Hyundai Elite i20 long term review first report

Mornings are usually a rush, but before jumping into the i20, I can’t help give it the once-over — it looks that good. I just love the proportions of this new hatch, the way the wheels have been pushed out to each corner, the subtly muscular window line and, for a Hyundai, the simplicity of form. Even the grille, an area Hyundai has gone OTT with in the past, is smartly executed and looks brilliant.

It’s a shame that once you get in the car, you can’t see what it looks like because the interiors aren’t quite as impressive. It’s a very busy cabin, brimming with buttons, especially on the steering wheel; it took me a couple of days to figure out all the functions. Pairing my phone and streaming music was pretty straightforward, but the tiny display screen doesn’t make shuffling through folders and different tracks very easy. And with 1GB of storage, you’re likely to have a lot of music to sift through. Living with the Elite i20, I found the postage stamp of a screen the biggest irritant and would love to swap the entire unit for a big 2DIN touchscreen with a large display. This would also do away with the rash of buttons that run under the head unit. If Tata can give a generous screen for the Zest, why can’t Hyundai?

Except for some shiny bits of plastic, some of which reflect in the windscreen, there’s not much else to quibble about. There’s a sense of luxury the Elite i20 exudes, which you quickly get used to and take for granted. It’s when you step into another hatch you realise how plush this Hyundai really is. Even the Polo, which no doubt is the benchmark for fit and finish, feels less special in comparison. There’s a lot of stuff in the Elite i20’s cabin which you never thought you would use. You’d think two 12V chargers in the front is an overkill, but with the proliferation of battery-chomping iPhones, there have been enough instances of both sockets being used to juice up. And in this age of Café Coffee Day and Starbucks, I’ve used the large cupholder pretty frequently too.