Hyundai i30n

Veloce · 30-01-2018 11:27AM #1

Just wanted to get boardsies thoughts on the all new Hyundai i30n.

2.0 litre, 271bhp with the performance pack. Front wheel drive - numerous different settings to play with - suspension stiffness, exhaust, steering feel, rev matching. Huge potential.

Prices are in or around €40k - €42k which I am finding is not particularly competitive against the likes of a Golf GTI (or Golf R even which can be got new for under 50k - not a direct competitor I know).

The dealers don't appear to be offering any incentives or discounts on the i30N either. PCP is coming in at around 3.6 - 3.9%.

Have Hyundai Ireland got this all wrong? As much as I like them, I can't see people buying this car over the premium brands?

Its a shame as the car looks to be a brilliantly fun car. Albert Biermann (ex BMW M division) was involved in the development of the car too and it was tested on the Nurburgring.

bazz26 · 30-01-2018 11:36AM

There was a quick discussion about it in the Golf GTi/GTD thread a few days ago.

dar83 · 30-01-2018 11:42AM

Too expensive and lacks the historical pedigree to make it desirable for the price unfortunately.

Might be worth picking up in 2-3 years time for €12k or so though, maybe.

easygoing39 · 30-01-2018 06:22PM

There's only 1 reason why people buy Hyundai,and thats cause they are cheap.Once they start selling them at the same price as decent cars no-one will buy them.No one in their right mind one buy a 30n over a Golf GTI or a Focus ST.Hyundai are the motoring equivalent of white goods
,boring/bland/souless! And no amount of exhaust pops and farts is going to change that image.
As mentioned by dar83,wait 3 years and pick one up for buttons.

punisher5112 · 30-01-2018 06:24PM

Since the guards got them I've never seen so many Hyundai on the road.

DaveyDave · 30-01-2018 06:44PM

No doubt it's a nice car, reviews seem to have good things to say and it's good to see some competition in the hot hatch segment but price is the issue. They're €28,500 in the UK with the Performance model being €32,000 while the standard GTI is €32,000 in the UK.

Hyundai's price list on their Irish website only has one model down for €39,995. The website says "up to 275hp" so I'm assuming the price is for the 250hp model which is also only available in a manual and a manual GTI is nearly €1,000 cheaper. There's very little information on their website and their website has been crap for a long time. There's no brochure or anything. No use spouting 275PS numbers if there's no sigh of the Performance model being sold here!

Obviously the price makes sense in the UK, I'm sure the GTI is a nicer car but when you're paying the same price and one is the performance model then that's good competition. Here the nicer but slightly less powerful car is cheaper, you do the math...

JoeA3 · 30-01-2018 07:31PM

From Hyundai.ie:

The aggressive front bumpers with large air intakes and the Cascading Grille make a clear statement of performance with exclusive 19" wheels and high performance breaks.

Maybe the budget didn’t stretch to BMW M division marketing guys.

AMKC · 31-01-2018 12:53AM

easygoing39 wrote: »

There's only 1 reason why people buy Hyundai,and thats cause they are cheap.Once they start selling them at the same price as decent cars no-one will buy them.No one in their right mind one buy a 30n over a Golf GTI or a Focus ST.Hyundai are the motoring equivalent of white goods
,boring/bland/souless! And no amount of exhaust pops and farts is going to change that image.
As mentioned by dar83,wait 3 years and pick one up for buttons.

There's 4 reason's at least why people buy Hyundai's and its not anything to do with the reason you said.

Actually you're wrong there is a lot least 4 more reasons they buy them. The 5 year warranty that's never needed but nice to have, reliability, build quality because unlike VW's the Hyundais do not break down and get rattly all the time and style because again unlike VW's Hyundai's actually do have style and they do go hire a designer to design there cars whereas VW don;t bother anymore. The VW Tiguan and Golf are not exactly what you would call design masterpieces. They are about as exciting as watching paint dry.

