There have been a few, but this should be the last preview of the Hyundai i30 N before the hot hatch – the Korean carmaker’s first attempt and the first model with the performance N badge – makes its debut on July 13.
This time, Hyundai has released a video of the Ford Focus ST and Volkswagen Golf GTI rival undergoing “final testing” at the Nurburgring, which has hosted much of the i30 N’s development miles. Hyundai’s ‘N’ stands for Nurburgring and also its technical base Namyang, by the way.
Once again, the i30 N makes some really good noises to the enthusiast’s ear, and so does the man behind the car. According to Albert Biermann, Hyundai’s head of performance development and high performance vehicles, “we put in a lot of effort to make the i30 N a real cornering rascal.” Yes, cornering rascal.
“We are targeting heartbeats per minute, so BPM, the beats per minute, for us have a higher priority than the RPM. We want to provide first of all a lot of driving fun,” the former VP of engineering at BMW’s M division declared. See, what did we say about sounding correct.
There’s more. “Another important pillar of a high performance Hyundai N car is that it can drive on the racetrack, and not only for one or two minutes. It should be enjoyable racetrack driving,” he added, hinting at sustained driving pleasure. The Nurburgring is a very long track, and if a car is repeatedly pounded there, it should work well elsewhere.
“This is our core story. The i30 N is about driving fun, enjoyable on the race track and on the road,” Biermann concluded.
Expect around 260 hp from a 2.0 litre turbocharged four-pot, with power going to the front wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox. An in-house developed eight-speed dual-clutch automatic will be offered later. The video above also shows glimpses of the i30 N’s dashboard, dials and central display, which shows an “N mode”. All screencapped for you below.
SPYSHOTS: Hyundai i30 N
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Amazing. Just about 40 years old, Hyundai produces amazing cars. This i30N is a good example. And they can sell 8 million cars globally. In US, Australia, they have overtaken Japs to be No 1 Seller
Koreans work hard. They don’t beg and suck money from their rakyat.
Err. Yes they get subsidi & plotek even more than P1. Where do u think we learn that trick from?
Rilakss brah…Korean can success, Meleisian orso Boleh! Ahaksss
at least they succeeded. So, it was worth the initial help. We all, 30 yrs help also still cannot stand on own feet.
In short, Albert Biermann is saying if U buy a i30 N Hot hatch later, U will not be shortchange & it will drive as good as a Golf GTi/Focus ST.
In fact, he went on to say – The i30 N is about driving fun. U can take it to the race track or/& drive it on the road, U will come out smiling again & again.
Video looks like manual very stim, but article says 8spd DCT potong stim.