Hyundai i20 N (2021 - 2024) - interior and tech
The basics are right and it comes with plenty of tech, but material quality isn’t a high point (or priority)
Step inside the cosy cabin and you’ll immediately see the important bits ticked off. There are fantastically supportive and grippy N-branded bucket seats, and a contoured N steering wheel that’s neither too thick around the rim nor too big in terms of diameter. On the wheel itself are two N buttons that give vital access to the driver modes, plus a further red round button that controls the rev-blipping function.
Beyond this is a slickly designed cockpit that features two prominent digital screens – one for the driver’s binnacle, and a larger touchscreen for the infotainment set-up. Both are highly configurable and come with impressively high resolutions, but they’re not the easiest to navigate and come with lots of superfluous functionality that can just get in the way. The good news is that Hyundai has retained physical air conditioning controls, so you won’t be battling touchscreens just to turn the heated seats on.
Most people will mirror their smartphone to the interfaces anyway, which is an easy and fuss-free thing to do in the case of both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Like many supermini hot hatchbacks, dig deeper into the cabin and you’ll find lots of cheap-feeling plastics and hollow materials. In this regard, the overall design and the toys on offer might overreach, but fundamental quality and design isn’t brilliant, and is outmatched by the Fiesta ST’s interior.
It does come with five doors as standard, though, and a boot that’s not unreasonably small so the reality of using this every day, even with people and things to ferry about, isn’t out of the question.
