Hyundai i800

10:02am Friday 10th October 2008

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Hyundai’s new i800 has pulled its first award – the Caravan Club’s best towcar in £16,000 to £20,000 category. Motoring Editor STEVE NELSON checks out the big people carrier.

NO sooner have we become accustomed to Hyundai bringing out some impressive small cars than the company has switched its attention to the other end of the market and produced a colossus.

If you’re looking for an eight-seat people carrier, there’s not a lot out there, and some are barely more than a big boxy vans with a couple of rows of seats installed at the back.

Enter the i800, the Korean company’s answer for all those who, like that nursery rhyme character The Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe, have to cater for more than a handful of children and are at a bit of a loss.

Then again, you might also be in the market for a big vehicle to carry business clients or earn a living from ferrying people around.

Here then, is an eight-seater with a price tag of under £20,000 and good road manners. It might just be the solution.

But what makes the Hyundai so attractive will also deter some buyers. Because all that carrying capacity results in a vehicle whose size will intimidate some drivers. It measures 2,125mm long, 1,920mm wide and 1,925mm tall, and thankfully the electronic reversing sensors come as standard.

From the outside, Hyundai’s MPV is reasonably streamlined – at least in part – with a vast bonnet that slopes upwards to the windscreen, while the roofline follows a straight line to the tailgate.

At the back, an enormous tailgate lifts to reveal a more than adequate luggage compartment that has 851 litres of space and is not compromised by any need to fold down the third row of seats. To put that in perspective, it is twice as much space as that offered in some estate cars.

The i800 features two individual seats up front and two benches behind, with each able to accommodate three adults in comfort. Both the rear benches offer a 60/40 split, fold and recline, while the centre row slides forwards or backwards to tailor legroom as required and aid access to the rear.

If you have only small children on the third row or do not need to use this seating, the second row can be moved backwards to create a spectacular amount of legroom. Sitting in the middle seat of the centre row, even a six-footer can stretch out to the max.

There are conventional doors at the front and twin sliding doors at the back to make entry and exit easy when parked.

For a vehicle that’s in the XXL size bracket, the i800 handles rather well. It employs an electronic stability programme with a traction control system to help it around tricky corners and benefits from a purpose-made coil sprung rear suspension system.

Powering the i800 is the sole diesel engine option, a 2.5-litre four-cylinder unit outputting 168bhp. The rear-wheel drive is married to a five-speed manual gearbox. Pulling away might be a noisy affair, but other than that the ride is relatively hushed.

In the cabin, there are lots of nice touches. For instance, air conditioning can be operated for second and third row seats as well as from the front seats, and the audio system features six speakers. Other features include an automatic dimming rear view mirror, trip computer, bottle bulges in the doors and cup holders in the centre console, privacy glass, electric mirrors and windows and heated driver’s seat. But the lack of heated wing mirrors is a bugbear on a cold morning, and there are no wipers at the back.

The biggest surprise is the lighting. It would have been so easy to provide standard features, but Hyundai has pushed the boat out here and installed mood lighting in the middle and rear seats that offers a choice of colours to scroll through, Don’t expect DVD players and moveable picnic tables – that sort of extra luxury can be found on more expensive vehicles from other manufacturers – but you can expect modest running costs and a generous five-year warranty to complete this rounded package.

At a glance

Model: Hyundai i800 2.5 CRDi Style

Engine: 4-cylinder diesel, producing 168 bhp

Price: £19,495

Performance: 0-62mph in 14.5 seconds; top speed: 113 mph

Transmission: Five-speed manual

Fuel economy: 33.2mpg combined

CO2 emissions: 225 g/km