New Fiesta ST rival from Hyundai

[Eric Bloodaxe]

https://www.whatcar.com/news/2021-hyundai-i20n-hot-hatch-revealed-price-specs-and-release-date/n22140

Details coming through of the much rumoured hot version of the Hyundai i20n. As I can't get on with the seat in the Fiesta ST, unfortunately, I'll be having a sit in this when I get the chance!😀

[Guy Heaton]

Looks quite good aye.

[dtulip8]

Can’t say I’m a fan of the looks! And the dials weirdly remind me of those in my Nan’s old Rover 25! But can’t argue if it drives well and goes well.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

2 hours ago, dtulip8 said:

Can’t say I’m a fan of the looks! And the dials weirdly remind me of those in my Nan’s old Rover 25! But can’t argue if it drives well and goes well.

I lurk on the Hyundai N-cars forum and opinions on the looks are split there too. I was quite impressed when I drove the larger i30n but don't need that size car now, so I reckon this could be worth a look. Tbh there's not a lot out there if you want a quick supermini with a manual box - Polo GTI and equivalent Audi A1 are auto only, Ibiza Cupra has never appeared, no sign of a Clio RS (and the last one was auto anyway). More or less leaves the ST and the MINI Cooper S, and now this.

 

[TomsFocus]

Not the powder blue again...

It does look pretty good externally though imo!

[Matt12341234]

Looks good, love the front of it. Always fancied an i30n but too expensive for me 

[dtulip8]

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

I lurk on the Hyundai N-cars forum and opinions on the looks are split there too. I was quite impressed when I drove the larger i30n but don't need that size car now, so I reckon this could be worth a look. Tbh there's not a lot out there if you want a quick supermini with a manual box - Polo GTI and equivalent Audi A1 are auto only, Ibiza Cupra has never appeared, no sign of a Clio RS (and the last one was auto anyway). More of less leaves the ST and the MINI Cooper S, and now this.

 

Yeah I think this will bring a good fight to the ST if the i30n is anything to go by. Polo GTI is DSG only like you say, and whilst quick I don’t think it’s anywhere near as dynamic as the Fiesta. I don’t think there’s an A1 equivalent, the old S1 hasn’t been replaced and that was a fair bit more powerful than these cars.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

1 minute ago, dtulip8 said:

I don’t think there’s an A1 equivalent

The A1 40 TFSI S-Line Competition S-tronic (quite a mouthful) has the same 200ps drivetrain as the Polo GTI. There's no replacement for the old S1 Quattro though, which as you say was more powerful still. 

[dtulip8]

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

The A1 40 TFSI S-Line Competition S-tronic (quite a mouthful) has the same 200ps drivetrain as the Polo GTI. There's no replacement for the old S1 Quattro though, which as you say was more powerful still. 

Ah right, I find Audi’s lineups thoroughly confusing!

[Eric Bloodaxe]

13 hours ago, dtulip8 said:

Ah right, I find Audi’s lineups thoroughly confusing!

Me too. BMW, Mercedes and Volvo seem as bad.  They all seem to have a desire to denote the engine size/power on a badge, which worked to some extent when, say a BMW 330i was a 3 series with a 3.0 straight 6, now it's just a different stage of tune on their 2.0 4cyl! Similarly on the new 1-Series, a 128ti and 135i are both basically that same 2.0 four.

[DG97]

41 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Me too. BMW, Mercedes and Volvo seem as bad.  They all seem to have a desire to denote the engine size/power on a badge, which worked to some extent when, say a BMW 330i was a 3 series with a 3.0 straight 6, now it's just a different stage of tune on their 2.0 4cyl! Similarly on the new 1-Series, a 128ti and 135i are both basically that same 2.0 four.

To be fair, Volvo’s line up sort of made sense until recently when they introduced mild hybrid engines and badged them as B4, B5 etc, so you no longer get a T4,T5 or D4 or D5 engine, both diesel and petrol mild hybrids are badged as a B so it’s just confusing as you can’t tell the difference at first glance. I’m also unsure on the use of a B do badge an engine, makes it sound as if it’s bi-fuel with a cheap LPG conversion or something

[Eric Bloodaxe]

27 minutes ago, DG97 said:

Volvo’s line up sort of made sense until recently when they introduced mild hybrid engines and badged them as B4, B5 etc

Yes, I find that a bit odd as they've already dropped diesel altogether on the XC40 and I believe they intend to phase it out of the other models asap. 

Last time I seriously looked at buying a Volvo was the early 2000's, Back then a D5 for example meant a 5 cylinder diesel, which did seem to make sense!

[DG97]

50 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Yes, I find that a bit odd as they've already dropped diesel altogether on the XC40 and I believe they intend to phase it out of the other models asap. 

