Tag: i30 N

2021 Hyundai i30 N on the way

Hyundai’s giant-slaying hot hatch has had a facelift and had some surgery, adding a new optional eight-speed gearbox and more grunt.

We’re very, very fond of the i30 N here at The Redline. So fond that we think that it bests the Volkswagen Golf GTI as a driver’s car, which is a massive achievement. The Golf is excellent. The i30 N is excellenter.

But, as ever, things change. The Mk 8 Golf GTI is well on its way and even before that lands the GTI TCR is here to return fire against Hyundai’s runaway hit. Hyundai knows from experience you can’t just stand around and cop it sweet.

The i30 N will continue on in hatch and Fastback, with the latter’s facelift even more subtle.

Look and feel

Looking at it in profile, not a great deal has changed on the i30. It’s the same conservative shape as it ever was and you’ll be hard-pressed to tell it’s the new one. The front end is where all the action is, with new, more aggressive headlights and a big N-badged grille.

Along with the new, sharper headlights come new V-shaped LED driving lights.

Look, it’s not a big facelift, so let’s not get too bogged down in it. The rear end also gets a mild scrub, but the Fastback (not pictured) remains identical.

A mildy revamped interior includes the option to choose lightweight (ahem) N Light seats. These new seats are 2.2kg lighter than the already rather good N seats and are trimmed in Alcantara and look a bit racy. No word yet on the price, but they won’t be cheap.

There is also a new, larger central screen screwed into the dash, with a bunch of new telemetry screens for that extra-special person who wants to know how many gs they pulled at turn three. I mean, I get it, but it’s not for me.

Apart from that, it looks pretty much the same, which is no bad thing although one hopes an unspoken change is an improvement in some of the plastics to at least try and close the gap to VW on the interior quality front.

Drivetrain

The changes are big and small here.

The small changes are in the engine itself. In Australia we only get the Performance version of the i30 N, which means we get the full 206kW, an improvement of 4kW.

More impressively, torque rises by over ten percent to 392Nm, a boost of 39Nm. That should further trouble the Pirelli’s ability to resist axle tramp under hard throttle.

The six-speed manual stays but, much to the happiness of many (including dealers, no doubt), the much-anticipated eight-speed twin clutch transmission is now available.

i30 N 8-speed transmission

This isn’t related to the existing seven-speeder available in the i30 N Line and other turbo-powered Hyundais on the i30 platform (see also Kona). It’s an all-new gearbox, using a wet-clutch system rather than the dry of the seven-speeder.

The eight-speed equipped car obviously has paddle-shifters and three transmission modes – N Grin Shift, N Power Shift and N Track Sense Shift.

The first, whose name I won’t repeat because I ground my teeth enough the first time I typed it, is a sort of party mode where the engine and transmission go bonkers for 20 seconds. There’s even a countdown on the dash to tell you how you’re going and no doubt there’s a cool-down between button presses.

The second puts the transmission into maximum attack when you use more than 90 percent of the throttle, giving you a “push effect” on the upshift.

The third seems a bit vague to me, with the press release saying it “automatically recognises when the road conditions are optimal for dynamic driving, for example on a racetrack, and activates automatically. By selecting the right gear and shift timing, it provides optimal performance, just like a professional race car driver.”

Engine modes

The engine modes stay and again have the silly name – N Grin Control System. Five are on offer – Eco, Normal, Sport, N and N Custom and work on throttle, engine and suspension setup.

The modes also alter the behaviour of the electronic limited-slip diff and the stability and traction systems.

Chassis

Not a great deal to report here. One imagines the detailed work of chassis tuning has continued both here and overseas.

You can specify forged 19-inch alloys which are 14.4kg lighter than the standard wheels. If you choose those, you also get specific, red-painted brake calipers.

The electronic dampers stay, of course, and as already mentioned, change stiffness based on the mode selected.

The front brakes are also larger for 2021, with an increase of 15mm to 360mm. That’s always welcome in such a fast car.

Safety upgrades

Hyundai has thrown a few more bits and pieces into the safety box, but it’s a bit complicated.

No matter which combination you pick, the forward AEB system now has pedestrian detection and you also get lane following assist (LFA).

Only the hatch gets blind-spot collision warning and rear-cross traffic alert.

If you get a DCT hatch, you get blind spot collision avoidance assist and rear cross traffic collision avoidance (which is basically rear AEB).

No idea why Fastback buyers are ripped off here or why manual drivers miss out on a couple of bits, but I’m pretty sure I know what the excuse will be.

How much and when?

