Hyundai i30 N Performance N-DCT 2021 UK Test Car News

Hyundai’s big mid-life facelift on its first N performance division product, the i30 N hot hatch, was pretty wide.

Four years ago this car had many strengths, but far more untapped potential than careful development promised to reveal. Well, a spoiler alert, folks: there’s still a lot of teasing to be done.

This updated version of the car gets an engine with a little more power than before and a lot more torque. It becomes Hyundai’s first European product to get the company’s specially developed eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, which can be used in place of the standard six-speed manual. It also features new lightweight 19-inch forged wheels and enlarged front brake discs. And it got a wider suspension update that left it with new coil springs and adaptive dampers, new strut stops, and updated wheel geometry.

Inside the cabin, there are optional lightweight bucket seats for those who wish, Hyundai’s expanded touchscreen infotainment system as standard, and new active safety and connectivity features.

The updated i30 N is better suited to UK roads than the original 2017 version.

There is an improvement in the smoothness and suppleness of the suspension, which is at its best if you leave it gently tuned, when it never fails to keep tight control over body movement. Accelerate, however, and the ride gets a bit brittle and jittery in Sport mode; and then even more nervous and very aggressive in N mode, in which case you’d be hard pressed to find a British track smooth enough to feel suitable.

Heavy, filtered precision is what handling does best. The steering, like the shocks, should be adjusted as lightly as possible in order to maintain a feeling of naturalness. It’s quick but gets really heavy and lifeless in the most aggressive riding modes. Even if you’re willing to wrestle with it, it rarely makes the car particularly nimble or sharp.

The rim gives strongly mixed messages. Sometimes it feels like it can be totally unassisted due to its weight and yet at the same time so over-assisted due to the little traction feedback, suspension load feel or surface feel of it. contact it provides. Settle in for meaty but slightly artificial handling precision and impressive poise at high speed, rather than chasing a sharper incisor and mid-wedge balance, and you’ll be a happier customer.