Hyundai i10 review: our favourite little city car is a Tardis on wheels
The Hyundai i10 is a capable, comfortable and surprisingly practical city car, offering decent onboard tech in a simple, smart-looking package
The Hyundai i10 is a strong contender in a shrinking city car market, especially at a time when people are looking for ways to cut down on their running costs when traversing heavily congested city streets. Our 2023 City Car of the Year, Hyundai’s smallest car is more comfortable and refined than ever, while the diminutive size, tight turning circle and light steering make it an absolute doddle to drive around town.
Don’t judge the i10 solely by its dimensions though, as the cabin is surprisingly spacious and features a decent amount of onboard technology, including wireless smartphone connectivity and several safety features. The regular i10’s petrol engines are very frugal too, or if you want something with a little more attitude, then the souped-up i10 N Line has that covered.
Our choice: Hyundai i10 1.2 Premium
About the Hyundai i10
The city car is something of a dying breed these days, as the likes of the Toyota Aygo, Citroen C1, Peugeot 108, Skoda Citigo, Volkswagen up! and Ford Ka have all kicked the bucket. Thankfully some brands haven’t given up on the segment yet, and the Hyundai i10 is very much alive and well, having received a facelift and boost in equipment levels in 2023.
Used - available now
Although the city car competition has reduced in numbers, the i10 is not yet in a class of its own, so it must be able to prove itself against the Toyota Aygo X, Suzuki Ignis and its own sister car, the Kia Picanto. The Dacia Sandero and Citroen C3 superminis also pose a threat to the i10 as they’re offered at similar prices with more space.
The i10 range features three standard petrol engine options, with no hybrid, diesel or fully electric versions available. A 1.0-litre, three-cylinder unit with 66bhp is the entry point to i10 ownership, followed by a 1.2-litre four-cylinder engine, producing 83bhp. The top-of-the-range 1.0 turbo three-pot petrol delivers 99bhp but can only be found in the sporty N Line version. All cars feature a five-speed manual gearbox as standard. The 66bhp and 83bhp engines are available with an automated manual transmission, but we would not recommend it for reasons we’ll explain later.
There are just three trim levels to choose from: Advance, Premium and N Line. Standard kit includes 15-inch alloy wheels, an eight-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone connectivity, Bluetooth, a multi-function leather-wrapped steering wheel, a 4.2-inch display in the instrument panel, keyless entry, rear parking sensors and a reversing camera. Meanwhile, safety features include collision avoidance assist, pedestrian detection, speed limit assist, lane keep and follow assist.
Higher-spec models get a wireless charging pad, heated front seats and steering wheel, 16-inch rims, LED interior lighting and electric folding door mirrors. Premium trim models also feature tartan upholstery and purple stitching, while N Line cars come with an aggressive styling kit, lots of red accents, brushed metal pedals and bespoke seats.
How much does the Hyundai i10 cost?
With a starting price of over £15,000, the Hyundai i10 is still one of the cheapest new cars you can buy in the UK right now and undercuts its Aygo X by several hundred pounds. Unfortunately, it can’t beat the sub-£14,000 price tag of the most basic Dacia Sandero.
Engines, performance and drive
The Hyundai i10 feels as mature and refined to drive as you’d think based on its understated, sensible appearance. The ride is smooth and considerably more comfortable than the Toyota Aygo X, plus the long fifth gear in the transmission and well-suppressed wind noise means that it’s a more relaxed cruiser than the Toyota too, based on our experience.
We won’t say the standard i10 is fun to drive, as there’s some body roll when cornering, and the tyres don’t deliver quite as much grip as the ones on the Aygo X. However, the steering is light and being the size of a shoe means the i10 is an absolute doddle to drive around town, and you’ll never struggle to find a parking space to slot it into.
The sportier i10 N Line offers more driving thrills, as it gets tuned suspension and steering, and a more powerful turbocharged engine. The steering has just enough weight to it so you feel like you’re muscling the car around corners, but still light enough so low-speed manoeuvres remain easy. Of course the i10’s dinky dimensions allow it to also change direction quickly, making it feel very agile.
