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Hyundai's i30 N was Korea's very first really credible performance hot hatch. Every car in this segment claims to be engineered to get your heart pumping and your pulse racing but this one really can. Track-tamed and road ready, it'll surprise you enormously.
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Detailed ratings
Family Hatch - GTi Hatchbacks
History
Back in 2018, with this i30 N hot hatch, Hyundai launched its new 'N' performance sub-brand. It's the kind of car you simply wouldn't expect from this Korean maker and it aimed to compete on equal terms amongst the most established players in the volume part of the family hatch-sized GTI segment.
That was a big ask. Back in 2018, the 'established players' in question included contenders like the Volkswagen Golf GTI, the Ford Focus ST and the Renaultsport Megane. Models that stopped short of 'super-hatch' status, but cars that had spent decades refining their shopping rocket status. In contrast, in just 30 months this i30 N went from a speculative concept to a production reality. It surely can't be possible to upset the established order that easily. Can it?
Hyundai thought it could here. By 2018, an 87% European sales increase in the previous five years had given the company the means to pursue lofty ambitions, funds that in this case were used to lure away top engineers from brands like Lamborghini, AMG and - from BMW - one Albert Biermann. Prior to his move to this Korean manufacturer in 2014, he was the man that had been behind most of that Munich maker's most significant 'M'-branded performance cars over the previous twenty years. He was obviously someone who liked a challenge. The third generation version of Hyundai's i30 this N model was based on was a solid enough offering in the Focus-sized family hatch segment, but it wasn't a car you'd have thought would have been a fundamentally good starting point for a class-leading hot hatch.
Nevertheless, Hyundai was determined that a frantically quick i30 would be the model they would use to launch their performance 'N' sub-brand to the world, building on their World Rally Championship exploits. It would prove that the company could make properly credible fast cars and give the image of this fast-growing South Korean maker a much-needed boost. So Biermann and his colleagues rolled up their sleeves and got to work, changing. well just about everything that mattered in order to create the completed i30 N model. The 'N' by the way, references 'Namyang', Hyundai's global R&D centre in Korea. And the legendary Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit, where over 6,000 miles of testing produced the finished product, hence the way the letter's logo symbolises a racetrack chicane.
Standard (250hp) and Performance (275hp) versions were initially launched. A Fastback version of this model (only offered in Performance form) was launched in 2019. Both i30N body shapes were lightly updated in 2020 (when the base 250hp version was dropped) and following that, a twin-clutch paddleship auto transmission option was made available. The i30N in hatch and Fastback forms then sold until late 2023.
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What you get
It must have been difficult for Hyundai to know how to visually pitch a hot hatch of this kind - they were, after all, a company starting out in this segment with the launch of this model. Size-wise, this Korean contender strikes a middle ground in the class, 77mm longer than a Golf GTI but a full 220mm shorter than a Civic Type R. At the front, extra cooling vents are incorporated right across the lower part of the nose section so as to channel air towards the GDI Turbo engine and the uprated brakes. The rear also features a carefully judged package of more aggressive styling features, highlighted by a DTM-style roof spoiler with a triangular central brake light.
Take a seat at the wheel. Should you go looking for it, there's subtle 'N'-branding on the floor mats, the door sill scuff plates, the steering wheel and on the lovely tactile round gear knob; plus there are unusual light blue 'Drive Mode' and 'N mode' buttons on the steering wheel. But that's about it in terms of the cabin changes made to create this shopping rocket model.
Or at least you think it is until you start to examine the various information displays provided. The primary one is an 8-inch colour touchscreen that dominates the centre of the dash, a display you'll want to keep in its bespoke 'N Mode' whenever you're enjoying this car in the way it was designed to be driven. Here, you can peruse your selected 'Custom' drive mode settings, monitor cornering G-Forces and key an eye on read-outs for Turbo pressure, torque and power. There's also a 'Performance Timer' section that, as well as the usual lap timer, also includes an acceleration timer you can set to your preferred target speed.
What about the back seat? Well what can we tell you? It's not the roomiest rear cabin in the class - you'll need a Skoda Octavia vRS for that - but by the standards of most other family hatch-sized GTi segment contenders, the space provided here is quite competitive and probably as much as most buyers will need. The 381-litre cargo capacity is class-competitive, despite the fact that it's 14-litres down on what you'd get in an ordinary i30 on account of a rear strut brace that stretches across the floor at the back of the load area.
