I always had a soft-spot for small cars, developed perhaps as a result of owning more than my fair share of them. A Hillman Imp was what started it all: my first car. Then came a Mini 1000, an MG Metro, a Peugeot 205XS soon to be followed, after altercation at a crossroads with a Ford Sierra, by a 106 Rallye. I should have kept that 106. Next came a Vauxhall Corsa – I know… It’s not something I like to talk about; as soon as I could afford to I part-exed it for a Peugeot 106 XSi (The Rallye was better).
Next came another Mini, a Cooper RSP no less. I’ve had two VW Polos, a Skoda Fabia, “shares” in a SEAT Arosa (remember them?), an aged Nissan Micra, inherited from my Uncle Jim, and an Audi A2, a car which was ahead of its time but suffered a very unforgiving ride. Currently, there’s a Suzuki Jimny and a Volkswagen Up! on the driveway, both are brilliant.
As you can see, not so long ago we were spoilt for choice when it came to small cars. Today however, it’s a different story. Ford canned the Fiesta, VWs Polo won’t be replaced, and the Up is no longer – so too its SEAT Mii and Skoda Citigo siblings. The Toyota Aygo has gone, taking with it the Peugeot 108 and Citroen C1. Vauxhall’s Adam and surprisingly good Viva slipped away quietly, and when did you last see a Renault Twingo, or a Suzuki Baleno. Small cars it seems are no longer big business, and city cars – the smaller A-segment stuff – have been all but wiped-out altogether. There is however hope…
Hyundai still make the i10. And what was once a funny little tall and narrow car you probably only considered as part of a scrappage scheme deal has blossomed to say the least.
Refreshed last year – a minor facelift added a new honeycomb design grille with integrated LED daytime running lights, redesigned headlamp and tail lamp reflector internals, updated Hyundai emblems and a choice of new 15” and 16” alloy wheel designs – Hyundai’s smallest offering, is say its makers, “a genuinely enticing customer proposition, at a price that ensures the i10 remains one of the most affordable new cars available”.
Prices, incidentally, start from £15,420, with all i10s now benefitting from a full segment TFT LCD instrument cluster display, keyless entry, updated USB-C charging ports and rear parking sensors. New safety systems have also been introduced, with Forward Collision avoidance Assist with pedestrian and cyclist detection, Intelligent Speed Limit Assist and Lane Follow Assist all offered as standard. Your modern day city car is no longer just a Spartan-spec run-around.
After having seen a new i10 in traffic a week or two ago, I was sufficiently interested/attracted that I called Hyundai’s always helpful press office to see if they’d be kind enough to lend me one for a few days. Not long after, an i10 Premium 1.2 84PS 5MT + Nav was delivered directly to my door.
If, like me, you drive your city car more often than not out of town rather than in it, and on longer journeys too, the 1.2 MPi 84PS engine is probably the i10 engine of choice. A 1.0 litre 64PS 3-pot is also available but characterful 3-cylinder thrum aside, its nearly 15 second 0-62mph time sounds all a bit wheezy to me. The 1.2-litre four-cylinder engine packs a more appealing yet still modest 83bhp (that’s 84PS in old money) and also offers stronger performance lower in the rev range. That said, 0-62mph still takes a leisurely 12.6 seconds.
A very slick and precise 5-speed gearbox however means there’s no hardship in keeping this little engine on the boil, and even on the 16 inch alloys – I’m old enough to remember when certain little cars sat in 10inch steels – the ride is certainly comfortable enough to be comparable with certain offerings from the class above. Once up to the legal limit, the 4 cylinder mill seems happy to cruise along all day without fuss. The steering is light and direct, visibility is excellent (there’s even a reversing camera), and there’s no reason to doubt Hyundai’s claims of 51 or above Mpg.
You could be picky and say that some of the plastics used within the i10’s interior are a tad hard and scratchy, but they’re no worse than you’d find in a VW Up! and they remain like, all the fixtures and fittings, delightfully rattle free. You could also say that the driving position, thanks to a lack of reach adjustment on the steering column, leaves you a little outstretched; it took me while to find a seating position I felt truly comfortable with. Nevertheless, I suspect that has more to do with my vertically-challenged physique than it does the actual i10. Conversely, taller drivers and passengers may quibble over the amount of leg room on offer. The i10 comes equipped with three rear seat belts, but any three rear seat passengers above 5 feet tall might well find themselves rubbing shoulders more than they’ll ever be truly comfortable with. ISOFIX on the other hand, for the smaller ones, is standard. The boot space as you might expect is as compact and bijou as the car; the i10 might just carry 5 people at a push, but it won’t carry all of their luggage at the same time too. There’s no spare wheel either.
Inevitably, there are certain limitations to what to i10 can do, but this is a city car after all, not a London Cab. In world where the whole of small car genre appears to be disappearing before our eyes and more and more of our little favourites are facing a cull, the new Hyundai i10 serves as welcome reminder of just how good a good small car can be.
Hyundai i10 Premium 1.2 84PS 5MT + Nav
Engine: 1,197cc, 4 Cylinder, 16V, Petrol
Transmission: 5 Speed + Reverse. Front-wheel drive.
Power: 84bhp @ 6,000 rpm
Torque: 87lbft @ 4,200 rpm
0-62mph: 12.6 sec
Max Speed: 106 mph
CO2: 125g/km
MPG: 51.3 (WLTP Combined)
Price: From £17,225
Many thanks to Robin at Hyundai’s UK press office for the loan of the I10
@bird_liam
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