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Performance with no
penalty in fuel economy or emissions
(05/07/2008) |
Hyundai’s i10 is already a sell-out
success, but that hasn’t stopped the company introducing a new engine
choice to make the city car even more competitive.
Available from September in the mid and
top-of-the-range Comfort and Style models, the new 1.2-litre,
four-cylinder ‘Kappa’ petrol unit offers considerable benefits in
refinement and performance over the 1.1-litre with no penalty in fuel
economy or emissions.
The introduction of the engine will
mean all new i10s with manual transmissions will fall into VED band B,
with road tax of just £35 a year and considerable tax savings for
company car drivers.
The efficiency of the new all-alloy
unit means that power output has been improved by 18 percent to 77PS and
torque rises from 98Nm to 118Nm – a massive 20 percent increase compared
to the 1.1-litre. There is also significantly improved in-gear driving
flexibility and more relaxed cruising.
As a result the top speed rises from 94
to 102mph and the benchmark 0-62mph sprint drops by nearly three seconds
to 12.8 seconds. Despite this the CO2 emissions and combined
fuel consumption are identical to the smaller 1.1-litre engine at
119g/km and 56.5mpg.
At the same time as the
new engine, the range-topping Style model also gets leather trim for its
steering wheel, gear lever skirt and handbrake to give a more upmarket
feel to the interior.
Another benefit is the availability of
an Electronic Stability Programme as an option for the first time on the
i10. Building on the exceptional four-star NCAP result awarded to the
i10 recently, ESP is now available as a low-cost £350 option on all
1.2-litre models. It makes the i10 one of the most affordable ways to
buy a car with this proven safety benefit.
Despite all of these improvements, the
price of the Style model rises by just £150 compared with the 1.1-litre
to £7,995, while the Comfort rises by £200 to £7,545. As with all i10
models, air conditioning and a five-year warranty are standard.
The new engine will also allow
production volumes of the i10 to be increased to fulfil the
unprecedented global demand. In the UK, more than 2,500 i10s have been
delivered to customers - but there are still waiting lists for all
models at dealerships. Some dealers have even been advertising i10s at
prices above ‘list’ – a situation usually reserved for the latest
supercars rather than city cars!
The first of the new 1.2-litre models
will be arriving at Hyundai dealerships in September.
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