What a Car - UK - (2020-04)

whatcar.com^ April 2020 13

Newi120is longerandwiderthanitspredecessor

THEHYUNDAIi20smallhatchback

hasbeenreinvented.Muchlikethe

transformationsthathavechangedthe

fortunesofPeugeotandVolvoin recent

years,Hyundaihastreatedthei20tomuch

morethana simplenipandtuckforits

thirdgeneration.Instead,thei20hasbeen

tothegym,seena plasticsurgeonand

nallyvisiteda trendyfashionhousefor a

newwardrobe.In short,it hasgonefunky.

Firstup,thenewi20is a mildhybrid,

meaningthesole99bhp1.0-litrepetrol

engineonofferin theUKhasa small

electricmotorthatcanhelpthecarto

coastwhentheengineisn’tneeded,

leadingtofuelandCO 2 emissions

savingsofupto4%.

Despitehavinga widerandlongerbody

thantheoutgoingcar,thenewi20is up to

4%lighter.Aswellasgivingthecarsportier

looks,thosestretcheddimensionsmean

there’snowmorespacein theboot–

morethanyou’llndin rivalssuchasthe

VolkswagenPoloandFordFiesta,in fact.

Inside,thenewi20’sultra-modern

lookcontinueswithtwodigitaldisplays,

measuringupto10.25ineach.Therst

takestheplaceoftraditionalanalogue

instrumentdials,whilethesecondis given

overtoinfotainment.Thenewsystemoffers

wirelessAppleCarPlayandAndroidAuto

smartphoneconnectivity,whileelsewhere

therearefeaturesyou’dnormallyexpect to

ndin moreexpensivemodels,including

wirelesscharging,LEDambientlighting, a

BosesoundsystemandanadditionalUSB

portforrearpassengerstochargedevices.

Hyundai i

Third-generation small hatchback

gets mild hybrid power and big-

car luxuries On sale September

Pricefrom£16,000(est)

Thecar’ssuiteofsafetyequipment

hasbeenupgraded,too;it nowincludes

automaticemergencybrakingthatcan

detectpedestriansandcyclists,plusa

blindspotmonitoringsystem.

Pricesareexpectedtostartataround

£16,000,makingthei20moreexpensive

thantheequivalentPoloandFiesta.

However,thei20is expectedtocomewith

higherlevelsofstandardkit.

DOOR STOP

If you were a fan of the

old three-door A3, prepare

for a disappointment.

This new modelwill

be offeredin ve-

door (Sportback)

formonly.

Interiorisn’tquiteasplushasbeforebutstillverysmart

Twotalladultscant comfortablyhere– threeat a pinch

Daytimerunninglightsvaryin patterndependingontrim

Darren Moss

[email protected]

THE NEW AUDI S3 will go on

sale in early summer and will be

powered by the same 306bhp

2.0-litre turbocharged engine as

the outgoing version. With that

kind of firepower, and four-wheel

drive as standard, 0-62mph

should take around 4.7sec – and

it certainly feels that rapid. On

our greasy mountain road test

route around the Azores, the S

also felt incredibly secure and

planted through corners.

Audi’s Progressive Steering

comes as standard; that means

the speed of the steering

increases the more you turn the

wheel – mainly to save you a lot

of arm twirling at low speeds

and when parking. In some

cars, this type of variable-ratio

steering can make it tricky to

judge exactly how much lock to

apply in faster driving. But the

technology has been refined

over the years, so this isn’t an

issue in the new S3.

Its steering is actually really

precise, making it easy to

position the car exactly where

you want it. True, you don’t

don’t get the same assault on

your senses that you would from

rivals such as the Honda Civic

Type R and Renault Mégane

RS, but then the S3 is a more

rounded car in other respects.

In fact, Audi has tried to make

the new S3 even easier to live

with than its predecessor, and

one of the ways it’s done this is

by fitting a new type of adaptive

suspension. The big advantage

is that you can now choose from

a wider range of settings and, if

you pick the most comfortable

of these, the S3 rides really quite

smoothly by class standards.