Hyundai i30, i40 facelifts revealed

Hyundai has given its passenger car range a facelift for 2015.

The Korean car maker has made some notable changes to its popular i30 and i40 variants including, for the first time, the addition of a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission on selected models.

Sporting moderate revisions, the i30 will continue to be offered in Australia as a five-door hatch or five-door wagon body style. Both derivatives will sport a new grille, new headlight and taillight styling, as well as newly designed 16-inch and 17-inch alloy wheels when they land early next year.

Hyundai Australia will confirm full details of the facelifted model, including engine choices, closer to launch.

Also new for 2015 is the facelifted Hyundai i40, which is due to arrive just after the i30 in the first half of the year.

It, too, sports a new look, including cosmetic upgrades to the front bumper and grille, as well as all-new LED foglights. There are fresh designs on offer for both of the i40's 16-inch and 18-inch alloy wheels.

The same seven-speed dual clutch transmission will also be present on some i40 models in Australia, but as with the i30, the car maker's local arm is yet to specify exactly which variants.

2015 will also herald the introduction of a 1.6-litre turbocharged i30 hot hatch to be known as the i30 Turbo. The flagship version pumps out 137kW and 265Nm – 8kW and 56Nm more than the Australian-engineered i30 SR. Despite the power fillip, the new Turbo model is 0.3 seconds slower than the SR in the dash to 100km/h – getting there in 8.0 seconds. The five-door only i30 Turbo receives a sports suspension tune, 18-inch wheels, a more direct steering ratio and various interior upgrades.

Hyundai is contemplating bringing the i30 Turbo for Australia, though there are obvious currency and demand limitations to be considered first. The local arm has already expressed interest in waiting out for a more powerful line of Hyundai N Performance variants when the range eventually materialises.

Overnight, Hyundai also unveiled its i20 coupe for the first time. The new model is "under consideration" for Australia, though the business case seems heavily stacked against it.