Hyundai Bayon Review & Prices

If a tiny SUV that’s easy to live with is on your radar, the Hyundai Bayon is an option to consider. It may look beefy and mean, but once you get behind the wheel you realise it’s a whole different experience than appearances would suggest.

It’s a bit like a pair of Doc Marten Oxford shoes, rather than the boots. It may look tough from a distance, but Bayon is much more usable day-to-day than its rugged looks might suggest.

Part of what makes the Bayon look so mean is its wide grille, low-set angular headlights and rather menacing LED light bar. Plastic cladding carries the SUV look round to the back of the car where pointy, full-width taillights break up the standard two-tone tailgate.

All Bayons come on 16-inch or 17-inch wheels as standard depending on the trim level, and Premium models are available with a gloss black roof.

Befitting its mini-SUV looks, the Bayon has a high driving position that lets you peer through most traffic when you’re on the road. There’s plenty of adjustment in the steering wheel and seats so you won’t find it hard to get comfortable.

Rear passengers are well catered for in head and legroom too, though middle passengers won’t have a great time on anything more than a short journey. It’s the boot that disappoints, as its 334-litre capacity is seriously down on space when compared to alternatives such as the VW T-Cross and Ford Puma.

The Bayon’s interior isn’t nearly as funky as the exterior, and while it’s clearly laid out and full of standard equipment it’s a rather dull environment to sit in. A ridged texture running across the dashboard and doors help to lift the ambience, but they do little to distract you from the expanse of dark plastic all around you.

That being said, even the entry-level Advance trim comes with an easy to use 10.3-inch screen as standard, and whilst it’s not the fanciest system out there it is Apple CarPlay/Android Auto compatible so long as you plug your phone in.

All Bayons come with an easy to read digital driver’s display, though it doesn’t have any fancy features aside from turning red when you put the Bayon into sport mode.

Whichever Bayon you choose, you get the same engine: a 100hp three-cylinder petrol which you can pair with a six-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. It’s a lively little unit, with plenty of power for city driving and enough shove to get you up to motorway speeds without much fuss.

Speaking of city driving, in town is where the Bayon feels most at home. Ignore its SUV looks here, it’s clear to see that the Bayon is based on the i20 hatchback with its light steering and light clutch pedal. Motorways are less refined, but the Bayon fares surprisingly well on a twisty road.

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The Hyundai Bayon starts at almost £23,000 for the entry-level Advance model, climbing to around £26,000 for top-spec Ultimate cars. Premium trim sits in between and completes the Bayon lineup at just over £24,000. That positions Advance models at £1,500 cheaper than a base model Skoda Kamiq, and even top spec Bayons come in at around the same price as an entry-level Ford Puma.

It may be fantastic value, but the Bayon’s alternatives have much bigger boots and more space inside - which could be a deal breaker if you need a more practical car than the little Hyundai.

Advance Bayons come on 16-inch wheels whilst the higher-spec cars are equipped with 17-inch alloy wheels as standard. LED headlights are standard across the board, but the Premium is better in cold weather thanks to its heated steering wheel and front seats. Top spec cars come with wireless smartphone charging, a sunroof and a posh Bose stereo as well as keyless entry and start, while the lesser models have a physical key instead.

The Bayon’s 1.0-litre engine is peppy, but it can be noisy when getting up to motorway speeds

In town

In town the Hyundai Bayon is an easy car to potter about in, just like the Hyundai i20 it’s based on. Light steering and clutch take the strain out of stop-start traffic on manual models, and the optional automatic is smooth and hassle-free.

Compact dimensions give you a little wiggle room on tight city streets, while its raised ride height and lofty seating position give you a good view of the road ahead.

Chunky C-pillars do get in the way of rear visibility a touch, but large side mirrors and a standard-fit rear view camera and parking sensor combo help massively when manoeuvring into tight spaces.

Less pleasant is the strength and sensitivity of the lane keep assist. For a car with such light steering, the aggression with which the steering wheel jerks itself away from the centre of the road is quite alarming. The rest of the assists are better judged, with forward collision assist alerting you to road hazards and autonomous emergency braking as a fall back in case of an imminent collision.

Broken roads are a challenge for the Bayon’s suspension, even with such chunky tyres and tall ride height. Small ruts and potholes are dealt with fairly well, but bigger bumps and dips can be quite harsh and crashy.

On the motorway

Higher speeds are less comfortable in the Hyundai Bayon than driving around town. Wind and road noise aren’t as well suppressed as in some of the Bayon’s alternatives such as the VW T-Cross and Ford Puma.

Only available as a 100hp 1.0-litre petrol, the Bayon is far from a sports car but it doesn’t struggle to reach motorway speeds. The mild hybrid system helps with acceleration, giving the Bayon a little boost when pushing the engine hard.

