Hyundai’s first hot hatch is fast, but it’s also possessed of a resolve and polish that can’t fail to impress. The handiwork of a new performance division of the Korean giant, it’s the first in a series of high-performance products that will change the way fast car fans consider the brand. Thanks to muscular 2.0-litre turbo engines and thoroughly honed, yet entertaining front-drive chassis, the i30 N is impressive and the i30 N Performance is a hot hatch at the very top of its game. Established players in this brand-building segment will ignore the new Hyundai’s competence at their peril.
Forget any arguments about whether the new i30 N deserves the label hot hatch. I’m here to tell you the real discussion that will now take place is whether Hyundai has grabbed top spot in the category – at its very first attempt.
Yes, the Hyundai i30 N is THAT good. Good enough, in fact that every other front-drive hot hatch brand should be concerned. The Koreans aren’t coming – they have arrived.
We’ve written chapter and verse on the car already, including its genesis, its local and overseas testing, Hyundai’s publicity stunt… err, I mean… test at Bathurst, the car’s global reveal and even a drive of a camo’d prototype Down Under.
But even forearmed with that knowledge, yours truly wasn’t prepared for the maturity, polish and pace the i30 N demonstrates.
Sure, we’ll need to wait until we drive it against its direct competitors – including the likes of Honda’s new Civic Type R and Renault upcoming Megane RS -- before we declare it as Best on Ground, but an unprecedented amount of contact with the car at its international launch and an extended drive thereafter makes me confident of this opinion. It is an absolute cracker.
Track and road reviewed
Hyundai launched the i30 N late last week at the Vallelunga circuit north of Rome. It chose the track (it says) for its tight, challenging and (unflattering for a front-driver) layout. But moreover, it also chose the location for the seriously shitty roads around it.
Indeed, if you think Australia has a monopoly on broken bitumen and pockmarked roads, wait until you take the SP13a from Poggio Dell’ellera to Vallelunga. The road was so poor my drive partner and I thought we’d gone off piste.
Yet on this road and on a tight, mixed loop to Civita Castellana, Faleria and beyond, the i30 N was seriously composed and seriously good.
On the track, it was perhaps even more praiseworthy. Precise, confident and well weighted steering, coupled with playful dynamics into the slower corners and unimpeachable drive out of them… Clearly, the head of Hyundai’s new high-performance N division, ex-BMW M exec Albert Biermann knows his stuff.
And more pointedly, has employed for type. If Biermann and his team were tasked with the job of putting Hyundai on the performance map by the bosses at Hyundai’s R&D base in Namyang in Korea, they’ve nailed the brief.
Nuts and bolts
Biermann says the N team started the i30 N project with an advantage – the body in white of the standard i30. Although the suspension, powertrain, steering and electronics platform of the i30 N are significant departures from the donor stock hatch, such is the inherent strength of the base hatch’s structure that no further reinforcements were necessary.
The only addition deemed desirable (arrived at after testing and racing near-standard i30 N prototypes in two Nurburgring 24 Hours) was a bolt-in rear (yes, rear) strut brace. And even that will be optional in some markets, Biermann suggests.
That same racing and track-based development saw the team abandon the steering column-mounted EPAS (electric power assisted steering) motor of the standard car. That’s been replaced instead with a Porsche-style powered-up rack-mounted unit.
The steering modification was precipitated by high-effort, high-grip (racing slicks), high-speed testing on the Nurburgring… The end result is one of the car’s best features. And that Green Hell of a catalyst becomes familiar as you engage in other development discussions relating to the new Hyundai hot hatch with Biermann’s team.
It’s clear they really have gone through to car from stem to stern making sure the componentry is up to snuff. This year, one of the Nurburgring N24 racer/testers even ran the race on the i30 N’s standard electronic adaptive dampers.
It may be politically expedient to credit Hyundai’s Namyang boffins with the i30 N’s nuts and bolts, but make no mistake: this car is a product of the Korean company’s European engineers. Appropriate then, that it will only be built in Hyundai’s Nošovice plant in the Czech Republic…
Yes, even the ones coming to Australia.
Run what you brung
The engine that sits under the i30 N’s bonnet is not only a rather potent piece of work (with more to come, hints the N boss), it’s also an insight into the ‘run what you brung’ development strategy Biermann’s Boys employed – extending on the above principles.
