Living with the Hyundai i30N (500 mile Road Trip) 

I think the i30N is a very cool looking hot hatch. The Hyundai brand just keeps getting better and better. It really makes you thing of where these guys will be in another few years. Totally agree with your point concerning the media system switching back to what you had it on when you finish answering a phone call. Well done Hyundai for addressing this small but massively annoying problem. Loved the seat belt for the wee dog. 👍

Basically a great fun toy for adults! want!

:( wish the US was getting the I30N, instead of the Veloster N.

I find these sort of road trip reviews too be a great way of doing a review, although completely impractical to do a lot of them each week

I did 1400miles in 24 hr road trip by Hyundai Elantra gt 2.0 and the trip was super comfortable. The car sticks to the road really good I was feeling so save being in this car. I recommend this vehicle for every one who’s not addicted of suv.

I've owned an Integra Type R for almost 20 years and I can't part with it. Clocked up 300 Kms without ever touching the motor. Replaced 2 clutches, 2 distributors, 1 wheel bearing and 5 sets of tyres. This was the last of the hand-built naturally aspirated engines. I drive it hard every day and it still revs easily to 9,000 rpm. In 'uncrazy mode' I still get 29MPG around city and 40MPG on country driving. I keep looking at new hot hatches but I just can't part with this amazing old car!

Fantastic video Pete. Really like the road trip format, makes for a good narrative and allows for a real world insight into the car. A really intriguing car and one that really interests me. You didn't say or if you did I missed it whether it was the i30n performance with 270 bhp but I assume that it is. It's certainly a vehicle that I would be interested in buying. It seems to be a great effort from Hyundai and something that they've put a lot of thought into. Not just a big engine bunged into an i30. Then again I guess we shouldn't be too surprised when you look at what they've achieved in the WRC over the last couple of years. Look forward to the review on Friday. Fabulous content as ever.

The banging noise is the engine rocking back and forth on its engine mounts violently as the tires break traction. Many ppl think it's the wheels bouncing up and down which it is not.

I saw one in the blue color scheme and it looks great, a brilliant first effort by Hyundai in the hot hatch market. Should hold it's own very well. Great video and a lovely pooch you have.

Had to smile when you mentioned that you were just around Dorchester and the traffic was horrible. Sounds about right. I live in Weymouth, close to Dorchester, the roads around us are often bad. Great video as always. Thank you!

Great review and Info, very ‘real’ down to earth review - refreshing! :)

Just feel i should comment, love the video, have been debating whether or not to look into the 130N but after seeing this real world situation , it certainly gave me food for thought snd massively appreciated because now i want one

This video is by far the best i30 N video after watching several. This video made me fall in love with the i30 N.

Perhaps that redline changes, reduces as the engine warms up reminds you of an M car ( BMW ) because Albert Biermann who is in charge of Hyundais M division use to work for BMWs M division. That Hyundai is a nice car. Would take it over the Golf GTI any day of the week...

Great review! The smile on your face when you accelerate is great. I really want to buy this car!

Nice editing. Quickest hand travel I’ve ever seen lol. If only all travel was that graceful. Loved this video, thanks as always.

Glad you had a good Easter weekend with the car - I'm looking forward to your review at the weekend. All the best, Pete 👍🏼

Petro pooch was the best part of this segment! Love the i30N cant wait till it comes to the US market

Quite a nice review, enjoyed watching. The actual car, is not perfect, but it is really very good. I work at a Hyundai main dealership, and when we got the first i30n demo in, we took it out on some country lanes and gave it a damn good thrashing. I think the front wheel skip you mentioned, is really not very noticeable on a warm dry road, because the special i30n-only tyres work much better then, and the diff can really claw away at the tarmac once the tyres are at operating temperature. Apart from that, your review echoes what we all think at the dealership.

Really glad you managed to get hold of one of these. Look forward to hearing how you get on with it, looks like fun so far!

I own one for 4 months now. The car is nothing short to brilliant fun. The only downside I could think of is the small gas tank. You'll strugle to get 500 km (312 miles) range out of it. Might be a problem in less densly populated area's but since I live in Belgium with a gas station on the corner of nearly every road...it's not much of a downside over here.

