Spied - Hyundai i20 facelift in Europe
The Hyundai i20 made its first appearance at Paris 2008 and come December 2011, it'll be three years old. It's time they sent it under the surgeon's knife to keep it focused and fight the new Swift. If you are a regular reader, you'll recollect us asking when the i20 facelift will break cover. Looks like Hyundai heard our calls!
As we suspected, changes on the 2012 Hyundai i20 will be to make the car even with the i10 and the new Verna. The Fluidic Scupture design vocabulary will be pronounced on the facelift with new headlamps, bumpers, grille and reflectors. The wheel caps sport a new design too. Interiors will not get any more glam or glitz, Hyundai could provide a highly useful Bluetooth pairing feature instead.
We hope Hyundai considers the following points on the facelift. There's nothing alarmingly wrong with the model, but a few improvements will make this a better car -
- Turbolag has to be minimized. The diesel engine has to be on boil (around 2k RPM) at all times for quick response. Can they bring it down by a few hundred RPMs? Can they work out a different gear ratio combination?
- The power steering needs better torque feedback. They need to bump up feel as while driving, one feels like there is a longer delay between steering and the car moving.
- Can they provide all variants with the top-end model's steering wheel? The i10's steering wheel for the starting variants (Era and Magna) feel inadequate. Hyundai should keep the driver controls same for all variants and cut back on equipment.
- The ride needs to be re-looked for the Indian market where road quality is poor in most places.
- NVH levels can be brought down on the diesel model. An improvement there can never lead to negative feedback.
- Can the door handles operate softly? Less effort can go into opening the doors. The operating mechanism, instead of spur gears meshing has to operate with a spring or lever like feel.
Do you have inputs Hyundai should take into consideration while making the i20 facelift?
Hyundai i20 facelift Image Gallery
[Spyshot source - WorldCarFans.com]