06/01/10

• Price9850
• We like...Warranty; value
• We don't...Skittery ride

Five-year maker-backed warranty makes this supermini special - but how good is it all round? Read on to find out This car’s the star... of the scrappage scheme. It’s the one that thousands of buyers have chopped in their 10-year-old motors for and, for most, it’s their first taste of a new car.

Previous Hyundais were cheap and sturdy but ordinary to drive. But, happily for all those first-time owners, the new i20 is leaps better. The one we’re in here is the 1.4 Comfort, which sits in the model line-up’s sweet spot: it’s the middle of three trim levels and the bigger of the two petrol engines available.

We’re already driven the five-door i20 with a 1.2 motor – to see what we think of that car, click here. But the three-door is worth marking apart because it feels more different than you’d expect.

For a start, two fewer doors gives it a sharper, cleaner profile that looks happier to our eyes, resembling from some angles the current Ford Fiesta. Inside it looks neat and modern. The dash plastics aren’t as good as in the Fiesta, Corsa or Polo but they're OK and don’t shout ‘cheap car’ as those in Hyundais once did. Vivid blue panels in the seats and doors enliven the cabin, as do silver-finish inserts in the wheel and surrounding the gear-shift base.

Settling for the three-door ds, at time of writing, save you £450. While the 5dr is the one to have if you’re constantly shuttling kids or friends about, the 3dr loses little in usefulness because the doors are big and the seats tip easily to make clambering in and out easy enough.

Legroom and headroom once installed is fine, though three in the back is a squeeze unless all are skinny and the centre seat is hard and not comfy for longer than a cross-town hop.

That 1.4 motor is zippy and canes the little car along at a fair crack. It’s notably smoother and a little quieter than the 1.2 we tried in the five-door, while pushing out enough pep to make for an easy motorway cruise. The 3dr skitters over bigger road bumps much as the 5dr did, meaning that it can’t match the poise and absorbency of its bigger-name competitors.

But all-round it trumps them with its generous standard kit and five-year maker’s warranty. Air conditioning, alloy wheels an iPod connection, electrically folding door mirrors and six airbags as standard.

Should you buy one? As an all-round value package, it’s darned near unbeatable. And while rivals may be smoother to ride in and better to drive, the difference is small enough to both only the keenest of drivers. For the rest , it’s a steal.

To review the motors.co.uk exclusive road test of the Hyundai i20 5dr, click here
To view and buy new and second-hand Hyundai I20s on motors.co.uk, click here

• Engines1.4 petrol
• Power99bhp
• 0-60 mph11.6secs
• Economy50.4mpg
• CO2g/km133
• Insurance groups4E
• EuroNCAP
• Airbags6
• Seats5

Motors.co.uk value verdict: