RE: Hyundai i30 N Performance: PH Fleet

[SidewaysSi]

Limpet said:

Exactly ^^. They've taken an established format, but done something a bit different with it, and put their own spin on it. I respect that, even if it does divide opinion. It adds to the choice, instead of just copying what others have done.

Old school, slightly raw, and yes, a bit shouty. I love it.

It's not even the least bit raw or old school.

It is a competent and somewhat dull new hot hatch. Nothing wrong with that and to be expected but I think people are getting carried away by how wonderful they think this is likely to be. And probably will be quite disappointed if they are expecting 205 or even 306 Rallye thrills.

Able, efficient, somewhat souless and quite synthetic is how I would summarise.

[Ahbefive]

I liked this car on the N experience day but 'raw' it certainly isn't. It was just as refined as a new Golf.

[s m]

mcpoot said:

s m said:

It always interests me how concerned people are about the interior on a sporty car
As long as the seats are comfy and hold you reasonably well and I can see the dials with the steering wheel set right I’m good
I guess if you spend a lot of time in traffic jams it becomes something you ponder on

What's so odd about someone who enjoys driving a sporty car wanting to do so in a quality interior? Should the owner of the latest 8k big screen tv be expected to be happy to view it in a bare garage?

Looking at the pics of the interiors later on in the post they both look the same-ish to me? Neither look particularly bad or ‘bare garage-ish’

[Limpet]

SidewaysSi said:

Limpet said:

Exactly ^^. They've taken an established format, but done something a bit different with it, and put their own spin on it. I respect that, even if it does divide opinion. It adds to the choice, instead of just copying what others have done.

Old school, slightly raw, and yes, a bit shouty. I love it.

It's not even the least bit raw or old school.

It is a competent and somewhat dull new hot hatch. Nothing wrong with that and to be expected but I think people are getting carried away by how wonderful they think this is likely to be. And probably will be quite disappointed if they are expecting 205 or even 306 Rallye thrills.

As they would be getting into <insert current hot hatch here>. You can't make hot hatches of 1000-1100kg any more, hydraulic PAS is dead, and the market demands certain equipment levels, soft plastics and light controls. That's just life. Things have moved on. Cars now are bigger and comfier and more disconnected from a driver perspective, but what are you gonna do? There is a definite edge, and sense of focus about the i30N that the more mature feeling German cars lack (and for which it is coming in for some criticism in terms of the compromises imposed on daily comfort and refinement). It doesn't seem to take itself quite as seriously, and it's none the worse for it, in my opinion.

SidewaysSi said:

Able, efficient, somewhat souless and quite synthetic is how I would summarise.

Compared to what, though? A 205 GTi, or one of its contemporaries, yes. But the comment above applies to any hot hatch you can buy compared to one from 20 years ago. I drove most of the £30k ish hot hatches in late 2016, and the i30N is more memorable than any of them. It's not perfect, and there is definitely a synthetic element to it, but it has a sense of fun about it that particularly the contemporary German stuff just doesn't have.

[finlo]

Some people just point blank refuse to accept th a Hyundai/Kia have "arrived "

[SidewaysSi]

finlo said:

Some people just point blank refuse to accept th a Hyundai/Kia have "arrived "

Not at all. I thought was very average and about as exciting as a piece of celery. But it's been while since I drove a new Golf GTI....So maybe it is wild and raw in comparison. God help us all.

[BenRichards89]

I have one of these and it's fantastic. Great at putting a smile on my face when the opportunity presents itself. I've had a best of 43mpg on a long run in eco mode.
Ride is acceptable in normal mode, and when you're not in the mood for exhaust noise it's quiet enough. As for the steering, I prefer a heavier feeling anyway. Light steering is for girls :P
The seats are comfortable and all the switchgear works and is well made.
I've driven friends Focus ST and Golf R and this has more character by a long way. It attracts positive attention or a nod of acceptance from people. I've been asked about it in car parks and petrol stations.
Mine is dark grey, and I couldn't give a flyer about resale value. I got a reasonable deal to begin with anyway. 100% no regrets here.

[greenarrow]

Limpet said:

Based on the reaction I've had from an admittedly small sample of friends I've talked about the car with, the badge is going to make these a cracking buy after a few years because a lot of people simply don't want to drive a Hyundai, however good it is. People do however want to drive a VW, Audi, BMW etc, arguably however bad it is.

These people are idiots quite honestly. The irony is that only yesterday we had a thread posted by some poor chap whose 5 year old M5 has gone pop with Warranty Direct refusing to pay his potentially £20K plus new engine bill, yet people will dismiss Hyundai and Kia despite their industry leading warranties and good overall reliability record.