The firmer ride in the N Line version did make the car feel lively when we were snaking through the countryside on smooth tarmac, but on rougher road surfaces, the ride became quite bouncy. Anyone in the back has it worse because they’re positioned directly over the rear axle, with passengers we took for a ride complaining they could feel every bump and pothole we hit.
0-62mph acceleration and top speed
Outright performance won’t be a key consideration for those looking for a city car, and the i10 is much more suited to life in urban traffic. The most basic 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol offered in the i10 produces just 66bhp and 96Nm of torque. This engine is not happy being revved, which means the i10 doesn’t feel as lively as some of its more dynamic rivals, but reasonable levels of torque mean it’s more flexible in the mid-range.
Paired with the standard five-speed manual gearbox, the bog-standard i10 is a particularly slow sprinter, taking 14.8 seconds from 0-62mph. Customers opting for the automated manual will probably never see the speedo reach 62mph, as it takes a ridiculously lethargic 17.8 seconds to reach the mark from standstill.
Our advice is clear: avoid the Hyundai i10 with an automated manual transmission if you value the ability to keep pace with traffic. The top speed on this model is virtually redundant, but it can reach a theoretical 97mph, if you can find a long enough road.
We’d recommend sticking with the five-speed manual, but upgrading to the slightly larger 1.2-litre four-cylinder petrol engine. This produces 83bhp and 118Nm of torque, which is a little more persuasive, while also reducing the i10’s 0-62mph down to 12.6 seconds. It ups the top speed to 106mph, too.
Unsurprisingly, the quickest of the bunch is the i10 N Line, which gets an exclusive 1.0-litre turbocharged three-pot motor that pumps out 99bhp and 172Nm of torque. It might not sound like a lot, but it’s plenty to fling the little N Line from 0-62mph in 10.5 seconds and onto a top speed of 115mph. It’ll also have the front tyres scrabbling for grip when tearing away from a junction and provides a rowdy exhaust note that perfectly compliments the car’s boy racer look.
MPG, CO2 and running costs
The Hyundai i10 isn’t going to set any land speed records, but what’s more important to city car buyers or perhaps those on a tighter budget is its ability to deliver great efficiency, leading to low running costs.
The i10 is one of the cheapest new cars on sale in the UK right now, with the range starting from around £15,000. Alternatively, you should be able to find a lease deal for one well under £200 a month without having to fork over an enormous initial payment, either.
The small-capacity petrol engines that power the i10 return decent fuel economy and relatively low CO2 emissions. The base 1.0-litre unit with 66bhp achieves a claimed 55.3mpg on the combined WLTP test cycle and emits 116g/km of CO2 in entry-level Advance trim with the five-speed manual gearbox. The slightly larger 1.2-litre motor with 83bhp offers an average of 54.3mpg, again in entry-level spec, with emissions standing at 119g/km.
Opting for the five-speed automated manual with either engine causes fuel economy to dip slightly to 52.3mpg and CO2 emissions to rise to 122g/km.
When we tested a 1.2-litre i10 with the manual gearbox we managed to average 53.1mpg, compared to the 51.9mpg we got from a Toyota Aygo X during the same group test.
Even the sportier N Line version, with its 99bhp turbocharged 1.0-litre petrol engine, promises impressive fuel economy figures of up to 52.3mpg and CO2 emissions of 123g/km. After covering nearly 450 miles in an i10 N Line, we achieved an average of 42.3mpg – exactly 10mpg short of Hyundai’s claimed stat, but still very respectable for a souped-up city car.
Insurance groups
If you’re worried about how much it’ll cost to insure an i10, you’ll be reassured to learn that the entry-level 66bhp 1.0-litre car sits in insurance group 4 out of a maximum 50. Even the boy racer-esque N Line version should be relatively inexpensive to cover as it only sits in group 10.
In comparison, the Kia Picanto range starts from group 5 and tops out at group 11, although the Toyota Aygo X manages to fall in just groups 5 or 6.
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Depreciation
Our latest expert data suggests that Hyundai’s city car will hold onto an average of 53 per cent of its original list price after three years of ownership and 36,000 miles on the clock come trade-in time. Its Korean counterpart, the Kia Picanto, is a similar performer on the used market, although it’s expected to retain an average of 49 of its list price after the same three-year period.
