The Hyundai i30 N is the Coolest Modern Hot Hatch 

Korean manufacturers are doing now what the Japanese did in the 80s, their time has come and they can’t be ignored. As much as I love your classic reviews, this was amazing. Thank you and I hope to see more of this kind of video.

I honestly thought that I wouldn't be a fan of this video considering it is a modern car, but you have successfully made this an interesting video. Very good video, can't wait for the next one

I think that, though lengthy, this is the most complete review of this car that I've yet seen, addressing all the aspects (and more) that I might need to know. Nice to watch a vid and not feel that you've had your time robbed! 👍

Very nice video Ed, you've really nailed this review. Honestly couldn't agree more, Hyundai-Kia really on form over the last decade, especially with the wise decision to put a lot of money into European design, research and assembly. The future is very bright for them.

It’s the brilliant colour that makes everyone look at this car!

That was a truly excellent and comprehensive review. Well done.

Hyundai always surprises with excellent engineering. Thanks for bringing the i30N to our attention. Really enjoy your work. Always looking forward to the next...

Respect for good time stamps.

Good times. Your review is reminiscent of the old GTI reviews in Car & Driver from the 80s. I was a kid when the Japanese cars were coming on strong in the early 70s and folk called 'em Jap Scrap and all the rest. within a few decades Lexus became the standard for quality & luxury cars. The Koreans are doing much the same and It's very enjoyable to see an objective review by a real enthusiast like yourself. They're doing serious R&D work on their products, the other manufacturers are watching, no doubt.

Great video mate. Love you enjoying the wheels spin.

Hello from the USA 🇺🇸. I really enjoy your content, I love the older stuff and I really enjoyed your take on the Hyundai and it's competitors. The Hyundai looks like a blast to drive and a decent value in it's class. Keep up the good work. Say hi to Melvin for me.. LOL 😂 🤣 😁

Great video! Not like I can afford the car but you're great to listen to, definitely earned another subscriber

Excellent review mate it's the first video of yours I've seen and im bow a fan. Added bonus points for the fact that if I close my eyes it sounds like Paddington Bear is doing me a car review and who wouldn't like that!

Ed, I've been watching your Vid's for quite a while now but still can't get used to seeing someone shifting with their "left" hand..... Thanks for posting.....

Very interesting to see you take on a modern car. Who'd have thought a Hyundai would be in the same price range as a BMW or Mercedes when they first went international in the 1980s? It always fascinates me just how far this company has come!

Nice one Ed, I think the 'N' in this case stands for NUTS!. A great review and your enthusiasm shows in the video. As for that drain pipe in the boot you can always load stuff on top of it. If it was an 'X' brace that would be a problem for a daily driver but your point is very well made.

Awesome video. Great to see you doing some modern stuff ( and an awesome car too ). Hopefully you get to test a standard i30. Would be a good comparison.

I was a bit surprised to see you doing a "Modern car review" but as your talents have grown you took this in your stride and really gave a comprehensive, enjoyable and focused review, i was fortunate that i was your age in the 1980`s and owned many of the hot hatches of the time, you could not just get into one and drive it at full blast, you had to learn its foibles otherwise you`d likely be caught out, catapulted backwards through the scenery, or a wall in a Peugeot 205 1.9 GTI especially! but cars had a lightness and "feel" with far more character back then, today`s hot hatches to me are simply too polished, too tame and as you rightly said about the latest Golf, bordering on boring now...

Bought the N-dct in the beginning of this year. Very happy with it in the light blue color.

Great video. My wife and I have had a few Hyundais, and she now won’t have anything but an i30 diesel. Cannot do better for an everyday car, if you don’t wish to stand out. Very interesting to see the hot version. I think is it the best at looking different from its basic counterpart! Looks like great value for money as they go. I wonder how it will depreciate, You also commented on another video you only achieved 23mpg. I wonder how the other hotties compare to that, IfI were to buy a hot hatch tomorrow, I would definitely pick the i30 out of that bunch!

What have you done with the real Ed Westby?? Jokes aside this is a fantastic review on a modern car and you have nailed the presentation on this, as well as having a hoot to boot!! If I could afford one I would have one over a Focus ST (ford fanboi) Hyundai have certainly come a long way since the days of the Pony, Accent and Lantra.

Hyundai has been hitting home runs lately with their electric cars, sports cars and Genesis. No excuses for the much longer established names that are lagging.

Thanks!

Right Ed, I know where this is going - Which of Melvin or Melody are you converting into a NITROX fuelled sleeper ….Can’t wait 😀

I recently discovered your videos. I love your presentation and your opinions. I would, if I could, today own an i30N. It's the perfect car for me. But I live in the US, so the next best thing to me is my 2016 Hyundai Veloster R-Spec. I don't know if Velosters are sold in England, but I could Google it, I suppose. The 3-door configuration (the hatch is not a door) is perhaps a bit silly, but it's OK. So I, essentially have a "hot hatch" with a large boot (35 ft cu, convert it if you want) and respectable power. Also good fuel economy with 87 octane. I love my Veloster. I might love an "N", but they use high octane fuel, and the newer cars do not come with a CD player. (Yeah, I know... Luddite.) I love Hyundai... I own 3, including my first Hyundai, a 2007 Tucson with a 5 speed. I love your videos on older British cars!

Great Video, always wondered if you would start to review newer car and how it would come across. Would love to see you do a review on a BMW 435d xdrive ;)

Good job Ed. Very thorough review. I think you conclusion is correct too, this seems to embody the ethos of the original hot hatches. The Germans seem to have gone OTT with power and toys while Honda have just got crazy in the looks department. The i30 seems to get the balance about right. Nice.

Great review Ed. I agree that modern small hatches have too much road noise and the ride is too firm.

This is the best car ever!!!

Ed's a Hoonigan! Who knew?

The i30 looks so old though. However, this is great video about it

I have one of these, pre facelift, it’s flipping amazing, I love every minute of it. Brilliant value for money, really practical. Handles very well. I am a Hyundai fan boy now.

One of my weirdest dreams is to bring a man from the past using time machine and give him a modern car to try. This video reminded me that dream somehow.

I guess for me, my sport hatch (Mz3HB 2.5L manual) is just perfect for my needs. It's pre '19 so it still has it's sophisticated multi link rear. This Hyundai will roast it, of course, but, I like Mazda's level of long term reliability (here, Korean cars have a rep of flambéing their engines) and level of comfort. Guess it's just my advanced years talking. I also like avoiding forced induction engines. For when they do eventually go wrong, they can be notoriously hyper expensive to fix. Otherwise, this is a very nice car. If I were a lot younger, I might consider it after seeing this review, however....

I can hear it

Judging by where you were, I can imagine you getting quite a few disapproving looks from behind twitching curtains! Really good to see you enjoying yourself so much!

Can any owners on here tell use what the real world mpg is like in these. And also can you set it to default to eco mode on startup or does it always default to normal and you have to actively select a different mode?? Seriously considering one of these...toss up between a BMW 440i gran coupe and a Tesla model 3.

An intro into how you can review new as well as classic vehicles, mainstream quality review.

time for the Metros to go :P

Ignore my comment the audio is there 👏👍

A great review. A Hyundai will still be working in 10 years. Have had quite a few basic Hyundai models over the years and have been mostly reliable cars. Not exciting cars but boringly reliable.

Cars like this are the last - hurrah for put a smile on your face driver involvement; As we lurch towards autonomous electric machines with “big brother” real time gps speed monitoring and governing - Enjoy while you can …

Kia / