[Samurai]

The Hyundai i20 Active has been launched in India at a price of between Rs. 6.38 - 8.89 lakhs (ex-Delhi).

What you'll like:

• All-rounded package, with exterior enhancements over the Elite i20
• 190 mm of ground clearance makes it rough-road friendly
• Spacious interiors with outstanding quality, fit and finish. Practical 285 liter boot too
• 1.4L diesel has excellent driveability, refinement, performance & fuel economy. 6-speed gearbox is smooth
• Mature suspension offers a comfortable ride and neutral handling characteristics
• Hyundai's fuss-free ownership experience & excellent after-sales service
• Loaded with features & gizmos (projector headlamps with DRLs, 16" rims, keyless entry & go, 8-speaker stereo, rake & reach steering, rear air-con, reversing cam, cooled glovebox and lots more)

What you won't:

• On-road price is over a lakh more than the equivalent Elite i20 variants
• Petrol unavailable in the top SX trim (no passenger-side Airbag, rear wash / wipe, splitting rear seat etc.)
• 1.2L petrol is nowhere as impressive as the diesel. Mediocre highway performance for a premium car
• Anyone over 5'11" will find rear headroom to be insufficient. Sloping roof eats into cabin height at the back
• Dynamics & steering aren't to an enthusiast's tastes. Avventura, Cross Polo etc. are more fun to drive
• On-road price difference between the petrol & diesel is ~1.3 lakhs. That's higher than the competition
• Missing essentials (fuel-efficiency indicator, auto-locking doors, height-adjustable seatbelts)

[Samurai]

The i20 Active is essentially an Elite i20 with a lift kit & body kit.

Since the Hyundai Elite i20 has already been reviewed by Team-BHP, this report will only focus on changes to the i20 Active. For easy reference, here are direct links to the complete Hyundai Elite i20 road-test:

Exterior Design & Build Quality

Interior design, space, practicality and features

Interior - Rear

Driving the 1.4L Diesel & 1.2L Petrol

Other Pertinent Points

The Smaller yet Significant Things

[Samurai]

So, what's new on the outside?

A black plastic cladding surrounds the entire car. The dimensions have slightly changed due to the cladding & enhanced ground clearance. The length has increased from 3985 mm to 3995 mm, while the width has increased from 1734 mm to 1760 mm. The height has gone up from 1505 mm to 1555 mm, thanks to the roof rails and increased ground clearance:


When the Elite i20 has a waiting period of up to 6 months in some cities, what is the sudden need to launch a special edition of it in another segment right now? There are always some customers who are on the higher side of the demand curve. They usually jump closer to the head of the queue by opting for the most expensive variant, which is the Elite i20 Asta. What if the Asta variant too is waitlisted? Under such circumstances, customers will move on to other options. However, if Hyundai introduces a model that is essentially the same car, but with some extra features for more $$$, those customers are likely to stay. Hyundai is killing two birds with a single stone here. They are offering a fast track queue to Elite i20 customers on the higher side of the demand curve (earning a nice premium along the way), and making a mark in the "cross-hatch" segment. The strong demand for the Elite i20 automatically guarantees reasonable sales for the Active variant, at least in the initial period:


Lots of enhancements at the front. The bumper is new with an inverted air-dam (see Elite i20 here). There's also a fake bull bar & skid plate. A very subtle change is the bonnet crease continuing onto the body panel between the bonnet & radiator grille:


The i20 Active gets projector headlamps...


...DRLs and a 'cornering lamp' (angled light which activates during turns at night)! Round foglamps replace the Elite i20's trapezoidal units:


Silver strip around the headlamp is shaped like the alphabet 'C' (Elite i20 has a U-shaped strip as seen here). In this image, also notice the thick black cladding on the wheel arches:


The inverted air-dam gets standard slats (unlike the Elite i20's unique pattern). Look below and you'll see a honeycomb pattern grille between the fake bull bar though:


Funky 16" rims are very similar to the Avventura's (image link). 195/55 R16 tyre size is the same as its regular hatchback sibling:


The Active gets matte-finish roof rails:


A lateral view. They have a sturdy build and (Hyundai claims) can take up to 70 kg weight (thanks to BHPian DwarkaDelhiWala for pointing it out):