Mrs Petrolhead does a superb job of opening champagne! Fine review, thank you.

Really enjoyed the video mate! Starting to look at reviews on the i30n and came across yours! Didn’t realize you did some 😄

Well I hope you hit the little button with a flag on it did put you into the N mode. This car has rev matching when you're in the N mode you will hear snaps and crackles as if you were driving the Lamborghini. The car does this by retarding the spark in the fourth cycle of the Piston sequence that's to keep the turbo spooling and decrease turbo lag. This is a fun little car that responds far above its price point. I only wish they gave us this instead of the velociter N in the United States.

Thanks for a good real world review covering off the things we don't hear about normally! Also thanks for brining back great memories of summer holidays at Portmellon and Mevagissey as a kid. subscribed and followed on Instagram!

Really enjoyed watching that, Cornwall looked stunning. Looking forward to the full in depth review too.

Never been a fan of hyundai but this is awesome.

Impressive flexibility with this great hot hatch. I can see 35 mpg if you really tried, it makes a difference for a man like myself that looks for a Swiss Army Knifedness in a daily driver. Bravo and cheers

Great video petrol ped. This car has really intrigued me. Looking forward to Friday.

I'm glad the US gets adaptive cruise and the lane keep assist. Makes it almost self driving.

You thought right because yes I'd love to come along😁

Thanks to your review I have just bought an i30N demonstrator Performance. Awesome car for the money and the Hyundai gave me excellent trade in. Cheers.

I always travel to cornwall during the night...mevagissey is a beautiful place, spent many hours walking round the lil harbour n shops, Oh and the pubs too :-) I used to camp at pentewan sands, also a beautiful place.

At 13:05 under hard acceleration...isn't that just the car struggling to get traction in wet road conditions? I mean, c'mon, it has a LOT of horsepower and torque and it's not 4WD/AWD. What is it supposed to do?

Good to see you down in this part of the world. There are some great driving roads around here. Some fun to be had between Pentewan and Gorran. I do feel for you though subjecting yourself to a Ginsters!!

Willing to bet that Mrs Ped matched your mpg or bettered it. I know the new S4 beats it. You never did say why she went separately. Great vid as always.

New subscriber here . Found your channel whilst looking for other video reviews on the Hyundai130n and thoroughly enjoyed it. I've gone through some of your other videos as well and see that you've previously owned an S2000 which I currently own. With reference to Hyundai 130n, I think it possess the drama that you claim is lacking from the Honda Civic Type R in its own video review you did despite it being a great car. I've driven both the Civic Type R FK8 and the Hyundai i30n back to back and for me, the Hyundai has the emotion that is lacking in the Civic. The Hyundai just feels a bit more raw and feels more like how you would expect a modern day type R to feel. I also own an Integra type R btw and the Hyundai for me feels more related to it than the Civic. Looking forward to your follow up video on the Hyundai .

Powered wheels “skip” cuz it’s wetter than a slag’s fanny during a dogging session mate

Really enjoyed that - both the car and the journey. Thanks for sharing !

FX motorsorts dyno tested the i30, eco mode only affects throttle response

Yep, the i30N looks like a very good car. Sounds great as well! Looking forward to your follow up vid later on.

The skipping on the front wheels sounds like traction control

Very good review! However I would have to disagree with the point you made over fuel economy. These cars are targeted at normal people like us with normal jobs and they have to be able to achieve a half decent mpg to make any sense to own. They aren't a massive powered super car. My wife has a Seat Leon Cupra 280. It easily manages 35mpg. On a long journey its near the 40's. Baring it mind thats just driving it normaly, but its easy to live with everyday and doesnt cost a fortune to run. But you can switch it into cupra mode and have a bitta fun. Sure it will use more fuel, but adleast it can be a useable everyday car and a very fast fun car. Thats why its a great hot hatch. I am currently looking at an i30n myself in the same colour so it was good to see what your feedback was with it!