I really quite like this. Its too heavy and too thirsty, but for me it offers some of the rawness you would expect with the Civic Type R with the low key looks of a Golf GTI. Its a nice compromise for those who want something quick, practical, but not likely to attract the wrong sort of attention.

[MG CHRIS]

I own a 2 year old Kia pro ceed gt 1.6 petrol turbo think its fantastic lovely too drive plenty of performance on offer can switch between comfy cruiser to b road blaster. The i30n is another step up and I may be tempted by one in a few years.

The spec list and kit that comes standard far outweighs its rivals and the warranty and more importantly what is covered by both Hyundai and kia puts everyone else too shame. Other manufactures specially the Germans need too up their game.

[Limpet]

MG CHRIS said:

The spec list and kit that comes standard far outweighs its rivals and the warranty and more importantly what is covered by both Hyundai and kia puts everyone else too shame. Other manufactures specially the Germans need too up their game.

That's the other thing I like about it. The options list consists of the paint colour and a winter pack. Oh, and different seats at no cost. Everthing else is standard. Makes things much easier.

[Ahbefive]

greenarrow said:

For me it offers some of the rawness you would expect with the Civic Type R with the low key looks of a Golf GTI.

Have you driven one? I didn't find anything 'raw' about it. It was very refined and I would actually liken it very much to a Golf Gti. Not necessarily a good or a bad thing but certainly not at all 'raw'.

[chj]

I recently bought one for my wife as a replacement for a mazda cx3. She chose it ahead of a golf gti which she thought was boring to drive. Picked up a v low mileage demonstrator in performance blue for just over £23k and with very generous trade in ... great value imho. She's averaging 29mpg on the local school / shopping run, but on a 600 mile mainly motorway round trip averaged 45mpg ... personally I think those figures are fine and are less than 10% lower than the cx3 was doing.
The car feels well put together and is fun to drive ... the interior would look better with leather dash and door trims but it is not offensive as it is.
She has had several people interested enough to ask her about the car when filling up with petrol ... that speaks for itself.

[greenarrow]

Ahbefive said:

greenarrow said:

For me it offers some of the rawness you would expect with the Civic Type R with the low key looks of a Golf GTI.

Have you driven one? I didn't find anything 'raw' about it. It was very refined and I would actually liken it very much to a Golf Gti. Not necessarily a good or a bad thing but certainly not at all 'raw'.

You got me there. I was going on the Long Term Test review which suggested it was a bit loud and rorty.

As a former 205 GTI 1.9 owner, I'm guessing its probably not raw in the traditional sense. Maybe its "raw" compared with its fairly staid 2018 rivals.

Tell you what, I'll book a test drive soon and let you know how I get on.....

[spreadsheet monkey]

finlo said:

Some people just point blank refuse to accept th a Hyundai/Kia have "arrived "

Changing reputations takes a long time. Look at Skoda. H/K probably need another 10 years.

I like the style of the latest Kias (Sportage, Optima and Stinger) but Hyundai is still pretty dull. I haven't looked at their prices for a while, but I just perceive them as "like Toyota, but 90% of the price and 90% of the quality".

I still hear some stories about high servicing costs and sharky sales tactics from the dealers. Don't know how true this is.

[kmpowell]

Limpet said:

That's the other thing I like about it. The options list consists of the paint colour and a winter pack. Oh, and different seats at no cost. Everthing else is standard. Makes things much easier.

That's the thing, not everything else is standard, it's just not available. The Golf's success is due to it being a jack of all trades, so to properly rival the Golf it has to cater for people who want/need some options in their life. I'm bought into the idea of an i30, and i'd have one, but for a few things that the i30 can't offer me but a Golf can...

DSG/Auto box.
Decent upgraded Hi-Fi
CarPlay
Adaptive Cruise
Adaptive Dampers
etc...

Not many people these days go in an buy a box-fresh basic Golf, so for me once the Koreans crack the part of the market that wants true all-round versatility (rather than just a hot hatch), then it will be a contender to the Golf.

[Limpet]

kmpowell said:

Limpet said:

Decent upgraded Hi-Fi
CarPlay
Adaptive Cruise
Adaptive Dampers
etc...

Not many people these days go in an buy a box-fresh basic Golf, so for me once the Koreans crack the part of the market that wants true all-round versatility (rather than just a hot hatch), then it will be a contender to the Golf.

That's a fair point. The lack of customisation options could be a negative if there's stuff that you are looking for that is missing.

