Hyundai last night revealed its facelifted 2015 Hyundai i40 alongside the facelifted i30 and new i30 Turbo – gets tweaked exterior, engines, transmissions and handling tune-up.
RATHER THAN dribbling out one model after an another over the course of a few weeks, Hyundai last night revealed four new or facelifted models. One of them was this facelifted 2015 Hyundai i40 in both sedan and Tourer bodies.
The facelifted model gets a tighter look, tweaked diesel engines a new seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, improvements in ride and handling and borrows active safety features from the Hyundai Genesis.
Like the facelifted i30 range, the refreshed i40 gets new-look front and rear lights, a new front bumper which borrows the integrated LED fog lights from the Hyundai Genesis and a “more sophisticated hexagonal grille”.
The 2015 i40 is available with one diesel engine in two states of tune, and it is a 1.7-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel producing 85 and 104kW and 280 and 340Nm of torque depending on the variant. The detuned engine is available with a six-speed manual only while the more-power diesel engine gets both a six-speed manual and the inhouse-produced seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. Hyundai hasn’t said what the fuel consumption figures are.
To improve the handling of the 2015 i40, Hyundai have added Advanced Traction Cornering Control (ATCC) which relies on sensors to measure slip and grip and then behave like a limited-slip differential to improve cornering when driving hard. It’s not yet known whether this function will be offered in Australia as it’s market specific.
Another market specific addition is Rear Electronic Damping Control System (ECS), which will feature only on the i40 Tourer and will give the driver the ability to “adapt the suspension settings through [various] drive modes to suit [their] driving style. In addition to the rear suspension, the steering, the transmission and throttle response are all influenced by the selection. This technology follows the electronic damping control introduced on the Genesis”.
Other technologies borrowed from the Genesis and dependent on the local market, include the Smart High Beam (SHB) system , which monitors approaching traffic and automatically turns off the high beam to avoid dazzling other drivers. Hyundai will also offer a Speed Limit Identification Function system checks roadside signs and displays a current speed limit alert to the driver via the new TFT display on the instrument panel.
But, with Hyundai Australia having recently launched its flagship Genesis, it’s unlikely it will allow too much of that car’s halo technology to be available on the i40 locally for fear of eating into sales. But, with local specification not yet released, we’ll have to wait until closer to the launch in 2015 to find out how many, or how few Genesis cast-offs the i40 will get.
