ix35 Driven

CHAMPAGNE tastes, beer income – the story of my life. And before my employers accuse me of ingratitude, let me acknowledge that, but for my dear family, the pay cheque would afford me the odd glass of non-vintage.

But what if you hanker after a 4x4 and the bank manager, the fuel bill and the parking space will accommodate just a family hatchback?

Well, there's always the Hyundai ix35.

It's shorter than a Vauxhall Astra, narrower than a Ford Focus and its price tag compares well with similarly-specc'd compact family hatches.

The replacement for the popular Tucson, the ix35 is out to keep its old SUV customers happy and steal sales from rival makers' hatchbacks while also staking a claim in the crossover market effectively established by Nissan with the Qashqai.

Style, the lower of the new Hyundai's two trim levels, is expected to be the top seller in the UK, where of course the brand is on a high after its runaway success during the scrappage scheme.

Here, where the Hyundai brand has been well-established for longer, dealers Barras Car Centre expect most people to opt for the Premium model, reckoning that the extra kit is worth the £1,600 premium.

Not that the Style is spartan, featuring the same softer-touch, modern fascia and goodies that include 17-inch alloys, Bluetooth connectivity with voice recognition, reversing sensors and heated front seats and downhill brake control.

But features such as 18-inch alloys, automatic lights, dual zone climate control, part-leather trim and a panoramic sunroof with tilt and slide front do make the Premium a pretty attractive way of turning 17 grand into a fiver change.

There are currently two engines from which to choose, although if you want the 161bhp petrol, you are restricted to the two-wheel drive Style model.

The 2.0-litre, 134bhp turbodiesel comes with an extra, sixth, gear and is available in both Style and Premium models and with either two- or four-wheel drive.

Barras's demonstrator is a Premium with two-wheel drive, the specification that has accounted for most of their orders so far.

Showroom appeal is strong. Hyundai's 'fluidic design' might be marketers' jargon but the result is undeniably modern and, most find, appealing.

If there is a problem with the styling it's probably that it's boldness is going to frighten off some potential purchasers by leading them to think that it's a lot bigger than it really is.

Don't be fooled into not getting behind the wheel.

Get there and the appeal of soft roaders and crossovers becomes obvious.

Sitting up there you enjoy the feeling of being invulnerable even before you take into account the six airbags.

And, to front and side at least, there is a commanding view. Not since Mr Toad has anyone felt more lord of all they survey – toot, toot!

The seats are comfy and the cockpit roomy with decent spaces for bibs and bobs.

The rear seats were just as accommodating and the bootspace varies from a generous 591 litres in five-seat mode to a decidedly useful 1,436 with the seats down.

But you can't have everything and a full-size alloy spare under the boot floor scores serious Brownie points in my book.

However, as we used to say before it got corrupted to 'the proof's in the pudding', the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

Time to press the button – keyless entry and button stop/start is standard on Premium – and put some miles on the odo.

Initially, like most vehicles with a high driving position, you tend to drive as if it were wider than it really is.

Soon, though, most will find themselves driving the ix35 as if it were no bigger than a C-segment family hatch – it is, after all, almost an inch narrower across the metal than the definitive C-segment car, the Ford Focus.

And for good measure, the electric mirrors do powerfold on the Premium although not on the Style model.

Progress is brisk. The torquey diesel and the slick six-speed gearbox, combine to bring up the dash to the metric milestone, 100kph, in under 11 seconds and post a top speed of 113mph.

Even if you take its advice and change up or down when the Eco Drive Indicator tells you, which keeps the rev counter in the 1,250-2,000rpm band, you will be gaining on other cars more often than holding them up.

Ignore the Eco Drive – it's not too obtrusive – stay a couple of ratios below where it says you should be, and you can actually have fun behind the wheel.

Not the sort of fun to be had in the best-handling hatchbacks, maybe, but that firmish ride around town translates into taut handling with body roll well contained for such a tall vehicle.

Economy should be good. The figure on the trip computer was depressingly sub-30mpg when I picked it up but it improved rapidly, even with me driving it.

An urban consumption figure of 41.5mpg suggests a real-world local consumption of mid-to-high 30s – no guarantees, we all have different styles and routes – but should at least keep the anti-4x4 lobby off your back so long as they can look past that in-yer-face styling.

Should public opprobrium not concern you, you could always fit a towbar and hitch up a caravan – or horsebox, come to that.

It's a shame not to take advantage of that generous-for-the-class two-tonne towing capability.

So what's not to like?

Look at that upswept waistline and it won't surprise you to know that rearward visibility is not top drawer.

But with electric mirrors and parking sensors standard across the range, that is no great hardship.

And you can do like Barras have done to their demonstrator and add the Media Pack to your Premium model and pick up a rear view parking camera, seven speakers including amp and subwoofer and touchscreen satnav for what looks like a bargain £699.

Or you could spend an extra grand and get four-wheel drive.

It's an on-demand system that channels power to the rear wheels when the fronts start to lose traction.

Alternatively, the centre diff can be locked to split power equally between front and rear axles at lower speeds to cope with deeper snow or mud.

On the road, four-wheel drive is said to make high-power take-offs less dramatic by routing excess power to the rear wheels and to make handling a little tauter and less susceptible to understeer when pressing on in the wet.

There is a penalty on fuel consumption, but that seems modest.

Back in the real world, given the use to which most ix35s will be put, it's probably not the best option for most people.

Stick with front-drive, spend the grand on goodies, and enjoy yourself in a vehicle that combines most of the advantages of a 4x4 with practically none of the drawbacks.

And you can even tell the greens who start shunning you that it isn't actually a four-wheel-drive and is really pretty frugal.

If, that is, you can get them to listen.