The turbocharged four features bespoke parts including a unique oiling system designed for high-G cornering (there’s that ’Ring again). It also gets a larger turbo and other upgraded internals, but in the main, it is the same proven and under-stressed 2.0-litre used in the Sonata. A bespoke (read: expensive) clean-sheet engine would have killed the program.
The front brake callipers and oversized discs are also drawn from the Hyundai family business – from one of the brand’s larger SUVs. The floating front callipers may not look as sexy as those wonderfully racy four-piston Italian units on other hot hatches but boy do they work. And work… And work… Even on the racetrack.
And, says Biermann, the money saved by raiding the corporate parts closet could be better employed where truly unique parts and calibration were required. Take for example the pop, bang, pop enhanced active exhaust system, abovementioned adaptive dampers or specially-developed short-throw clutch and gearbox linkages.
It’s an attractively down-to-earth approach which Bierman and others say can deliver performance at the very pointy end of the hot hatch class, without the over-inflated price tags asked by some.
Of course, Hyundai Australia is NOT telling us yet how much the i30 N will cost when it arrives Down Under in 2018. Its spokespeople are hinting, however, and have finally confirmed that both standard and Performance versions of the i30N will be available locally. There’ll also be the i30 N Fastback arriving late in 2018 or early 2019.
If Hyundai Australia’s negotiations go well with head office (and they should, given Australia may be up to 30 per cent of i30 N’s global volume) you may be able put a standard 184kW, 18-inch shod, launch control-equipped i30 N in your driveway from around $39,000 (plus ORCs).
And yes, that price includes adaptive dampers and Hyundai’s N Grin Control System – a multi-choice drive mode system that allows you to fine-tune how your i30 N behaves.
The i30N Performance with its higher-output engine (see below), electronically controlled hydraulically actuated mechanical limited-slip N Corner Carving Differential, active (and deliciously fruity) exhaust, better seats, finishes and more, might well start under $45K.
If that’s the case, it’ll clean up every bang for buck group test between here and the Rhineland.
Wondering why Volkswagen Australia has been pouring out a swag of Golf GTI variants market onto the Australian of late? What do you need, a map?
Facts and figures
It’s probably about this time you’re expecting chapter and verse on the i30 N and Performance’s vitals. I’m too slow a typist to play that game -- instead I’m going to refer you to Marton Pettendy’s excellent piece on the prototype drive of the car on local soil back in May and our reveal article. Along with our ‘Eight reasons you want a Hyundai i30 N Performance’ listicle, they’re almost all there…
Marton details the powerplants of both the 184kW i30 N and flagship 202kW i30 N Performance in his piece. We can now confirm, both engines deliver up to 378Nm thanks to a transient overboost function that tops up torque by 25Nm over 1750-4200rpm.
There’s even a turbo symbol on the dash that lights up when overboost is in operation. Chances are you’ll be too busy to look for it…
Marty also detailed the six-speed manual gearbox, the sole option ahead of the circa-2019 arrival of an eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox (expected to appear first in the new Santa Fe sometime next year).
At the launch, the N boffins delivered a briefing on the attention to detail in preparing the drivetrain for its role in the i30 N – not much has been left to chance. There’s a launch mode that delivers 1.5-bar of turbo boost, locks in engine revs at 3500-4700rpm (you can choose) and uses the traction control system to control the launch itself. Just sidestep the clutch, TCR racecar-style…
Even that clutch has been hot-rodded – it’s clamping forces are way up, pedal travel reduced and weighting tweaked.
Aerodynamics have also been a focus. There’s a deliberate strategy behind the i30 N’s styling. The bigger openings below the grille feed extra air to brakes, intercooler, air-con and oil/water radiators, but unlike some other hot hatches those cooling components aren’t sandwiched. Instead, N has stacked the coolers to give equal priority to charge air and engine cooling – race car style.
That big wing at the rear of the i30 N (which includes one of my favourite details of the car – its triangular high-level brake light) is far more than a styling exercise. Biermann says it delivers proper downforce – enough to ensure the i30 N is stable and predictable at high speeds.
Indeed, at very high speed on the autostrada, i30 N was rock solid. Even an emergency brake from 180km/h-plus, required when a bus lurched into the fast lane, barely upset the hatch.
Did I mention even the engine and gearbox mounts have been redeveloped (AMG and Porsche style) by the N team. They’re not active like their much more expensive counterparts but they are stiffer (in the right plane) to ensure that when you turn the steering wheel the whole car turns at once – not the chassis, followed milliseconds later (but noticeably) by the engine.