We can expect the 2021 Hyundai i30 N in Australia in the first half of 2021, which isn’t too far away. Hyundai hasn’t said what the price will be, but you can bet it will a) go up b) but probably not by much.

The eight-speed will be a game-changer for the i30 N, attracting a crap-ton more buyers who would otherwise go Golf GTI DSG or Focus ST auto. Or even Megane.

September 27, 2020
2019 Hyundai i30 N Review: Fastback or Blowback?

Hyundai’s ground-breaking i30 N hatchback may not be for everyone, so the Korean giant has fixed it with the i30 N Fastback.

https://youtu.be/kkgLfAgCydA This is a review of the hatch. You should watch it. Heaps of people already have.

The i30 is an excellent car. The i30 N is superb, walloping the good-but-reheated Golf GTI from its undeserving place at top-of-mind for hot hatch fans. It’s a tricky segment with lots of contenders, but the Golf’s long history, quality and its legions of unquestioning fans kept it on the boil.

Hyundai’s i30 N arrived with a bang, a lower price tag than most of its rivals, better ownership proposition and a similar form factor. Then wiped the floor with it. Problem was, not everyone was so keen on the hatch. It looks largely the same as its lesser versions and not everyone is so keen on that.

The other problem Hyundai had was the Veloster. In right-hand drive markets, it didn’t sell well enough to justify the expensive asymmetrical tooling. Australia and the UK quite like fast hatches, but not enough to warrant the weird Veloster N’s RHD production.

To make the i30 N happen, Hyundai invested a colossal amount of money, so the company needs to sell a few more to keep the suits happy. So it turns out there was another i30 in the works, a four-door coupe style thing called the Fastback. A car that doesn’t need expensive tooling to make right or left-hookers.

Obviously, it seemed like a good idea at the time to make an i30 N fastback instead of an Elantra N.

Words: Peter Anderson
Images and co-pilot: Matt Hatton

Look and Feel

It’s pretty obvious what’s changed when you get to the rear end what has happened here. The more abbreviated hatchback has been replaced with a Mercedes CLS-style swoopy backside.

I like it.

Not everybody does and not every angle is especially pretty, but it’s a nice job given the designers didn’t have a longer wheelbase to play with. The Fastback is 120mm longer at 4455mm and it’s all boot. Perhaps to offset the extra length, it’s also lower by 28mm. I reckon that saved the Fastback from looking like a BMW X4.

Most of the detailing is the same, with the grille, skirts and wheels we all know and love already, as well as the red brake calipers.

Inside, instead of blue stitching you get red and, er, that’s about it.

Drivetrain

The i30 N Fastback engine is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo, part of the Theta II engine family. With direct injection and variable valve timing, it produces 202kW (275PS) and 353Nm. Pin the loud pedal to the firewall and you’ll get another 25Nm, taking the total to 378Nm on overboost.

As with the hatch, you’re still in charge of changing gears until the often-rumoured eight-speed twin-clutch hoves into view. N could probably use the six- or eight-speed Aisin in most of other front-wheel drive performance cars, but that’s not Hyundai’s style.

The same obnoxious exhaust is also along for the ride and engages its loud in N mode.

Chassis

The N comes with stiffer springs, adaptive damping, 19-inch Pirelli P-Zero tyres, torque vectoring and a LSD.

The Fastback weighs a mere 12kg more and it’s all on the rear wheels, so the weight distribution is actually better at 59.7-40.3 front to rear.

The suspension has a had a bit of a going over. The front end is slightly softer to improve ride but also helps to get the power down a bit more cleanly. Front and rear dampers have a had a tweak, with a rebound spring and softer bump stops. The front anti-roll bar is slightly smaller (by 0.8mm).

Out the back there’s a new camber control arm, but that’s probably mostly to help with the extra weight.

The adaptive damper software has also had a bit of a going over. Hyundai says it’s more comfortable, without losing any of the hatch’s agility.

Driving

Changes. There have been a few. That could be a problem. I mean, how much did I love the i30 N? How much do you love your i30 N? The Fastback is bigger, heavier and – whisper it – softer. Right? With smaller anti-roll bars and softer damping, it can’t possibly be as sharp as the hatch?

Bzzt.

How can this be? The steering is still amazing, the grip still brilliant and the rear still playful. This car is fast, just as fast as the hatch, but more comfortable as a daily driver.

Haring down my favourite bit of road, I don’t have to dodge the bigger bumps as carefully as I did in the hatch. The extra compliance of the bump stops means less of a jolt through the shell and a more adherence to the line I’ve chosen.

