Photos by Aaron Smith
There are a lot of cars on the market that are called sporty, hot, sports and so on with not as many living up to their branding.
The amount of cars I get to drive over a year is a lot and sometimes a car comes into my life that surprises me and makes me really think if I should buy it.
The Hyundai i30N Fastback is one of those cars. Much like its younger brother the i30N hatch, the Fastback runs the 202kW 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four cylinder engine that puts out 353Nm (378Nm on overboost) and the six-speed manual gearbox.
The specs say that the i30N can do 0–100km/h in 6.1 seconds. A Hyundai doing that was something I never thought I would ever see. Though the paper says it, I was not convinced until I was able to replicate this while tracking it all on the on board data system. Wow!!
Now I knew what it could do in a straight line, it was time to see what the i30N could do in the corners. Hyundai have got the suspension geometry set perfectly because the speeds you can carry into the corners are epic. There is a lot more grip then you should ever need on the road even on a spirited mountain adventure.
As you slow down to aggressively attack an apex, the 345mm front and 314mm rear ventilated discs bring the kph down fast.
The Hyundai i30N Fastback has the same front end as the hatch however the rear is very different and took some time to grow on me. I was never a fan of it but spending a week with it the look of the rear design really suits the style.
There are no real super cool features inside. It has an 8” touch screen display that includes Bluetooth, Apple Car Play and Android Auto, sat nav, radio with DAB, AUX and USB. These are all rather standard now.
What it does have is five drive modes (Eco, Normal, Sport, N and N Custom) with each setting changing suspension firmness, steering feel, power settings and a range of other options.
While this car is really meant as a weekend track car, as long as you don’t mind how low it is and even on the softest setting how firm it is, this car can be used as a daily driver and one you will forever enjoy.
