HEMILESARE STACKINGUPPRETTY
quicklyonthe Fastback; a painless
processwith occasional, wonderfully
brightspots.Onesuchwas a drive over to
Warwickshire, verycloseto JLR at Gaydon,for
a Hyundai meet-the-range day. For almostsix
years thiswas my commute and I was looking
forward to seeing how the Fastbackcoped with it.
Unfortunately, anaccident hadclosedthe A14 and I
hadto take a quite differentroute.
I thought I knew where the satnav was taking
me, soI was surprisedwhenitsuggesteda left
turnbefore we got to Daventry, downa roadI’d
never taken before. It turnedoutto bea wonderful
shortcut: a few miles of twisting, flowingasphalt
throughlush,typically English countryside on
a sunny morning. It was a proper grin, the i30
responsive, accurate and calm, soitwas almost
disappointingto pop outthe other end onto a
major roadI knew. It reallyisa class act,the i30 N.
However, a rideinani20 was the highspot of
the day. Thevenuewas a ‘stage’ mocked upina
localquarry, the car anR5-speci20 rally car and
the driverTom Cave, current leaderof the British
Rally Championship. Thefour-wheel-drive i20 has
285bhp, aboutthe sameasmy i30, and Cave knew
how to useit.
‘Before the start I’llturnonthe anti-lag, put itin
gear, floorthe throttleand waitfor the greenlight,’
hesaid, before we catapultedforward.
Thelaunchwas impressive, aswas the ride
quality and brakingonthe loosesurface, but what
was amazing was the agility. Thesteeringisabout
oneturnlock-to-lock and the handbrake isvery
effective, sothroughslow, tight cornersitfeltlike
the rearwas oncasters. Approachingtight turns at
speed, Cave pitched the car sidewaysridiculously
earlyandhit the power. Thewindscreenwas fullof
earth banksliding by for ages, rightupto the apex,
where we ran outof sidewaysmotionbutfound
ourselves pointingdirectlydownthe nextstraight,
which the scrabbling tyres thenfiredusdown.
‘It’s like dancing,’ saidCave. ‘You’ve got to get
into a rhythm,keepthe car movingbetweenthe
corners.’ I’m not surprisedCave and the i20 are
lookinggoodfor the title.
In a pleasingdevelopment,there’s beena
suddenand noticeable improvementinfuel
economy inthe Fastback(when it’s not threading
sweetly downa challenging B-road). For agesit
seemedpeggedinthe low 30s, but the lastfew
decentrunshave broken35,witha bestof 36.5mpg
for a 90-miler, which isnice.
Sofar my onlycomplaint with the car isthe
reversing camera; the image isfine byday but bright
and washedoutat night and sonousebackinginto
tight spots suchasonto my driveway.
JohnBarker(@evoJB)
Hyundaii30FastbackNPerformance
The impressive i30 takes a trip to see its smaller rally-honed brother in action
T
Date acquiredMarch 2019Total mileage
6822 Mileage this month 2268 Costs
this month£0mpg this month31.2
FastFleet