Used Hyundai i40 Tourer (2011-2019) Review

In other words, if you made a big checklist of all the things that are good about the Hyundai i40 Tourer you’d come up with a desirable car, yet you’d never actually write 'desirable' as one of its traits.

Initially the i40 Tourer was only one engine, a 1.7-litre diesel in three versions - 115PS, 136PS and 141PS. This was replaced by a 1.6 CRDi diesel late in 2018, while a 1.6-litre GDi petrol was also introduced. One thing all these engines have in common is impressive fuel economy - with the latest diesels capable of a combined 54.3mpg under WLTP tests.

Cabin quality is excellent throughout, with good use of soft-touch plastics for the upper dash and door trim plus glossy black trim even for base models. Some of the dials and buttons are flimsy and the dashboard design occasionally falls into the 'trying too hard' category with its swoopy creases, but overall the i40 Tourer has a quality feel.

So, it’s well-equipped, spacious, high quality and the numbers stack up. But what the i40 Tourer lacks is any sense of fun. Granted, fun is rarely a priority for estate buyers if you believe the cliche, but everything about the i40 Tourer just does a decent job – no more, no less. 

Similar estates include the Toyota Avensis Tourer, the Ford Mondeo Estate and the Skoda Octavia Estate.

All cars get alloy wheels, Bluetooth and air conditioning plus you only need jump one grade to SE Nav for a full colour touchscreen multimedia setup and climate control – this is a well-equipped car, far from ‘low budget’ in that respect.  

Cabin quality is excellent throughout, with good use of soft-touch plastics for the upper dash and door trim plus glossy black trim even for base models. Some of the dials and buttons are flimsy and the dashboard design occasionally falls into the 'trying too hard' category with its swoopy creases, but overall the i40 Tourer has a quality feel.

Boot space is another strength. With the seats up there’s 553 litres of luggage space – that’s more than a Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer and folding the seats down is very straightforward with just one handle and a quick push needed. Dropping them increases the overall capacity to 1719 litres and the boot floor itself is wide. There is also a useful Audi-style luggage ‘organiser’. It’s essentially a metal bar that slides up and down the boot floor on rails, so you can stop bags and suitcases moving about the place. In fact, it’s easier to use than the Audi one.

That all means it’s far better on the motorway than it is around town or anywhere else – involving to drive the i40 Tourer is not.

It’s worth noting that there’s a big difference in feel between the torque convertor automatic gearbox available with the older EU5 136PS engine and the dual-clutch automatic (DCT) with the later 141PS unit. The former is a real weakness, sapping the life out of the engine and coming with a significant fuel economy penalty, sinking it to a 47.1mpg average from 62.8mpg with a manual.

The more modern DCT is a far better driving experience – quicker to chenge gear and with better low range engine response – but surprisingly it too reduces economy, albeit not as drastically, dropping it to 56.5mpg. By comparison, a 150PS 2.0-litre Volkswagen Passat estate specificed with a twin-clutch DSG will return 62.8mpg, which is only a few miles per gallon less than the manual.

One thing you’re guaranteed with any i40 is a lack of pace, with no variant of the sole 1.7-litre diesel getting below a double figure 0-62mph time. As with much about the i40 though, numbers only tell half the story because, in fact, even the 115PS unit has a healthy 260Nm torque at just 1250rpm, while the 141PS unit has 340Nm at 1700rpm.

To a greater or lesser extent in both cases, there’s a surge of acceleration from the off, but it rapidly tails off. It means a lot of gear changing around town with a manual, but that’s no real hardship because the i40 Tourer has a light, pleasant gear shift action.

Light is the best way to describe the steering too, giving the car a feeling of low-speed agility that belies its length – at 4.8 metres this is a long estate. Sadly it also provides almost zero information about the relationship between the wheels and the road, making for especially numb cornering sensation.

But do you care about that? Because in every other way this is a very pleasant estate car. There’s surprisingly little chugging from the diesel engine and the car’s combination of an excellent, quite low-slung driving position, supportive seats and supple driving position make it pretty relaxing transport.  

The 1.7-litre diesel with 115ps (fitted with Hyundai’s ISG stop and go engine system) will return a claimed 65.7mpg and emit just 113g/km of CO2. That made it a very attractive choice for company car drivers when it was new.

But in a car like this we’d say it's better to have one – it improves the cabin ambience and the used car value, if nothing else.

Other kit that makes SE Nav appealing includes a heated steering wheel, heated front seats, electric adjustment for the driver’s seat and electric heated door mirrors, while DAB radio comes with the nav system and there are parking sensors all round.

SE Business takes things up a notch, naturally, including part-leather ventilated seats, parking sensor displays and keyless smart entry with a start-stop engine button.

Finally, Premium adds features like a full-colour instrument display between the driver dials, heated rear seats and alloy pedals. It’s worth noting that Premium gets a couple of extra safety features too, including two extra airbags, with a pair of rear side ones adding to the seven that are standard, and a lane departure warning system. Premium cars are distinguished by 18-inch alloy wheels and satin chrome trim.