Car Star of the month: Hyundai i40 Tourer

Hyundai has had a pretty supreme couple of years in recent times. It was undisputedly one of the biggest winners of the 2009/10 Scrappage Scheme, designed to boost flagging car sales as the UK hit recession. And its i range of cars led the turn of fortunes for this Korean car maker. Starting with the i30, then scrappage champ, the i10, the i20 became the third model in the line-up and finally the i40 Tourer launched this September.

In the all-important plate-changing month of September, Hyundai excelled. Its UK September sales figures rose up 37.1 per cent- the highest increase in September sales year-on-year than any other major manufacturer. The results saw the brand even beat the highs it achieved under the scrappage scheme, with the firm crediting growing consumer awareness its offerings. And while the i10 led this boom time in sales for the brand, the newly launched i40 Tourer also seems pre-destined to shine.

Fleet offering

As a family estate model, the i40 brings the brand into a highly competitive sector. Its size and flexible nature mean that the model will not just attract families looking for a comfortable car but businesses too, looking for something suitable for their sales representatives.

It is a mean market and one that is very price sensitive. Has Hyundai hit the right note in ensuring that the car covers all the practical usage issues while remaining sensitive to the business car tax bandings? We think that it has.

The likes of Peugeot, Ford and Skoda also cover the affordable end of the family estate market, with the 308 SW, Mondeo estate and Octavia estate respectively; so the competition is already firmly established. But Hyundai thinks that its combination of good pricing, strong specification and elegant styling will see it in good stead. True the i40 is well priced from the go, with the base model coming in at £18,395, undercutting the Mondeo by around £650 or the Volkswagen Passat estate by around £2,000. Specification from the go is good too, with the i40 Tourer including 16” alloy wheels, Bluetooth connectivity with voice recognition, leather steering wheel with audio controls, electric heated door mirrors with integrated LED indicators, electric front and rear windows and electric parking brake with automatic hold function.

Available in three different trim levels, Active, Style and Premium, and a choice of three different engines, four power outputs and manual or automatic transmission, there is enough choice to suit most needs.

Opt for the mid-point Style trim and you can add touch screen sat nav with rear view camera, front and rear parking sensors, cruise control and dual zone climate control. The Active trim and Style 1.7 CRDi 136PS also gives you the option of Hyundai’s Blue Drive technologies, which incorporates a stop/start system for emissions as low as 119g/km and efficiency as good as 62.8mpg on a combined cycle.

Room for all

This strong fuel economy is not at the expense of interior comfort however as the Tourer is respectively spacious inside with 1170mm on legroom and 1025mm headroom for front passengers, rear seat passengers are also well treated and cargo space is also strong. With the seats up there is 633 litres, seats down that rises to 1865 litres. What’s more, loading and unloading is made easier by the lowest floor level in the D segment, 592mm from the floor, 43mm lower than the Passat.

With two petrol engines and one diesel with two power outputs, Hyundai is quite rightly expecting its diesel engine to be the big seller, with most buyers choosing the higher power 136PS unit over the 115PS model. But if petrol is more your thing then you can choose between a 2.0 GDI which generates 177PS or a 1.6 litre generating 135PS. We’d recommend the diesel engine as it offers the right mix of performance and economy. Fitted with a manual transmission, the 136PS diesel achieves 62mph in 10.6 seconds, slower than the 2.0 litre petrol with a time of 9.2 seconds, but respectable nonetheless.

The interior is smart and the dash clearly laid out, the sweeping contours of it complimenting the fluidic design language expressed along the exterior lines of the car and reflecting Hyundai’s range-wide styling cues.

On the road, the Tourer handles comfortably and competently but it is not the most exciting of rides (but then again it is an estate). It is well insulated and copes with the usual lumps and bumps in the road. Steering feels direct and responsive and is nearly as refined as some of the premium brands (think BMW).

With plenty of competition already in this field, we would definitely say that the i40 Tourer is worth a look if you are looking for something different. A saloon i40 is due to follow in 2012, so keep a look out for that.

For being the final cherry on top of Hyundai’s excellent year this year, that’s why the i40 Tourer is this month’s Car Star.

Author: Faye Sunderland, November 7th, 2011
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