Hyundai Inster review

The Inster’s cabin is fun and distinctive, with some neat little touches. We like that Hyundai has made extensive use of recycled materials in here. Like the 100 per cent recycled PET seat coverings with a houndstooth-adjacent ‘Pepita’ pattern that offers a touch of sophistication. Though don’t stare at the seats too long because they’ll make your eyes go funny.

Phew, look at those screens.

Yes, plonked neatly on top of the dashboard are twin 10.25in screens that form a digital dashboard and infotainment display. The dash offers up a useful configurable layout with an array of faithfully digital recreations of dials. We quite liked the more left field pulsing cubes that make good use of the tech.

The screens and graphics are lifted pretty much wholesale from loads of Hyundais – not the very latest system, but even this last-gen setup is as good as other makers' most current efforts. Though it can feel slow at times, like when you’re trying to turn the irritating ADAS alarms off before every journey. Come on Hyundai, we've got places to be.

Below the central screen are volume and zoom knobs, and between them a row of actual buttons, shortcutting to media, setup, nav, and a configurable favourite.

Where’s the Hyundai logo?

This is one of the peculiar things about modern Hyundais – you’d never be able to tell you were in one from behind the wheel. The Korean carmaker has wiped its interiors clean of its distinctive logo.

Fun fact though for you, those squares on the steering wheel are meant to spell out the letter H in Morse code.

Looks like there’s plenty of storage in there.

There's a decent array of cubbies, although the dashboard has to work hard to make up for the lack of centre console. The front seats act like a bench, and as there's no centre console you can easily get to the driver's side from either door. Whether the absence of a proper centre storage bin makes the slide-across facility worthwhile is another question. Having lived with a BMW i3, we'd say not.

All the storage you're left with is a bit of small-object space below the climate controls, and a trough above the glovebox – but that doesn't have a rubber mat so your nicknacks will rattle and slither about.

USB sockets live there (that’s where you plug your phone in – and then back in after it flies off the dash when you take a corner over-enthusiastically), and in the upper spec there are more in the rear. Plus a mains voltage socket. 

What about the back?

The Inster's narrowness means just two seats and two seatbelts. But that's not all. While there's a normal bench for the base 01 spec, the 02 has a pair of sliding/reclining ones. Slide them back and legroom becomes pretty palatial. It's a clever urban taxi, like the Mk1 Renault Twingo. Of course, set up that way the boot is correspondingly tiny, albeit it has an underfloor cubby.

You’ve got 280 litres of space in the boot with the seats in their normal position, which can be increased to 351 litres in the 02 and Cross versions (if your rear passengers have little legs and you slide the back seats forward as far as they’ll go).

With all the seats down you’ve got 1,059 litres of space to make use of. Usefully the front passenger seat folds forward if you’ve got something bulky to shift.