Hyundai i20 Coupe

Three-door Hyundai i20 Coupe is good value and looks great.

Despite the obvious associations with the i20 five-door, Hyundai wants us to think of this new i20 Coupe as a totally separate model. It’s aimed at an altogether younger audience, and with prices starting from less than £13,000 it looks extremely good value.

Buyers get a choice of just two engines from launch – an 83bhp 1.2-litre petrol, or an 89bhp 1.4-litre diesel. Neither offers particularly scintillating performance, but a pair of 1.0-litre, three-cylinder turbos are due before the end of the year to address this issue. Both the 1.2 and 1.4 return decent fuel economy, and neither costs more than £30 per year to tax.

There are three specs to choose from, SE, Sport and Sport Nav, with all cars offering a decent level of kit. In fact, the spec sheet is so generous, the only options on the entry-level SE are metallic paint and fixed price servicing! That means all cars get LED daytime running lights, Bluetooth connectivity, 16-inch alloy wheels and cruise control. Top-of-the-range Sport Nav cars add sat-nav, DAB radio and a reversing camera.

If the sleek and stylish looks appeal, we’d suggest waiting for the new engines due later this year. However, if fuel economy and low insurance costs are your top priority, the i20 Coupe is a well rounded, fun, and desirable small car.

Our choice: Hyundai i20 Coupe SE 1.2 84PS 

The Hyundai i20 Coupe gets two less doors than the standard hatchback, but exactly the same wheelbase. From the front the two cars are identical, but from the side, the sloping roofline and blacked-out C-pillar gives it a sleeker, more stylish appearance. At the back there are a pair of slimmer taillights and some sharp creases in the bumper for a sportier finish.

It’s easy to see the appeal for younger drivers. It looks great, and much like the five-door, interior quality is up there with the best. The flashes of orange match the exterior hue, and the clear, clutter-free dials are simple and easy to read.

Buyers also get a dash-mounted phone cradle, and while the one we tried wasn’t iPhone compatible, it’s a handy feature and makes speccing the much pricier Nav model seem a bit pointless. That’ll cost you an extra £1,675 over the SE, or £675 on top of the mid-range Sport.

In terms of equipment, everything but fixed cost servicing and metallic paint is included in the price – so what you see is what you get. The SE is the sensible choice, with all cars getting 16-inch alloys, air-con, LED daytime running lights and even cruise control. Unfortunately, DAB radio is part of the Nav package, but you do get Bluetooth, parking sensors and steering wheel-mounted audio controls. The Tangerine Orange of our test car costs £495, and we think it’s well worth the outlay.

Available with an 83bhp 1.2-litre petrol or 89bhp 1.4-litre diesel, Hyundai bosses have slimmed down the i20 engine range for this three-door ‘coupe’, insisting its target audience isn’t concerned with speed or performance – choosing instead to focus on fuel economy and insurance costs.

But along with all the sensible stuff, it’s becoming increasingly important for these humble superminis to also be fun to drive. To all intents and purposes the i20 Coupe feels almost exactly the same as the five-door. That’s no bad thing, with the comfortable suspension setup feeling nicely damped around town and surprisingly composed on the motorway. There’s very little body roll and the steering feels direct. The engine is the car’s downfall, feeling a little lethargic unless you completely wring its neck.

The petrol i20 only gets five gears, but it’s quiet around town, and there’s enough sound insulation to cover longer distances if the need arises. The diesel gets an extra ratio, and should be better suited to longer motorway journeys.

It’s worth noting that a pair of 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbos will join both i20 ranges by the end of 2015, with a choice of 99bhp or 118bhp outputs. As we suggested in our review of the five-door – if performance is a priority, they’ll be well worth the wait.

Safety is a big concern for younger drivers and, of course, their parents. Six airbags, electronic stability control, hill-start assist and tyre pressure monitoring are all included, as is a space saver spare wheel.

Hyundai came a disappointing 21st out of 32 manufacturers in the 2015 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey – down three places from 2014. However, with poor scores for ease of driving and ride quality, the i20 should help bump the brand up next year.

Technically, the Hyundai i20 Coupe gets a bigger boot than the five-door hatchback. However, because all Coupes get a space-saver spare wheel as standard, the 336-litre boot drops to 311 litres – trailing the standard hatch’s by 15 litres. Fold the seats and the Coupe reveals 986 litres, compared to the five-door’s 1,042 load area.

However, in reality, if practicality is of major concern, you’ll be far better off with the five-door car. The extra doors make accessing the rear seats much easier, and the higher roofline means space in the back is more generous. That’s not to say it’s small in the Coupe – you’ll comfortably fit two average sized adults behind a similarly-sized driver.

Of the two engines available at launch, it’s the diesel that will attract higher-mileage buyers. It does 68.9mpg and thanks to emissions of 106g/km, will cost just £20 per year to tax. Unfortunately, the more economical 1.1-litre diesel isn’t available on the Coupe.

However, the 1.2 petrol only costs £30 to tax, and should return as much as 55.4mpg. A similarly powered Ford Fiesta Zetec sits in the next tax band up – costing an extra £80 per year – and is more expensive to buy.

Servicing should be reasonable, and spare parts aplenty. Not that you need to worry – as all Hyundai models come with a five-year, unlimited mileage warranty.