Test Drive: Hyundai i40 Tourer Sports 2.0 GDI Automatic - This could be the best D Segment Wagon on sale today.

Hyundai cars have come a looooong way since their introduction to this country. I remember when the first Hyundais made their way into our market in the early 1990s and during that time, there were not many takers of the brand. At a time where Proton had cars on waiting lists. Honda and Toyota were cars that people bought and where loan repayment periods were less than five years almost everyone bought what they could really afford or really want. So people went and bought the three cars mentioned above, as well as some Nissans by the dozens. Hyundai was still an afterthought. People did not see them as real quality stuff. Even I wasn't bothered with this Korean upstart.

But it wasn't the general public's fault. The earliest Hyundais were horrid creatures. They had something called the Scoupe, which was short for Sporty Coupe. It may have been called something else that starts with an S and it sure as hell wasn't sporty. It wasn't even remotely fast with the 1.5liter Mitsubishi engine that was installed in it. They also made something called the Sonata for the full sized family car category. It was categorically just as bad as the Scoupe as it was dull to look at, had horrible plastics and somehow not as enjoyable behind the wheel. As a means of transport, the Sonata of the early 1990s was fine. But that being said, so was a horse cart.

However, I must state for the record that times have changed. It has been quite ingrained in my sometimes pessimistic mind that the Koreans have not really caught up with the Joneses; the Toyota, Honda, Nissan and especially the continentals like Audi, BMW, Mercedes Benz or even Volvo for that matter. How wrong have I been. The Hyundai i40 Tourer I drove recently is a fabulous, fabulous animal.

The Design & Equipment

The Hyundai i40 Tourer (as well as the sedan) was designed specifically for the European market and somehow Hyundai Malaysia has chosen to sell it with their other D segment or full sized car, the Sonata. The car gets Hyundai's current design language, the 'fluidic scuplture' and it this station wagon or shall I say, Shooting Brake form looks pretty good. However, the model tested was the full monty i40 Tourer Sport 2.0 GDI Auto and in this 'sport' specification comes with a bodykit (as well as a roof and bicycle rack) whilst aggressive with its front splitter, side skirts and rear diffuser complete with twin squarish tailpipes, looks a little heavy arsed.

I do believe the standard i40 Tourer looks better and it (aside from the bodykit and roof rack with adds close to RM5,000) gets the same equipment as this Tourer Sport. The i40 Tourer comes in with everything from cornering lights, standard day–time running lights with Xenon headlamps and TFT (Thin Film Transistor) LCD supervision instrument cluster, electric parking brake with an automatic hold function, Rear-Seat Video Entertainment Screens (optional for Sedan), and 10-way driver and passenger adjustable power seat.

It also features Electronic Stability Programme (ESP), Anti-lock Brake System (ABS), Hillstart Assist Control (HAC - the AutoHold button above beside the electronic park brake and all round park sensor which you can view from the instrument cluster screen) , Brake Assist System, Vehicle Stability Management (VSM) and Emergency Stop Signal and 9 airbags, which includes an airbag for each the driver and passengers, two side curtain airbags and four thorax airbags at the outboard seating positions with an additional airbag for the driver’s knees and legs.

The Engine, Transmission & other specification

The i40 Tourer Sport comes with a Hyundai's 2-litre NU GDI (Gasoline Direct Injection) engine. The 1,999 cc engine makes 177ps and 213nm of torque which powers the front wheels via a six-speed automatic gearbox. The strange thing is that the Tourer actually makes 1ps and 1nm less than the sedan. Which is quite strange.

The i40 Tourer has a wheelbase measuring 2770cm and is very roomy. Both at the front and at the rear. It is quite deceptively small in looks but when you get close, and then step in it you then realise that the i40 is indeed a large car. The i40 Tourer seats can also be folded over for more cargo space of up to 1,719 litres and the tailgate gets a fully electrically powered one which allows one touch opening and closing – like a higher up the line Continental wagon. Quite a feat at this price range. And with all that sophistication, it still allows you to fill it with tons of shopping.

