RE: 2023 Cupra Leon 300 vs Hyundai i30 N

[Silvanus]

Hyundai for me. Could N be the new R?

[Burgerbob]

ArnageWRC said:

Limpet said:

Brilliant cars. So many people will never get past the badge.

Can't be car enthusiasts then, can they? A brand currently in the WRC, having won events, and two manufacturers championships......

Unfortunately limpet is right. Even car enthusiasts are often badge snobs. My old Peugeot 308 GTi was quicker round a track than the I30N and more exciting to drive (at least when driving hard). But it took a little time to get accustomed too. Hence it didn't immediately grab great reviews and the public had gone off Peugeot.

Once you got used to it, the touchscreen controls were easier to use than my current BMW's idrive, the backwards rev counter made sense (as it does in some Astons), and the small steering wheel, once set up properly, was great to use.

But the press feel in love with the Hyundai (in part due to the brilliant marketing), the public prefer more prestige brands, and the sensible money was scared of Peugeot's resale values.

So yes, the badge means a lot, even to most car enthusiasts.

My fun car now is a Westfield, how many car enthusiasts think that a Caterham would be a better car?

[NGK210]

Why is the i30N such a fuel guzzler?
On the same Somerset to London roundtrip, I’ve seen low-30s in an N, high-30s in a Mk7 R and low-40s in an FK8.
It’s as if the N went back to 2003 for its map.

[Driver101]

pb8g09 said:

Nickbrapp said:

2k more and get a m135i which is more likely cheaper on finance anyway

But are st and look like an MPV.

If you’re gonna do that you may as well save £15k and buy a used M140i and get a proper BMW.

The newer 1 series is better looking than the older 1 series.

The M140i has a nice engine and RWD, but it's far from a proper driver's car.

[Mackofthejungle]

I haven't liked Seat since the good old days 20 years ago. Bland cars with no real point - they're just cheaply made VWs.

I like the idea of these new sporty Seats, especially for small SUVs, but you just wouldn't bother with any of the other tosh.

[Gez79]

the-norseman said:

fantheman80 said:

The i30N all day long. Oh Seat, I mean Cupra, where did it all go so bland...so boring.... After the gorgeous Mk1, to the equally tasty Cupra R and ST ABT versions last model...its come to this. The euro cars get brembo brakes, a cupra button on the wheel and other bits, so even they've admitted defeat on the UK market it seems...

Appears they have done more cost saving now by not even including an engine cover!

I don't know if it applies to this engine too but there was a recall on the 2.0 TSi 190 to replace the engine cover as it can work loose under hard driving, touch something hot and worse case, ignite. Only problem is there's a shortage of replacements so they're removing them until stock arrives.

[JJJ.]

Wouldn't even consider the Cupra, rightly or wrongly. It simply doesn't appeal on any level.

[Ultrafunkula]

macky17 said:

MK4 focus ST is worth considering. I guess people assume it's just more of the same half-arsed psuedo hot hatch that the MK3 was but nothing could be further from the truth: 2.3 litres, massively improved chassis, adaptable dampers, e-diff, torque vectoring by braking, variable geometry turbo and (with the performance pack) switchable dampers and rev matching. It's very very good. Better than these? Don't know as I've not driven either but it wouldn't surprise me. I think ford, in light of the fact there would be no MK4 RS or Mk5, decided to go to town on the ST. I actually prefer it as a road car to the fk8 I owned for two years previously. More playful.

I have no idea why they have chosen to compare the Cupra to the i30N here. The Focus ST is the obvious alternative, as it always drew with the Hyundai in comparisons when they came out. I chose the ST over the i30N as it was more fun to drive when I was looking, but they were very close.
The Cupra should be up against the BMW 128ti really.

[Arsecati]

I honestly had no idea the Cupra was still being made.

[usualdog]

JJJ. said:

Wouldn't even consider the Cupra, rightly or wrongly. It simply doesn't appeal on any level.

This.

[axel1990chp]

I absolutely loved my I30N. Fantastic car, I was inexplicably offered a lot more than I paid for it, was too good to be true for me. I hope they decide to make an I40 estate again and give it the N goods, I’ll be there.

[Antj]

I must be the old school hot hatch fan, ie in my day hot hatches were affordable by poor people like me.so people of an avaeragish wage could go into a dealership and afford to buy the brand new car. I mean when I started driving you could buy a brand new golf mk3 gti for £12k, and later on you could buy an ep3 type r for 14500, I remember sitting in the dealership with the quote……. Yet now the type r is £50k

And also the i30n , it’s still 37500

So for me when I was sitting there thinking I want to buy my last brand new hot hatch that represents all the ideals of a hot hatch that I remember , ie, manual, fwd, not overly powered, good handling and also affordable, I had no choice but to go for the i30n’s younger brother and I ordered an i20N for £24k which turns up in next two weeks after a 12 month wait……. Think the definition of hot hatches differ dependent on your age.

