Towards Quality
by Mike Grundon (10 Oct 05)

It might not look like a war chariot, but Hyundai's new Getz is seen by the Korean company as vital in its attempt at world domination. It's one of the fastest growing car manufacturers on the planet, it's currently the sixth largest and the Getz has been the key to its success so far with over a quarter of a million sold across Europe since its launch in 2002. Now the company's top executives say they want to move "from quantity to quality". This is where it begins.

So let's start with an overview. In the UK we get a range of ten models to choose from, all but one costing under £10,000. They come with three or five doors, two petrol and two diesel engine options, manual or automatic gearboxes, and two specification levels. For 2006 there's a minor facelift on the outside, a few more pieces of kit in the cabin and some tweaks to the steering, suspension and chassis set-up, but the main changes are under the bonnet where you get options on four new engines.

The most significant change is the introduction of a new 1.5-litre CRTD four-cylinder turbo diesel engine that comes with a choice of either 87bhp or 109bhp and official fuel consumption figures over 60mpg. Even the lesser of the two is more powerful, more frugal and much quicker than the outgoing three-cylinder 1.5 diesel.

The UK is to lose its 1.3- and 1.6-litre petrol options and get instead a new 1.4-litre unit turning out 96bhp. That's enough to do the 0-62mph sprint in 11.2 seconds with the five-speed manual gearbox and sip a gallon of unleaded on average once every 47 miles. An automatic transmission is now also available with the 1.4, which slows the sprint time down to 13.9 seconds and knocks 5mpg off the consumption figures.

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