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66 | FireFlyz
Car
Review
Purr of The Orient
ZacharyHo
goesContinentalwithanAsianoffering.OrdidhegoAsianwithaContinental
offering?
A
Koreancar designedand
developed in Germany
to meet European stan-
dards and preference.
Hyundai opined that
Europe is a distinct and
big enough market to
warrant its own version of a D-segment
sedan. So, in the i40 they get their version
of the Sonata, a model sold in America
and Asia-Pacific. The i40 is now for sale
in Malaysia, alongside the Sonata, so we
get the best of both worlds. Talk about
globalisation.
LOOKS
The i40 continues Hyundai’s fluid design
style, but most of the flamboyance stayed
in front. The rear with its LED combination
lights and pseudo spoiler sculpted onto
the trunk lid looks like a fusion of Eastern
and Western design influences and is
comparatively nondescript if you ignore
the twin exhaust pipes.
Although derived from the Sonata’s
platform, the i40 resembles more of the
Elantra that’s one segment down. Both
front ends look very similar, except that
the i40 has bigger fog lamps. Even the
side profiles look nearly alike, if not for
the i40’s longer front and rear overhangs.
Due to its Euro-centric inclinations, the
car has a wheelbase that’s 25mm shorter
than the Sonata’s; length and width are
similarly reduced too.
POWER
It took a while, but Hyundai finally de-
cided that their direct injection engines
are durable enough for our fuel standards
and the i40 has the privilege to be their first
to carry it locally. On paper, the two-liter
Nu GDI (gasoline direct injection) engine
beats many class rivals in the power game.
It produces 178ps and 214Nm of torque.
In comparison, Hyundai’s own bigger
displacement 2.4-liter Theta II engine
(found in the Sonata and Tucson) gener-
ates the same horsepower and 14Nmmore
torque. Another engine for comparison is
the two-liter MPI (multi-point injection)
engine in the Nu family (also offered in the
Sonata) that churns out less power – 162ps
and 194Nmof torque, which is on par with
class rivals of the same engine capacity.
Power delivery is smooth and accelera-
tion is quite hushed. The self-developed
six-speed gearbox helps transfer the power
almost seamlessly in most cases. When it
comes to aggressive driving, there is some
slight hesitation in throttle response before
you feel the rush. It’s probably due to its
naturally sedate setting to go frugal on