Driving the Darn Thing

When you get into the i40 Tourer Sports you first notice the now common slightly futuristic dashboard design of the car. The second thing you notice is that the interior is nicely put together with a lot of soft touch plastics, leather and bits of polished bits too. You notice that the material used in the cabin is good to the touch and then you would notice that the switchgear, knobs, steering are all pleasant to hold too. Aside from looking its part everything is nicely weighted and tactile to the touch. Then you notice the European type light switch on the dashboard instead of on stalks and you feel that this isn't the usual run of the mill Korean car you've sitting inside. If you want a comparison, it is better than what you'd get in the Hyundai Sonata. Miles better.

The only issues that I personally have with the i40's dashboard layout are the spit vents and that some secondary controls are located closer to the passenger than the driver. But those are minor quibbles. As is the fact that I do wish Hyundai could try make a less fashion forward looking dashboard (and less blue lighting) and be a little more conservative. But that's just my opinion. The rest of the interior is pretty good and closer to continental levels of finishing. Even doing it better than all of the Japanese competitors in this price range. Yes. The interior material quality is that good and the seating position is spot on for spirited driving.

As with most high end Hyundais you start it up with the key located in your pocket by pressing the start button. Everything lights up to a nice blue (which you can adjust the meter cluster brightness to suit). Even the audio navigation system screen looks a little better than the ones from a class down (the Tucson and the Elantra).

Now on the move you will first notice that the car is well insulated from road noise and engine noise. At speed however you notice that there it some wind noise from the roof and the cause of this is the optional roof and bicycle rack. At around 100kmh and above it will whistle for you. And you do not want that as the car is actually bloody quiet at cruising speeds.

The ride is also sublime with the right amount of damping and sportiness. It isn't stupidly springy and soft like a Camry nor is it hard like the Honda Accord or the hardest of the lot, the Mazda 6. It has that continental flavour to it and even a few friends say that it rides somewhat like an Audi A4. There is no secondary ride issues to and going over potholed roads is handled with the shocks working but the occupants not feeling too much jarring or even extra noises from the struts or mounts. The i40 Tourer has the NVH portion licked if not for the roof rack. This is starting to be good.

Now the handling of this car is also quite good. The steering feels good too, with some feel and nicely weighted too. You can predictably throw this 1,560kg+ wagon into corners hard and the car will stay planted. It is still very nose led but I would prefer this in a longish front wheel drive wagon. It is still throttle adjustable if the road is wide enough for you to do so and it will also take sweeping corners with ease. This is one car which is very, very easy to do long distance cruise on all sorts of roads. You can tell from the in-car vid that I have posted below that belting it on a tight road does not require much effort. In fact this is one of the cars where I have driven for more than a few hours over windy roads as well as ttraffic and not felt exhausted after the drive. The chassis is predictable and good. So good that this is another of those cars that could easily handle another 50 more horsepower in order to make things even more fun.

The brakes are good. It should be able to handle more power too although the initial bite isn't as strong as I would have liked. It is easy to modulate at speed and able to slow down the car adequately well. The ABS and traction control (in the dry) isn't intrusive as it should be for a car with a sporty setup.

And speaking of power the 2.0liter Nu direct injection engine is a smooth operator. It is not strained even in its current state of tune (177ps/213nm) and revs to the its close to 7,000rpm redline easily and smoothly with no significant change in the engine note from 4000rpm to the shift point slightly below the redline. As with all direct injection engines, the high compression makes it feel like a tuned performance engine. It does not feel lethargic and quite able to pull the i40 in wagon form quite well. Of course, it would feel better in the slightly lighter (and 1hp, 1Nm more powerful – as if that will make a difference) i40 sedan. I do believe in this state of tune the Nu GDI still has more to show but Hyundai has put a cap on it for the sake of reliability. This engine is actually one of the better 2.0liter engines that has reached our shores, if it is not the best. 

Most of the Japanese offerings here still forsake Direct Injection (and forced induction) and make less power (around 150-165hp and around 190-200nm torque). I think this is a big mistake. This engine is one of the best normally aspirated lumps around as you have to note that even if you compared the horsepower figures to the VW Passat 1.8TSI sold here it makes more horses (177ps against 160ps) but slightly less torque (213Nm against 250Nm). Compare it with Mazda's 2.0liter engine and you get 177ps against 155ps and 213Nm against 200Nm. Of course, when you compare it to the Mazda 6 Grand Touring wagon, which has a 2.5liter it loses out as that has 185hp and 250Nm torque. But you do save on road tax.

