Hyundai IX35 2011 News

The Korean couple are still not in the sports car class, but a preview drive wrapped around the opening of the Australian International Motor   Show highlights the changes made to Hyundai's new heroes. The i45 now has a smoother, cushier ride and much-improved straight-line stability and the ix35 feels more in-touch with the road, instead   of wobbling around over broken surfaces. The changes match the character of the cars and the people who will buy them, as Hyundai owners are most unlikely to be racecar drivers but enjoy a comfortable drive. It's taken less than six months to get the cars tweaked for Australia, which shows a remarkable commitment to Australian customers. Then   again, if it was so easy then we have to ask why the suspension work wasn't done in the first place? The answer is pretty simple: the top people at Hyundai didn't know what they didn't know. The decision makers thought the i45 and ix35 were just fine for Australians and Australian roads, and only realised they had made a mistake when the Carsguide crew - and some other experienced road testers including former Wheels editor Peter Robinson - began to complain. And complain, and complain. We knew from the get-go that the i45 was wonky and the ix35 could be better. And we said it and printed it. Hyundai reacted quickly to the complaints and the changes were also accelerated when Kia, which has an ix35 twin called the Sportage, turned out a much better SUV drive thanks to local suspension work by Carsguide hero Graeme Gambold. The work has all gone into simple things like springs, shock absorbers and anti-roll bars - although the costlier Amplitude Selective Dampers are also fitted across the i45 line - which proves Hyundai was close in the first place. It also says customer research showed no complaints about the way the i45 and ix35 drive. But Carsguide knows the difference, even between an i45 and a Toyota Camry - without worrying about a Mazda6 or Honda Accord Euro or Suzuki Kizashi - and that's why we joined the push to have things improved. Now the job is done and Hyundai has changed forever in Australia. It's an important switch and one which will make things even tougher for its opposition.

When the strikingly-designed mid-size sedan was released in May, it received  a positive reaction for its value and size, but derision for its sloppy dynamics.  The default set-up, which has NOT prevented the i45 becoming Korea's top selling passenger vehicle, is too soft and generally unresolved for this market. Embarrassingly for Hyundai, its ix35 has been the brunt of similar criticism just as its subsidiary Kia has employed engineer Graeme Gambold to sort its equivalent SUV, the Sportage. The latter's clearly superior dynamics see the parent company playing catch up. Despite emphasising the breadth of revisions to the i45, Hyundai were defensive about the car that it hopes more than any other will serve to shed the lingering remnants of its driveaway then chuckaway image. "From launch our position has been the i45 is an all-round package and we felt we have done that extremely well," product planner Roland Rivero says. "There was, of course, a handful of reviews that said from the dynamic side it doesn't tick the box. "Our focus was more attuned to Camry-like handling. It was never meant to be a sport car - I'd just like to point that out."  Even so, Rivero says the Amplitude Selective Dampers on Premium models have been recalibrated and introduced on Active and Elite model variants. Springs are firmed by up to 15 percent to curtail pitch and dive, and thicker stabiliser bars would arrest body roll. While the hydraulic steering has not been reset, these changes are claimed to result in a better weighted set up. "It's confidence inspiring for those driving in a more spirited manner, but we have been very careful not to alienate customers who have already bought the i45," Rivero says. These revisions are part of a 2011 upgrade package that include more fruit for a slight price rise.  Priced from $29,590 to $38,990, the i45 gets satellite navigation with Bluetooth standard on the Premium model and as a $1000 option on Active and Elite variants. Premiums also get heated front seats standard and all models have increased sound deadening to counter criticism of NVH measures. The i20 small hatch gets the old Volkswagen Golf-like "blue hue" instrument lighting to go with the Bluetooth that's standard on all trim levels. The base Active has side and curtain airbags standard to match the rest of the range's five star ANCAP rating. New pricing is $15,490-$23,490. The i30 also cops Bluetooth on all trim levels, minor styling touches, including silver roof rails on wagons, one touch indicating signals and headlamp escort function. Prices start at $19,590, with a $19,990 driveaway deal, up to $30,090. The 2011 ix35 range has rear parking sensors and steering revised with Motor Driven Power Steering (MDPS) and telescopic adjustment. AWD models get Amplitude Selective Dampers with prices now $26,990-$38,490.

The company is closely guarding images of the new ix35 — the replacement for the Tucson compact SUV — until its official unveiling at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month but it will owe much of its styling to the sexy ix-onic Concept displayed at the Geneva show earlier this year. "It is really attractive and it is closer in reality to its concept than a lot of others I have seen," Hyundai Australia's director for sales and marketing, Kevin McCann says. "I think, in that segment, people are starting to look for aesthetics. "They no longer want the chunky styling anymore but are looking for something that is sleek and fluid and slim-lined. This car certainly offers that." The ix35 will also be the launch platform for a range of new technologies to Hyundai including stop and go engine management, a family of double-clutch gearboxes for the two- and four-wheel drive platform and at least one new 1.6-litre four-cylinder direct injection petrol engine with an impressive 130kW output. "They are all things that we are looking at, although not everything is available to us," McCann says. "For example, ISG (idle engine stop/start) is only made in the Eastern European factory for the European market. "We would have to guarantee the factory in Korea sufficient demand for those items to justify them being made there, but that is something we are working on." While McCann would not be specific about which engine, gearbox and drivetrain combinations would be offered in Australia he did confirm that the new generation engines were part of the planning along with the new generation of transmissions. The Tucson is the company's third-best selling model behind the Getz and the i30 and McCann knows there can be no mistakes with its replacement when it arrives towards the middle of next year. "The compact SUV segment is an important part of our volume base," McCann says. "We do very well there right now because we are at the lower end of the price band for those SUVs. I think there is a natural ceiling at which you can price a Tucson, but with the new ix35 we will be able to have a very solid entry-level competitor and the design of the car will enable us to offer a wider range across the price band. We will be able to richen our mix considerably with it." That is likely to mean upward pressure on the larger Santa Fe, a heavily revised version of which will also be unveiled at the Frankfurt show. "This (the Santa Fe upgrade) is quite significant," McCann says. "We are respecifying some aspects of the car but I can't really give you the details of that right now." If the highly-specified ix35 is moved up-market into a price-range currently occupied by an entry-level Santa Fe the outcome is likely to be an opportunity for Hyundai to offer the new Santa Fe in less models but with a higher level of standard inclusions. The ix35 styling comes from the same team at the company's European design centre near Frankfurt which penned the i30. Speaking of the ix-onic concept in Geneva, design boss Thomas Buerkle said: "This is a dynamic sculpture ... it is an urban nomad. It is the new generation of SUV; a car of contrasts for a world of contrasts." Slightly larger than the Tucson at 4.4m long, the ix-onic was designed specifically for the European market with the target of younger buyers.