use a bit more punch. you have to work around it by downshifting and getting the engine to spin where it is making power. Like the diesel though, this is a smooth and refined engine.

and so, on to the biggest improvement in the car, its handling. there is noticeably less slop in the chassis the longer wheelbase and the tweaked springs have made a difference to the way the i20 rides and handles. there seems to be a newfound stability through corners and the elite feels quite secure even when you are leaning hard on the tyres. at middle to high speeds, bump absorption is very good but it does feel a tad stiff at low speeds and sharper edges do tend to catch it out.

What spoils the party though is the elite i20’s light steering. at speeds it simply doesn’t have enough weight or feedback to really allow you to let loose. and, at parking speeds, it is a tad heavy, which is strange. but then again, none of its rivals have great steering racks either.

the i20 has never been cheap, but what it does give you is lots of equipment in exchange for your money. the asta comes with a really long list that includes a reverse camera, keyless entry and go, climate control, an 8-speaker bluetooth audio system with 1gb internal memory, uSb, aux-in, power folding mirrors and even a chilled glovebox. all this costs money the diesel elite i20 asta, at ` 7.67 lakh, costs about ` 30,000 more than a polo diesel highline and about half a lakh more than a
punto evo diesel.

It looks great, is well-equipped and is a seriously spacious car. the up in quality will appeal to many as will the more secure handling characteristics. It may not be as fun to drive or have the outright attention to detail as some of its competition, but make no mistake, this is one very well-rounded car. If you can stretch your budget a bit, the elite i20 is worth a long, hard look.

Specification

Engine  Inline-four, 1396cc, common-rail diesel
Transmission   6-speed manual
Power  89bhp @ 4000rpm
Torque 220Nm @ 1500-2750rpm
Weight NA
0-100kmph NA
Top speed NA 
Price ` 7.66 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi)