I am writing this review after completing 3000 kms in the past 6 months and I hope this review will be useful for prospective i20 buyers.
Firstly I would like to list the pros followed by the cons:
PROS:
1)Looks (awesome for any hatchback available as of now, even good looking over the Polo)
2) Space (Comparable to a sedan like Honda City especially the rear seat, decent and practical boot (295l) space and the largest in all hatches present now, except new Skoda Fabia has 5l more capacity)
3) Quality Interiors (Again comparable to a segment above and clearly wins over its rivals like Swift, Punto etc. though the new Fabia and Polo have slightly better quality)
4) Equipment level (Decent level of equipment available when compared to some of its rivals)
CONS:
1) A.C. issues (The A.C. unit simply cant cope with our Indian summers and the ACC doesn’t help in overcoming this. But I have noticed that if the outside temp is >30C then the A.C.’s cooling is quite fast and decent else it takes a longer time to cool the large cabin)
2) 1.2l engine (I know a lot has been said and discussed over the 1.2l petrol engine ex- underpowered etc. but I found it to be OK though not as powerful as Swift or Jazz but not as poor as the one in Figo and Polo or Vista, though the main culprit is the 2nd gear, which is useless; even my 8 year old Omni has a better 2nd Gear :))
3) Handling issues (Personally I find the i20’s handling average due to its EPS which isn’t very much direct as the Swift’s or the Figo’s and hence i20 is best suited for a sedate driving rather than spirited style of driving. I have confirmed this by TDing all the three.)
4) Fuel efficiency ( I don’t whether its true for all but I find the i20’s fuel efficiency to be little low especially when compared to Swift, Jazz. I get around 10-11 kmpl in the city and 14-15 kmpl on the highway (with the A.C on for 90% of the time) Maybe the engine isn’t freed up till now and that’s why I am getting low fuel efficiency. Any suggestions to increase the fuel efficiency would be welcomed.)
The Driving Experience:
Overall I would say its quite good. I would give a 3 and a half stars out of 5 because I find the rear to be little bumpy on undulating roads and because of its larger-than-average width (even more than the ANHC!), reversing this car and fitting into tight spaces is a bit of chore.
My suggestion:
This car is for those who seek space, quality, comfort of a sedan coupled with the ease of owning, maintaining and driving a Hatchback (Though it has its own shortcomings but if you overlook them then its quite a good buy! After all which product is 100% perfect?).