Hyundai i30 Fastback N 2019 Review

With those words, the wife casually dismissed the Hyundai i30 Fastback N as a prospective 'next car' for her.

Alarmed by the hammering axle tramp – in second gear on dry bitumen – she remained unconvinced, even after her guess of a $50,000 price tag was adjusted downwards. With a luxury pack option and metallic paint specified the Hyundai i30 Fastback N came in nearly $5000 cheaper than that.

I had my own misgivings about this car, although I recanted most of those by the end of the week. Its rear styling cues recall a Mercedes 'coupe' SUV from certain angles, and I was frustrated by the low ground clearance at the front, scraping on the road surface whenever I backed the car into the driveway.

And then there was the moment the driver's door seal 'popped' during the drive home on the first night – 40 minutes into the trip. The rush of air from outside was accompanied by an alarm advising that the door was open. Memo to self: Make certain the door is slammed shut prior to a drive.

So there were some niggly little issues with the Hyundai i30 Fastback N. But by the end of the week all was forgiven.

Like Honda's Civic Type R , the i30 Fastback N is very easy to drive and its engine is flexible and docile. It's as tame as a big old Labrador, but also quick to drop all its airs and graces when you need performance in a hurry.

Raw power arrives in two stages: one from 3000rpm and then more still above 4000rpm through to the redline at about 6700rpm. Tellingly, the car will power away from a standing start with wheelspin, but not axle tramp, when it's set up in N Custom mode with the tricky e-diff operating in ‘Sport’. Enabling launch control requires setting the stability control to Sport mode in the N Custom settings.

The Hyundai's engine produces a muted, woofy burble on light throttle. An occasional crackle and pop can be heard on the overrun in normal mode. Drivers can ramp up the exhaust note in stages with help from an electronic sound generator by selecting 'Sport' from the Drive mode button on the left spoke of the steering wheel or the 'N' button on the right spoke.

While ultimately the Hyundai’s engine is not as forgiving as the powerplant of the Civic Type R, it does offer a neat little trick for those who haven't driven a manual car in years.

In first gear (and reverse), the throttle automatically brings up the revs as you begin to let the clutch pedal lift off the floor, even if you don’t apply any pressure at all to the accelerator. This makes it harder to stall the Fastback than other hot hatches.

That's just one way in which the Hyundai i30 Fastback N takes engine management to a different level. Another is rev matching, which is selected from the N Custom settings. The system is not perfect, mustering the same fuel load and revs, irrespective of gear chosen and road speed or the time it takes the driver to let out the clutch. It often mismatches engine revs to road speed, leaving the driver without engine braking.

Few owners will have difficulty using the manual box in the Hyundai otherwise. While the gearshift action is not as slick as the Honda's, it's still precise and light enough for most drivers.

The Fastback doesn't come with a fuel-saving idle-stop system, but there is an Eco mode to run the Hyundai leaner and cleaner.

For the first few days of urban commuting the Hyundai's fuel consumption was as high as 13.6L/100km. On the open road, with the engine spinning at just 2200rpm, the i30 Fastback N will use fuel at a rate below 10.0L/100km.

Over a 70km test loop the trip computer posted a figure of 11.0L/100km, which was an improvement and probably more indicative of what the average owner will experience.

At open-road speed the engine noise is a background murmur and the tyre noise also fades away on smooth surfaces, but coarse-chip country roads will bring out more roaring from the 235/35 R19 Pirelli P-Zero tyres.

Like some of its hot-hatch peers, the Fastback will step out at the rear on a trailing throttle if it’s punted into a bend with a surfeit of speed. The handling is predictable and vice-free however, and if you set the car up properly and keep the boot into it past the apex it will predictably widen its line up to the point where the Fastback is approaching its dynamic limits.

The steering is communicative and responsive also, and the brakes are strong and capable. A hint of torque steer can be detected at times when the turbo is singing.

While it always feels very secure, and can be placed on the road with some precision, the Fastback is not quite in the same league for roadholding as the Honda Civic Type R – but it does come very close.

