What is it?
This is the Golf GTI for everyone who wants a GTI that isn’t actually a GTI. In fact, many say that this is the superior vehicle, a hugely provocative statement to make anywhere near a VW fan. The i30 N, Hyundai’s first true performance vehicle, was given an enhancement recently, making an already brilliant car a little bit more refined.
Why this?
I love the idea of a sleeper car or "Q car" – a car that doesn’t boast by looking flashy but lets its performance do the talking. The Hyundai i30 N isn’t quite that, but when you compare it to cars like the Renault Megane RS 200, you’ll realise how subtle and restrained the styling is.
But what am I saying – you’d buy an i30 N because it goes brutally fast, takes corners like a Jack Russel and has a soundtrack to match. Speaking of soundtrack, there’s a variable exhaust valve system that adds fizzes and pops to your driving experience.
Outside
I don’t understand the colour that Hyundai chose to hero the i30 N. In whose little book of colour suggestions does baby blue scream, “I am power, hear me roar”? I just put on my rose-tinted sunglasses and pretended my test car was red...
Even in red, the i30 N isn’t a car that will one day end up in the New York Museum of Modern Art. It’s a hatchback that has had some performance bits bolted on, like big red brake callipers and burbling exhausts, a little wing on the tailgate, 19-inch forged alloy rims with a little feather of rubber around them. A fastback version is available internationally that makes a bigger design statement but unfortunately that hasn’t made it to Mzansi.
Inside
It’s easy to be distracted by the exciting bits like the leather and artificial suede bucket seats, the sport steering wheel, the baby blue buttons that change the drive mode (including Sport mode and N mode) and the metal pedals, but that glosses over how tactile and intuitive the controls are. There’s a touchscreen for most of the user interface, but there are also physical dials and knobs for things that you use often, and the result is an interior far more intuitive and functional than its rivals. It’s spacious too, with enough usable space for four adult passengers and luggage.
The drive
I don’t know why you read the bits before this – driving the i30 N is what it’s all about. The updated version still has the same two-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine as before, but power has been upped from 202kW to 206kW while torque is now 392Nm, up 39Nm. An eight-speed dual clutch transmission is now standard, and acceleration is now 5.4 seconds for 0-100km/h, which is 3% faster.
Hyundai has done some amazing things to the i30 N with sufficient electronic trickery to make it smart enough to do its own tax returns, but we don’t need to know what they are, just what they do. This is an absolutely phenomenal car to drive quickly around corners, taut and sure-footed with a resonating warble from the engine and enough power to keep even great drivers on their toes. You’ll find yourself planning routes on Google Maps that incorporate more corners, no matter how long it takes you to get there. This handling comes with a drawback – the ride quality is firm and can be uncomfortably so.
Warning: If you already grimace when you pull into a petrol station, think twice about ordering an i30 N – the claimed fuel consumption figure of 8.9L/100km is optimistic at best.
Final word
If you need your car to shout about how fast and powerful it is, the i30 N might not be the car for you. If you’re of a more restrained ilk and prefer actions to speak for themselves, you would be incredibly hard-pressed to do better than this. Is it better than a Golf GTI? As an all-rounder, no, it’s not. As a grin-inducing driving tool? Amazingly, it probably is!
Go get it
The price of the new Hyundai i30 N DCT is R749 900, and for such a capable car that is quite reasonable by today’s standards. This includes Hyundai’s seven-year/200 000km manufacturer warranty; a five-year/75 000km service plan; and roadside assistance for seven years or 150 000km.
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