Hyundai i20N
REPORT 5
£24,995 OTR/£25,545 as tested/£311pcm
WHY IT’S HERE
Is TG’s Car of the Year as great to live with as it is to drive?
DRIVER
Stephen Dobie
I RARELY DISCUSS THE AESTHETICS OF A CAR IN A WORLD WHERE the BMW X consistently finds buyers I feel it’s not my place beauty is unequivocally in the eye of the beholder
I also rarely dip into the bottom half of the internet and into the murky world of comments But I’m breaking both rules this month And it’s all thanks to @Troyfrancis who used his TopGear com account to spout forth about the iN “The rear doors absolutely ruin the lines on this car ” says Troy “The rear doorhandles should have been hidden in the Cpillar they look wonky compared with the front handles ”
I’d not spotted it but now I can’t unsee it Did Hyundai’s designers forget the car was going to be a fivedoor? Or have front and rear handles been aligned on a trajectory my nondesigner eyes just don’t compute? And there’s another area of the iN’s design that’s bugging me Those mean scowling headlamps give it the look of a properly hench hot hatchback But they also give a fairly shallow spread of light which makes navigating my favourite local backroad a significantly less fun activity than it ought to be once the sun has set It’s a problem TG’s Australian correspondent Craig also identified when traversing the Outback in an iN a few months ago and which he fixed somewhat unofficially with a hammer and screwdriver Don’t try this at home and all that
Think we’re all nitpicking? We kinda have to TG’s reigning Car of the Year is proving truly brilliant to live with perky and precise in the way all the best hot hatches are but with plentiful practicality too And wonky handles aside I love the way it looks I’d have my own in white with a black contrasting roof because I’m wondering if its claret colour scheme is just a bit too mature Maybe there’s youthfulness in me yet