The Hyundai's suspension is noticeably softer than the underpinnings of the mainstream i30 N hatch. It rides very well considering its performance and dynamic potency, and what advantage the Civic Type R holds in terms of roadholding is eroded by the Fastback's better ride/handling balance. Smaller wheels (19-inch) and Pirelli rubber – along with local chassis tweaks – make the ride quality more bearable than that of the Type R, even in Sport mode.

At night, the headlights are bright and cast a white beam over a good range. They also provide a nice even spread on low beam for negotiating bends. In fact, the Hyundai's headlights might be a little too bright for some drivers, since the driver of one oncoming car flashed his lights from about 100 metres away.

The Fastback comes with static cornering lights, which are very effective for picking out pedestrians on street corners at night.

The Hyundai came with both lane departure warning and lane keep assist – and wonder of wonders, both systems work respectably well on country roads. Even when there are no shoulder markings (but there is guttering), the LDW quickly lets you know if you’re veering off the road. In this respect, Hyundai has accomplished something that European prestige brands frequently struggle to match.

Finally, parking the i30 Fastback N is made easier by the exterior mirrors dipping on both sides when reversing.

Ergonomically, the Fastback is much like the i30 N; the instruments are reasonably easy to follow at a glance, although the calibrations for the speedometer are quite fine and could lead to a speeding fine if the driver is caught unwittingly over the limit. There is a digital speed readout available through the multi-mode trip computer in the instrument binnacle if adherence to the speed limit is imperative, as in the state of Victoria.

Kudos to Hyundai for a satellite navigation system that works well and recalculates quickly. Voice recognition to enter an address would be useful, but it’s only available with a smartphone plugged into the car and operating through Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

A driver could be easily distracted behind the wheel of the i30 Fastback N, with N and drive mode buttons on the steering wheel, plus all sorts of dynamic 'outputs' to be viewed through the N menu of the infotainment touch screen in the centre fascia. These include power, torque, turbo boost, lap times and longitudinal and latitudinal g forces. None of them can be taken in at a glance, however.

With varying trip computer functions in the instrument binnacle (digital speed reading or fuel consumption, for instance) also adding to the driver's 'workload', the Fastback’s driving position can feel like a busy place at times.

A head-up display, built-in voice recognition and all the drive-mode information packed within the instrument cluster is asking a lot, given the Fastback’s price. A more expensive car would be equipped with a head-up display or Audi-style virtual cockpit – and still fail to live up to the driver's expectations anyway.

As noted elsewhere, the Hyundai i30 Fastback N came with the optional luxury pack, which features front parking sensors, fold-in exterior mirrors, 12-way electrically-adjustable sports seats with two-position memory, heated front seats/steering wheel, keyless access, ignition and wireless phone charging.

The optional seats are very good overall, and while the base feels snug around the posterior, the bolstering is not as uncompromising as the arrangement in the Renault Megane RS 280, and climbing into the driver's seat requires less effort than getting behind the wheel of the Ford Focus RS.

Knee-room is fine in the rear of the Hyundai, but the space under the front seat is tight for feet and stretching out. In the much the same vein, the Hyundai's headroom is borderline for adults, but not bad considering the car's lower roofline.

Despite the undeniable value factor with the luxury option pack specified, the Fastback was let down by the lack of adjustable vents for the rear-seat passengers. There were no USB ports back there either, but at least there were two cupholders in the folding centre armrest.

The rear seats of the Hyundai fold down, but the strut brace in the boot will restrict the size of payloads that will fit in the larger space, despite a compact space-saver spare in the boot. Carting around bar fridges is out of the question...

The question remaining after a week with the Hyundai i30 Fastback N is whether it's a better car – for the money – than the i30 N hatch. At present it certainly is, but with rumours of the i30 N hatch set to adopt the same suspension settings as the Fastback before the end of next year, it boils down to whether you can wait or whether you prefer the looks of one over the other.

And as a postscript, by the end of the week, the wife had reconsidered again; the i30 Fastback N is back on the shopping list...

How much does the 2019 Hyundai i30 Fastback N cost?
Price: $45,485 (as tested, plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 202kW/353Nm
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Fuel: 8.0L/100km (ADR Combined), 11.0L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 186g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP, 2016)