Hyundai i800 Review

Rating

Quick Summary

Average. The i800 is easily the biggest and best value eight-seater MPV around. But it's so huge, it can be a bit impractical around town.

Road Test

MPV's come in all shapes and sizes - certainly the average family of 2.4 will no doubt dozens to choose from but, for a family with a larger brood, the choice of vehicles isn't quite so broad. Luckily, the new Hyundai i800 comes with eight seats and even has enough room to put some distance between the driver and even the noisiest offspring. It isn't exclusively aimed at families, as the i800 will actually seat 8 adults in comfort and has space for luggage too - so expect to see a few on the airport taxi run.

It's not a bad looking vehicle either. Admittedly style is probably last on the list of priorities when it comes to choosing a people-mover, but the i800 has an attractive face with large headlamps and prominent grille. And the interior is a pleasant place to be too. There's only the one model available which comes with a raft of standard equipment including air conditioning, heated drivers seat, ESP, electric windows, reversing sensors and 16" alloys. Mood lighting is available in the middle and rear rows with a choice of colours and the dark-tinted rear windows provide both privacy and a cooler cabin.

To drive, the i800 is mechanically surprisingly refined. Despite its size it feels more car-like than you might imagine - but with the added benefit of being quite high up - and its steering and gear change are both effortlessly smooth. The 2.5-litre 168bhp turbo diesel offers decent acceleration and pulls the vehicle along with ease - even with a full load. It will reach 62mph in a not-too-shabby 14.5 seconds.

The only real problem with the i800 is the inevitable lack of rigidity in a van-based bodyshell with no internal bulkheads. Over bumps, you hear quite a lot of creaks and squeaks from the rear - although a cabin full of children will soon drown these out. And certainly it is so large that for the less confident driver its sheer size could prove a bit daunting around town. Added to that - as we discovered - it is also too tall to fit in most standard public car parks, so finding somewhere to leave it could prove difficult.

However, even considering these points, there's no denying the i800 is unbelievable value for money. Costing around £21k there is no doubt that you're getting a vast amount of car for the money.

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