On a twisty road

While it may feel a little stiff on a bumpy road, the firm suspension comes to the Bayon’s benefit as the body doesn’t lean much through faster bends. That means you can keep a consistent speed up without much worry.

Light steering lets the little Hyundai down on a country lane, as you don’t really have any idea of how much grip you’ve got left through the wheels. The Bayon is best enjoyed as a relaxed cruiser, as a chilled-out way of getting from A to B.

The Bayon’s interior is more practical than the whacky exterior might suggest and you get plenty of space for people. A pity the boot is a bit small

The seats in the Hyundai Bayon are comfortable and supportive, with a lot of adjustability in all directions and. The steering wheel is adjustable for height and reach, so most drivers can get comfortable behind the wheel of the Bayon.

There is enough storage space in the doors to keep a large water bottle and some more assorted goodies, two well-sized cup holders between the front seats and well-sized cubbies beneath the dashboard and arm rest.

Do note that if you have a phone plugged in and you set it down in the cubby under the dashboard it can press one of the buttons by the gear lever. Keep an eye on that in case you wonder why the Bayon has gone into sport mode, turned the rear-view camera on or why your bum has become very warm, very quickly.

Space in the back seats

Adults will find a healthy amount of headroom and legroom thanks to the Hyundai Bayon’s tall roofline and sculpted front seats, but there isn’t that much space below the seats for your feet.

The Bayon may be wide enough in the back for three adults, but there’s a sizable hump in the floor where the middle passenger’s feet go. The rear bench angles in away from the doors too, meaning the outermost passengers have to scooch in a little to get comfortable. Long drives can get a little claustrophobic as a result.

Boot space

Compared to some of its alternatives the Hyundai Bayon’s 334 litre boot is rather small, with both the VW T-Cross and the Ford Puma’s boots coming in at just over 455 litres. An adjustable boot floor comes in handy for deeper loads, but at its lowest setting it can be a bit of a pain to lift out heavier items.

60:40 split folding rear seats are useful for particularly large items, especially as they fold near-flat, but there aren’t many anchor points or other useful features.

A sturdy, well laid out cabin makes the Bayon easy to use, but it’s not particularly interesting to look at

The exterior may be a mix of funky details and dramatic lines, but the Hyundai Bayon’s interior is a much tamer affair. It’s an expanse of charcoal-coloured plastic as standard, with optional blue accents including contrast stitching.

The four-spoke steering wheel is pleasant to hold; soft with clearly laid out controls, and the strakes across the dashboard and doors go a long way to elevate the cabin’s ambience with their interesting texture. Unfortunately there’s a lack of soft-touch plastics around the Bayon’s cabin, even on the door card tops. The Citroen C3 uses fabric to mask its harder plastics, and the VW T-Cross has softer materials on its door cards.

Much like the steering wheel, the buttons on the dashboard and in front of the gear lever are well laid out and clear to read. The heater controls are angled towards the driver, a useful touch to keep your eyes on the road.

The clearly designed instruments in the 10.3-inch driver’s display help with long-distance comfort. All of the Bayon trim levels come with a 10.3-inch infotainment screen set into the top of the dashboard, and whilst it’s not super responsive it’s still nice to use.

A lack of wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity may be frustrating for some, but considering that only the top-spec cars come with wireless charging it’s not that big of an issue. The rear-view camera is fairly crisp, which combined with the standard rear parking sensors makes parking the Bayon a breeze.

All Hyundai Bayons come equipped with the same 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine, with a 0-62 mph time of 11.3 seconds for manual cars and 12.4 seconds for automatic models. The performance won’t have you grinning from ear to ear on a good road, but it will leave you smiling when you go to fill up at the pump.

With a claimed fuel economy figure of around 50.4mpg for the manual and 51.3mpg for the automatic on a combined cycle, both Bayons make for efficient runarounds. They’re low on emissions too, emitting around 125g/km of CO2 output for a first year road tax figure of £220.

Being a non-hybrid, company car users will find the Bayon is more expensive to own than its bigger Kona Electric sibling due to its higher Benefit in Kind rate. The bigger, electric Hyundai, or even a hybrid alternative, might make more sense to own in that case.

The Advance and Premium Bayon trim levels both come equipped with lane keep assist, Intelligent Speed Limit Assist and Lane Follow Assist as well as automatic emergency braking. Front, side and curtain airbags come as standard too.

All models are ISOFIX equipped, but ‘Ultimate’ trim level cars are the only Bayons to come fitted with Blind Spot Collision Warning. The Bayon received a four-star Euro NCAP safety rating in 2021.

The Hyundai Bayon hasn’t had any recalls in the UK, but Hyundai only came 17th in the 2024 Driver Power survey for owner satisfaction.

A five-year, unlimited mileage warranty is more than you get with a VW T-Cross but less than MG offers with the ZS. The warranty transfers to the next owner if you come to sell your Bayon within five years.