HYUNDAI I20 CRDI.. A GOOD FAMILY CAR

WHY I20...

Hi everybody I ve completed around 2k kms on my new i20 magna crdi. Now that I am going to share some of my observations with the prospective buyers I must confess that my decision on i20 was purely guided by my heart and not by brain. So I ignored many of the disadvantages of i20 and went for the same.

The main options before me were polo, micra, Dzire and swift. Swift nd Dzire were out of question due to the inhuman waiting period. Morover I didnt like the Dzire facelift.

Micra is too small a car for someone looking to upgrade from swift. I felt its too much cramped to sit in and it almost felt like being in an alto.  The engine also is not that promising on power grounds though the drive at usual city conditions is smooth and easy. But the weghtless creature could be a menace above 100kmph sspeed. Its unstable and high nvh reminds us that the small engine is not meant for any serious speeding.

Coming to polo, the ride quality is superb, unmatched and the suspensions do a great job at whatever speed you gain. But the three cylinder engine again asks for more flooring of the acc pedal and sluggishly takes more time to gain decent speeds. The first gear needs special mention here...terribly disappointing. On top of all these it has a surprisingly cramped idiotic rear seat with inadequate thigh support, nil leg space. All these made me walk away from polo. Morover the very thought that  vw and skoda are brothers made me run away..😱

Coming to i20, I knew some of  the main disadvantages like compromised handling, chance of steering issues and hyundai badge which might haunt me while I try to sell it out. But these disadvantages were masked by the numerous tremendous positives for which I loved this car. 

 

EXTERIOR AND BUILD QUALITY

Exterior looks and styling...though its personal, I like the shaping and styling very much. I have done negative alloys 15inch with 195/60/15 bridgestone tyres....wwith all these the looks are simply amazing, stunning....(personal opinion). With this tyre upgrade there is a gain of 1.5cms in ground clearance and thats a great advantage for me.
Apart from the looks I felt that the build quality is quite solid and heavy. The door thud is so reassuring and the metal quality is superior compared to maruti. Its definitely a sturdy body all in all.

 

INTERIORS

The interiors make the most important plus of this car. Sitting inside you get a real plush feel with a class apart displays, keys, dials and the blue lighting. The leg space and head room are unmatched both in the front and for the rear passengers. This attracted me the most. The rear drive is also very much comfy with adequate leg space and thigh support. All the seats are erginomically designed and gives zero strain.  Coupled with such a roomy cabin you get a surprisingly large boot space which again makes it a perfect family car. Actually the space inside makes us feel that we are in a sedan. This is not at all exaggerated.

 

ENGINE..RIDE QUALITY AND HANDLING

This is the most powerful engine in its league (on papers), though you need to learn a lot of peculiar driving tips to get that power delivered to the wheels. Yes this is an important drawback of this car...the gear ratio. You cant confidently move on to overdrive unless you cross 60kmph. Thats a true menace. Its true that you can drive in 5th even at 55kmph but you will be constantly worried whether the engine is stalling/knocking... So being in an i20 you got no choice to drive below 55kmph.  Doesnt that sound to be a trouble...? well I feel so... Next problem comes with the turbo lag.  You need to train yourself to drive in the upper rpm range if you need to feel the power. So you will be running in lower gears most of the time if you look for a powerful peppy drive. Swift scores here. For swift, in the 5th gear rpm touches 2k at 80kmph speed. So you get a quick drive in the 80 to 100 kmph range. But in i20 the ratio is so maintaned that rpm touches 2k only when we cross 100kmph. So you get the best peppy quality drive above 100kmph which is not much practical in most of our country roads.  If you drive mostly in the 80 to 100 range then you are looking at frequent gear shifts for quick overtakings. But with gears downed properly the beast shows its true color and there is no looking back. The power delivery is too easy and the nvh is also very low compared to swift. So we never feel that the engine is running hard. Its quite effortless delivery of thrilling amazing power and the machine shoots in the traffic like a rocket. 

Theoretically thinking, the above mentioned trouble with gear ratio can have a positive side too. That is even at speeds between 80 to 100, the rpm is kept as low as 1.5k to 1.8k. This can give you a better fe if you are a  conditioned fast driver with no interest in sudden peppy overtakings...so again it scores as a family car.

Breaking... No comments needed...if you have ABS...its incredible... and if you dont have it...breaking from high speeds remains a dream. This is the same with alll cars in the market, no one is ahead of anyone else...

Handling....
This is another important drawback of i20...  The ride is quite bumpy on uneven roads. It has a totally non sense suspension system. Its not soft enough to get all the benefits of a soft suspension but its soft enough to provide us with all the demerits of a soft suspension.  On a raised bump you are mercilessly thrown up in the air unless you slow down properly. You cant count on your machine to mask your rash driving. Cornering at high speeds makes us feel bad with considerable body roll.  Still,  if you drive mostly with your family, in the 60 to 90kmph band, then none of these problems shows up bcoz these mistakes trouble us at high speeds on bad roads especially when we are looking for a small pirsuit with a fellow driver.... To put it simpler, the engine is tuned so precisely for high speed rides and the suspension is not meant for that.

IMPRESSION...

But friends, if you are planning on i20 dont get disappointed with what I have mentioned above. This is the maximum 'negatives' that anyone can find in this car if you try your hardest. Its not necessary that everyone will feel all of em.  All those negs count only if you drive in small narrow crowded  country roads all the time. If you are more on to highways and long drives, this is the perfect choice. If you are looking for a good, plush, premium affordable  family car with lots of space for the children and lots of power under the hood to thrill you. this is definitely your pick.  But if you are more into raceing and high speed chases with every other person on the road, this is not your piece of cake...go for swift or punto 90bhp.  If you are not much concerned about the rear passengers, initial pulling and vfm...POLO would be better. 

Please feel free to contact me if you want to know anything else.

STYLE, ROBUST BUILD QUALITY, ENGINE, SPACE, POSH INTERIORS,SILKY SMOOTH DRIVE, GORGEOUS BOOT,GEAR RATIO, SOFT SUSPENSION, TURBO LAG