New Hyundai i10 vs Volkswagen Up

The Hyundai i10 has been viewed as one of the most complete and rounded city cars for at least three years now. It’s just so capable that it’s given other car makers a bit of a headache. However, VW has certainly risen to the challenge with the Up, upping the stakes further last year with an even better version with a 1.0-litre turbo engine. But the i10 has been upgraded again, so who will win this war of escalation – apart from the car-buying public?

City cars need to succeed in the city, but that’s not enough. Few live their entire lives within the city limits, and even those in London do occasionally venture outside the M25, if only cautiously.

So let’s start in the confines of the city. Here the Hyundai feels like a more solid car, which is a surprise against the VW. The steering is meatier, and the suspension is firmer, so it handles and rides like a weightier vehicle. The Up feels light and easy to manoeuvre, but the payoff is that it crashes over bumps and potholes in a way that the i10 doesn’t.

Some of that poor ride could be down to the 17in wheels on our test car, as a previous ride in one with 15in wheels seemed to deliver a steadier performance. However, once we venture out of the city, watching carefully for wild men and animals, the Up doesn’t really impress as there is more noise from wind and road, even if that is countered by a quite enjoyable handling response down twisty roads.

It’s then you start warming to the Up, and you warm to it some more when you start working that three-pot 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine. It’s surprisingly quiet in operation and the turbo does add a decent wodge of low and midrange. This is not a bad car out of the city at all.

Strangely, it’s the bigger, 1.2-litre four-cylinder engine in the Hyundai that impresses least. You have to work it harder and then it starts to make a bit of a minor racket. It’s not an issue around town, but it is on country roads where you’re trying to get a wiggle on. However, the handling sticks in there, allowing the i10 to hustle down back lanes pretty convincingly, even if you are giving the engine some stick.

While you do this, you’re sat in a cabin which is prettily functional, with more space front and rear than in the Up. The i10’s boot is big and can swallow a decent amount of luggage while, up front, the infotainment system is slick and easy to use. There’s a 7in touchscreen, and you can connect your phone easily by Bluetooth.

The Up gets a 5in screen and you have to use your phone for satnav. The dashboard in the VW is quite funky but it has an annoying form over function issue. The high-set speedo looks quite cool but you have to have the steering wheel set unnaturally high unless you’re on the short side or else you won’t be able to see the speedo. Not cool. However, the Up has a very flexible boot, with its height-adjustable floor as a small compensation.

If you’re looking at the costs of these two, in many ways they are not dissimilar, like the PCP deals. But the i10 is going to depreciate slower, and is cheaper to service. It will prove the cheaper to run over three years and let’s not forget the five-year warranty compared to the VW’s three-year warranty.

Both cars gain a decent amount of kit on board, but the i10 gains more, with climate control, heated steering wheel, cruise control, rear sensors and a lot more that wouldn’t look out of place on an executive’s car rather than a small city car.

Let’s not forget, that’s what these are, city cars first and foremost. And if we had to choose we’d choose the Hyundai i10 every time. The VW Up gives a big-car feel to what is a small car, and we preferred its engine and cabin, but overall the i10 has so much going for it, from the new infotainment system to the slow depreciation to the endless list of standard kit. How do they fit it all in?