2019-10-01_CAR_UK

october 2019 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK 123

like a slow car. Its fantastic noise helps. If the Focus makes you grin, try
selecting Sport+ in the Hyundai: the Gatling gun impression from its
active exhaust is downright hilarious.
The i30 N is a workout to drive aggressively, but on the right road
it’s such a rewarding car. The steering is heavy even in its most relaxed
setting, and requires more muscle the further up the drive mode tree you
climb. At its heaviest, it feels leaden compared with the Focus, sapping
away any precise edges to your steering inputs. Still, the Hyundai is more
adjustable than the VW on track and can be eased into oversteer if pro-
voked mid-pivot, just like the Ford.
A similar amount of hard graft is involved with the pedals and gear-
shift. The clutch is supremely well weighted for driving like your hair’s
on fire, if a touch too heavy for long traffic-jam crawls. Sharper throttle
response would also be welcome. The gearshift has a heavy-duty action
and some of our road testers complained about its notchiness. The
Focus certainly has the sweeter shift, but the i30 N’s gritty edge has a
mechanical, sporty appeal.
After all, involvement is the Hyundai’s main draw. It’s full-on and in-
your-face, and if you’re in the mood it’s very keen to give you a good time.
You’ll pay the price for fully exploiting the performance, though. Despite
its 50-litre tank being just two litres smaller than those of its rivals, the
Hyundai needed filling far more frequently than the others.
Despite that, the purchase price ensures the Hyundai can play the
value card. There are no options to add to the i30 N Performance other
than the colours, some of which will just edge it over the £30,000 mark –
our car’s Performance Blue paint pushes it to £30,080. That’s still £2000
cheaper than the Focus and will, for some, be two thousand reasons to go
for the Korean contender. ⊲

The i30 N is a workout to drive

aggressively, but on the right

road it’s such a rewarding car

i30 has unshowy

but user-friendly

controls and

displays

▼

pre-flight briefing hyundai

Why is it here?

Grabbed everyone’s

attention from the off

by being a fantastic

hot hatch from an

unlikely source.

Became much-loved

among the CAR team

for its value, its Albert

Biermann-fettled

handling and the fact

it has a silly side – a

hard-to-define quality

that’s an important

part of any hot hatch.

Any clever stuff?

Everything you need

is included straight

out of the box, which

isn’t the case with

the other two. This N

Performance version

has e-diff with torque

vectoring, launch

control and active

exhaust. Revcounter

and shift lights ape

BMW and Ferrari

respectively, and add

a bit of touring car

theatre.

Which version is this?

The N Performance

hatch, by far the

best seller. Lesser-

equipped and mostly-

ignored 248bhp

model also available,

as is a swoopy four-

door Fastback. Lighter,

more hardcore Project

C variant strips weight

by using carbon, and

ups the price.