Hyundai will significantly boost its diesel appeal in 2009 with the arrival of two new Euro V compliant powerplants that will slot into the next-gen Tucson, Sonata, Santa Fe and i30.
Tell me more about these new Hyundai dervs…
The new 2.0 and 2.2-litre diesels feature a third generation common rail system with piezo-electric injectors to deliver fuel at 1800-bar. Fitted with a particulate trap as standard, the 2.0-litre unit develops 181bhp and 289lb ft, while the bigger 2.2-litre unit pumps out 197bhp and 335lb ft of torque. Hyundai claims class-leading economy, too, but has yet to publish consumption and emissions figures.
Both units swing with a hefty technological punch – electronic variable geometry turbocharger, all-aluminium construction, 16-valve dohc heads and weight-saving plastic intake manifold oil filter housings. Hyundai built over 500 prototype engines is the powerplants’ 42-month development period.
So when do they arrive and in what?
The new Tucson – expected to be called the ix35 – will be the first to use the 2.0-litre unit when it arrives at the end of 2009. Next year the Santa Fe will also be facelifted and the 2.2-litre engine will join the powertrain line-up. At the end of 2010 the new Sonata will take the engines, and Hyundai UK is also pushing hard to have the smaller engine dropped into the i30 hatch.