I agree the i30n is a little expensive but it's also nice that they are doing that now. They have to start somewhere and it's a very good effort for there first try

It's also nice that people into these car have more choice now. They are giving people who want a car like that now and are bored of there VW breaking down a bit more choice in what to buy.

DaveyDave · 31-01-2018 02:27AM

JoeA3 wrote: »

Maybe the budget didn’t stretch to BMW M division marketing guys.

Nurburgring, Nurburgring, NURBURGRING!!!

AMKC wrote: »

There's 4 reason's at least why people buy Hyundai's and its not anything to do with the reason you said.

Actually you're wrong there is a lot least 4 more reasons they buy them. The 5 year warranty that's never needed but nice to have, reliability, build quality because unlike VW's the Hyundais do not break down and get rattly all the time and style because again unlike VW's Hyundai's actually do have style and they do go hire a designer to design there cars whereas VW don;t bother anymore. The VW Tiguan and Golf are not exactly what you would call design masterpieces. They are about as exciting as watching paint dry.

I agree the i30n is a little expensive but it's also nice that they are doing that now. They have to start somewhere and it's a very good effort for there first try

It's also nice that people into these car have more choice now. They are giving people who want a car like that now and are bored of there VW breaking down a bit more choice in what to buy.

The Golf sells twice as many cars as the i30, of course you're going to hear about more issues. Unless there's articles showing a bigger percentage of engine failure with Volkswagens then I can't say it's a major issue. There's no doubt the older engines had some issues but Hyundai/Kia aren't free from this. Just look at the thread where someone's neighbor had to get a whole new Kia after their brand new one was faulty. I40 clutches, Garda car reliability issues etc.

Let's not kid ourselves and compare the i30 build quality to the Golf though. There's no question the i30 isn't anywhere near as refined or well built as the Golf.

While design is personal opinion and it's ok to dislike it you'd have to be quite ignorant to say the Golf or Tiguan don't have any style. While they don't stand out as much as a Civic or a CHR they're very well designed and have a lot of attention to detail. They're just not flashy and Volkswagen can't be condemned for not having pointy bumpers that will poke your eye out. I park next to a Tiguan in work and it's nice to see a car in that segment that isn't trying to be trendy with styling. It's a car, not a fad.

Comparing the MK7.5 Golf to a MK7 there's quite a few well thought changes.

I don't have any experience with the 3rd gen i30 and I'm sure people are sick of me comparing them but the 2nd gen i30 is cheap, rattly and uncomfortable to drive. It definitely looks and feels like a cheap car on the inside from the hard plastics and the cheap feeling steering wheel. They're closer to a Dacia than a Volkswagen. I like the exterior but funny enough the 3rd Gen is more like the 1st gen, boring. In what world is THIS not boring?

We get that you don't like Volkswagen. You actually seem to dislike them on a personal level. I'm not a fanboy but I love my Golf and I appreciate that they've made a car that is damn near perfect in every aspect. Hyundai are closing the price gap between themselves and VW and they're making it easier to spend a little extra to get a lot more car and if you don't like a Golf there's always the Focus, Leon, Octavia, Civic etc.

There's also no DCT on the i30n, did they not want the sales or have they just not developed a wet clutch yet? If it was €5k less sure, but the Golf also has the iconic history behind it. I'd say they're definitely going to be great on the second hand market but people will have to buy them first!

JoeA3 · 31-01-2018 07:28AM

AMKC wrote: »

There's 4 reason's at least why people buy Hyundai's and its not anything to do with the reason you said.

Actually you're wrong there is a lot least 4 more reasons they buy them. The 5 year warranty that's never needed but nice to have, reliability, build quality because unlike VW's the Hyundais do not break down and get rattly all the time and style because again unlike VW's Hyundai's actually do have style and they do go hire a designer to design there cars whereas VW don;t bother anymore. The VW Tiguan and Golf are not exactly what you would call design masterpieces. They are about as exciting as watching paint dry.

I agree the i30n is a little expensive but it's also nice that they are doing that now. They have to start somewhere and it's a very good effort for there first try

It's also nice that people into these car have more choice now. They are giving people who want a car like that now and are bored of there VW breaking down a bit more choice in what to buy.

