Hyundai last night launched their new i40 on to the Irish market and the brand would appear to have the big-selling Toyota Avensis in their sights. The new car, which we have driven here earlier in the summer now goes on sale officially in dealerships and initially only the Tourer model will be available, but a saloon will follow later in the year.
The i40 has a 1.7-litre 114hp turbodiesel engine mated to a six-speed manual gearbox with stop-start.
Emissions are particularly low at 113g/km. The 0-100km/h sprint takes 12.9 seconds and the 260Nm of torque comes in early at just 1,250rpm.
Hyundai is predicting 1,000 i40s in a full year of sales. Until the saloon arrives, buyers can buy the Tourer model for the same price as the saloon. It is also worth noting Hyundai's 5-Year Triple Care Warranty which comes with the new car. which includes 5-Year Unlimited Mileage Warranty, 5-Year Health Check and 5-Year Road Side Assistance.
There are two grades in the Hyundai i40 and these are Comfort and Executive. Comfort models have steel wheels and hubcaps, but it does get air conditioning, nine airbags, a leather steering wheel and Bluetooth for phone and music.
A premium of €1,500 gets you the Executive model though and this is where the smart money is at, because you get alloys, climate control, rear reversing camera, cruise control and pretty much everything else you could think of aside from leather upholstery.
The i40 is priced at €24,995 for the Comfort and €26,495 for the Executive model.