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The Drive
Hyundai was kind enough to offer ZigWheels an exclusive drive of the i20 Diesel and we came back pretty impressed. The turbo kicks in at around 1900rpm but it's not a drastic intrusion like on other cars like the Swift DDiS. The i20's turbocharger intervenes gradually - with the engine giving enough grunt even before it starts to spool. That makes this engine very driveable coupled with some well matched gear ratios on the 5-speed manual transmission which means this car will appeal to one and all in the family right from the throttle happy teenager to calm and sedate grand dad - and that really is the key USP to the i20 Diesel. Hyundai seems to have done a great job with fuel efficiency too with the i20 Diesel's fuel gauge needle barely dropping during the course of our 100-odd km drive.
The alloy-wheeled Asta variant will also come standard with meaty 14-inch alloy wheels sporting beefy 185/65 R14 Apollo Accelere rubber while the lower spec Magna variant will make do with 175/70 R14 tyres on steel rims. The i20 has always been a great handling car and the diesel variant is no different - owing to the common suspension setup with its petrol counterparts. In fact, with the added power and torque the i20 Diesel is an even bigger pleasure to drive than the 1.2 and considering that the bigger 1.4 Gamma gasoline engined car will be available with only an automatic gearbox for now, that means the i20 Diesel is the hatch to buy.
Visually, there's almost nothing on the outside that'll tell you that this car has a diesel engine. All over the car looks exactly the same as its petrol counterpart except for the chunky CRDi badge on the lower left corner of its tail gate. Crank the ignition and it still doesn't give away its oil burner roots - the 1.4 CRDi mill is that refined. It's only at higher revs that you really begin to hear and make out that this car is powered by a diesel unit. |