Brilliant review. Just subscribed.I got a golf r and was worried about squeezing through Mevagissey when I go away on holiday. Similar size cars so nice to see u made it.👍

Congrat's Pete you are the First reviewer to actually get one of these i30N's for more than an hour or so to review it Properly .i couldn't believe it when i first saw it, but was excited to see you had this Baby for a few day's as well ,Good Job!, Really! Cannot Wait till your Review on Friday as i am Considering one of these as i am also considering a Golf GTI or R which i would also love your opinion on. Love Schnauzer's BTW. Just a small thing i watch all of these video's on my 50'' panel with Hi Fi audio to get the best viewing experience i do notice that your musical interludes are quite a bit Louder than your Verbal description's ,which find's me often grabbing for the volume control to adjust this up and down accordingly ,just thought i would let you know hope you don't mind. John in Aus

Hi, thanks for the video. I was looking at i30N in a showroom today, as I'm trying to think of a replacement for my golf R estate. I need something slightly cheaper to finance. I really liked the look of it and most internet reviews indicate that it is a joy to drive. Now after watching your vid, I am a bit worried about the axle tramping in the wet. I really hate that. The other thing is the fuel consumption. The R estate would return high 30s in Race mode and low 40s in eco mode on a journey like this, with 35 more horses and 4motion awd.

My mk3 Focus ST suffered from that horrible front wheel hop under hard acceleration in the wet/cold. Thankfully it was fixed in the mk3.5 with a firmer rear engine mount. Looking forward to the full review.

It's a shame they don't have adaptive cruise control, it's such a nice feature to have! Also people put a rear motor mount in their focus ST to stop that bounce under heavy acceleration. I imagine it will be an aftermarket part that may become available for the i30N.

Great car and video, soo cute dog too, subscribed😃🇳🇴

Love this car... Saw one on the motor way here in France today. Im on a road trip in a smart fortwo from Austria to Portugal. Haha

Great video as usual.I hired a XES for my visit to the U.K this August,so I will visit Cornwall.St Ives and get a pastie.

Love how you took the dog instead of the missus! haha

Think I just seen my next car......look forward to your on vlog on it. PS my Mini Schnauzer Bromley showed an interested in Petrol pooch when on screen. Great vlog

Surprisingly bad MPG. That aside, an interesting new addition to the mix. The more the merrier and the better for the consumer.

Enjoyed the film Peter & this is the first Hyundai I’ve ever seriously considered buying.. sub 30mpg was a surprise though... looking forward to your full review later in the week and keen to hear your thoughts on how it stacks up to its German competition..

Just been lookin, some N's are dropping to £21k now, great value 👍🏻

They've got inspiration in the design from audi rs3, golf/scirocco, m, fiesta/focus and peugeot

Great Video Pete. Love these little cars.

Hard to find a really fun hot hatch these days, just drove a Leon Cupra 300, but frankly it was dull. This is now on my list, test drive next week :) Good review!

Chichester is a great place to start from 👌👌 i live there. Great video

Good job with the review. Was serious about getting a GTi 2018, now seriously questioning that initial decision .. need go test drive that N for peace of mind

I think these I30Ns are a great looking car, especially in that blue they do them in. I’m even considering one for next year, but I’d like to see you review the Peugeot 308GTi 270 by Peugeot Sport as well (unless you already have)...because I’m interested in one of those too. Great video as always, and top choice of location for your weekend break, lovely place is Cornwall. And loving Petrol Pooch as well!

Ace. Saw some local landmarks when you were passing through my patch of the south coast! 1. Love Mevagissy too! 2. Champers. Lucky bugger! 3. You’re tall like me and not surprised you got a numb bot! The 2015 i30 I owned gave me the same issues! 4. What size and make/spec tyres were on the car as wondered if that was linked to the crashing and issues you mentioned under power? 👍

For a second i was really confused as to what the dog was doing in the drivers seat xD

Great video peter, hyundai has most certainly upped their game.

You can minimize that wheel hop by using N mode and stiffening just the rear suspension and softening the front down and shifting the weight over the front where you want it over the drive wheels.

Considering this my next car , watched the whole video and loved it . Onto you review video next

Wheel hop in the wet... all fwd cars do it. Which may be the reason why I wait for the awd version.

