Hyundai i10 Car Review - Car Reviews @ BuyYourCar.co.uk

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Overall rating of the Hyundai i10

Car Review

Hyundai i10

Hyundai is hoping the i10 can be a city slicker offering a bargain basement car complete with all mod cons. Overall the i10 is a decent little motor that’s hard to fault. There’s an awful lot packed in which combined with low running costs means it presents an enticing package.

Hyundai i10 Car Review Summary

Practicality Practicality rating of the Hyundai i10

Life Style Life Style rating of the Hyundai i10

Security and Safety Security And Safety rating of the Hyundai i10

The Finishing Touches Finishing Touches rating of the Hyundai i10

Overall Rating Overall rating of the Hyundai i10

The i10 replaces Hyundai’s Amica as the baby of its range – and it’s a quantum leap forward for the Koreans.

The i10 offers an awful lot for the money but what’s perhaps most impressive about this is that there’s no obvious sign of penny-pinching or corner cutting.

On the contrary, the dash could pass for something from a much more expensive car and everything feels well put together.

The i10 even looks reasonably smart with colour-coded bumpers on every model. In addition despite being such a small car, there’s a fair amount of room inside.

Given its small dimensions and equally small engine, it will come as no surprise that the i10 works best as a city car, where the light controls come into their own and the London cab-like turning circle make town driving effortless.

Out of town things are not as good as the performance tails off as you head up to the motorway limit.

As far as its green credentials are concerned a little car with a small engine is always a big help and with excellent fuel economy and low carbon dioxide emissions the i10 doesn’t tug too hard on the purse-strings.

Practicality

The Hyundai i10 is almost the cheapest new car on the market and it’s the only one in its class to come with air conditioning as standard.

It also boasts a five-year unlimited mileage warranty, enough digital connections to keep the most enthusiastic music fan happy and with those low emissions will cost only £35 to tax.

With a 1.1-litre petrol engine capable of averaging 56.5mpg the Koreans have built a car that’s incredibly cheap to run.

If you drive into London the i10 escapes congestion charges thanks to its low CO2 rating of 119g/km and for business users the tax charge is ten per cent.

For such a small car the i10 is surprisingly spacious. It will take four six-footers in comfort while the 258-litre boot is a good size for a car in this class. In Comfort and Style spec cars useful underfloor storage is available while in all versions the rear bench splits and folds flat to enable larger items to be carried.

Only drivers over six feet tall will want more legroom, and while it will be a squeeze to fit three people across the back seat it should be possible to avoid deep vein thrombosis.

The i10’s chunky controls are a doddle to use and everything is within easy reach.

The i10 is a cinch to park as the small dimensions and excellent manoeuvrability make even the tightest spaces seem like canyons.

Life Style

The Hyundai i10 probably fits a family best as a second car – a city runaround that’s cheap to drive while offering enough in the boot to accommodate the supermarket shopping.

As far as styling goes, the i10’s exterior is modern, distinctive and easy on the eye. While the amount of plastic in the facia may not be to everyone’s liking the switchgear is of good quality and everything seems solidly screwed together. There is bright detail around the air conditioning controls to lighten things up.

Noise insulation inside is good and the build quality is a huge improvement on previous little Hyundais.

The i10 is decent to drive thanks to a softly-sprung suspension that takes the sting out of most lumps and bumps in the road surface, but this does mean the i10 leans a bit in bends.

In terms of the engineering there is nothing ground-breaking here, although to be fair the i10 does have no major drawbacks which considering the low price and high levels of standard equipment is amazing.

Security and Safety

Every i10 has anti-lock brakes linked to electronic brakeforce distribution. There are also twin front and side airbags but curtain airbags and stability control aren’t available. An engine immobiliser and a stereo that’s integrated into the dash help to deter the criminal element but there are no deadlocks to stop someone gaining entry if they smash a window.

The Finishing Touches

Even the entry-level Classic model is well kitted out getting air conditioning, a six-speaker stereo and electric front windows. Stepping up to the Comfort model adds remote central locking, alloys and powered rear windows, while the range-topping Style features heated front seats, an electric sunroof and a spoiler.