So much absolute bullcrap in a single post it’s hard to know where to begin.

This car is not going to sell in any numbers, I can assure you, good and all as it may be. The few that do sell will be dealer pre reg’d demos and even then, those won’t be easily shifted. Their own dealers / distributor don’t even have confidence in the car. They aren’t offering PCP on them as they can’t / won’t give a GMFV for it. That tells you all you need to know about the likely residuals. So this 40k+ Hyundai is restricted to cash rich buyers or those that are prepared to sucker up into a very costly HP finance deal. The numbers out there willing / able to do that are minuscule.

To compete with the well established GTI and others in the VAG stable, the Focus ST, it needs a superb finance package, dealers who know how to sell it (performance “breaks” :rolleyes:) and some kind of credible image / pedigree in order to tempt lads away from the VW showroom. This car has none of these things and therefore will be as rare as rocking horse poo on our roads.

Oh and could you perhaps point out the design masterpiece details on the Hyundai - or any Hyundai for that matter? At a glance this particular car appears to have made an attempt to photocopy the standard hot hatch look, which VW have already long since nailed down.

AMKC · 31-01-2018 11:03PM

DaveyDave wrote: »

Nurburgring, Nurburgring, NURBURGRING!!!

The Golf sells twice as many cars as the i30, of course you're going to hear about more issues. Unless there's articles showing a bigger percentage of engine failure with Volkswagens then I can't say it's a major issue. There's no doubt the older engines had some issues but Hyundai/Kia aren't free from this. Just look at the thread where someone's neighbor had to get a whole new Kia after their brand new one was faulty. I40 clutches, Garda car reliability issues etc.

Let's not kid ourselves and compare the i30 build quality to the Golf though. There's no question the i30 isn't anywhere near as refined or well built as the Golf.

While design is personal opinion and it's ok to dislike it you'd have to be quite ignorant to say the Golf or Tiguan don't have any style. While they don't stand out as much as a Civic or a CHR they're very well designed and have a lot of attention to detail. They're just not flashy and Volkswagen can't be condemned for not having pointy bumpers that will poke your eye out. I park next to a Tiguan in work and it's nice to see a car in that segment that isn't trying to be trendy with styling. It's a car, not a fad.

Comparing the MK7.5 Golf to a MK7 there's quite a few well thought changes.

I don't have any experience with the 3rd gen i30 and I'm sure people are sick of me comparing them but the 2nd gen i30 is cheap, rattly and uncomfortable to drive. It definitely looks and feels like a cheap car on the inside from the hard plastics and the cheap feeling steering wheel. They're closer to a Dacia than a Volkswagen. I like the exterior but funny enough the 3rd Gen is more like the 1st gen, boring. In what world is THIS not boring?

We get that you don't like Volkswagen. You actually seem to dislike them on a personal level. I'm not a fanboy but I love my Golf and I appreciate that they've made a car that is damn near perfect in every aspect. Hyundai are closing the price gap between themselves and VW and they're making it easier to spend a little extra to get a lot more car and if you don't like a Golf there's always the Focus, Leon, Octavia, Civic etc.

There's also no DCT on the i30n, did they not want the sales or have they just not developed a wet clutch yet? If it was €5k less sure, but the Golf also has the iconic history behind it. I'd say they're definitely going to be great on the second hand market but people will have to buy them first!

You make some very good points.

I don't have any experience with the 3rd gen i30 and I'm sure people are sick of me comparing them but the 2nd gen i30 is cheap, rattly and uncomfortable to drive. It definitely looks and feels like a cheap car on the inside from the hard plastics and the cheap feeling steering wheel. They're closer to a Dacia than a Volkswagen. I like the exterior but funny enough the 3rd Gen is more like the 1st gen, boring.

What would you say about someone who changed from a MK5 Golf to a Gen 2 I30. My neighbour did last year and she is very happy with it. She had the Golf for 5 or more years but also had a lot of problems with it.