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What to look for
Generally, most i30N customers we surveyed seemed very happy with their cars but there are a few things you need to look out for, mostly with issues that affect early '18 and '19-plate cars. We've heard of i30Ns with misfires, power losses and a lack of turbo boost (which leads to an engine check light), so look out for these things on your test drive. The latter issue is down to a faulty high pressure fuel pump. Loose battery terminals have also been identified as a cause of low boost pressure and there was an ECU recall on 2018 model years cars when these symptoms were noticed by some customers at start-up. we've heard of issues with 5th and 6th gear selection (solved by fitting an improved 5th/6th gear assembly and synchroniser ring). Check for brake judder which will clue you into warped discs. We've heard of problems with the autonomous emergency braking system, which are due to the front camera system needing an update. Check for uneven paint gaps and look out for cars that have been thrashed on track days. Check for scratched alloy wheels and insist on a full service history.
Don't be too put off by tuned-up i30Ns - provided the work's been done by a reputable tuner like Forge Motorsport (in Gloucestershire). A Forge Stage 1 tune boosts power to 300hp, while a Forge Stage 2 tune boosts it to 320hp. A Stage 3 tune with a new turbo will get you to the 400hp mark, but we'd suggest you try the car as it is first before investing in extra boost.
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Replacement parts
(approx based on a 2021 i30N - Ex Vat - SCC Performance) A front brake kit is £2326. An induction kit is £312. Atmospheric and recirculating valve is around £200. For the exhaust, the De Cat section is around £270, the front flex pipe around £190 and the GFP delete pipe is around £167. A short and side shifter is £117.
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On the road
Just about everything that could have been changed in creating this high performance i30 derivative absolutely was. It did, after all, have to completely change people's ideas about the kind of cars Hyundai was capable of making. Aluminium has been added to the electronically controlled suspension to reduce weight and increase stiffness, plus there's a bespoke-fit set of adaptive dampers. The single gearbox option available from launch, a 6-speed manual stick-shift, is specially developed for this car and its clutch is uprated. There is also a selectable rev-matching system to make you sound like Fernando Alonso when you're downshifting through the gears. In addition, the brakes are beefier, camber stiffness is up and the Pirelli P Zero tyres are of a unique compound. Yes, the 2.0-litre GDI engine is derived from a unit that Hyundai had on its books for some time, but here it's been embellished with a new turbo and a new intake manifold. Getting the idea? No expense was spared here as part of a development regime on a different level to that of most like-minded rivals.
To start with, there were two variants on offer, a standard model offering 250PS and a top 275PS 'Performance' version (that almost everyone chose) which got two extra key engineering features. One is an emotive-sounding Active variable exhaust; the other is a proper mechanical electronic limited slip differential for extra cornering traction. Both are features you'll want, plus the 'Performance' derivative (which was the only i30N variant you could have after the 2020 facelift) is of course also slightly quicker off the mark than its standard stablemate. Make full use of the standard Launch Control feature and you'll reach 62mph in just 6.1s en route to an artificially limited top speed of 155mph. Drive with more decorum and reasonable economy is even possible, the official figures for this top variant being 39.8mpg on the combined cycle and 163g/km of CO2. That's if you click into the 'Eco' mode drive setting - one of many available to you as an i30 N driver. The one you'll want to try is the most ballistic 'N-mode', which dials steering, throttle and suspension settings right up to the max. There's also a configurable 'N-Custom' programme that allows you to choose different settings for different dynamic elements and set this Hyundai up just as a professional driver would set up his race car. Brilliant.
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Overall
Is this the fastest, most involving hot hatch for sale from the 2018-2023 period at this price point? Having put this i30 N to a thorough test, we'd say so. Which is an astonishing achievement from a manufacturer with virtually no previous GTi experience whatsoever. Perhaps it helped Hyundai's engineers that there was no particular industry expectation that they would succeed here - no sporting brand values to uphold, no illustrious predecessor to match. Of course, there are faster, grippier and more extreme hot hatches than this from this period, but they're all much more expensive. And, in most cases, no more fun.
True, the steering isn't absolutely perfect. And the ride will always be on the firm side. But the fact that this car is so much more configurable than most of its rivals helps greatly here. Once you get the various settings right, you'll get yourself a shopping rocket that on the right road on the right day, can make something like a Golf GTI look dull and compromised. Perhaps Hyundai's World Rally Championship exploits played a part in making this possible. Or maybe it's just the single-minded determination of the development team to make this i30 into a memorable driving machine, whatever it took. Either way, what's served up here is N-couraging, N-ergised and N-gaging.
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