HYUNDAI I40 Estate 2011 on

Early impressions are that I very much love this car. It feels very solidly built and is a joy to be sat in - especially at night with the dash lit up in its blue hue - I spend a lot of time in my car and its very important to me that I enjoy being in it and I think I am going to like this one.

With 4 of us in the car I can certainly feel that there is not as much poke in the I40’s 1.7L engine as in my previous 2.2L Citroen C5, but it will spend 90% of its time on the road with only me in it, and when it was just me, it feels like it has plenty enough shove to get me around.

Any niggles so far -main one is that I haven’t got close to the advertised mpg rate so far. Long term, I will be disappointed if I can’t routinely average over 50mpg.

The indicator stalk feel a bit flimsy and is out of character with the rest of the car which feels like it is built from quality materials. And the headlights are, well, rubbish. I may need to invest in some more powerful bulbs.

Some of the toys give the impression that they have been added with no final thought about whether their operation is optimised for the convenience of the driver. For example:

a. I miss the automatic folding of the mirrors when the car is locked that I used have on my Citroen C5. I used to look back at the C5 and be reassured that the car was locked because the mirrors were folded!

b. I wish the auto hold was activated automatically without me having to do it although I love the concept of it.

c. It annoys me a bit that the parking sensors beep when in close proximity to something behind me even though I don’t have the car in reverse.

d. The I40 won’t let the parking brake disengage until the seatbelt is on - argh! Nanny State!!!

But these are just niggles. Overall, there is so much to enjoy about this car. The panoramic sunroof is a joy, the media unit is excellent, the reversing camera is great. The car is very comfortable, feels smooth and quiet on the road and is a real head turner.

This is a car to be proud of and Hyundai have come on immeasurably with this car. I would recommend it to anyone based on early experience with it and all my family and friends are well impressed with it!

So having looked around and driven most of the competitors I was starting to feel that I wouldn't find what I was looking for. A family member recommended the brand to me, so off I went to my local Hyundai dealer. Glad I did. the moment I walked into the showroom the i40 appealed to me.

Two months in I love it. having put a few thousand miles under it's belt with a mixture of journey types. Fuel economy is improving with mileage, averaging 51 mpg on a steady motorway run.

Comfort and fit and finish is excellent, the interior was a real surprise with a feel that is very German. The level of equipment is to be commended.

The engine feels a lot bigger in capacity than 1.7L with plenty of overtaking power. In fact I regularly have to use the speed limiter on the motorway because the car is so quiet at speed that you don't notice the speed creep up over the legal limit.

Ride is very good with all road surfaces handled very well, only the roughest of roads causing any intrusion of noise into the cabin. Space inside is generous, rear leg room is very impressive. The boot has handled everything I have thrown at it.

Overall I cannot rate this car high enough, go and have a look for yourself.

I cant say enough about how good this car is!!! When I was suggested it I must admit that I was not confident about the brand. It is however quite possibly the best car I have ever driven. It does not feel like a 1.7 deisel more like in the 2-3l range and the gadgets are fantastic.

Reliability seams top (still early days though) but build quality feels a country mile away from the old Hyundai plastic.

I have just taken it from Manchester to Bournemouth and back and can say that for a motorway cruiser it really is second to none.

I THINK YOU WOULD STRUGLE TO FIND ONE AFTER READING SOME WRITE UP'S ON THE CAR INCLUDING THE ONE'S ON THIS WEBSITE I WAS VERY WILLING THE GIVE THE BRAND A TRY. I HAD THE CAR A TOTAL OF A WEEK AND EVEN THAT WAS FAR TO LONG FOR ME. I DON'T SEE WHAT SO GOOD ABOUT THIS CAR IN FACT BY THE END OF THE WEEK I COULD'NT SEE ANYTHING GOOD ABOUT THE CAR. IT WAS SO UNCOMFORTABLE AND RATTLEY. THE WHOLE CAR JUST FELT CHEAP. THE PROFORMANCE WAS AS HIGHLY DISSAPIONTING, VERY SLUGISH ON PULL AWAY AND NOT VERY ECONOMICAL. OVERALL THE PRICE MAY SEEM CHEAP BUT TRY ONE OUT AND YOU'LL VERY QUICKLY CHANGE YOUR MIND.

YOU PROBABLY UNDERSTAND HOW HAPPY I WAS TO GET BACK TO MY LOVELY GTD GOLF.

I had an IX35 from Hyundai, my review appears on this same site, nice car, shame about the running costs! My local Hyundai dealer was very keen to sell me an I40 (targets to achieve I guess) Being self employed and VAT registered I was given a discount just shy of £2800, which made the decision all the easier. I have the 'blue drive' version of the 136PS 1.7CRDI Style model. This is one removed from the top of the range Premium, so I miss out on the leather and huge sun roof, but still did get more extra's as standard than any other car I've owned previously including 'Stop Start', electronic driving brake and parking brake, built in Navigation system, the best blue tooth phone system I've ever used, and many many others. The stop start system is disconcerting at first, but a hoot, when you get used to it, due to the low emissions, there is NO ROAD FUND LICENSE to pay in year one and only £30 per year after that! This is a big saving! Other than this, its quiet - the engine (remember its a diesel) is almost inaudible, it has comfortable ride, is absolutely rattle free, and it can easily be said is a nice place to be for a long journey. The sound system and navigation unit is superb. I'm getting about 54mpg at the moment which is a 25% improvement on the IX35 I used to drive, that's with only 3000 miles on the clock. I'm now 58, I've driven a few cars over the years, but even I can't believe what I'm about to say - This is the best car I've owned to date. If you have any hang ups about the brand, fair enough, but if you can judge a car on its merits alone, you cant fail to be impressed - My advice - take a test drive - a long one if you can, I'd be astonished if you felt any different than myself after a good test drive. The other aspect that I like about driving this car, because it is very pretty to look at, is the number of people who come up and ask me to tell them about it, it's been a long time since I've experienced that, the last time this happened to myself was back in 1972 with my Kawasaki 250 S1 motorbike - I had the first one on the road in South Wales

I have recenlty brought the I40 and all i can say is WOW!. it has every imaginable gadget on it as i went for the top of the range model.

Drive position, comfort and ride is all brilliant. along with space, can fit my two new foundlands in the back no problem!!! the engine is economical on long journeys but as with all diesels is not really designed for running round the town.

The only slight niggle is the auto parking brake, you have to have your seatbelt on for it too automatically release and if your like me who pulls away whilst putting it on it stops you!.

Other than that an absolutely brilliant car i would recommend to anyone.