New roof spoiler has a sharper design:


A shorter, stubbier radio antenna. Far better than the Elite i20's long & ugly piece:


190 mm of ground clearance, an increase of 20 mm! It's safe to say that the i20 Active is rough-road friendly:


Motorcycle-style fuel lid. Looks like something you'd pick up from the local accessory store. Some will like it, some won't. It will definitely polarise opinions:


C-Pillar's black plastic cladding now has a glossy finish (Elite i20 has it in matte):


New rear bumper:


The number-plate housing design is inverted on the i20 Active. Rear gets a fake plastic skid plate too:


The 3-cluster wraparound tail-lamps appear to be LEDs, but actually aren't. Notice the Active badge right below. Hatchback is marketed with its model name (Elite) before the 'i20', Cross has the 'Active' after:


We drove the top-end SX trim. Variant nomenclature is like Hyundai's sedans (Xcent, Verna), and not its hatchbacks. As an example, the Elite i20's top variant is called the Asta:


Round reflectors look a size too big:


Only the one on the right side gets a reversing light:


Basic suspension changes to increase the ground clearance. Springs are taller now. Rear wheel well gets no insulation cladding, yet overall NVH levels are best-in-class:


The i20 Active will be available in both, diesel and petrol versions (petrol only in base & mid variants though). A new brown colour has also been introduced. Click here to check it out:


No SUV this, it's an SSV (sports style vehicle in Hyundai-speak ):


How it stands vis a vis the competition:


Price premium over the Elite i20:

[Samurai]

So, what's new on the inside?

Changes on the inside are very few. Two new colour schemes are available with the i20 Active; our silver test car got 'Aqua Blue' interiors, while the brown car had 'Tangerine Orange' inside.

Generous dose of blue where the Elite i20 has beige. Interiors certainly aren't neutral. Folk with conservative tastes will wish that the i20's black & beige combo was offered on the Active. Would've been a good opportunity to introduce the international i20's classy black & brown interiors (image link):


Same nice & premium steering wheel:


Blue makes its way to the doorpads as well:


The blue seat upholstery wears a different pattern than that of the Elite i20:


Sweet aluminium pedals:


A peek at the 'Tangerine Orange' interiors of the brown car. Unlike the blue interiors, orange is applied only as highlights here:


Orange gear lever!


Luckily, the doorpads don't get any orange on them:


A welcome change! Our car had an alloy wheel spare (Elite i20 gives you a regular steel wheel instead):

[Samurai]

So, what's it like to drive?

Just like the Elite i20, actually. You get the same impressive 1.4L diesel motor and the familiar 1.2L petrol that's honestly overshadowed by its oil-burner counterpart. Read through the Elite i20's driving report to know more - link.

The i20 Active has a shorter final drive ratio. Shorter gearing is generally better in the city due to increased torque delivery at low rpms, but not on the highway where taller gearing is preferred. The difference isn't major though. Hyundai engineers claim that the petrol's torque delivery has improved by 6%, while it's 11% for the diesel.

ARAI stats for the i20 Active are 17.19 kmpl (petrol) & 21.19 kmpl (diesel). That's ~1 kpl lower than the Elite i20.

The ride & handling felt exactly as described in the Elite i20 review. The ground clearance increase hasn't affected ride comfort at all, the Active rides well. Attacking fast corners, the i20 Active didn't feel as planted as a Punto, but I didn’t feel excessive body roll either. No major change from its hatchback sibling.

A look at the competition:

• Toyota Etios Cross - The biggest advantage of the Etios Cross vis a vis the competition is its 1.5L petrol engine (topmost V variant only). The Toyota's larger petrol offers far superior performance & driveability than the 1.2L petrols of the i20 Active & Cross Polo, and the 1.4L of the Avventura. On the other hand, the Etios Cross' 1.4L diesel is the weakest of the lot, with merely 67 horses on tap.

• Fiat Avventura.

• VW Cross Polo.

Disclaimer: Hyundai invited Team-BHP for the i20 Active test-drive. They covered all the travel expenses for this driving event.