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Interior, design and technology
The styling of the i10 is modern, understated yet sharp. Hyundai gave its smallest offering a sportier profile thanks in part to a 20mm lowered stance and an increase of 20mm in overall width compared to the previous generation. In 2023, the i10 was given a subtle mid-life facelift with changes including new head and tail-light signatures, redesigned LED daytime running lights, a new grille and new alloy wheel designs.
As part of the recent facelift, the entry-level model previously called SE Connect was replaced by Advance trim. Standard kit includes 15-inch rims, a 4.2-inch display behind the leather-wrapped steering wheel, keyless entry, USB-C charging ports, an 8-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, rear parking sensors and a reversing camera. Safety features include collision avoidance assist, pedestrian detection, speed limit assist and lane assist.
The mid-range Premium trim (our pick of the bunch) brings 16-inch alloy wheels, bi-function headlights, tinted windows, heated front seats, tartan fabric seat upholstery with purple stitching, heated steering wheel, wireless smartphone charging pad and blue LED interior lighting.
The range-topping i10 N Line gets a boy racer look courtesy of a very aggressive face with a different grille and daytime running lights, plus a set of model-specific 16-inch alloy wheels and twin exhaust tips. There are plenty of red accents dotted around too, while some nice touches inside include brushed metal pedals, leather-wrapped gear knob, red stitching and bespoke N Line seats.
The i10’s leather-wrapped steering wheel hosts about the only soft touch material you’ll find inside the car. The rest of the interior is made from hard, scratchy black plastic, which we can accept in a car that starts at just over £15k, but it does make the cabin look and feel quite dull. The tartan or N Line seats liven things up a little, and the overall build quality feels solid.
Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment
Every i10 features an eight-inch touchscreen that’s relatively sharp and doesn’t take too long to respond to input. There’s also a handy bank of physical shortcut buttons on either side, along with a volume dial. The i10’s built-in infotainment system is limited, but wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone connectivity are standard-fit and fill the entirety of the screen nicely.
You can add sat-nav and Bluelink – Hyundai’s online system which gives drivers extra controls and features via a smartphone app – but we’d just save the £800 and stick to using Google Maps through the free smartphone connectivity.
Practicality, comfort and boot space
It might measure less than 3.7 metres long, but the Hyundai i10 is a surprisingly spacious little car. When we lived with the i10, we managed to comfortably fit four adults into the car, plus a boot full of luggage. We also appreciate the decent-sized door bins and glovebox, cupholders in the centre console, physical climate controls and tray for a smartphone, which features a wireless charging pad in all but the base model.
Standard kit already includes rear parking sensors, a reversing camera and leather-wrapped steering wheel, but opting for the Premium or N Line trim brings a big-car feel to the cabin and boosts the levels of comfort on offer. They add upgraded cloth upholstery, heated seats and a heated steering wheel, blue LED interior lighting, climate control, a wireless charging pad, and electric folding and heated door mirrors.
Of course, being so small helps make the i10 so easy to thread through crowded city streets and tight multi-storey car parks. Visibility is good, too, and all cars feature height adjustment for the driver’s seat and the steering wheel, but no reach adjustment for the wheel.
Dimensions and size
At 3,670mm long, 1,680mm wide, and standing 1,480mm tall, the i10 is bigger than its Kia Picanto and Toyota Aygo X rivals in all areas, but not by much. To give a better perspective, the excellent-value Dacia Sandero supermini measures 4,088mm in length, 1,848mm wide and is 1,499mm tall.
Leg room, head room & passenger space
The i10’s wheelbase grew by 40mm for the third-generation model, which, combined with the boxy, upright shape, means there’s lots of space on offer in the little i10. Up front, both head and legroom are generous, so even six-footers shouldn’t have any issues getting comfortable behind the wheel.
