Hyundai ix35
Any of you who regularly read my columns probably realise that I feel 4x4's have a place. That place is off road. Land Cruisers, Land Rovers and their ilk are big and unwieldy. Slow to accelerate, hardly wieldy on tight fast paced mountain passes, and suspensions that roll about like an obese pissed gastronome on a frozen lake after having being given a good shove. Still housewives and Mr Family Man want them. Whether for penis substituting macho reasons or because, although a station wagon would g i v e t h e m t h e i r s p a c e requirements, who want to be caught dead in one?
Thus the pseudo 4x4 is here to stay. No pretences at low range gear ratios, nary a mention of approach and departure angles or that swear word, wading depth. No sir those days are over. The important issues with the modern four wheel drive? Elegant looks, reduced g r o u n d c l e a r a n c e , f u e l consumption, 0-100 times.
Crash protection. What do we have? The re-invention of the family wagon. So to the recent reveal of Hyundai's replacement of the ageing Tucson. Tucson was a product that took Hyundai mainstream. An affordable entry into the soft-roader domain for non brand conscious buyers. A forget-ably conservative slab sided design garnished in dollops of cheap plastics and with the looks that only an accountant could fall in love with. So as the smoke and mirrors lift we get a glimpse of muscular flanks with Bangle-esque flame surfaces that manage to come off taught, butch and strangely desirable looking.
With a hexagonal and aggressive front grill. Hyundai, Audi are calling, they want their grille design back! They start talking about their car and one of the first points is reduced ground clearance! See? told you. 10mm down while wider and longer with increased overhangs. I.e. more space, more wagon, less off road capability.
On to some technical specs, there is an amazing new bit of it, with the six speed gearbox fitted to the ix35. The gearbox, is of tran-saxle design, built and designed in-house, remarkably 12 kilos lighter than the 5 speed it replaces, 41mm shorter, remarkably, has 62 fewer parts and as its final party trick, incredibly, has no dip-stick, maintenance free with ATF in it good for the life of the vehicle. The R2.0 Turbo diesel is available with this option. It is surprisingly the pick of the bunch.
The quickest off of the line with the best fuel consumption. Good drivetrain, comfy suspension, soaking up corrugations on gravel roads well, a decent compromise of sportiness, leaning towards the needs of the more pedestrian driver. The road noise is about the only noticeable intrusion on passenger comfort, while not terrible or particularly bad, it is an area with room for improvement.
Rich plastics and soft touch dash materials are the dominant interior tactile elements with decent lashings of quality. The eastern players finally seem to be realising that we need to sit in and enjoy being in our cars. Good leg room and a pretty, sporty dash design complete the interior. I-pod connectivity built in, such a pity the radio unit does not come specced with RDS. Steering wheel based cruise control and audio controls are however standard. The lack of blue-tooth, even as an option, is sad, forcing one to go aftermarket.
This diesel auto comes loaded: panoramic sunroof, keyless go, leather, dual zone climate control, cute indicator repeaters in the mirrors, lots of airbags, hill desent as well as various stability controls. I think that the fact that these “off roaders” are available in both 4x4 and 4x2 makes sense. These will be driven on the road. The road may be gravel at times, but on the road nonetheless. I think the one to get is the Auto Diesel, not cheap at R369 900 but considering the 5 year 100 000 service plan and guarantee and the standard fitment of most modcons it is extremely competitively priced.
Outlander and x-trail beware! I just wish there was a diesel auto 4x2 derivative.