The steering is precise, not too heavy and you can get the power down so early because of that lovely limited-slip differential. It’s fast everywhere – up hills the overboost gives you 378Nm to haul with. And when you get the top and start your descent, those brakes will be there for you.

And that gearshift – super-fast for a road car and with those carbon rings letting you slice from second to third as you manhandle it around. That’s an expensive detail that ensures the N team covered every base. Pretty important when this is the only gearbox you can get. If only the new Renaultsport Megane’s manual gearbox was this good.

The only real difference is that rear seat passengers have less headroom, traded for more boot space. The Fastback is meant to be more luxurious, but don’t be put off by that – it’s more practical while still being a giant barrel of laughs full of funny cat videos.

Redline Recommendation

The i30 N Fastback is just as much a delight as the hatch. Fast, loud and silly in all the right measures, it’s a cheaper alternative than Honda’s ridiculous Type R and far more interesting than VW’s Golf GTI (yes, the Golf is good, but not this good).

The new setup is so right, the MY20 hatch will have the same. It’s car you can take on holiday, rip out all the luggage and go for a pre-dawn blast.

August 17, 2019
Paris 2018: Hyundai i30 N N Option

Need a bit more Civic Type R drama in your Hyundai i30 N? Want a bit more AMG-style bling? Hyundai has you covered.

As you’re probably aware, I was quite a fan of the i30 N. It’s a cracker of a car, literally in the case of the exhaust system. While I’m a big fan of its restrained approach to styling, not everybody is.

Cars like this tend to attract the modder crowd so Hyundai’s N is going to offer a whole bunch of customisation options.

N Option Exterior

This is properly tasty, no? The usual stuff is here – wing, stripes, wheels, that sort of thing.

The carbon fibre rear wing features the N logo, there’s a vented carbon bonnet (hood for our American friends), a new grille with N logo and a set of lightweight cast alloys. Wrapped in semi-slicks, obviously, because Hyundai doesn’t mind you flinging the N around a track.

The quad muffler system should make the crackling even louder.

N Option Interior

I like what I see here.

Fat Alcantara steering wheel? Check. Complete with centre marker, too.

Racy bucket seats, again with Alcantara and N logos? Check. Those slots at the shoulders look very AMG, but I’ll survive.

Alcantara trim and carbon fibre dash inserts? Er, obviously. I quite like the dashtop covered in the ol‘ fake suede which also looks to be on the armrest.

The shifter looks a bit blingy, but hey, these are all options.

When and how much?

Ha, yeah. I don’t know about you, but the press release is a bit light-on for actual detail. Yes, it’s a show car (in its own shade of paint), but the press release says that N Option gear is coming soon. It doesn’t say if you can retrofit any of this stuff or even how much the bits will cost.

So I guess we just have to wait?

October 4, 2018
2019 Hyundai i30 N Review – Hail to the New King

Hyundai’s i30 N came out of nowhere but landed to critical acclaim. It’s a muscular, fast, keenly-priced hot hatch. But is it the best?

For so long if you wanted a hot hatch, you had some tough choices to make. We’re in a continuing Golden Age of the hot hatch, from Ford’s excellent Fiesta ST through to BMW’s brilliant M140i. They’re all good. There isn’t a dud among them, even the older ones.

The sweet spot seems to be in the C-segment hot hatches. You can choose French, German and Japanese and it’s unlikely you’ll be unhappy.

The 308 GTI is excellent if with a whacky driving position. The recently-departed Focus ST was a rowdy street-brawler but always exhilarating. The Volkswagen Golf GTI is poised, quick and subtle but the least powerful of the lot. The RenaultSport Megane, for me, was the handling benchmark but had a hard ride, ropey interior (except the seats) and weird steering wheel angle.

South Korea had been largely silent. Oh, Hyundai had a few cracks with the Veloster, a warm i30 SR and Kia made some noise with the Pro’ceed GT. Died off pretty quickly, that last one, and we’re not sure why (although a new Ceed and Proceed GT are on the way).

It was odd that Hyundai hadn’t committed. Then N branding started appearing on the giant’s i20 rally cars and word quickly spread as the company made some important hires, including BMW M’s Albert Biermann.

That guy knows what he’s doing, he’s been responsible for some cracking cars.

Hyundai i30 N History

Pretty short, as it turns out. There wasn’t one and then there was one.

It was odd that it had taken so long for Hyundai to get into this part of the market. The bizarro-world Veloster (which I love) quietly chugged away getting better as new engines and suspension tunes found their way in. The SR Turbo was tremendous fun but spent most of its time bouncing off the suspension stops. That made it uncomfortable and nervous when you were on it.