Like I noted above – the N team has gone from stem to stern.
No local Aussie suspension development has taken place for the N – in contrast to other Hyundai models. Having driven the cars on those atrocious Roman roads, I’m not concerned.
The 18-inch 225-section Michelin Pilot Super Sport tyres fitted standard to the i30 N and 19-inch 235-section Pirelli P Zeros on the i30 N Performance are also global. The tyres have been developed in conjunction with the two brands and even wear ‘HN’ [Hyundai N] notation on the sidewalls. And, yes, says Hyundai Australia, come replacement time you will be able to buy the rubber Down Under.
Coals to Newcastle
There are so many aspects of the Biermann Boys’ attention to detail (BTW, I’m sure there were girls as well – I’m just using a little artistic assonance), that each time I consult my notes I find more.
The embossed N logos on side skirts and wheels, for instance; or, more functionally, the logical assignation of powertrain and chassis parameters across the drive modes and N button settings in the N Grin Control System.
There’s a depth to this vehicle that encourages exploration – far more than I can detail here. And this was reinforced by our ‘coals to Newcastle’ drive that made up the second part of our i30 N launch experience.
Managing to grab examples of both the i30 N and i30 N Performance from the launch near Rome, we pointed the Performance Blue fleet northwards and headed for the home of Germanic Performance, Bavaria.
The 1250km we covered were a blend of autostrada, secondary roads and mountain passes – terrain and road surfaces tailor-made to assess a hot hatch. And the weather even chimed in – warm and dry in Italy, by the time we reached Austria enroute it was wet and bordering on icy. It’d be hard to concoct a better set of conditions in which to evaluate the car.
I could probably write another 2000 words on the i30 N exemplary behaviour… From its comfortable lope as we smashed the miles at 180km/h from Florence northwards past Bologna towards Venice; to its rock solid stability on a 240km/h plus high-speed run. Or about the i30 N Performance’s N Corner Carving Differential’s race car style traction out of both Vallelunga’s tight looping layout and the streaming wet hairpins of the alpine roads north of Cortina…
Although not unique to Hyundai or the i30 N, there’s likely also a treatise on how the auto rev-matching system could be the saviour of the manual gearbox. Suffice to say, on this sampling, Hyundai’s first-ever hot hatch did not put a foot wrong.
Even the bolstered bespoke N seats, upgraded cabin and sat-nav infotainments systems got the tick of approval. And fuel economy that averaged spot on 12L/100km wasn’t too bad either given the enthusiastic pace!
And at the risk of being accused of succumbing to Stockholm Syndrome over the course of our two-day post-launch thrash -- err, I mean drive -- the cobby, pumped up racy looks of the N hatch always rewarded a second over the shoulder glance as you walked away.
Here’s a car that’s hard to fault.
The pick of the litter
The i30 N pairing will arrive with Hyundai’s full SmartSense active safety suite and an expected five-star NCAP crash rating. It will also get Hyundai’s full five-year warranty support.
Notwithstanding the fact that bolt-on rear strut brace compromises the load area just a touch, Hyundai’s “Everyday sports car” will, of course, also deliver the versatility you expect from a five-door hatch. Two model grades in both i30 N and i30 N Performance should mean there’s a model for all.
But there is a clear hierarchy between the models – and I caution that my enthusiasm for the i30 N is based essentially on the giant-killing ability and characterful delivery of the i30 N Performance. Given we’re expecting a premium of only around $5000, it is clearly the i30 N to buy.
The active exhaust possesses the car with a character and aural signature that tops the standard i30 N. The front diff and 19-inch wheel and rubber combo gift it a significant cornering advantage at a very slight reduction in ride quality. And who’s going to say no to close to 20kW more – wherever they’re delivered.
In its i30 N Performance guise, Hyundai’s first hot hatch is fast, but it’s also possessed of a resolve and polish that can’t fail to impress. The best news is it’s the first in a series of high-performance products that will change the way fast car fans consider the Hyundai brand.
The i30 N is impressive but the i30 N Performance is a hot hatch at the very top of its game. Golf GTI, Megane RS, Type R: ignore this new Hyundai’s competence at your peril.
Hyundai i30 N Performance pricing and specifications:
On sale: March 2018
Price: From $45,000 plus ORCs (estimated)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Outputs: 202kW and 353Nm (378Nm overboost)
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Fuel: 7.1L/100km (ECE Combined)
CO2: 163g/km (ECE Combined)
Safety rating: See text