730th today!!?? Jeez..... Good video though PP. Interesting what you said towards the end of the video about sport/normal/eco mode. I've got a Cooper S which has a button for sport mode and I always drive it in that mode. But I tell the missus not to use it :-)) Also interesting was the i30 scrabbling for grip. I know my Cooper S can scrabble for grip in the wet, but the traction control on it works really good and after a couple of skips, the car digs in and I'm off. Seems as though Hyundai have toned the traction control down, somewhat? BTW - The reason I'm at 730 for the viewer number was down to me not being able to get onto your (Or other RU-vidrs!) subscribed sites. I still had internet. I could put in a search and go to videos, but just couldn't get onto any RU-vid front page for some reason. I blame the North Koreans!!!

Hi from Turkey ☪ great video and i wish you continued success in your youtube career :)

Good video. Watching this and waiting for my veloster N. Confused why your surprised that after it just rained and the roads are wet the tires don’t get traction when you gun it. My moms Corolla will do that too. Can’t wait for the US version of this car!

G’day mate.....Very much enjoyed your tutorial on the i30n.

I remember walking up those stairs after a beach party and it wasn’t fun! Specially as it was pitch black 😂

Great review, I like the real life review of the car.

Dont you think the wet road made tyres skip and slip when you flawed it, to be fair there's not a front wheel 270bhp plus car that wouldn't react like that in the same conditions, in my humble opinion it's a much better option than a Golf GTI, lots of reviews putting the Hyundai up against cars like the GOLF R TYPE , FOCUS STI and similar vehicles which is ridiculous when you look at them cars with the same equipment as the Hyundai and also the power, pound for pound the Hyundai in myopinion has to be the best value and fun for the money, no more heel toe and the electric slip diff is awesome. Good review by the way.

It’s a brave move into the hot hatch market by Hyundai, when there’s so many out there that have proven themselves for years. I like the way it looks, interior is similar to just about everything else on the market. Pity about the front suspension tramping ( maybe they’ll give that a further looking at). Exhaust tone is not unpleasant but I agree on a long journey that would get irritating ( probably why I don’t do them in my JCW). Never experienced numb bum in any of my seven MINI’s, apart from my first 2005 Cooper S. The fuel consumption is a bit low, maybe it’ll improve once it has more miles on the clock. Overall, I quite like it. On to Mevagissey, went there when I was around 10 years of age, with my parents. Dad had a Mk 1 Zephyr & as we dropped down to the warfe, he met a truck coming towards him. My Mother (bless her) started screaming watch out, watch out. Frightened the poor man to death, & how we didn’t end up in the sea was nothing short of a miracle !! Anyway, I’m rambling. Glad it stopped raining for you, Mrs PP & the pooch. Mrs Geof has been pestering me for one the same colour for ages. Looks like that’s her birthday sorted. Great video and look forward to the next one. Cheers............. Geof

I like your car and I like your nice doggy ! Schnauzer are cool dogs!

Fella, if you want better grip from the front tyres accelerating hard, make the suspension softer, not harder. Nice vid though, enjoyed it.

Most interesting review PeePee. The banging and thumping on hard acceleration is the brake pads smashing into the discs to stop the wheels spinning, sounds like the car is going to fall to pieces, sounds truly car destroying and most probably will in the end!!!!!!!! I have a Clubsport, that does it, I had a GTD and a Scirocco before, they both did it, I also have a very old SAAB 900T16 and that just smokes but sounds wonderful on full chat. I was quite surprised with the economy though of 27 and 31 on the way back which is neither here nor there. Went to Somerset last summer and red hot, left car in Sport and 34mpg and a few times I broke the speed limit by 0.2mph!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What I have noticed though over all three cars, no matter what settings are set, economy is no different over the same journeys travelling from Derby all over the quick roads of The Peak District. From experience and knowledge the difference between Eco---------up to Sport, the actual parameters of the engine are removed, nothing else, interesting. The standard Golf Gti, Performance pack GTI, GTi Clubsport/Clubsport S/Golf R, Skoda Vrs all run the EA888 engine, all run with the same turbo boost pressure and fuel pressure, timing, etc. The only difference is certain parameters are blocking these setting from being released otherwise these engines are identical, even the inlet from the air filters are the same size, the VAG diesels use the same parameters, all blocked. Most lads have them re-chipped but this is not the case at all, the parameters have to be removed that the factory has put in place but not many folk know this. Have a car chipped it will blow up or puther black shit out of the exhaust. Remove the parameters and that is all VAG do but charge you many pounds, I could go on but I won't.

