Hyundai Elite i20

The Hyundai Elite i20 has been a bit of a revelation. The Korean manufacturer has been making huge strides over the years. It’s latest generation of cars the Santa Fe, Elantra and Grand i10 for instance were great examples of the massive leaps that Hyundai has made in terms of design, quality and drivability. And the Elite i20 seems to have taken all these gains and put them together in a brilliant package that excels on so many different levels. It just takes moves the game a notch higher.

So, what makes the new, second gen i20 tick all the right boxes? Firstly, it’s an extremely attractive shape. The i20’s cabin is packaged better, and offers better storage options, than most of its rivals – and the quality of everything is first rate. But the main highlight of the car is the way it looks it’s spectacularly shaped!

With the Grand i10, Hyundai worked on a lot of chassis components  and sorted the ride quality to a great extent. With the Elite i20, things have gotten even better. The suspension rides over bumps extremely confidently, and doesn’t send any vibrations into the cabin either. While lapping cars at the BIC, we usually go over the kerbs quite aggressively. It can be quite a violent experience, but the suspension in the i20 wasn’t perturbed by this at all. And it’s not just the fact that the harshness is kept out of the cabin, but it’s very isolated even on the noise front it’s as quiet as some D-segment cars in fact, and that just elevates the driving experience and sense of refinement that much more.

The lack of any handling character in Hyundai’s is, of course, a well known bugbear. But a turn around has been in the works over the years, and there’s no better time than the present for Hyundai to display their progress. The Elite i20, for starters, has a much better sorted steering than any other Hyundai currently on sale in our market and that makes a massive difference. Of course, it’s still not particularly communicative but it does its job very well. You’ll find all the regular road test adjectives direct, accurate, sharp used in its description.

The erstwhile i20 was pretty quick around here too. It even came out on top when we last gathered the best diesel hatchbacks in the country but that was mostly because it was quicker in a straight line. Let’s just say that it wasn’t exactly enthusiastic around the bends. This one, though, forces you to readjust your thinking towards it. There’s absolutely no sense of floppiness in this model.

And the engine the 1.4-litre diesel that is can shame even the best German diesel engines on refinement. This thing is extremely quiet for a diesel, and makes the Polo even with the new 1.5-litre engine seem annoying. But it’s not all about being silent, because it also performs pretty well. Sure, it’s not in the hothatch category but the progressive shifts through the slick gearbox make you enjoy working the i20. The body roll is very well controlled too.

But, above all else it’s a thing of beauty! And that alone makes it a big scorer for me. The fact that it’s as refined as they come, and also extremely well equipped is just a bonus. The fact that the i20 finishes third, and just a couple of points away from a car that’s crafted a reputation for being the best car in the world, really says something for just how audacious this Korean manufacturer really is.