I don't have any experience with the 3rd gen i30 and I'm sure people are sick of me comparing them but the 2nd gen i30 is cheap, rattly and uncomfortable to drive. It definitely looks and feels like a cheap car on the inside from the hard plastics and the cheap feeling steering wheel. They're closer to a Dacia than a Volkswagen. I like the exterior but funny enough the 3rd Gen is more like the 1st gen, boring.

I agree with you that the third gen is boring and the 2nd was a much nicer looking car but I disagree on the first gen being boring. I think with the 3rd gen Hyundai are trying to target more VW buyers and were trying to make there car classier.

We get that you don't like Volkswagen. You actually seem to dislike them on a personal level. I'm not a fanboy but I love my Golf and I appreciate that they've made a car that is damn near perfect in every aspect.

I do not dislike VW I just think that VW could be braver with there styling instead of being boring and making all there cars look the same. I think the MK5 Golf was the best looking Golf but since that VW have gone very boring again.
The Parents had two Skoda Octavias in the Early naughties which is VW owned and they were great cars perfect for what they needed at the time. I was the one that convinced them to buy them well the first one anyway the second I just made sure they got the right spec. For the price of a highly specced Octavia at the time VW were selling the MK4 fatboy sorry Golf with not near as much spec as the Octavia for same price and Ford were selling a Mondeo LX a horrible yoke inside with feck all in it

166man · 31-01-2018 11:25PM

Standard hot hatch look? Yawn....

Nice to see someone doing something a little different I’m delighted. The badge snobs can continue to drive their over priced Skodas as well, won’t make any difference.

Heaven forbid someone went from a “Premium Golf” to a Hyundai.... boards really has gone to the dogs in recent years.

JoeA3 · 01-02-2018 12:19AM

Sh1t stirring Alfa fan boy in for another boring dig. Yawn indeed.

carsfan2 · 01-02-2018 08:37AM

I picked up a copy of this months “Evo” magazine and in a group test of the Hyundai i30n, golf gti, Peugeot 308 gti, the Hyundai was the surprise winner.
The golf lacked the last 5% all round they declared to make it a winner.
This was the higher power version of the Hyundai. Not sure what we have here in Ireland. A magazine like Evo is usually a straight shooter too when it comes to assessing cars unlike some other uk mags that champion jaguars and Land Rover regardless of their faults.
I applaud Hyundai for bringing this car out and actually think they are rapidly improving in terms of product. That are unveiling a new Santa Fe Jeep soon that is supposed to be a real looker too.
That said , I don’t know of any car enthusiasts that would put 40kinto a Hyundai i30.

bear1 · 01-02-2018 11:51AM

JoeA3 wrote: »

Sh1t stirring Alfa fan boy in for another boring dig. Yawn indeed.

I like Alfas too

Hyundai have really upped their game though in recent years and I look forward to seeing more of their work.
I think they fecked up giving the i40 a measly 1.7 engine but at the same time the equipment levels (I'll include the Kia optima as well) is truly impressive compared to the standard equipment of more premium brands.
The i30n has caught my eye and also the ceed gt so may look further into getting one for the wife at some stage.

JoeA3 · 01-02-2018 12:27PM

bear1 wrote: »

I like Alfas too
.

As do I. But not a fan of inane pointless cheap digs that offer zero to the conversation, which one contributor on this thread is very prone to.

JohnBoy26 · 01-02-2018 01:46PM

Anyone that calls the i30n a boring white goods car has obviously never driven one. It's completely on a different level to the standard i30 and is more than a match for the golf gti and focus st.

If you can look beyond the badge you will see that these are a very good car and, dare I say it, have more character than the golf or focus equivalent.

All reviews are glowing too.

Veloce · 01-02-2018 02:05PM

I've been to look at one in the showroom and it certainly doesn't feel like a 'cheap' car from the inside. Steering wheel has a nice size and feel to it. Seats are very comfy but offer relevant side bolster support. A nice significantly sized central display.