Last time I seriously looked at buying a Volvo was the early 2000's, Back then a D5 for example meant a 5 cylinder diesel, which did seem to make sense!

It's definitely a bizzare one! The legendary T5 engine is a four cylinder nowadays as well so not much to do with the 5 pot people rave about. 

I'd heard on an interview somewhere that Volvo are quite happy with the phase out of diesels on some of their models. The S60 launched and has continued with no diesels and they said that actually that's because the US and China is the target market with Europe getting a taste too but, as the US or China aren't that fussed about a diesel option, it makes no sense to offer it even in Europe. 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

29 minutes ago, DG97 said:

not much to do with the 5 pot people rave about. 

Yes, those 5 pots (petrol and diesel) were lovely engines, As usual, gone way off topic so we'd better shut up before we get into bother!😀

[Guy Heaton]

Aye, fitted in the Focus ST, and the early Mondeo MK4s.

That was a sleeper, my FIL has one, Mk4 2.5T.  Slightly detuned to get it in a lower tax bracket but easy and safe to get to 300bhp.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Going back to the i20n, reading various reviews I noticed that the different driving modes are referred to as the "Grin Control System" - sounds promising! 😁

[Guest]

Had an i40 for 3 years, loaded with extras  but every part of the car was made of cheap quality parts.

All the plastics scratched easily, the alloy wheels all corroded and bubbled up after just 6 months  the coolant  water bottle had to be refilled every 7 days, turned out it needed a whole new engine due to a cylinder head fault.

I was left feeling that its a cheap to buy car because it was...well cheap.

The 5 year warranty was a joke, the small print states that if any parts are replaced they could be reconditioned.

 

[st line x 140 driver]

Probably why they give a 7 year warranty nowadays.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

14 hours ago, st line x 140 driver said:

Probably why they give a 7 year warranty nowadays.

Still only 5 afaik. I think it's their sister company, Kia, who do 7.

[Guest]

43 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Still only 5 afaik. I think it's their sister company, Kia, who do 7.

Yeah you're right Eric

[Eric Bloodaxe]

16 hours ago, Chainsawcharlie said:

I was left feeling that its a cheap to buy car because it was...well cheap.

Yeah, I got the impression from various reviews that the I40 (which I think has been dropped recently) perhaps wasn't their best car. That said, a chap I know has had one for 6 years (even though it's out of warranty now!) and he's been very satisfied with it.

I've only looked at/driven an i30n so far and that seemed decently screwed together, though the "perceived qualty" (and I'm sure we all perceive that differently!) wasn't up to what you would find in, say, a Golf GTI (though I'm told the latest version of that, the Mk 8, has also slipped a bit).

Whatever, Hyundai.are certainly not particularly cheap nowadays, they seem to be more pushing "good value for the price" but again, that's in the eye of the beholder. I'm interested to see what I make of the i20n.

[Guest]

I hope you do OK with the Hyundai Eric  hope I didn't come over as too negative, just wanted to offer my observations on the i40  as you have been so helpful when I was thinking of the Fiesta.

Funnily enough as a golden wheels driver of the i40 I loved it, but as a paying owner I wouldn't, it was loaded with some pretty good features and was mega comfortable.

I would think Hyundai are pretty tuned in to feedback and may have upped their game since  4 years ago when I had the i40.

The Americans are quite shrewd when it comes to owning a car...every other car over there is a Hyundai/Kia

Good luck with whatever you decide mate 👍 

[dtulip8]

I always seem to see i40’s with the left hand headlight out and just the DRL on. 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

2 hours ago, Chainsawcharlie said:

  hope I didn't come over as too negative, just wanted to offer my observations on the i40 

Not at all, it's good to hear from other people's experiences, rather than find out the hard way!😀 My friend uses his i40 as a transport for piles of fishing gear (goes all over the place in pursuit of trout etc!) so I suspect as long as it holds all the stuff and keeps going, he's happy.

I wouldn't have looked twice at a Hyundai/Kia until a few years ago, I've seen several similar comments on the Hyundai forums from people who now own one, so maybe they have upped their game in recent years.

I'm in no hurry to do anything tbh, I normally like wandering round car showrooms (passes the time while the Mrs hits the shops), but can't be bothered at present with all the coronavirus measures. My existing car has had far less use than we expected anyway for various reasons, so no pressure. The i20n probably won't physically be in showrooms until early next year anyway, and if the seat is no better for me than the ST I probably won't even bother driving one.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

And now one from Toyota!

https://www.evo.co.uk/toyota/yaris/202068/toyota-gr-yaris-2020-review-a-true-homologation-superstar