There seems to be a plethora of 4×4 style vehicles on the market currently and as a fan of Solihull’s finest, I am somewhat bemused by the rash claims made for most of them as in reality bouncing of a kerb at a super market is about as close as the majority come to really needing four wheel drives writes Neil Ward.

And the bodywork that would come off on the first off road foray would keep the bodyshop going for years.

However, it is clear that the high driving position and the practicality of these vehicles attracts many customers.

The Hyundai ix35 seems to fit perfectly in to this market segment and I can remember not too long ago when Korean-made cars were viewed as cheap and cheerful with not much else to recommend them.

However, times have changed dramatically with quality and value taking the place of the brand snobbery of the past.

The styling follows the tried and trusted method of high roofline, squat stance and big rear end, but don’t take this as a criticism, for the bodywork is well proportioned and the front end is striking.

I found that the more time I spent with the car the looks seemed to grow on me and I became quite conscious I was in an unusual car. So can someone please explain why it is that once you home in on a vehicle you seem to see them everywhere?

The driver's 'office' with well laid out controls to hand

The interior is also a bit special and has clearly been thought through with keyless entry and stop start button (fitted to the premium model), which are items usually found on cars costing significantly more than this.

The seats are also very comfortable and after a long trip in the ix35 this situation had not altered.

The load space in the rear is readily accessed and is big enough to cover pretty much every eventuality and folding the seats down to create even more space meant it was possible to tackle some jobs that would normally have required the use of a small van.

Performance

The version I was testing was the 2.0 litre CRDi two-wheel drive manual.

With the size of the car, I was expecting the performance to be such that writing home about it would have been entirely possible before it reached 60mph. However, this was not the case and the engine was pleasantly powerful and quiet to boot.

I averaged about 45 mpg which considering the size of the car seemed pretty good. The drive train was very smooth and added to the feel of quality.

The standard equipment list is impressive and the one that caught my eye was the downhill brake control. Now if something like this is fitted then it seems only right that it is tested which I duly undertook on a long slippery decline and it works very well.

Not sure how often you would use this but in the snow it may come in handy.

Styling

So have Hyundai achieved something with the ix35? I think so.

The combination of practicality, neat styling with the option of four wheel drive if you really want, or need it, makes an interesting proposition for the value conscious customer.

The model I was driving, with all the optional goodies like leather and touch-sensitive satellite navigation, big amp and subwoofer and rear view parking camera, comes in at £21,650 on the road and is remarkable value.

Then to top this off you can also add the five year warranty and the ten year anti-perforation warranty.

As a result I cannot recommend the ix35 highly enough, and remember, 40 years ago the British bike industry laughed at the Japanese with their quaint little motorbikes and we all know what happened there.