The reviews have certainly been glowing. It appears to well set up and a hoot to drive. It sounds amazing too. I'd love to have an extended test drive to figure out all the available settings that can be changed. There is the most aggressive 'N' mode which can be activated by a single button the steering wheel. But from what I have read you can create your own custom set up options and save these as a preset. These options cover damping, steering, exhaust etc which all of each have 3 settings each. Normal - sport - sport +

bear1 · 01-02-2018 02:49PM

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Anyone that calls the i30n a boring white goods car has obviously never driven one. It's completely on a different level to the standard i30 and is more than a match for the golf gti and focus st.

If you can look beyond the badge you will see that these are a very good car and, dare I say it, have more character than the golf or focus equivalent.

All reviews are glowing too.

Personally I wouldn't give 2 ****s about the badge if the car is of good quality and a pocket rocket to boot.
I actually think it's a cracking looking car.

AMKC · 01-02-2018 05:32PM

bear1 wrote: »

I like Alfas too
Hyundai have really upped their game though in recent years and I look forward to seeing more of their work.
I think they fecked up giving the i40 a measly 1.7 engine but at the same time the equipment levels (I'll include the Kia optima as well) is truly impressive compared to the standard equipment of more premium brands.
The i30n has caught my eye and also the ceed gt so may look further into getting one for the wife at some stage.

Someone near me has a Kia Picanto the last model not the latest one but it looks really well. Has some very nice looking red leather seats in it and and nice bodykit too. Definitely not standard Kia fare maybe retrofitted after it but it looks great.

166man · 01-02-2018 09:20PM

JoeA3 wrote: »

Sh1t stirring Alfa fan boy in for another boring dig. Yawn indeed.

Not just Alfa fanboy - I currently own and have owned many different cars over the years, I just happen to drive one now.

It was the “standard hot hatch” comment that really got me..:D You’re probably the same type of person who would tell me that a Golf R is an “exciting, involving” car to drive.

I take offense at your “**** stirring” comment also, I’m merely pointing out an opinion that is clearly shared by others.

JoeA3 · 01-02-2018 09:52PM

166man wrote: »

Not just Alfa fanboy - I currently own and have owned many different cars over the years, I just happen to drive one now.

It was the “standard hot hatch” comment that really got me..:D You’re probably the same type of person who would tell me that a Golf R is an “exciting, involving” car to drive.

I take offense at your “**** stirring” comment also, I’m merely pointing out an opinion that is clearly shared by others.

Take offence, lol.
Who are you trying to kid anyway. Any time I pop into the general chat thread you've been banned / on the way to another ban after pissing one or more people off with yet another one of your well thought out contributions.

By "standard hot hatch" I meant (without thinking about it that much) that this Hyundai has clearly taken the template for a hot hatch (take the standard 5 door and add some skirts and spoilers) and I don't see anything radically different from the norm about it.

How many miles in a Golf R (or any hot hatch) have you driven? I'm guessing zero, so your opinons are based on...?

166man · 01-02-2018 10:41PM

JoeA3 wrote: »

Take offence, lol.
Who are you trying to kid anyway. Any time I pop into the general chat thread you've been banned / on the way to another ban after pissing one or more people off with yet another one of your well thought out contributions.

By "standard hot hatch" I meant (without thinking about it that much) that this Hyundai has clearly taken the template for a hot hatch (take the standard 5 door and add some skirts and spoilers) and I don't see anything radically different from the norm about it.

How many miles in a Golf R (or any hot hatch) have you driven? I'm guessing zero, so your opinons are based on...?

I’m not trying to kid anyone - I believe you’re throwing insults around. Not that it’s relevent but I haven’t been banned from anywhere here for ages actually, I’m being really well behaved.

My contributions I’d like to think are well thought out and based on real world experiences. I’m not sure yours are as you alluded to above - you don’t think very much it seems!

It’s radical for Hyundai and that makes it cool enough for me, it’s also different to the sea of diesel Golfs out there - which deserves praise.

Finally, driven quite a few hot hatches in my time but I think the better question here is how many fast Hyundai’s have you driven...or how many Alfa’s have you driven?