[Downward]

fantheman80 said:

The i30N all day long. Oh Seat, I mean Cupra, where did it all go so bland...so boring.... After the gorgeous Mk1, to the equally tasty Cupra R and ST ABT versions last model...its come to this. The euro cars get brembo brakes, a cupra button on the wheel and other bits, so even they've admitted defeat on the UK market it seems...

Yeah given the investment in the brand with changing dealerships to Cupra orientated it’s strange.
Still £38k for the mid range model, The outgoing Lux topping the range was £31k. Ok the seats are slightly better and interior is a bit better but certainly not worth £7k more. And i’m sure as the cars been out a while now it’s not even the case of inflation.

Change for changes sake ?

[Downward]

mcelliott said:

Best of the rest, ha have to laugh at that one, the N kills the Golf in all the reviews I have seen, had my Fastback for 16 months, fabulous car drove a Golf albeit not for long, no comparison the N kills it, I have e46 and the fastback more than matches it for entertainment.

A lot of car reviewers see the Golf as the golden child and the benchmark but ok the R is great but is the GTI still the benchmark ?
Then they start comparing the TCR model (last phase) although this was around £10k more than competitors.

[Wab1974uk]

Out of the two, I'd go i30N, only with a manual gearbox though.

But the one thing that even puts me off the i30N is the vast array of modes for everything. Why does everything have to be configurable within an inch of it's life?

You'd never know if you were in the right setting for each road. Like hot hatches of old, and with the GR-Yaris, just make it great out the box. Simples.

[CG2020UK]

Downward said:

A lot of car reviewers see the Golf as the golden child and the benchmark but ok the R is great but is the GTI still the benchmark ?
Then they start comparing the TCR model (last phase) although this was around £10k more than competitors.

For a bit of reference and context.

The I30N came out in 2018 costing £28K for the performance pack.

The original Golf GTI MK7 came out in 2013. By 2016 the Golf was selling as the clubsport for £30K. We all now how great that car is.

The Focus RS had even came out at under £30k by 2016.

By the time the I30N was out the media was hyping it up compared to the GTI but at this stage it was 5 year old. The I30N is closer in age to the MK8 GTI clubsport than the MK7 GTI.

[Byronwww]

Gez79 said:

the-norseman said:

fantheman80 said:

The i30N all day long. Oh Seat, I mean Cupra, where did it all go so bland...so boring.... After the gorgeous Mk1, to the equally tasty Cupra R and ST ABT versions last model...its come to this. The euro cars get brembo brakes, a cupra button on the wheel and other bits, so even they've admitted defeat on the UK market it seems...

Appears they have done more cost saving now by not even including an engine cover!

I don't know if it applies to this engine too but there was a recall on the 2.0 TSi 190 to replace the engine cover as it can work loose under hard driving, touch something hot and worse case, ignite. Only problem is there's a shortage of replacements so they're removing them until stock arrives.

Most reviews I've seen of the new VAG hot hatches haven't had an engine cover, indicative of the quality of their new cars.

[mcelliott]

Wab1974uk said:

Out of the two, I'd go i30N, only with a manual gearbox though.

But the one thing that even puts me off the i30N is the vast array of modes for everything. Why does everything have to be configurable within an inch of it's life?

You'd never know if you were in the right setting for each road. Like hot hatches of old, and with the GR-Yaris, just make it great out the box. Simples.

You can override all that by pressing the N button, everything on mine is set to 10 apart from suspension which always stays on it's softest setting, literally one press of a button.

[Seano1878]

Facelift i30N is a big improvement over pre facelift for anyone who only had experience of the old car. It pulls much harder across the rev range, with the new larger twin scroll turbo pretty much every car that has had baseline dyno runs done has been around 290bhp with a few at 300 or so, the pre facelift commonly produced less than quoted. Forged alloys and change to front camber has made turn in massively better compared to my old one, N Light seats are also mega!

The fuel consumption is comical though, it’s an old engine design and actually uses a closed deck version of the old Evo X 4B11T block (it was semi closed in the Evo) which gives you an idea of the age of the design, although it’s solid with plenty of facelift cars now running 400bhp and one on the UK owners group that was tuned in Germany producing just short of 500bhp. I’m happy with mine as is but it’s a decent upper limit.

I adore mine, manual in performance blue, ridiculously playful especially with the current wet or cold roads and the exhaust note is addictive, my brother has a GRY and loves my i30N, from a roll on a dual carriageway they’re pretty similar although the N wouldn’t see where the GRY went on most occasions. He always comments on the burbles and crackles even at low speed. Ideally I’d like both in my garage soon, perfect two car garage for me.

Just to add, I ordered mine last September and paid 32k for a fully optioned manual, collected in Jan. I feel it’s a bargain compared to most other modern hot hatches.

Edited by Seano1878 on Saturday 25th February 19:31

[Fuyursuki]

Between these two it was always going to be the N, even without the bias of me owning one! Just from a looks/sound/bang for your buck perspective there's no competition!

Had my big blue fastback for just over a year now - makes me smile every time I go for a drive, and all the kit you get like the heated seats is a big bonus in my book. There's a few more now on the road which is good to see, hopefully they are coping with the mid 20s(!) mpg like I am