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Hyundai i10 IA, 30 minutes or it's free. Hyundai i10 IA, a car that successfully fought for the title of delivery king. 

In the the first generation i10's review, I was talking about how it bridged the gap between the Hyundai Getz and the Hyundai i10 PA. If the Hyundai Getz is a brilliant car for those who want urban transportation cheaper than the bus, the original i10 was a car for retirees and the Hyundai i10 IA was a car clearly built for door dashing.

Slightly larger than its predecessor, the Hyundai i10 IA came with a 10% larger boot to accommodate more orders. It was a bit more expensive than the basic Corsa, but it also came with a lot more standard equipment. If you care about that 20-year-old kid you just hired as a delivery driver, then get an i10 because it came standard with 4 airbags, side airbags and ESP, in addition to the standard air conditioning. And if you don't care about him, you throw him in a Vauxhall Corsa with power-nothing.

Moreover, the Hyundai i10 IA gave a serious kick to the nads of the competition, receiving from Hyundai an LPG conversion right from the factory, whereas the Corsa didn't receive much of an update and it just wasn't that much of a good news. It's just that, if you were and still are the absolute cheapskate, you will still go for the Corsa. But should you? 

Hyundai i10 IA Engines

• Petrol


• 1.0 G3LA of 68 horsepower - Yes, it's very sturdy and quite good, but the star of the car is the factory built LPG variant. And you'll be in luck because many of the classifieds come with this engine. I wonder how much it costs to drive this car around town, as the regular petrol variant does 35 mpg city. With LPG, it is probably cheaper to go 100 km around town than to buy a pack of cigarettes.


• 1.2 G4LA of 84 horsepower - The same 4 cylinder 1.2 MPI that we have been used to since the time of Tom Jones, this engine is somewhat decent but known for it's appetite for clutches that can only be matched by Vinnie Jones' appetite for culture, poetry and semi-philosophy.

Diesel

1.1 D3FA of 70 horsepower - Just like how chewing gum stuck to the soles of the your footwear, such does the 1.1 crdi diesel stick to the i10. 1.1 CRDi – the mold of the automotive world. Sensitive to driving around town, which is a shame since the i10 is built specifically for driving around town. If you still decide to buy it for the urban haul, set aside money for the particle filter, EGR, turbo, injectors, commonrail ramp and so on.

Hyundai i10 IA Reliability Issues

• There are still issues from the past with the brakes, especially with the rear brakes. I say further because rear brakes have been an issue since the days of the Hyundai Getz. And with the i10 IA you also get premature wear on the brakes on the front.


• As with any modern Hyundai, the tire pressure monitoring sensors have a mind of their own. If they are not installed properly, the Christmas tree will light up on your dashboard and Mariah Carey will come out of the glove box and start nagging at you because you interrupted her summer Xmas concert.


• Now on to the automatic gearbox, it should be noted that it is an antique 4 speed torque converter. It's not the fastest gearbox possible, but if you change the oil every 37,000 miles / 60,000 kms it will spin endlessly.


• As with many modern cars, somewhere around 2014 Hyundai switched to R1234YF type refrigerant, which is more flammable, more corrosive and most importantly – several times more expensive than the classic R134a type refrigerant.

Hyundai i10 IA Verdict

Much like how BMW did with the Series 3 F30, everything was played on one card – the LPG 1 litre engine. One of the best city cars at the moment, which beats the Corsa for the simple fact that it is more equipped and because it has smaller dimensions. Regardless of whether you want to buy it for food delivery duty or just for the city commute, an LPG i10 is one of the cheapest ways to move your crusty bottom around the city, and even in a comfortable way. You just have to convince yourself that it's an excellent family car and you don't need a second car.

Which engines do I recommend? Honestly they should've just sold with the 1.0 LPG engine. It's all the engine the i10 needs.