Hyundai I40 vs Audi E-Tron Gt

What's the difference?

A wagon and not an SUV, eh? Respect. You see, when most people now think of a new car they think of an SUV, especially when they want something with a bit of cargo space. But not you. 

And for thinking outside the box you’ll be rewarded with something that’s better to drive than most SUVs – like the Hyundai i40 Tourer in the Active grade and a diesel engine we’ve road tested here.

So, what are the strengths and weaknesses of this Korean wagon, and should you wait or buy it now? Read on to find out.

It can be easy to dismiss electric cars as an imperfect solution to the world’s problems. But that would be missing one big point - they’re really, really fast.

Carmakers twigged that not everyone was enamoured with the environmental credentials of electric vehicles (EVs), especially luxury brands, and thus pivoted to the new sales tacit of performance and prestige.

Which is why Audi’s current performance flagship vehicle is not a mid-engined V10-powered replacement for the R8, but rather the all-electric RS e-tron GT. And for the new model year they have not only updated the range, bringing (you guessed it) more power, but also added a new hero model - the RS e-tron GT Performance.

It leads a new three-pronged line-up for the four rings brand, with the RS e-tron GT Performance sitting above the RS e-tron GT and the new S e-tron GT; the latter effectively replacing the previous ‘entry-grade’ model known only as the e-tron GT.

These arrive as part of a mid-life update for the model, with some minor styling tweaks (inside and out) along with enhancements to the battery and changes to the specifications.

The new range has just arrived in Australia and Audi will be hoping it can turn around the sales performance, which saw the outgoing e-tron GT and RS e-tron GT find just 84 customers in 2024. That was a decline of 75 per cent on 2023 sales, and nearly 200 less than the closely related Porsche Taycan.