Hyundai i20
IT REMAINS ROCK SOLID EVEN WITH UNDULATIONS ON THE HIGHWAY THAT OTHERWISE, EASILY UPSET A CAR AT SPEED
Six airbags | Auto Climate control | All Power Windows | Electric ORVMs | Keyless entry I 10.25in HD touchscreen Infotainment with BlueLink, Bluetooth, USB, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Voice Recognition | Bose Audio System with 7 speakers|
Wireless charging | Rear Camera with guidelines | Puddle lamps with welcome function | Cruise Control | Cooled Glove Box | Tilt and telescopic steering wheel | Standard Warranty 3yrs/1,00,000km I TPMS I Auto headlamps I Electric Sunroof I Extended warranty available I ESC I VSM | HAC
Yet another month of watching our i20 long term test car parked in the basement as I long to get into the driver’s seat and head out. However, for the sake of greater good I choose not to take it out and limit my visits to the basement to once every couple of weeks, run the engine while I get on with cleaning and a short spin within the parking premises to get the tyres and other components rolling before parking it back at its spot.
Patience has its own virtues and my reward came in the form of locating a vaccination centre pretty far away from home. Delhi NCR, like a majority of the country, hasn’t had a steady supply of vaccines and the fear of waiting with a large group of people to get the jab seemed counterintuitive when the spread of the dreaded virus is at its peak. The solution was the availability of a slot in a village many kilometres away. The drive would take me through the Yamuna and Lucknow Expressway, keeping me away from people and without the need to stop enroute. Although, this never felt like a road trip and the elation that comes with one, it was more of a mission for self preservation so the going was quick and the i20’s impeccable dynamics came to fore.
For a premium hatchback, one does expect high levels of handling but while pushing the car to the upper reaches of its engine’s performance, corners cut in the suspension become obvious. Not so with the i20 as it remained rock solid even with the undulations on the highway that otherwise, easily upset a car at speed. The engine too sat calm at above 3,000rpm with the only noise filtering into the cabin being that of the concrete road surface and some amount of wind noise.