What is it?
Hyundai’s humble city car enters its third generation considerably less humble than the version it replaces. But then it had to be.
In the seven years the previous model has been on sale, the entire concept of what a small car needs to be has evolved. Small, nimble and affordable isn’t enough; now customers expect active safety aids and technology that puts their smartphones to shame. Oh, and if it could not look like a boring econo-box, that’d be great.
So the i10 has grown up, with more eye-catching styling that borrows just as much from Hyundai’s larger cars as it does from the outgoing model. The distinctive front grille still hides the foglights as before, but the wheelbase has been stretched and body widened to give it a more purposeful look.
It also affords front and rear passengers a bit of extra room in the modernised interior, which has filtered down from higher up in the range. An 8.0in touchscreen is standard on mid-spec SE Connect cars and above - the biggest you’ll find in any city car, according to Hyundai. Navigation is only included with the optional £1000 Tech Pack, which also adds goodies such as wireless phone charging and traffic sign recognition, but with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support, it doesn’t feel like a necessity. Elsewhere, our top-spec Premium model gains heated front seats, a heated steering wheel and LED daytime running lights.
The one thing that hasn’t evolved is the engine. While the Volkswagen e-up, Skoda Citigo-e and Seat Mii have all embraced electric motors, the i10 is sticking with a choice of two combustion engines. This 1.2-litre four-pot is the most powerful - at least until the i10 N-Line arrives later this year with a turbocharged 1.0-litre triple.
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I10 turbo
Tim Ford clearly cannot read carefully either. Read the data at the bottom of the article. "4cyls,1197CC turbo petrol"
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Price
You can already get £2020 off the list price at the dealer in Guildford
Priced about right?! Are you kidding?!
The 'priced from' value of £9216 at the top of this item is very wrong - it's much more than that.
This is the smallest class of car on the market, built to a cost that reflects compromised, supposedly cheap, motoring.
Regardless of the good qualities of the new model, and that includes a lot of tech and options that some people don't want or need as it's just something else to go wrong, the car isn't substantially bigger, the boot is the same size, the interior (whilst redesigned) is still constructed of cheap plastics and the engines are exactly the same! So why are people saying it's good value?! Hyundai don't even offer attractive servicing packages any more either!
Also, pushing the 'well equipped" top spec model to one side (that still demands you pay a lot extra for tech that the car is advertised with, and things like metallic paint as usual) the base model has increased by over £3000 from the outgoing model, and no amount of trim level renaming is going to hide that - 'S' becomes 'SE' but it still has steel wheels for example.Comparing to prices of cars from the class above is ridiculous too - as not only are they much bigger, more powerful and drive better, they have undergone a ridiculous leap in extortionate pricing too. It's like deciding to pay £50 for an apple as it looks good value when comparing to someone selling melons for £100.
Maybe quite a few people who work at, or own, car dealerships are posting here.
Didn't say good value, just