Hyundai i30 Tourer performance isn’t earth-shattering, but it’s adequate for what the car is likely to be used for. There’s a pair of engines available – a petrol and a diesel, both displacing 1.6-litres. The former gets one power output, its 118bhp meaning a sprint to 62mph in 11.2 seconds. The latter is available with either 109bhp – hitting 62mph in 11.8 seconds – or 126bhp for a dash to 62mph in 11.2 seconds. In 109bhp spec the i30 Tourer doesn’t exactly set the world on fire, but it is sufficient to hit and maintain motorway speeds. The engine itself is smooth and fairly quiet, but does suffer from a bit of lethargy lower down the rev range, meaning you’ll have to make good use of the six gears in order to make good progress.

New engines and gearbox added in 2015

A choice of five engines, ranging from 99bhp to 183bhp, made the line-up in 2015. These include a 1.6-litre diesel engine with two power outputs –108bhp and 134bhp.

Petrol units include a 1.4-litre engine with 99bhp or a 1.6-litre with 118bhp.

The 1.6-litre diesel can be combined with a new seven-speed dual clutch automatic transmission, which replaces the six-speed unit used before. Hyundai promises the new box will offer greater fuel efficiency while simultaneously increasing acceleration.

Through corners the i30 Tourer is fairly capable. Although it’s no sports car, it doesn’t roll around too much and responds fairly well to sharp steering inputs until you really dial the speed up – at which point the chassis begins to struggle and starts to get fidgety. In terms of steering, Hyundai’s Flex Steer system is installed on trim levels of Active and above, and changes the weighting of the steering between Comfort (the lightest), Normal and Sports (heaviest).

Although this system works admirably, there’s still a lack of feedback through the steering wheel which may irk those who enjoy enthusiastic driving. We don’t expect many buyers of i30 Tourers will be taking their estate to race tracks, so can forgive a little driving engagement deficit in return for a simply sublime ride quality.