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The facelifted Hyundai i20 is loaded. And how!

Three years ago, the then-new Hyundai i20 set many people thinking — is it going to go the Getz way? After all, despite being positioned as a Maruti Suzuki Swift rival, the Getz never seemed to topple the little Suzie from its top spot. Or do phenomenally well for itself, either.

No one in their right mind expected that Hyundai would do such a fine job with the i20; the car made everyone, including Maruti Suzuki, sit up and take notice. Today, the i20 is pretty much one of the best-selling large hatches in the country, and with good reason. It looks modern, is spacious, very well loaded and has a decent choice of motors. So, keeping in line with the way the industry functions, the i20 has gone through a major mid-life refresh and is being positioned as the “i-Gen i20”.

So, what’s new with the i20? The front end has not just been tweaked but heavily modified to give it a more youthful appeal. The headlamps are new and what you get is a new grille, new front bumper and restyled fog lamps as well. A new pedestrian-friendly bonnet rounds off the changes at the front. While the outside rear mirrors get turn indicators, the tail section also gets some minor revisions, including clear-lens tail lamps and a spruced-up bumper with reflectors. All of these are in keeping with Hyundai’s current “fluidic sculpture” design philosophy.

On the inside, the i20 gets revised air-con louvres, a new audio unit, a new display panel for the automatic climate control and a marginally revised instrument binnacle. Many “segment firsts”, too, have been added, including a reversing camera with display on an electro-chromic, anti-glare mirror, parking sensors, start-stop button with smart key and automatic headlamps and wipers, among others, all of which are available on the top-end Asta version. Space stays more or less the same, which wasn’t bad to begin with.

Under the hood, the choices remain the same, but the base petrol motor now gets a bit more power. The 1.2-litre Kappa engine sees a bump in peak power, to the tune of nearly 5 bhp, taking it to 83 bhp. Adoption of a variable valvetrain seems to have done the trick. Fuel economy too has improved, upping the ante to 18.5 kmpl, as per ARAI tests.

The 1.4-litre diesel motor produces identical horsepower to the outgoing car, while the automatic, 1.4-litre petrol continues to be offered.

Prices of the car have marginally changed. With 12 variants, the choices too are aplenty. The cheapest 1.2-litre engined car is now available for Rs 4.73 lakh, ex-showroom Delhi, and prices go all the way up to Rs 6.65 lakh. The Sportz trim automatic is priced at Rs 7.67 lakh, while the diesel variants start at Rs 5.96 lakh and end at Rs 7.44 lakh. Expect the competition to sit up and take notice, again.