SPY PICS: Hyundai i30 caught testing in northern Europe

The car pictured here is the next generation of Hyundai's i30, snapped by the spy photographers at Carparazzi during a recent trip to northern Scandinavia.

According to the spy snappers, the new i30 will be sold in Europe with a 1.6-litre engine and a 1.7-litre diesel -- a version of the R-Series engine developed for Kia models as well as Hyundais. In Europe, the car is anticipated to be pitched against the king of small cars, the Volkswagen Golf. To do that the Hyundai will likely offer buyers the 1.6-litre Gamma petrol engine with turbocharging and direct-injection technology. This engine was introduced with the Veloster, but is set to trickle down to other models as well.

There's no word from Hyundai Australia on the question of timing or engine options for the local market, but all three engines seem to be a strong chance for the local versions of the i30. The Gamma engine would kill two birds with the one stone -- providing something like the torque of the 2.0-litre in a more efficient package and positioning the i30 ahead of its immediate competition in the market as a technology leader of sorts.

The rising waist of the camouflaged car is clearly different from the beltline of the current i30, but begs the question: can a car as small and as condensed in its packaging as the i30 wear Hyundai's Fluidic Sculpture styling? Probably better known in this country for the mark it has left on the ix35 and the i45, Fluidic Sculpture lends itsef well to larger, longer cars that can wear the swooping sculpture lines. Whether it would achieve the same effect in the boxier i30 will be a point of debate, although it works well enough for the ix35 and looks like it will scrub up okay on the i35 -- the sedan version of the i30 hatch.

According to Carparazzi, the new i30 will introduce LED tail lights, which are located in a different position from the tail lights of the current car -- once again pointing to this model being markedly different in design, even if it should be built on the same platform or a modified version.

Hyundai's local team wouldn't comment on "future product", but the pics indicate the next-gen i30 is well along the development path. Hyundai Australia released a teaser pic of the current i30 to the media a matter of months prior to its release at the end of 2007. Whether the new i30 will have some local engineering input remains uncertain, although we expect it will.

-- with Carparazzi

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