Streamlined, facelift Hyundai i20 range officially priced

Its South African arrival postponed from the end of last year to this year for reasons not known, Hyundai has revealed the price and specification details of the facelift i20 on its website.

The changes

The first mid-life overhaul afforded to the third generation i20 since its world premiere four years ago, the Indian-made model’s arrival on local soil comes with an extensive line-up streamlining involving a reduction in manual models, and the return of the sporty N Line as the flagship variant.

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Externally, the i20’s reworked façade consists of a new grille with a honeycomb pattern, new taillight clusters, a redesigned rear bumper and a new front bumper with L-shaped air inlets on the side.

Exclusive to the N Line are the bumpers and extended door sills from the i20 N, an N specific grille, an imitation rear diffuser and model unique 16-inch alloy wheels.

Same drivetrains

On the specification front, the line-up restructuring has seen a drop in derivatives from eight to five, and the long standing Motion and Fluid trim level denominators retired in favour of Premium, Executive and N Line.

As for power, no changes have taken place, meaning a choice of three units without any form of hybrid assistance as in Europe.

This means the normally aspirated 1.2 and 1.4-litre engines continue with respective outputs of 61kW/115Nm and 73kW/133Nm, while the 1.0 T-GDI also returns, albeit exclusive to the N Line with power and torque figures of 90kW/172Nm.

On the transmission side, the scaling back of the 1.0 T-GDI has seen the six-speed manual dropped completely, leaving the seven-speed dual-clutch as the sole option. Prevailing is the five-speed manual on the 1.2 and the six-speed automatic on the 1.4.

Spec

Commencing the range, the Premium’s features list consists of 15-inch steel wheels, body coloured bumpers and door handles, cloth trimmed height-adjustable front seats, remote central locking, electric mirrors, all around electric windows, and an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system with voice control, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Also standard are:

• keyless entry;
• 3.5-inch instrument cluster display;
• four-speaker sound system;
• rear parking sensors;
• reverse camera;
• LED daytime running lights;
• dual front airbags;
• ABS with EBD

Up next, the Executive swaps the 15-inch steelies for 16-inch alloys, the colour coded mirror caps and side mouldings for gloss black items, and the polyurethane-wrapped steering wheel and gear lever for imitation leather items.

Compared to the Old Continent i20, South Africa loses out on the dual 10.25-inch infotainment system and instrument cluster, replaced by the same displays as on the Premium.

Furthering the Executive is:

• cruise control;
• wireless smartphone charger;
• six-speaker sound system;
• heated and folding electric mirrors;
• cooled glovebox;
• one-touch up/down electric windows for the driver

No longer offered though are the side airbags or the push-button start, now solely reserved for N Line, which also receives LED headlights, automatic air-conditioning and a six-speaker Bose sound system.

Along with the N steering wheel and gear lever, both with red stitch work, and imitation alloy pedals, the seats are trimmed in faux leather and also furnished with red stitching, as well as N branded seatbacks.

Also part of the spec sheet is:

• sunroof;
• Hill Start Assist;
• Electronic Stability Control;
• Park Assist;
• drive mode selector with three settings; Eco, Normal and Sport

Omitted though from the safety and driver assistance side is Adaptive Cruise Control, Forward Collision Avoidance, Lane Following Assist, Blind Spot Monitoring and Rear Cross Traffic Alert offered on the Turkish-build example sold in Europe.

Colours and price

On the colour front, a total of six hues are available; Atlas White, Abyss Black, Typhoon Silver, Titan Grey, Fiery Red and Moonlight Blue.

Unique to the Executive and N Line though is a two-tone option in which a black roof contrasts the Atlas White body. The same applies to the Fiery Red available only on the former and Moonlight Blue for the latter.

Standard across the entire i20 range though is a seven-year/200 000 km warranty and a four-year/60 000 km service plan.

• i20 1.2 Premium – R309 900
• i20 1.2 Executive – R329 900
• i20 1.4 Premium AT – R329 000
• i20 1.4 Executive AT – R349 900
• i20 1.0 T-GDI N Line DCT – R467 500

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