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It's not easy making an estate car look distinctive, but Hyundai reckons it has done it. And to make sure no one's attention wanders off to the saloon version, there is no saloon version. Not yet, anyway.
So here’s the i40 Tourer, compete with a strange scything rear-end pillar shape that ought not to work, but does. It mates with a deep arching trench along the side of the car at door-handle level, and a beaky front end. So if you forgot where you left it in the car park, the Hyundai designers did all they can to help.
You can get three trims and four engines. Hyundai sent us the top-end 24 grand one to test, and it certainly had all the toys. But thing is, the car didn't feel over-dressed. The underlying quality is there to justify it.
Dressed up, yes. Quick, no. A 136bhp diesel is always going to struggle versus a big estate car, even when there’s no load up. Sensibly then, Hyundai hasn't given the i40 a sports suspension. It doesn't need it. Instead, it’s set up to smother bumps and cruise down the motorway like it's worn its own groove.
I didn't hugely enjoy driving it, but I'm not meant to. Who's going to be tear-arsing along mountain passes in a 136bhp estate? Only road testers; not the people who buy it. So it’s been set up to suit the people who actually pay the money.
The rocket-propelled upward trajectory of Hyundai continues. Ten years ago it launched cars that were cheap but not all that good. Five years ago the cars were good but not all that good-looking. Now they're both. People don't reflexively snigger at Korean brands, either. A Samsung mobile or LG telly are OK, aren't they.
Open Car Bar
What do you think?
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Gergo commented on this article
at 01:33 pm on 28 June 2011
Isn´t this the estate version of the Elantra, which has been sold for over a year in the US.
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sirwiggum commented on this article
at 01:58 pm on 28 June 2011
One of the few Hyundais (other than the Coupe) that people who *like* cars might buy. I've seen the hatchback version too, as unveiled at the Barcelona motor show. Looks very Mondeo-ish, from a company that 30 years ago was producing Cortinas and followed up with a Cortina-based saloon advertised as a non-jellymould Sierra rival. Glad they sorted the grille from the ugly domestic version.
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Darkstrike commented on this article
at 03:55 pm on 28 June 2011
Agreed Gergo, that is exactly what it looks like...an estate version of the Elantra sedan already sold here in North America in the US and Canada http://hyundaicanada.com/pages/showroom/Showroom.aspx?model=ELANTRA
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Darkstrike commented on this article
at 03:59 pm on 28 June 2011
Also, it does appear there is a saloon version, they have it listed on Hyundai's UK site: http://www.hyundai-car.co.uk/newCars/i40saloon/
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Enzo3185 commented on this article
at 04:28 pm on 28 June 2011
Not too bad, a good effort from Hyundai to make a good looking thing.
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