Review: Hyundai i10 1.1 AT

Big Deal, Small Package... the i10 takes the super-mini class to a whole new level.

WORDS Niky Tamayo PHOTOS Carlo Sapera | 30 January 2009

I'm not usually this bad at parking. It's not hard to park the Hyundai i10, mind you. The car's so small that my three year old could park it. With one hand. Blindfolded. We've had test-units this small before, but sitting in the i10's driver's seat makes you forget you're in a small car. Sure, the Jazz and Yaris also give you that compact car feel in a subcompact body, but the i10 is much smaller. How much smaller? I can park right up against a wall and get out to find that the diminuitive i10 is still a car's length from the wall, three feet from the parking slot markings on one side, and slightly crooked, to boot. The first few times I did this, I got in and out of the car, inching it closer and closer to the curb and getting out to check how much space I had left. After a few days, I simply said: “forget it”, and enjoyed the luxury of parking space the car gave me. At under 1.6 meters in width, it's about a foot or more narrower than a full-sized car. No banging your door on the AUV parked next to you. No maneuvering your shopping cart around the end of the row to get to your trunk. It'll fit right beside the car. Test unit has an airy interior, but local 1.1 gets a more somber, darker one. Of course, there's no assurance your shopping will actually fit inside the i10's trunk. While it's slightly bigger than the Kia Picanto's (with whom it shares its general shape, layout and 1.1 liter engine, as Hyundai and Kia are sister companies), it's still not enough for a week's shopping for the family. But this is a minor annoyance on what is otherwise a superb little car. The i10 is slightly longer and taller than the Kia Picanto it's based on Superb? I'd venture to say that this is the Honda Jazz of its class. The i10 turns well and feels incredibly balanced. While the Picanto may deliver a similar level of nimbleness, the i10 feels less nose-led and much more steady. This extra front-end grip and assurance marks the i10 out from other superminis, which feel vague and darty in a straight line. The heavy electric steering gives it better tracking on the highway, while the quick steering ratio makes it turn in keenly. The shock absorbers and chassis of the i10 feel better than Hyundai-Kia subcompacts of old, absorbing uneven road surfaces with more control and solidity. Unfortunately, like the first-generation Jazz, the i10 feels a tad too stiff. Despite the small tires on our tester (155/70R13s at 33 psi), there's a definite hard edge to the way the i10 deals with sharp bumps. Whether it still feels this way on the bigger 14” wheels local units come with, we have yet to find out. Another place where the i10 excels over its older kin is in the gearbox. The Getz's long gear ratios made poor use of the scant power of the 1.1 liter engine. The i10's gears are much shorter, making it feel much stronger by comparison, though elicitng downshifts require a hearty prod of the pedal. Acceleration is peppy, with 60 km/h coming up in 6.8 seconds and 100 km/h in around 16.9. Not bad for the weight, especially considering the fact that this is merely a four-speed automatic. The downside to this urban-centric focus is that 100 km/h happens at a buzzy 3300 rpm in 4th gear, negatively affecting highway fuel economy. As with many small-engined cars, the luxury of an automatic takes its toll on fuel economy. Test economy ranged from 8.6 km/l to 11 km/l in city driving and 14.7 km/l in mixed highway/city driving. This car is screaming out for a CVT, or at least a five-speed automatic (for a longer cruising gear). The manual transmission unit is reportedly capable of much better economy, though, while the new 1.2 liter engine, being more technically advanced, is an unknown quantity. The responsive engine and steering make the i10 immense fun in metro traffic. While smaller competitors may fit in tighter spaces, the i10's better steering makes it easier to actually navigate those spaces. Big mirrors, huge glass area and a great rear view help make dicing with traffic a breeze. Unlike many other hatchbacks, the i10's rear glass is actually quite big, and feels, subjectively, wider than the Picanto's. The only drawback is the sluggish transmission response... but this is an otherwise minor quibble. The steering isn't the last word in feel (not many people have learned how to engineer “feel” into an electric power steering rack yet) and is absurdly heavy in parking, but it's better than the rest of this sorry bunch by mile. Of course, the rest of this sorry bunch except for the Picanto. See, I've had a chance to get reacquainted with the recently facelifted Picanto. The i10 is the better car, but not 100% better. In fact, the Picanto's new Beetle-like styling doesn't look half-bad compared to the i10's Ultraman-inspired design, and the new, darker, interior disguises some of the inherent cheapness of the Picanto's plastics. The i10's rear seat seems slightly bigger, but the seat foam is still hard (hey, just like the Jazz... again!). And the Picanto has a rear seat that folds completely flat. As opposed to the i10, where the seatback just flops down onto the squab. How the i10 lost this ability, despite being based on the same chassis, is beyond me. And while the plastics are better than the Picanto, they're not that much better. THE GOOD Good handling Good insulation Airy interior Peppy engine Futuristic looks THE BAD Stiff ride Needs a fifth gear Rear seats don't fold flat THE LOWDOWN The Picanto may have won the beauty contest, but the i10 is a better car. The two cousins are so close that the Picanto edged out the i10 for the win in the basic subcompact category at the recent Philippine Car of the Year awards. On fractions of fractions of a point. Maybe had something to do with the Picanto serving as the lunchwagon that day. Yes, fold-flat rear seats are real handy when you're carrying a couple of dozen hot lunches on trays. May have been worth a few “pogi points” with the judges. It impressed me, for sure. So what makes the case for the i10 over its older cousin? Well, it's cheaper, for one thing. Thanks to the strong Korean currency, the Korean-made Picanto is more expensive than the Indian-made i10. But the i10 doesn't feel any poorer for its Indian origins. Fit and finish is good, and the ultra-stiff chassis merits 4 stars on the Euro-NCAP crash standards to the Picanto's 3 stars (hence the more solid feel) and there's a driver's airbag and rear power-windows, too. And for those who care, it handles better, too. What might ruin the case for the i10, though, is the roomier and more practical Hyundai Getz 1.1, which is still available, as of this writing. Unfortunately, the Getz is being phased out to make way for the newer, bigger, more expensive i20. Pity. But the i10 is a worthy replacement. More modern, more refined and more sophisticated. It stands head and shoulders above the current crop of super-minis. But gosh-darn it... that Picanto is just so loveable...

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