Hyundai Xcent

Sub four-metre sedans were clearly not devised for the track. But taking the Xcent onto the BIC confirmed what we’ve felt while using this particular machine as a long-term test vehicle over the past few months the Xcent may not have a great deal of outright grunt, but it’s a very refined package that is dynamically pretty impressive.

Hyundai’s of old would have been at sea on the track, but the new-age machines from this ambitious Korean manufacturer are a world away from what they used to be. Of course, the Xcent could use more steering feel but you could say that about every other car here. The point is that these cars have made huge strides in terms of ride-and-handling, as well as refinement and that really shows when you push them to the limit. The front end tucks in nicely, and the car feels very stable at the limit.

The 1.1-litre, three-pot, CRDi mill pushes out just 71bhp and so it struggles to gain speed. But this lack of grunt is well disguised on the road, since the 180Nm of maximum toque kicks in at 1,750rpm so the all important mid range is strong. The engine pulls well all the way till 4,000 rpm, but then drops off a cliff. 

While the Xcent struggles to string a lap time together, the relatively leisurely pace of travel helps you to play with all the toys in the cabin of which there are many. The Xcent, in this trim, gets climate control, Bluetooth, 1GB of on board storage, push button start, rear-view camera, and lots more. And so it’s a combination of value for money and refinement that helps the Xcent claw its way back up the charts. For in-city use, this could well be the ideal compact sedan.