It's not a hot hatch or a sexy roadster, but the all-new Hyundai i30 Wagon has a big part to play in Europe. Revealed today ahead of the Geneva Motor Show debut, the Korean wagon is every bit the competitor for its Renault Megane or Peugeot 308 foes.
The wagon looks just like the Elantra GT that made its debut in Chicago a few weeks ago. It's got a sleek shape with plenty of chrome covering up its somewhat understated design. As is usually the case with hatchbacks that get stretched, roof rails and a stretched rear overhang make up the bulk of the changes. However, we like how the sloped the side glass a la CLS Shooting Brake... for plebs, of course.
The numbers back up our theory. The 2,650mm wheelbase of the i30 Wagon is identical to that of the hatch, but the body is 245mm longer. Behind the enlarged trunk opening, we find 602 liters of standard trunk space, compared to the 395 liters of the hatch.
Once the seats are folded flat, you get 1650 liters of space, which Hyundai says is more than in the Golf, Astra, and Focus. But that's just marketing talk; in reality, they're mostly the same size.
Hyundai might be a Korean automaker, but the i30 Wagon looks like a car designed by Germans for Germans. Let's not forget that they have a test center at the Nurburgring and all development in Rüsselsheim am Main. Yes, that's Opel's hometown.
The Germans don't really like small engines, but that's what Hyundai has laying around. The base unit is a 1.0-liter turbo pushing 120 PS, which is followed up by the 140 PS 1.4-liter. Diesel customers will have to decide between 95, 110 or 136 PS versions of the 1.6 CRDi. All but two of these units will be offered with DSG-style gearboxes. However, there's no AWD like in the Golf.
The numbers back up our theory. The 2,650mm wheelbase of the i30 Wagon is identical to that of the hatch, but the body is 245mm longer. Behind the enlarged trunk opening, we find 602 liters of standard trunk space, compared to the 395 liters of the hatch.
Once the seats are folded flat, you get 1650 liters of space, which Hyundai says is more than in the Golf, Astra, and Focus. But that's just marketing talk; in reality, they're mostly the same size.
Hyundai might be a Korean automaker, but the i30 Wagon looks like a car designed by Germans for Germans. Let's not forget that they have a test center at the Nurburgring and all development in Rüsselsheim am Main. Yes, that's Opel's hometown.
The Germans don't really like small engines, but that's what Hyundai has laying around. The base unit is a 1.0-liter turbo pushing 120 PS, which is followed up by the 140 PS 1.4-liter. Diesel customers will have to decide between 95, 110 or 136 PS versions of the 1.6 CRDi. All but two of these units will be offered with DSG-style gearboxes. However, there's no AWD like in the Golf.