As for performance figures, the i40 Tourer Sports did the 0-100kmh dash in about 10.5 seconds. Yes, it isn't rapid as expected but do remember that it has to lug over 1560kg (including this chubby driver). It will cruise on the highways at over 180kmh easily but its sweet spot seems to be around 140-150kmh where you still don't work up a sweat driving it. But again, get rid of the roof rack when you want to do so as it whistles, whistles and whistles.

Conclusion

So aside from the roof rack making some noise, are there any other issues with the car? No. Not really. This really surprised me. I wished it had a bit more power or that it was slightly lighter (but I could get the sedan for this) but this is a 2.0liter category car, so you cannot ask for much more than this. However I must state that the i40 Tourer's fuel consumption may be a little average in its class– 12.3ltrs/100km was what I got. This is a pretty average figure which I believe boils down to it having extra weight compared to the sedan.

When I was handed the keys to the i40 Tourer Sport I had my reservations about this car. After driving the darn thing I have to say that this is one of the better 2.0liter sedans/wagons out there on sale today. In its tourer/wagon format I do believe that with its reliability, after sales warranty and value added services package, its performance and its practicality.

The Hyundai i40 Tourer Sport is priced at RM179,897.50. If you compare this wagon with other wagons on sale in Malaysia you will find that this has the most value. The Mazda 6 2.5 Touring comes in at RM193,849.50 OTR and a 2.5liter road tax to boot. There is the Subaru Legacy 2.5 Wagon but that sells for over RM220,000 so it isn't good value for money at all.

The Peugeot 508 SW saves on road tax as it has a 1.6turbocharged engine and is similar in price – 179,888.00 BUT, note the big BUT here, I suggest not really going for this i40 Tourer Sport variant unless you like the bodykit a whole lot and you like bicycling and get the normal i40 Tourer at RM174,097.50. To me it looks less heavy arsed and gets rid of that bicycle rack. Or you could sell off the bicyce rack for a thousand five hundred Ringgit and keep the bodykit and be cheaper than the Pug. Oh, it may be actually cheaper to maintain in the long run compared to the Pug too.

So there you have it. The Hyundai i40 Tourer Sports 2.0GDI. A fabulous station wagon for its price. One I believe to be the best bang for buck in this smallish category. In fact, after driving this for a while I must say that the i40 sedan (RM155,836.50 OTR) could be one of the best in its class. Kimchi has overtaken Sushi in terms of overall execution in the full sized sedan (D segment) category.

Hyundai i40 Tourer Sport Nu 2.0 GDI AT Specifications

Base Price: RM179,897.50 (with insurance).

It also comes with a 5 year / 300,000km extended warranty AND 1 year Hyundai Leader Card membership. Members get to enjoy premium services and VIP privileges such as the luxury concierge services and personalised medical assistance.

Body: 5 door Station Wagon
Mechanical Orientation: Front Wheel Drive

Engine: 4 cylinder 16 valve fuel injected 2.0-litre normally aspirated direct injection
Power: 177PS
Torque: 213 NM
Transmission: 6 speed automatic with Tiptronic

Weight: approximately 1,560kg

0-100 km/h: 10.5 seconds (tested)
Top Speed: 185+kmh (tested)

Fuel Consumption: I got an average of around 12.3ltr/100km

For: Massively long equipment list, interior space, interior quality – fit and finish, comfy seats, quiet interior (more so if not for the bicycle rack), entertaining handling, great ride and handing balance, good performance from the engine, styling, good value for money due to the equipment given, feels quite Continental in its layout, ride and overall feel (think Ford Mondeo and a little bit of VW/Audi), best bang in its class (D segment station wagon)

Against: a little pricey (for some), the sedan's cheaper and may give you the same thrills or more, average fuel economy, badge snobbery for some Malaysians, wind noise due to optional bicycle rack, audio system good but may need some 'Infinity' tuning like in the Kia Optima, I'd buy the sedan one or the normal tourer (pictured below) over this

Do note that the wheels of the Tourer Sports will look like the ones on this Tourer (without bodykit and roof rack)