I’m guessing not many, because if you had you’d know a thing or two about this thing called “taste”.

Good day Sir.

colm_mcm · 01-02-2018 10:42PM

I don’t think any of us has driven a fast Hyundai to be fair.

166man · 01-02-2018 10:46PM

colm_mcm wrote: »

I don’t think any of us has driven a fast Hyundai to be fair.

Clutching at straws there Colm. I think we can all see that to which I was referring.

A chap on here sold his Golf R as it was too boring and bought a ‘90’s BMW - what does that tell us?

JohnBoy26 · 01-02-2018 10:47PM

JoeA3 wrote: »

Take offence, lol.
Who are you trying to kid anyway. Any time I pop into the general chat thread you've been banned / on the way to another ban after pissing one or more people off with yet another one of your well thought out contributions.

By "standard hot hatch" I meant (without thinking about it that much) that this Hyundai has clearly taken the template for a hot hatch (take the standard 5 door and add some skirts and spoilers) and I don't see anything radically different from the norm about it.

How many miles in a Golf R (or any hot hatch) have you driven? I'm guessing zero, so your opinons are based on...?

Norm as in a golf gti/focus st? Or norm as in the normal i30? What would would you like to see different or what would it have to do different to please you?

YbFocus · 01-02-2018 10:51PM

Christ Joe, people can have an opinion other than VAG is the best in the world.
Live with it.
I actually seen this car testing at the ring last August and it looked really well setup.

I was in a golf R in Mondello, it was boring as sin and totally driving itself.

It was me who took a chap out in a bmw and won him over in a **** 1k bmw you the point he got one about a week later.

The i30N would be a fun car, modern and **** like they all are, but fun.

JohnBoy26 · 01-02-2018 10:51PM

colm_mcm wrote: »

I don’t think any of us has driven a fast Hyundai to be fair.

All of the reviewers who normally nitpick when it comes to Hyundai's have and they have nothing but good to say about this car. Afaik even topgear had to rewrite their script after driving this car. I think they were going to poke fun at it but must of seen that wouldn't of been credible after driving it.

166man · 01-02-2018 10:53PM

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Norm as in a golf gti/focus st? Or norm as in the normal i30? What would would you like to see different or what would it have to do different to please you?

It would have to look more “standard” and fit in well with all the other cars on the road.

It would need to be fast but not too fast and definitely not wild.

It would have to have a respectable badge and impress others.

It would have to be a VW GTI I’m afraid!!

colm_mcm · 01-02-2018 10:54PM

166man wrote: »

Clutching at straws there Colm. I think we can all see that to which I was referring.

A chap on here sold his Golf R as it was too boring and bought a ‘90’s BMW - what does that tell us?

It just means the Golf wasn’t what he really wanted I suppose. He could as easily have sold a house in Dublin and moved to a farm in Mullingar. Doesn’t make one better than the other. They’re completely different experiences and fulfil a want someone has for something.

My thoughts are that the Golf R is an absolute weapon of a yoke, as is this new Hyundai. I’m reminded of the Impreza vs Lancer wars of the 90s, or even the fast Golf vs fast Escort battles a few years before that.
To call a Golf dull and prefer another car that’s no more exciting on any metric I can think of on the basis that it’s not another boring Golf is a bit strange to me. The I30 is the underdog and that makes it appealing maybe?

selectamatic · 01-02-2018 11:00PM

166man wrote: »

Clutching at straws there Colm. I think we can all see that to which I was referring.

A chap on here sold his Golf R as it was too boring and bought a ‘90’s BMW - what does that tell us?

It tells us he wanted an older more mechanical/analog car.

But it doesn't tell us the R is boring. it may not have been to the taste of the poster but the phrase different strokes for different folks is well known for a reason.

Interestingly enough that poster is currently debating moving to a slightly more modern car than his e30, so what does that tell us?

I'll give ya a clue it's a 3 word answer that goes something like "sweet f*#k all".

Hyundai i30n

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