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Hyundai i40: spacious estate car that’s tiny on company car tax

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8 August 2011

Hyundai i40 Tourer Style 1.7CRDi 136PS Blue Drive business car road test report

Hyundai i40 Tourer Style 1.7CRDi 136PS Blue Drive

Hyundai i40 Tourer Style 1.7CRDi 136PS Blue Drive

What is it?

HYUNDAI is emerging swan-like from its ugly duckling past, leaving witless dullards like the old Sonata on the scrap heap with engaging new models and a new design language.

First was the Ford Focus rival hatchback i30 model; then we had the more audacious ix35 compact SUV and the stylish ix20 supermini featuring the company’s new sculptured ‘fluidic design’ language. Now we have the most serious car yet in Hyundai’s step-change transformation: the new i40 Tourer. The new i40 competes in the competitive company car class defined by the Ford Mondeo. Get it right here, and the car can define the whole brand. But is the new Hyundai i40, which arrives first as a Tourer estate car before the saloon follows, worth considering?

We grabbed the business-focused 136PS i40 Style Blue Driver – expected by Hyundai to be most popular with company car and business drivers – to find out for you. On the road price for this model is £22,295; add £445 for metallic paint.

What’s hot?

      • Those ‘fluidic design’ looks – rub your eyes – yes, this is a Hyundai
      • But despite rakish roofline, inside room is highly spacious
      • It’s best in class for front head, shoulder and legroom…
      • …But that doesn’t mean those in the rear suffer…
      • This car can swallow a 6 footer in the front with a 6 footer behind
      • And then there’s the 533 litre boot, extending to flat-floored 1719 litres
      • Plus the lowest in class floor level with a low lip for easy loading…
      • …or using as a seat for picnics
      • Flexible underfloor storage compartments, too, for hiding valuables
      • Blue Drive tech (stop-start, low resistance tyres) means 62.5mpg
      • Along with 119g/km CO emissions for 13% company car tax
      • If you want lower CO2, there’s the 113g/km 115PS model and 65+mpg
      • Low insurance rate – from group 12, the same as the i10 city car
      • As well as low tax and running costs
      • Plus there’s all the business tools you need on Style spec…
      • …Bluetooth wireless, touchscreen colour sat-nav, 16 inch alloys…
      • …rear parking screen, folding door mirrors…
      • …you can even play movies via your iPod on the screen
      • Heated steering wheel part of £600 comfort pack …think winter!
      • Ride is firm but compliant so bumps don’t become an irritation
      • While on the motorway it’s quiet and refined
      • Long gearing: you’ll need to change down to access the 325Nm torque…
      • …you’ll soon discover it’s there as the pace quickly gathers
      • There’s good lease rates from Hyundai Contract Hire, starting from £234
      • And it’s all backed up by Hyundai’s 5 year peace of mind triple care deal

What’s not?

      • Ticks all the right business boxes…
      • …but emotional pull of Hyundai brand still suspect
      • Long gearing: you’ll need to change down to access the 325Nm torque…
      • …you’ll soon discover it’s there, though, as the pace quickly gathers
      • Rear doors shut with a satisfying clunk, but heavy to push open
      • Some of the finishing could be better
      • Watch for the company car tax band jump to 17% in 2012/13

What you need to Know?

 

P11D Value: 22,240
Monthly Rental*: 278 (CH)/£334 (PCH)
Tax Band when posted: 13%, 17%, 18%
Monthly BiK: Click link for BIK
Engine: 1.7-litre 4-cyl turbo diesel
CO2 Emissions: 119g/km
Power/torque: 136PS/325Nm
Economy: 62.8mpg

Monthly contract hire (CH) and personal contract hire (PCH) rentals generated by Concept Vehicle Leasing. Based on a 36 month lease at 10,000 miles a year, 3+35 payments.

Business Car Manager Road Test Rating

Put aside any brand snobbery right now: the new Hyundai i40 is a very good car. The new i40 is stylish, spacious, relaxing to drive and in this Style trim, brimful with all the business kit a business car driver could want.

Plus there’s low company car tax, low running costs and Hyundai’s excellent Triple Care package of five years’ unlimited warranty, five years’ roadside assistance, and five years’ free inspections which are supplied whether you are a business buyer or a retail buyer.

Add in value for money – and Hyundai’s own exceptional contract hire rate of just £234 for this model available through Hyundai dealers – and the new Hyundai i40 Tourer makes a compelling case as a company car estate.

Watch our video road test review

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Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Business Car Manager (now renamed Business Motoring). Ralph writes extensively about the car and van leasing industry as well as wider fleet and company car issues. A former editor of What Car?, Ralph is a vastly experienced writer and editor and has been writing about the automotive sector for over 35 years.

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