Hyundai i20 (2015 – 2020) Review

Often overlooked by buyers rushing to bag a Volkswagen Polo or the top-selling Ford Fiesta, the Hyundai i20 is nevertheless a serious contender if you’re after a small hatchback. Offering a fine drive, superb quality and a cabin with lots of room, the Hyundai i20 is strong in almost every area that matters. Base models are a bit short on luxury, but that’s about the only downside. Read on for our full Hyundai i20 review.

Neatly designed, comfortable, well equipped and easy to drive, the Hyundai i20 is precisely what most used car buyers want in this corner of the market.

It faces stiff competition from stalwarts such as the Volkswagen Polo, Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Corsa but, while it might not do any one thing exceptionally well, it is still a perfectly good alternative to the best-selling small cars.

Designed and built in Europe, the Hyundai i20 is nicely suited to life on UK roads, with suspension and steering that make it easy to drive on rough British tarmac. It is quiet, too, with good sound insulation even with a diesel engine under the bonnet.

Road noise is well suppressed, thanks in part to fairly small wheels – the largest alloys on offer are 16-inchers.

There’s a choice of 1.2-litre petrols with 75PS or 84PS, plus a 1.4-litre petrol with 100PS. From mid-2015, a 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol with 100PS or 120PS was also offered.

Unfortunately, the 1.2-litre and 1.4-litre options need to be worked hard to deliver useful performance which can affect economy. The turbo engine is a much better choice.

The cabin of the Hyundai i20 is as well presented as the exterior, with a neat, classy layout and a quality finish. Entry-level models are fairly basic, with wind-up windows in the rear, but upper trim grades represent very good value for money with luxuries such as cruise control, heated seats, a heated steering wheel and Bluetooth.

Those who want a classy small car can’t go far wrong with the Hyundai i20. Until the arrival of the 1.0T GDI it may not have offered a particularly compelling engine range, but there is little else to pick fault with. Build quality is excellent, driving dynamics are relaxed and practicality is good.

If you’re looking for the newer model, you’ll need our Hyundai i20 2023 review.

On the road the Hyundai i20 is a very relaxed, easy-going car. It was engineered in Europe and it shows, with impressive ride quality over rough, potholed roads and extremely good refinement. Even diesel models are quiet and subdued thanks to excellent soundproofing.

Despite the comfortable ride quality, the Hyundai i20 has fairly good handling – body roll is kept in check unless changing direction suddenly, plus there is plenty of front-end grip.

The major controls – the steering, pedals and gearchange – are accurate, yet effortlessly light. That makes them ideal for a relaxed drive, but less rewarding for those who enjoy a tight B-road. Keen drivers will prefer the agility on offer from the Ford Fiesta.

Initially the petrol line-up in the Hyundai i20 was limited to three naturally-aspirated engines: a 1.2 with 75PS or 84PS, plus a 1.4 with 100PS.

Compared to turbocharged rivals, these felt slow and old-fashioned, and had to be worked hard to tackle hills or keep up with motorway traffic. They’re fine for pottering around town and are fairly efficient according to our Real MPG data.

Buyers looking for a little more performance would be better opting for the 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engine, introduced in 2016. Available with 100PS or 120PS, the turbocharged unit is quick enough to maintain easy progress on the motorway without hindering fuel economy.

The Hyundai i20 was also sold with a choice of 75PS 1.1-litre and 90PS 1.4-litre diesel engines. Of these the 1.1-litre is probably the better buy, thanks to a decent 180Nm of torque.

Although the majority of Hyundai i20 engines come with a manual gearbox, the 1.0-litre petrol was available with a DCT automatic transmission. This works well and doesn’t hinder fuel economy in the same way as the torque converter transmission used with the old 1.4-litre petrol.

When it was introduced in 2015, the Hyundai i20 came with enough safety kit to earn a four-star score from Euro NCAP. The list included six airbags, ESP and Isofix child seat mounts in the rear.

In 2018, the Hyundai i20 was updated and the five-door model now featured standard safety equipment such as Autonomous Emergency Braking, Lane Keep Assist, Driver Attention Alert and High Beam Assist on all models from the SE trim upwards.

Hook up the Hyundai i20 to an unbraked trailer and you have a weight maximum of 450 kg. With a braked trailer, the maximum rises to 1100kg.

The Hyundai i20 is functional, with easy-to-find controls and a seven-inch media system standard on post-2018 facelifted cars across the range – including, impressively, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, allowing you to access your phone’s features on the move.

The front seats are reassuringly supportive, plus there is room for rear-seat passengers to sit in comfort along with two Isofix mounting points for child seats.

Boot space is generous at 326 litres, ahead of the 292 litres in the Ford Fiesta of the same age and 280 in the Volkswagen Polo.

The boot is well shaped and has a wide opening, but there is a fairly high load lip, which makes loading and unloading large and heavy items more difficult. It’s a minor flaw, though – the Hyundai i20 is otherwise one of the most practical cars in its class.

While the base Hyundai i20 feels a little short on luxury with its plastic steering wheel, there’s nothing wrong with the fit and finish.

All Hyundai i20s are solidly built with well padded materials and provide a sense of being cars that will last the course.

The company was confident enough to offer a five-year warranty with the Hyundai i20, and the car has repaid this faith with excellent reliability.

From the middle of 2018 on, facelifted Hyundai i20s gained a seven-inch display with DAB radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a rear view camera and Bluetooth connectivity with steering wheel controls.

A budget of £6000 will put you in the driver’s seat of an eight-year-old Hyundai i20 with a likely mileage of 60,000 and plenty of life still to give.

For a four-year-old Hyundai i20 with around 20,000 miles to its name, you should reckon on spending up to £14,000 for one in the top Premium trim.

The 1.4-litre diesel engine is the most frugal, with claimed official economy of 72.4mpg. However, the majority of earlier Hyundai i20s came with the 1.2 or 1.4-litre petrol engines that deliver a real-world average of around 45mpg each.

Go for the later 1.0 T petrol with 100 or 120PS, and you should see fuel returns of approximately 50mpg. This engine in 100PS form also offers carbon dioxide emissions as low as 104g/km, which is marginally better than the 1.4 diesel’s 106g/km, so road tax needn’t be a cause for financial concern.

Nor will insurance, with the Hyundai i20 sitting in groups 4 to 11, while maintenance is another area where the car performs well, with low-cost routine work.

The range kicked off with the Hyundai i20 S trim level, which is quite spartan, with just electric front windows and a basic stereo.

A facelift in mid-2018 brought with it an improvement in specification, as all Hyundai i20 models gained a seven-inch infotainment touchscreen. It works with Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and also served as a display for the rear view camera.

The Hyundai i20 SE is a better bet, as it comes with alloy wheels, air-conditioning, all-round electric windows, alloy wheels and rear parking sensors.

The Hyundai i20 Premium added climate control, while the Hyundai i20 Premium SE provided heated front seats and steering wheel, keyless entry and a panoramic sunroof.

Near the top of the pile was the Hyundai i20 Premium Nav that came with black side body mouldings, automatic dimming rear view mirror, automatic windscreen wipers, climate control, LED rear lights, a front armrest, power-folding door mirrors, luggage net, front and rear parking sensors, variable height boot floor, height-adjustable front seatbelts and a tyre-pressure monitoring system.

Rounding out the range was the Hyundai i20 Premium Nav SE model with chrome effect door handles, grey radiator grille, heated front seats, panoramic glass sunroof, heated steering wheel and keyless entry with an engine stop/start button.