It also had a very slow gearchange and a 1.6-litre turbo that kept running out of revs. Weirdly, the automatic was better because it could change gears more quickly.

Hyundai’s relationship with fast cars has been off and on over the past couple of decades. The company has run in the World Rally Championship a couple of times. It threw stacks of money at the first attempt with the stupid-looking Accent WRC, threw money at drivers and basically got diddly-squat for their trouble. So they left.

For nine years, nothing.

Then in 2014, the company returned with a more focused effort, hiring Thierry Neuville to spearhead the new effort. The team has been there or thereabouts, scoring points, wins and being ruthless with their drivers (as Hayden Paddon will tell you).

Then in 2016 came the RN30 Concept at the 2016 Paris Motor Show. I was there and saw that car, thinking that Hyundai’s N Division is super-serious. Don’t ask me why I thought that, I just did.

And finally, the i30 N made its world debut and the game changed. Everyone from Thierry Neuville down said it was good, a solid start.

Hyundai i30 N Drivetrain

The i30 N packs a Hyundai-developed 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo, part of the Theta II engine family. With direct injection and variable valve timing, the N Performance spec engine (we only get this engine in Australia) produces 202kW (275PS) and 353Nm. Flatten the throttle and you’ll get another 25Nm, taking the total to 378Nm.

The engine is out of the larger Sonata, but has new pistons, a new turbo and cooling system and overboost gear.

At the moment, you can only get a six-speed manual while N gets on with designing and developing an eight-speed twin-clutch. The six-speed addresses the drama of the slow shift of most Hyundai manuals by adding carbon fibre synchro rings for a very, very slick change.

The six-speeder box drives the front wheels which also has an electronically-controlled mechanical limited-slip differential.

A big part of the fun of the i30 N is the crackling exhaust – a two-stage exhaust system spits out a basso-profundo roar as well as some fantastic crackling.

The non-Performance spec cars have “just” 184kW (250PS) and 353Nm as well as missing out on the LSD and active exhaust.

Hyundai i30 N Chassis

You can have tons of power but if what’s underneath you isn’t much good, you’re in trouble. Biermann’s team started with the obvious multi-link equipped version of the i30 and went from there.

Stiffer springs, adaptive damping, 19-inch Pirelli P-Zero tyres (with HN coding so you know it’s for that car), torque vectoring and, of course, the LSD.

The electric steering is way sharper but weighted quite differently across the modes. The adaptive suspension is also quite different between the three modes, but nobody reading this is going to spend much time out of N mode. For Australian cars only, we get a slightly softer damper tune, but you’d never notice – our roads are so terrible, N’s management rescinded the “One tune to rule the road” edict. Thank goodness.

Driving

The basic i30 is good. The SR is excellent. They have to be because the C-segment hatch still holds its own in a world of SUVs and all of them are better than good, with a few exceptions.

You can feel from the first three seconds that the i30 N is different. It feels like a different car as soon as you fire up the 2.0-litre, the engine giving you a nice loud, “Booooooo!” on startup. Grab the chunky wheel and feel the weight and the bite of the tyres, even just getting out of a car park.

The clutch is light and is probably the only vague part of the technical package. Everything else is precise, oiled, assertive. Thumb the N button and the car feels properly serious, the exhaust blare goes from aggressive to angry, like you just said something rude about its mum.

Unlike the Golf, it’s an alpha car. While the styling is hardly look-at-me RS Megane (another alpha), its on-road demeanour feels a lot more like Dieppe’s madness. The Golf never feels like it has its elbows out, but the i30 N starts that way. It’s reassuring, but you want to know if it has the bite to match the bark.

Yep. Five good corners in and you know exactly what makes the i30 N tick. It revs to almost 7000rpm, which is welcome – smaller displacement turbos run out of puff and you spend so much time changing gears. The N lets you choose to row it along or relax on the torque wave.

But good gracious me, this thing has a tremendous front end. The way you can pile into a corner way too hot (like the Civic Type R) is hilarious. Stand on the brakes then get on the throttle early is never not fun.

While you won’t be chucking this thing sideways, as a road car, this is the one to beat. It’s more liveable than the old Megane, it’s braver than the 308 GTI, more composed than the old Focus ST.

And it’s way, way more interesting than the Golf GTI. And that makes it the best hot hatch in the world.

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Hyundai i30 N Exterior Images

Hyundai i30 N Interior Images

i30 N steering wheel

i30 N interior

i30 N steering wheel

i30 N interior

i30 N steering wheel

i30 N steering wheel

i30 N steering wheel

i30 N rear seats

i30 N button

All images by Matthew Hatton Photography.

September 17, 2018