We found when we tested with the i10 that four adult occupants can comfortably fit in the i10, while there’s the bonus of being able to fit another passenger in the middle of the rear bench if needed (unlike some other city cars like the Volkswagen up!). That said, we’d only recommend squeezing five people inside for shorter journeys. There are two sets of ISOFIX mounting points for child seats in the back of the i10 (one on each of the outer seats).
Boot Space
With a total of 252 litres of boot space, the i10 offers good practicality, almost rivalling some superminis. It’s roughly 20 litres up on a Toyota Aygo X and, if you fold the i10’s 60:40-split folding rear seats, you’ll benefit from up to 1,050 litres total load capacity.
Reliability and safety
The Hyundai i10 didn’t have enough responses to secure a place on our most recent list of the best cars to own, which is based on owners’ feedback from the Driver Power owner satisfaction survey. However, the i10’s sister car, the Kia Picanto, took 26th place out of the 75 cars that did make it onto the list, which is a positive indicator for the i10 at least.
Meanwhile, Hyundai, as a brand, finished middle of the pack in our best car manufacturer rankings, taking 17th place out of 32 brands. Kia, on the other hand, finished sixth, while rivals like Honda and Nissan came 18th and 19th, respectively.
The Hyundai i10 comes with a decent amount of safety kit as standard, including Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), driver attention alert and Lane Keep Assist with a lane departure warning system. The i10 Mk3’s mid-life facelift in 2023 added a few more bits of safety kit, including Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA) for pedestrian and cyclist detection, rear occupant alert and lane following assist that helps keep the car in the current lane of travel.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to earn the i10 more than a three out of five-star rating from safety experts Euro NCAP when they tested the car in 2020. Euro NCAP’s report also highlighted some issues, particularly around driver protection in a side-impact crash situation, and it’s also worth noting that one of the i10’s main rivals, the Toyota Aygo X, achieved a four-star rating under the same stringent testing regime.
Warranty
The i10 comes with Hyundai’s reassuring five-year unlimited-mileage warranty, which should give great peace of mind. Hyundai’s sister brand, Kia, does offer the Picanto with a seven-year/100,000 warranty, however.
Servicing
Hyundai offers buyers fixed-price servicing plans across its entire model range, meaning you pay a lump sum upfront, which covers all of your servicing costs over a certain period. The manufacturer also provides the ‘essentials’ servicing programme for vehicles outside their normal warranty period.
Used and nearly new
The original i10 of 2008 was a big success for Hyundai – especially in the UK, which accounted for more than a third of the 110,000 sales the city car notched up in Europe in the six years it was available. Designed to replace the brand’s underwhelming Amica and Getz, the i10 served up a surprising amount of sophistication for such a small car, not to mention loads of standard kit. It was also backed by Hyundai’s five-year and unlimited-mileage warranty.
The second-generation car had big boots to fill when it arrived in 2014, but impressed immediately with its handsome looks and grown-up driving dynamics. The Mk3 that arrived in 2019 built on these strengths with even sharper style, a roomier interior and all the latest tech, and was then updated in 2023 to add more safety features and a few bits of extra kit.
Hyundai i10 history
Hyundai i10 Mk3: 2019 to present
One of our favourite small cars, the third-generation i10 melds sophisticated style with cutting-edge tech and infotainment. It’s also good to drive, with composed handling and the sort of refinement you’d expect from a bigger car. Yet its smooth, small-capacity engines also blend eager performance with penny-pinching running costs.
Hyundai i10 Mk2: 2014-2019
Faced with brilliant rivals such as the VW up!, Hyundai's engineers aimed to deliver a small car that was even more grown-up to drive and sit in. Overall, they hit the bullseye, because while the i10 wasn’t as much fun to drive as some, it set the standard for comfort, refinement and practicality. You can read our full Hyundai Mk2 used buyer’s guide here.
Hyundai i10 Mk1: 2008-2014
Replacing the lacklustre Getz, the i10 was the city car that proved Hyundai meant business. Slightly bland looks aside, it was easy to drive, surprisingly spacious and great value for money. In top-of-the-range form, it even offered enough kit to make an executive saloon driver green with envy. It was a big hit following the UK’s 2009 Scrappage Scheme, with thousands of drivers trading up to the Hyundai from their old bangers.
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