CarPlay and adaptive dampers do come as standard on the i30N. As does a lot of stuff that BMW and others restrict to the options lists, such as Wireless phone charging, electric seat adjustment with memory, rear parking camera, lane departure warning, a proper LSD etc etc. I do agree that not offering an auto option will cost them customers though, and they are missing a trick here with the way the market is going.

If I look at the options I chose on my M140i, and assuming the standard hifi in the i30N is decent, the only thing I'd lose on an i30N is the auto transmission. I'd have to pay for the winter pack for the heated seats, but the adaptive suspension, privacy glass, enhanced media capability (voice control, live updates etc) comes as standard.

The hi-fi upgrade is an interesting point. The German MO at the moment seems to be to offer a standard system that is so excruciatingly awful that the "upgrade" option simply gives you what you would expect in the first place. That certainly seems to be the way BMW operate. The standard system in the M140i is akin to a 1980s Alba midi system, and is simply inadequate for anything beyond Radio 4 or talkSPORT. The Harman Kardon "upgrade" is decent enough, but really just gives you what you might expect as standard.

[JFULLER]

I test drove both a Golf GTI and the I30N back to back on the same roads and on the same day. Yes, the interior of the Golf has better plastics, however as a drivers car, the Golf was inferior. The front end grip was poor in comparison, quite happy to push into understeer and not at all interested in trail breaking or lift off oversteer, really quite disappointingly safe!!!

The Hyundai in comparison was a riot, not just because of the hooligan throwing fire crackers out of the exhaust, but as a whole package! The grip tenacious, probably due to those sticky Pirelli's and the standard e-LSD, (Golf didn't come with those!!). Yes the interior plastics aren't up to the German's standards, but everything you have in your hands all the time, feels good. It even allows you to turn everything off, completely off, no nanny state here!!

I test drove both and bought the Hyundai with my own money, ran it for 10k miles. Regularly driving from from the East coast to West Wales, it averaged 40 mpg on the motorway. Had no regrets and if I hadn't of been caught speeding, I'd still have it!!

[axel1990chp]

I enjoyed the car that much after a test drive and constant raving by a few friends who had taken part in the extended test drives that I went and bought one.

Managed to get a deal on an ex-demo with 1,500 miles with £5,000 off list.

Came in white which wasn't my preferred choice but opposes the black accents brilliantly. Looks rather sporty and Ive definitely had a fair few heads turn to have a gander at it! All the more with the sound of that exhaust note!

I've had it to the shops and can confirm ive filled the boot with 4 large bags easily, no problem on the weekly shop. Driving in comfort suspension setting is just like driving any other hot-hatch, I can confirm this coming from a 64 Golf R Without DCC. Switch it to N and it stiffens up hard and whilst its probably too firm for anyone over 40, its more than acceptable for a spirited run! Steering in comfort felt soft to me, coming from a Golf R - as such a drive it in sport+ steering everytime, feels heavy and meaningful with more control.

Had long slogs in traffic to work with stop start and see dreadful figures around 16mpg, flip side I've had it down the motorway cruising 75 in 6th fetching 35mpg... Considering this thing is a sporty little number I find those numbers perfectly acceptable, especially considering how much fun I am having driving it, even just round the corner.

Don't necessarily subscribe to badge snob status but I had my doubts and suspicions, Ive driven German the last 7 years and the thought of something else seemed ludicrous at first but my mind has been changed. Long term I suppose will tell more, but with a 5 year warranty I feel pretty safe!

Interior is perfectly adequate, Yeah its not S class material but what do I need from an Interior? Its plain black and buttons are where they need to be, If I had to pick between an A45 interior and the N id choose the N everytime, perhaps its just me?

If anyone has any questions Ill answer them as best as I can and if anyone around HU postcode fancies a go feel free to get in touch!

[Limpet]

Has anyone experienced (or heard of) any reliability issues on these so far? The 5 year warranty (with track use specifically included) inspires confidence, as does the way the cars on the test drive event were abused all day by countless people in front of an audience, including repeated hard launches, and nothing broke.

[w00tman]

Limpet said:

Has anyone experienced (or heard of) any reliability issues on these so far? The 5 year warranty (with track use specifically included) inspires confidence, as does the way the cars on the test drive event were abused all day by countless people in front of an audience, including repeated hard launches, and nothing broke.

So, 14 months later, having had my mind blown - given this is our actual car (and I realised about 15 minutes ago) - no, no reliability issues at all. Had a faulty sensor replaced under warranty and that's it.