I have observed that most car reviews published in magazines are mostly first time impressions or at best short ownership reports and comparison study derived from using the vehicle for one short drive. As a prospective buyer of car, I had little to trust or fall back on in choosing a new vehicle i20 (at the point of buying in June 2009). There were no comprehensive ownership records on date. I chose I20 based on my gut feeling - its sense of style and a rough comparison of the set of options (I chose Asta Petrol) for the price in comparison to its competitors.
I would have made a wrong decision to buy Fabia 1.4 at the time, only for the dealer Sales manager to dissuade me from buying the stock available at the time. Later I knew that the specific engine needed high octane petrol for proper compression and failed on poor quality petrol. There goes my gut feeling for right model or combination. But so far after using this car for more than 18 months, driving 14, 000 KM through open highways at full tilt, and choke a bloke city traffic I have formed my opinions about the car, which I would like to share with my esteemed readers.
Looks and exterior of the car
The car is a stunner, you notice its shape quite distinctly in the multitude of other cars. Its contemporary European styling came as a fresh breath in the India car market. Car looks big from front, low slung and planted on road. The two fog lamps add zing to looks. I wish to disagree on the lines on bonnet, which I feel was more of an embellishment of an already good design which some how spoils the overall looks. Agree that the lines are distinctive and stands this apart from even a Fabia or Swift from front. From side on close up, car shows its true size as a small hatchback albeit a little bigger than a Swift. The Alloy wheels on this car is a must and is a recommended upgrade for all the Magna variants. The sculpted body lines from front to back, oblong indicator lights, thick C pillars and good long wheel base give a futuristic international look. From the rear car looks smaller (which is just the reverse for a Fabia- which look larger in rear). The rear light sets protrude much to both sides and seem a little oversized. The big rear screen wiper look to easily outrun the height of the rear window.
Interior of the car
Many a review has been written about the excellent interior cabin quality of i20. I fully agree with it and find it redundant to explain it out again here. The stock car comes with an unimaginative interior coloring scheme. The first thing I did was to put a faded brown art leather interior seat cover sets to match the berry red outside of the car. Also the car looks better with slightly tinted glasses. There is good interior space for 4 adults to sit comfortably. Though thigh support at the front is meagre inadequate as evidenced during long driving duties. The dead pedal on the left is a thoughtful bonus. The arching front pillar obstructs you from taking many sharp right turns as it hinders side visibility on sharp fast turns. You seem to turn blind into a corner as the Front pillar blocks the substantial view of curved road at times. This is quite evident and annoying if you cruise along straight roads for long and then turn into a corner at good speed. The rear passenger leg room is solid. But if a tall person is sitting infront and has pushed the front seat far back passengers in rear will feel cramped. Boot space is adequate for most everyday purposes. Build quality is solid, for the price in premium hatch backs, i20 has the best quality interiors (Swift, Polo, Micra for comparison)
Engine
We have known that i20 is designed fully inhouse in Germany design centre and the Kappa engine was developed specifically for use in European markets. The engine bay looks rather empty as the compact engine sits smugly towards the back of the car leaving a huge gap between radiator assembly. The 1.2 Ltr 16 valve engine was developed at a cost of $200 M with city driveability and fuel economy in mind. With an engine life of more than 200, 000 Km with latest euro climate norms met, this is one compact rugged unit with very less NVH. The car pulls effortlessly from first gear. But second gear is a fun spoiler. You drive with second gear in 1k RPM it is indeed quite exasperating to overtake even a hulking diesel auto on city roads without shifting down. This is quite a gear bug which I feel Hyundai will fix in the next generation i20. Apart from this wrong gear ratio/engine torque combination, the rest of gears enable car to accelerate quite smoothly. I have raced with Corolla on road to Bangalore, Captiva on road to my home town and couple of Swifts, Safaris etc. All the time the 3rd gear acceleration was enough to carry me forward ahead of much higher powered rivals (at least a class higher). Top speed is an indicated 163kph and car feel quite twitchy at this speed on turns. Till 80kph, car is rock solid. From 80-140 the steering loosens a bit and driving fast all-day long will not be much of an issue. Gear shift is short and sure and slots assuredly. But revving the engine hard and shifting up is some time a trick that you learn on the go. The car is outright faster than swift, as evidenced by my sporty-safe "duels" on the way back from Bangalore. It either stems from my complete confidence in the high speed dynamics of the car, or other persons reluctance!! Navigating ghat roads is good fun with 3rd gear on the up and down provided you have no slower vehicle ahead or much traffic upfront. If you downshift to 2nd gear by chance, you will again have to shift to 1st gear accelerate and then continue in 3rd gear. It is not as agile as a Swift or Polo or Fabia. On long drives with Ac on at 18.0 C, a consistent 15.5 avg kmpl is observed. This drops to 12-13 in city driving conditions. I had 3 regular services so far and never had to spend anything other than regular oil change. AC is not bone chillingly cold but is adequate for purpose. Auto AC seem to have a mind of its own in cooling duties and does its job admirably good. It is comfortable to drive long distance, but short distance in city might try you out with rather frequent gear changes and that dead second gear. Audio quality is average at best, but you have the ability to scroll songs with a dial or with steering controls. Also folder wise song selection can be done from USB stick.
Overall
In a scale of 1-10 for different parameters my ratings are
Styling – 9.5 – Quite exceptional for a small hatch back without being too gaudy or uncomfortably contemporary
Interior Quality – 8.5 – Class leading interior quality and good build
Engine – 7.0 – Good refinement and free revving. But lacks true power in higher gears. But adequate for city driving. Not a quite a fuel sipper though.
Ownership experience – 9.0 – I loved driving the car on long trips, felt quite agile on overtaking. The car looks distinctive on road and elicits positive response every where I park from young folks.
Alternatives - Polo 1.6 is the only alternative I can think of as an upgrade in hatch back.