If you’re a true petrol head, you must have heard of this car by now. I have personally been tracking its development and subsequent market release for close to 2 years now. Here are some of the highlights
Designed from the ground up by Hyundai’s N team boss, Albert Beirmann, ex-boss of BMW M-division.
Every review has praised this marvelous piece of engineering. They say it is the GTI-slayer!
It’s available in 2 forms. The standard version(250ps) and the Performance version(275ps). The latter accounts for over 80% sales. No one seriously wants the standard version with the kind of power bump and LSD offered on the Performance for just under USD 2000 more.
Retails for about GBP 24,000 == 3.2M KES. If only our country wasn’t so fucked up, we would be forming a beeline for this at Hyundai Kenya. Expect to pay North of 6M for a new one in KE.
Yes, it is faster than its direct and more expensive competitor, the Golf GTI.
Astonishingly, about 40% of world sales have been in Germany, the ancestral home of the Golf GTI. Seems they give credit where it’s due; none of that nationalist credo going on there(read Trump policies).
There has been a serious production delay this year mostly because of demand and partly because of a new GPF device for Euro6d emissions. Some orders in the Europe placed in Feb will only be delivered around October/September. That’s similar to how long it takes for a baby to be born. And the orders just keep growing and growing. Hyundai expects the backlog to stretch to 2020.
Being a drivers car, it’s currently ONLY available as a manual transmission, like any good car should. A Dual Clutch Transmission(DCT) was planned for late 2019 but because of the backlog, might be pushed forward.
The crackles and bangs in the sportiest N mode have been reported as one of the it’s biggest selling points. The thing just sounds lovely.
Having decided against the Subaru BRZ/Toyota GT86 because of its high compression ratio(12.5:1), I’m waiting for our customary 7 years before importing mzungu’s 2nd hand cars so I can enjoy this marvelous piece of engineering.
I tried the plain i30 at a showroom and I thought it was okay, although cheaper than other hatchbacks. The interior quality was a bit entry-level and wasn’t comparable to the golfs of this world. Hyundai has a problem with manual gearboxes and getting an automatic hot-hatch takes the fun out of the experience. The gearbox will be the ultimate decider for this car.
The i30N is NOT an uprated Hyundai i30. It’s a bottom up build masterminded by Mr. Beirmann himself. The praises sung on this car make the GTI look like a choir girl. The gearbox is totally new(not borrowed from another model) and the rev matching has been known to turn die-hard haters into believers.
sounds like an awesome ride. However I have been wondering whether hyundai is really for our market because they mainly produce left hand drive cars. I dont know how you will bring in your second hand one 7 years to come
The i30N’s 2nd biggest market is UK and Australia is also smoking hot with the number of orders in. I expect that it’s only a matter of time before they offer them in Japan and South Africa as well. The biggest problem, which is a good one to have, is that Hyundai severely under-estimated the demand. They’re now running about trying to scale up production and the more they do, the hotter it becomes because the ones already delivered are so good that the owners’ friends are even putting in more orders.
@Nyamgondho if you can, get a test drive then report back to the village.
It’s a Hyundai bana for starters. It does well on the wrc but …
This and KIA are a tough sell to car nuts its surprise hiyo story ya Germany to take it up. They have tried with the Genesis coupe and Veloster and this year the Stinger luxury sports sedan but bado hawatoboi hiyo market.
I am on the i30N forum and so far, haven’t seen or read of serious shortcomings from the 1st world owners. Sure, the Golf’s interior is in a class of its own but the i30N holds its own against the likes of Ford ST and Honda Civic Type R. Yes, the other brands and models from S.Korea haven’t exactly been tremendous but from the sales news around the i30N, it’s on fire.
Hyundai, KIA(killed in action) and Entry Level Fords are for youngsters entering the car market for the first time. They are lousy and non-starters for real car lovers. Will never touch one with a 10ft pole.
I don’t know if I’ll get an opportunity to try it. But a friend owns the Civic Type R which currently holds the Nurburgring record for a front wheel drive car and I am going to try that one. The civic is a very tough car to own if you’re my age coz it looks very childish. These others can pass for family cars and don’t make you look out of place. Good thing with Hyundais is that they lose their value very quickly in Europe and you can get this year’s model at a huge bargain next year. Also if you import one KRA might tax you based on the i30’s retail price. So lots of cash saved. But if the car is based on a new platform then it will be a hassle owning it locally even if you’ve got the cash to import parts. Things like the suspension parts may be too complicated and if you don’t replace them with OEMs you will definitely compromise on performance. But if you own another car already you can buy this as a fun car.