Good video as always Peter. Not impressed with fuel consumption though. Would you buy this over a VW GTI ?

Wheel hop not too bad if you try different pushes on the accelerator. Stability off and / or you can switch the diff off every driver has their own way of driving.I30N performance has 19" alloys like video car 250bhp has 18" that aren't as nice. Also no N on the brake caliper on 250bhp. No limited slip diff on 250bhp model but god as well. Also getting better miles per gallon than Pete did using Normal or dare I say it ECO mode on motorways.

MPG is a bit disappointing. I did a London to Cornwall trip of 260 miles in an e60 545i at a door to door average of 33mpg and 60mph. I was lucky with traffic but still, a 330bhp automatic barge returning more MPG than the i30 is a bit poor for the Hyundai.

Really dude, Hyundai go to all the effort to reduce weight in their new hot hatch and you go and add a Ginsters pasty, (rookie mistake). No wonder MPG was down, you could sink a battle ship with one of those buggers, (silly boy)! Hope you both had a nice time in our lovely county, (although Baltic season isn't quite over yet). CHEERS!

Not enough lights in the back of the car.

Definitely deserves more subscribers

It has 6 gears but still at 2.5k rpm on highway. Definitely not a highway cruiser road trip type of car :) Is probably a bit noisy too. Best to make sure you've got plenty of bends to keep you occupied!

Champagne !!! Blimey, when I go to Cornwall to see my parents I’m lucky to get a cup of tea !. Nice review, I thought the MPG in eco mode would be better, that’s around what I get in my Range Rover Sport. Where was the beach with the steps ?.

watching this video back as I'm really tempted by an I30N especially the new facelift... I think the front end bouncing is normal for front wheel drive cars? my Gold GTD does it when pulling away fast even though it supposedly has anti tramp. Not that I even know what that really does or means haha!

Very interesting video Pete. Car looks really good in grey, very stealthy. Disappointed with the axle tramp in the wet that you got. AEB really is a waste of time in poor conditions (just when you need it the most). It's always deactivating in my V90 because of leaves, cold weather, the wrong kind of wind, etc, etc... Look forward to the next vid with your further tests and conclusions.

DCT coming now in 2020 :) will be the perfect hot hatch for ME!

Great review. I have been sitting on the fence but i think i will get one thanks!

Enjoyed the review, mpg is somewhat poor but as you said if worries about it don't buy that car, it's a bit of a speedy car after all, one final thing what was the name of that beach you were on?

I love hyundai and kia cars, i have a stinger at the moment, the problem I have with the new i30n is its price, its the same money as a bmw 128ti and even with a few options there basically the same money, and the i30 isn't anywhere near the bmw in terms of interior quality yes on a track the i30 would be quicker but who honestly will ever do that if hyundai want to charge well over 30k for a hot hatch they need to up there game its a 28k car for me not a 35k

Ginsters ... road trip fuel of the gods! 😁 Will be off to Cornwall myself soon, and this has given me ideas, including that road to Mevagissey.

Great review PP. BMW are you watching? You can configure the dampers, exhaust,Steering and throttle all separately. In the Hyundai

Hi Pete. Was the car you tested the performance version with 275 bhp or the stock N?Not sure if they both have a limited slip diff. My Golf GTI performance pack also suffers from horrendous wheel hop when putting the power down in low gears. Not a nice characteristic at all.

Wish we can get this in the USA. We have the Veloster N but we want the 4 doors.

Another great video Pete, I'm curious are you a full time RU-vidr or do you have a 'day'job? If so what do you do? Cheers

A30 into cornwall is always bad , not a huge fan of new cars and it was this or a 208GTi my son looked at . Couldnt find a cheap enough N30 so the Pug won but Id deffo own one

Man, I'm jealous. Getting to try out a completely new hot hatch for a road trip. :.D