Hyundai Hatch Is Fast, Focused, Fabulous
They are the letters that speak a thousand words. Sometimes just a single character, sometimes two or three, but the intent is usually the same - separating the good from the great; signifying the sharpest and most powerful machines in a car maker's lineup. For German uber-marque BMW, it's M. For Audi, it's S - or RS depending on the size or your budget. Mercedes-Benz uses the AMG branding of its offsite hot-rod division. Lexus favours F - in honour of Japan's famous Fuji racetrack - to identify its performance-enhanced models. Perhaps most popular is the letter R - favoured by Honda and Volkswagen, among others. And now you can add another letter to that list, with the arrival of Korean maker Hyundai's new i30N. A hot hatch that lifts the brand to new levels of credibility and respect. And yes, the N does have some significance. It evokes Namyang - the company's global home of research and development - and birthplace of this very engaging little machine. The i30N is not the first "rocket" from the Korean Peninsula - that honour belongs to the equally impressive Kia Stinger launched earlier this year.
But just like the Stinger, the i30N will change the way many view these two ambitious, corporately-linked Korean brands. The N has evolved from Hyundai's involvement with the World Rally Championship - for decades a prime breeding ground for hot hatches from European and Japanese makers. As with many cars with such a pedigree, we liked the i30N. It's one of the few cars that brings together performance, practicality and quality to rival the long-time favourite in this category, VW's iconic Golf GTI. In fact it matches the Golf in just about every category but one - performance. The Hyundai blows the GTI into the weeds when it comes to sheer exhilaration. With its 202 kilowatts it delivers acceleration more like that of the GTI's fully-blown high-performance sibling, the Golf R (yes, another of those letters). That it's even being spoken about in the same breath as those two VW legends speaks volumes for the i30N.
As with the third-generation i30 upon which it is based, the N feels more advanced, more sophisticated and more confident than any model to have preceded it. 40,000, it's twice as expensive as the entry-level i30 model - yet it's an absolute bargain. It's generously kitted out - with standard features including an active variable exhaust system, electronic adaptive suspension, advanced electro-mechanical slip differential and even a launch control function, not to mention autonomous braking. It looks the part, yet the Koreans deserve praise for the restraint they've shown in styling this car. Yes, there's a sporty body kit and noticeably hunkered down stance. There's wafer-thin Pirelli rubber wrapped around lovely 19-inch in alloys. There's also a fairly modest wing at the top of the rear window to help the aerodynamics. It looks purposeful and athletic, no doubt - but in no way is it over the top. Inside you'll find sports seats and alloy pedals and an enhanced N computer and instrumentation setup, including shift lights on the tachometer. But more overt is the way it accelerates, brakes and handles.
The i30 offers a choice of driving moods - a reasonably sedate personality in general driving mode and a Jeckyll-and-Hyde transformation when you press the "N" button on the chunky little sports steering wheel. That produces an instant response - the exhaust gets louder, suspension gets stiffer and the response from beneath the bonnet gets very sharp indeed. It will reach the speed limit in just over six seconds - but in full cry seems substantially quicker. The i30N will initially be offered only with a six-speed manual transmission - good for the boy racers but I'm looking forward to sampling it with a promised eight-speed dual-clutch auto once that becomes part of the range next year. The manual box is a decent one if not class-leading - the clutch is light and progressive but the highly-tuned engine does tend to stall if you're a little clumsy on your take-offs. On the upside there's an electronically-governed blip on the throttle with every downshift. Its sticks to the road like a cat to carpet in a manner that's a rung or two above the benchmark Golf GTI.