[RavenAvi]

Official site is up and running:

http://www.hyundai.com/in/en/Showroo...PIP/index.html


Features across variants:

Official i20 Active commercial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG_6IRwbTBM

Prices (ex-showroom, Delhi)

Petrol Variants:

1.2 Base - Rs. 6.38 lakh
1.2 S - Rs. 7.10 lakh


Diesel Variants:

1.4 Base - Rs. 7.63 lakh
1.4 S - Rs. 8.34 lakh
1.4 SX - Rs. 8.89 lakh


This pricing is almost 90,000 rupees more than the corresponding variants of the Elite i20. A bit too steeply priced, IMO.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Indian Car Scene. Thanks for sharing.

Great attention to detail, told me all I wanted to know about the i20 Active. Rating thread a well-deserved 5 stars!

[@KP]

Wonder why SX variant is not launched in Petrol and no AT - why ?

[Tushar]

All I wanted to know about the i20 Active. Thanks Samurai!

I'm personally not a big fan of the look, especially the rear. When the first spy shots of the Elite i20 came out I didn't like it, but now the designs has grown on me. This car has just taken me back to the original sentiment.

Given the choice in the segment, I'd buy the Avventura any day. The Active will be a better car to live with, but the Avventura is the only car in the segment (IMO) that pulls of the crossover look perfectly. At the end of the day the purpose of this segment has never been apparent to me, but if someone wants a loaded feature list with a trustworthy ownership experience on a crossover, the Active makes sense.

[MadAbtCars]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

This pricing is almost 90,000 rupees more than the corresponding variants of the Elite i20. A bit too steeply priced, IMO.

It is indeed priced steeply. I was eagerly looking forward for I20 active pricing so as to anticipate what would be Ix25 pricing (which I am hoping would be my next car upgarde)

But one strategy which is baffling me is the absence of an petrol SX model. With hardly any price difference left between Petrol and Diesel, How is that Hyundai anticipated / forecasted that a petrol I20 active will be a slow mover than the Diesel counterpart. Is the lack of an explosive petrol motor the only reason for doing so ??

My rough guess, the Ix25 would be surely priced above the Ecosport as it is not going to be a sub - 4 meter car, However I do not think that it will be more expensive than Duster / Terrano. It should be priced at par I guess. However I hope that it undercuts the price of Duster /Terrano by a significant margin. That is my wishlist Though

Overall not very impressed by the I20 Active. What is with Hyundai, First they upgrade the I20 and delete many features from the previous gen model and now they bring in an over expensive version of the same I20 with majorly cosmetic updates. No offence but, I feel Hyundai is becoming arrogant

[Vizay]

Thanks Samurai.

How about the view from the driving position, given the increased height?

Does the 26 mm increase in width & increase in length make the interior any roomier, or it's just a result of exterior changes?

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Vizay

How about the view from the driving position, given the increased height?

I doubt 20mm height makes any difference to the view from the cabin. Besides, it is hard to gauge since I drive a tall boy i10 and a Grand Vitara on a regular basis.

But the seat adjustment in the i20 is phenomenal, you can get the height you want, within reason. I had to frequently change seats with younger/thinner reviewer and every time I had to re-adjust the seats. Each time it didn't take more than 5 seconds to get it just right, and forget it until the new switch.

Originally Posted by Vizay

Does the 26 mm increase in width & increase in length make the interior any roomier, or it's just a result of exterior changes?

It is the latter.

[ansumaan]

Thanks Samurai.
I see that the petrol versions ( base & S) don't have the tilt and telescopic adjustment.
Is that true . At least tilt adjustment is a basic thing for a 7 lac + car.
How is it in the Elite i20 ?

[RGK]

Wonderful review Samurai.

Hyundai always kill the competition by their stunning interiors and they have proved it again with the i20 Active. But the price is on the higher side...

[GTO]

Originally Posted by @KP

Wonder why SX variant is not launched in Petrol and no AT - why ?

As Samurai mentioned, one purpose of the i20 Active is profits (I've already started calling this car the i20 Tatkal ).

Since the i20 Active petrol hasn't been launched in the top trim, it could be any one of the two points:

- The Elite i20 Asta petrol has an incredibly long waiting period. Thus, whatever production is there, it must serve the Elite i20 only.

OR

- The Elite i20 Asta petrol has no waiting period. Demand meets supply. What's the point of the Active then?