Hyundai i20 N-Line Review: Is it worth the price?

If you remember my story about the Hyundai Veloster N, you’ll recall that I said it was one of the most entertaining cars currently on sale (not in India, unfortunately). What you can now buy here is this – the Hyundai i20 N Line, which offers a sprinkling of extra spiciness to the regular i20 with the 1-litre turbo-petrol engine.

Let’s find out how it does this, but first, a quick primer. Hyundai’s N division (for Namyang, where the firm has its HQ) takes regular Hyundai models and upgrades them. The full-on N cars (like the Veloster N I wrote about) have more powerful engines and totally upgraded suspensions, plus enhanced steering, gearbox, brakes and differential systems. The N Line cars only get minor styling upgrades and small performance enhancements, mainly related to suspensions and brakes.

To get to the meat of the matter, the engine in the i20 N Line remains unchanged, which is a pity if you ask me. Sure, the 1-litre turbo (making 118 bhp and 172 Nm of torque) is quite a lively unit, but I would gladly pay a premium for a proper hot hatch with more power and torque.

What you should know about the driving conditions

Importantly, this engine feels like it can’t quite keep up with the car’s chassis (more on that later), and its delayed power delivery under 2000 rpm is a bit annoying because it feels slow off the line and doesn’t quite match its go-faster looks and upgraded chassis. Is this a deal-breaker?

No, because once you rev it harder, the engine hits its stride in the mid-range and then becomes eager to please, going northwards of 6000 rpm easily, and you begin to smile. The N Line has a much sharper, raspy note to it because of the new twin-tip exhaust that’s been added, which helps in the grin department.

The ideal environment for this car is one which has long stretched of road, therefore, so you can rev the engine to kingdom come – but unfortunately, not everyone will have access to this environment since most buyers will drive mainly in urban conditions.

The N Line comes with two transmission options – a 6-speed clutchless manual and a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic. I have no idea why Hyundai decided not to offer an old school manual gearbox with a clutch pedal – in fact, I’d go as far as to say that this is a very disappointing move.

Perks of navigating traffic

Anyone who’s driven fast, small cars will tell you that a big part of the adrenaline rush comes from operating a slick, manual gearbox where you have to do the clutch work with your left leg, and rowing through the gears without moving your leg is just... sub-optimal. It’s a smooth enough gearbox, no doubt, but a trick was definitely missed here.

That said, not having to keep using your left leg in crawling traffic is a plus, and this gearbox has much better spaced out ratios than the DCT. You can also hold gears, which is crucial when you’re blasting around corners.

The DCT is also a smooth unit (but not as good as Volkswagen’s DCT). It does the job in most conditions, is refined and will fit the bill for most drivers.

There’s a Sport mode on offer in which gears are held longer, but this gearbox has widely spread out ratios in the lower gears, so it’s not the best one to match revs with the engine and sometimes runs out of steam; combined with its lack of get-up-and-go off the line, the full-on performance experience is hampered.

My advice? Get the manual gearbox.

Now for the good news. The N Line does feel much sportier to drive, mainly because of the upgrades to its suspension.

The good stuff

The dampers are now 30 per cent stiffer than the regular i20, and this is immediately apparent when you get moving. When you attack a corner, the N Line goes through it nice and flat, with very little body roll and considerably more athleticism.

In fact, I wonder why Hyundai doesn’t offer every i20 like this, since the additional stiffness doesn’t really compromise the car’s ride quality; the N Line is quite adept over bad roads, and it feels much more planted in a straight line as well.

The steering wheel in the N Line is much more direct than in the regular i20, which means that it feels sharper in your hands as well as heavier; all of these factors affect driving pleasure in the best way possible since the slightly vague nature of the standard car’s steering has been eliminated.

Another big plus is the fact that the N Line has disc brakes all round, as opposed to the front-only discs on the regular i20. You really need better braking capability if you’re setting a car’s suspension up to go faster around corners, and I’m happy to report that this car stops brilliantly. In all honesty, these upgrades make you wish even more that Hyundai had bumped up the engine and gearbox’s performance because as I said earlier, the powerplant feels like it’s straining to keep up with what the car can actually do.

Externally, the N Line gets some prominent cosmetic upgrades. The front grille is all-black (and new) and has a chequered flag design, and the bumper up front looks beefier.

In profile, the black ORVMs, red brake callipers and 16-inch alloy wheels look impressive, while at the back, you’ll see a new bumper, a roof spoiler and the aforementioned twin exhaust tips. Naturally, N Line badges are prominently present.

The cabin also gets some bits and bobs. There are touches of red to liven it up (such as on the A/C vents and gear lever) and the seats are quite sporty and get red piping and N Line branding. The steering wheel is new, great to hold and also has N Line on it, and the gear level itself is superbly finished.

The fully-loaded N8 variant has everything you would expect and more – a Bose audio system, six airbags, ESP, a sunroof, LED headlights, a 10-inch touchscreen, Android Auto/Apple CarPlay (but not wireless), Bluelink connectivity with voice commands and the usual other features.

What the N Line offers, to sum up, is a great deal more sportiness than the regular i20 without any compromises in terms of space, comfort, ride quality and practicality. Yes, it could have been done with more power from the engine, a proper manual gearbox with three pedals and a sharper DCT transmission, but at this point, it’s the snazziest hatchback you can buy in India.

At Rs 9.84-11.75 lakh (ex-showroom), it’s not exactly cheap – the regular i20 isn’t either – but the Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh mark up is ultimately worth it for what it brings to the table. I just hope the i20 N Line is the harbinger of more powerful things to come from Hyundai.