Hyundai i30 N Fastback timed track test & performance review
Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00Hey guys, Chris here, we're back at Queensland Raceway, our car expert test track.
00:04Today we've got the i30 N Fastback, it's my first go in an N car and I've been pretty
00:08excited to try one of these things out.
00:10Six-speed manual transmission, front-wheel drive with an LSD there, so it should control
00:14the slip pretty well, 202kW, 2.0L turbo with 353Nm of torque.
00:20So going to be a challenge with the traction, but going to have to manage that on the track.
00:23I'm excited to see what sort of numbers it can do, so let's give it a go.
00:31So my initial feelings are pretty good, I like the steering wheel, the shape of it,
00:47the size of it, it's actually not too big which is nice in a road car.
00:51Nice and precise as well, nice and direct.
00:53So back into manual transmission, so going to have to heel-toe, although it does have
00:57a rev-match option, which I'll try both of and let you know what I think.
01:01Pedals feel good, brakes nice and firm, always a challenge with a road car going back to
01:07a track is how consistently they'll stay firm, those brake pedals, so that will be a challenge.
01:14Seats are good, I probably would like a little bit more support, especially in the upper
01:18back here, just mid-corner there, I'm moving across a little bit, but definitely not bad.
01:23Nice and comfortable and in a really good position, I can get nice and low and angled
01:28back which I like, I don't feel on top of the car which is always a good thing.
01:33Also love these drive mode buttons on the wheel, so I've preset the N mode so I know
01:39exactly what I've got there and I can flick through on the other side into the standard
01:42drive modes.
01:43With a bit of a tip from Hyundai Australia, well I've gone for the sports setting on suspension,
01:49not the sports plus.
01:50I've heard a lot of things about how firm this car is and funny enough a lot of the
01:54development has been in Australia on the suspension, those guys do a great job there, I've seen
01:58it first hand what they're doing and their recommendation for this sort of not perfectly
02:03smooth track was the sports, not the sports plus, so it feels about right, it still feels
02:07pretty firm.
02:08Alright, let's build up some speed now, let's get a bit of temperature in the tyres, get
02:13a feeling for the car and then start those hot laps where I'm just going to focus on
02:16the time.
02:18I actually got a bit of a background with Hyundai, I used to race for them in the World
02:21Rally Championship, did a lot of the development testing with the WRC car and you can see the
02:26passion in the company to push beyond what they were as a sort of price point car and
02:33build some passion about the brand which is great and it's my first go in the N car and
02:38so far so good, stability seems really good, so the suspension's firm, brakes are nice
02:43and firm too, nice and pointy in the front end which is a good sign in a front wheel
02:49drive car, there's a little bit of understeer there, see if it affects us on the flying
02:53lap.
02:54I love the shift lights, having these at the top of the dash is so awesome, really helps
02:59know when to shift gear and gives you that race car feel as well.
03:03Alright so everything in sports plus mode except the suspension which is in sports mode,
03:08let's try and do a good lap.
04:13So there you go, got down to a 1.019, actually thought it would be a little bit quicker because
04:31it felt really good on the track, it did a lot of nice things, the braking was maybe
04:36one of the best cars in this sort of segment that I've had, they were super consistent
04:42and most street cars when you bring them on the track they'll last a few corners and then
04:46fall apart, this was consistent all four laps, traction was excellent off the corner, the
04:50LSD was working well, a couple of times it grabbed a little too quickly and I had a little
04:54bit of push but the rest of the time was really good and for a front wheel drive car it had
05:00so little understeer, like mid-corner in the long corners it was awesome, it was well balanced,
05:05I could put the car exactly where I wanted it and like I said to drive it, it felt amazing.
05:11The time was a little bit off and I start to look at the manual transmission as maybe
05:16being a bit of that cost, even on that quickest lap I nearly missed a shift coming out of
05:21the straight, with the new generation one, the next model coming out with the dual clutch
05:26transmission that's definitely going to help its performance because I really think there's
05:29over half a second in the lap maybe with the manual box, so be excited to see how quick
05:36this thing can go.
05:37So the bit where I feel like I'm just missing out a little bit is off the corner, even though
05:41it's got quite a bit of torque I feel like I'm just not carrying enough speed onto the
05:46straight and I don't feel like I'm missing a lot of traction, I almost feel like it could
05:52do with a bit more power, a bit more torque but that's a compliment to the chassis and
05:55the rest of the package so overall good fun, entertaining and a real contender in this
06:01market segment.
06:03So there you go, the i30 Fastback N, my first go on track in the car and I was not disappointed,
06:08that was a lot of fun, not going to be the quickest car out there but did great things
06:11on the track, really reacted well, you can see the thought that's gone into this, it's
06:15got a proper shift light cluster at the top, the suspension work and the tuning that's
06:19been done on the steering, you get that feedback that I'm looking for so that's awesome.
06:23My top three tips with driving this car, one, you can really attack the corner entry, it's
06:27got a really stable platform, stiff suspension so you don't have to be afraid of that understeer
06:32on the way in so commit on the entry and also the exit is really good as well, lots
06:36of traction from the differential, the LSD is working well so smash the throttle and
06:41then you'll fire up the corner.
06:43But focus on those gear shifts, I missed one coming onto the straight and it hurt my time
06:46a little bit so really nice and clean on the gear shifts and that manual transmission.
06:50When the DCT comes in the future, it's going to be so much quicker this car so looking
06:54forward to that.
06:55Thanks again for watching guys, if you found the video useful, please hit the like, subscribe
06:59and the bell icon so you get notified every time we publish a new video and if you have
07:03any questions or feedback, go ahead and leave them in the comment section below.
07:07Take care and I'll see you again next time.