Hyundai I40 2011 News

Hundreds of new and updated cars arrive in Australia each year but only one is good enough to make the honour role for Carsguide COTY.This time around the prize fight is tougher than ever, with new arrivals for 2011 covering every size and price class, from the ordinary Chery J1 from China to the exotic Ferrari 458 Italia from Italy. Neither of them makes the COTY cut, but that's another story ...The reach for COTY 2011 contenders actually stretches back to the final months of last year, to include a couple of cars that just missed the 2011 cutoff, and this time around the newcomers must have hit showrooms by December 1.So, unfortunately, the all-new Toyota Camry is a non-starter. It's the same for the make-or-break four-cylinder Falcon.But the class of 2011 covers all the bases, from affordable mini cars through family and prestige cars to a hot new coupe. The hopefuls come from Europe, Asia and Japan, as well as right home in Australia.Setting the field for 2011 was not easy, particularly with the outgoing champion - the Volkswagen Polo - still casting a considerable shadow.But each of the COTY judges, who cover the Carsguide contenders and drive them in all conditions from coast to coast, has called up their personal favourites from Alfa Romeo through to Volkswagen to help guide the selection process.Then it is the final cull by the COTY veterans to produce the top 10 for a gruelling two-day shootout to consider everything from design and safety through to value and their driving ability on a wide range of roads from Ford's You Yangs proving ground to freeways, suburban streets and gravel roads on the outskirts of Melbourne.The field is set, the race is about to be run, but we cannot get ahead of ourselves.So here are the 10 COTY contenders ... now it's over to the judges: 

The i40 Tourer is Hyundai's latest step up the quality scale, and easily the best-looking car the Korean brand has brought here.The body styling is fresh and has enough complexity to keep the eye interested but avoids being fussy, with the only discordant note the overdone arabesque of the daytime running lights.It's well-packaged, with acres of room in the rear seat and more than ample cargo space under the fast-back rear hatch.The cabin experience got big ticks for equipment and fit-out, but it was marked down for the cheaper quality impression of the gearshift paddles on the steering wheel.Hyundai has made a big effort on the steering and suspension, with in-house calibration and settings aiming to improve it for Australian conditions. We found it capable on the initial launch drive, but under the harder torture of the proving ground tracks the dynamics felt dulled and the steering too light.The electronic stability control program was invoked quite heavily going through corners, and even tipped in during some of the less sharp sweepers.While the diesel engine was capable enough, its outputs are still undermined by the weight of the car, and in the end it lacked the lustre to make the podium.Price: (as tested) $35,440Engine: 1.7-litre 4-cyl turbodiesel. 100kW/320NmTransmission: six-speed automaticThirst: 5.6L/100km (ADR), 149g/km.

However, Hyundai's new i40 sedan hits the world stage next week almost three months after the Korean company debuted its i40 estate (wagon). Hyundai Motor Company Australia product communications manager Ben Hershman explains that the European market dictated the about-face. "In Europe the wagon represents a very strong percentage of sales in the D segment, so Hyundai decided to engineer the wagon variant first,'' he says. The i40 wagon debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March and Hershman says it will arrive here later this year. The mid-sized i40 sedan version will debut at the Barcelona Motor Show next week, (MAY 12) but there is no confirmation it will come to Australia. Marketing director Oliver Mann says they are still reviewing the business case for the i40 sedan. "We are hoping to make a decision later in the year," he says. The i40 has been designed and engineered at Hyundai's research and development centre in Rüsselsheim, Germany. The drawings released by Hyundai show a handsome vehicle with heavily creased accent lines that swoop along the sides for a dramatic effect. Hyundai refers to the design DNA as ``fluidic sculpture'' which was introduced on the ix-onic concept car at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show. Chief designer Thomas Burkle says they wanted to move away from the three-box saloon design. "By sculpting a low, elongated roof line, we've given the i40 saloon a striking coupe-like silhouette,'' he says. The mid-sized car has a 2.77m wheelbase and Burkle says the interior has been shaped ``to deliver practicality and comfort to the driver and passengers in a high-quality package''.

The i40 is a great-looking wagon - long, low, sleek and with some Mercedes CLS styling cues.  But Hyundai Australia's marketing boss, Oliver Mann, says getting it down under is still only a chance. "It has to make sense. It has to be the right price and work with the other models,'' he says in Geneva.  It's designed in Europe for Europeans and we have to see if it can work - pricing, specifications, features and so on - in Australia.'' What worries Mann is that the i40 will sit in a small market segment occupied now only by the Mazda6 and Ford Mondeo wagons.  "That's not a big segment and we don't have a customer base to call on,'' he says. "But it's a new concept for Hyundai and it has a lot of appeal.''  The i40 comes with the choice of a 1.7-litre turbo-diesel or 2-litre petrol engine and is made in Korea.  "It's our style leader in terms of quality and finish,'' Mann says. The i40 is in the same boat as the RB model that will replace the Accent.  Mann says this hatch is yet to be decided as an entrant into Australia. "We'll make a decision within one month,'' he says.  "It has been developed for all global markets. To a degree, the i20 replaced the Accent. The RB - possibly to become the i25 - is built on the i20 platform and is a four-door sedan, so it will appeal to a different buyer than the i20, says Mann.  A better bet is the MD model - no name yet but the money's on i35 -that replaces the Elantra. Mann says the sedan is here midyear and will be a strong boost to the affordable family-oriented sector.  On a more concrete note, Hyundai is preparing its unusual three-door Veloster coupe for Australia. It arrives late this year as a 1.6-litre petrol engined four-seater with two side doors on the left side of the car, and one on the right.  It has been specifically engineered for the right-hand drive markets - the left-drive US market gets the two doors on the other side - and will be the successor (in terms of market) to the original Hyundai S-Coupe. It also gives Hyundai the chance to re-enter the coupe market after it quietly withdrew the Tiburon two-door model from the Australian showrooms about 18 months ago.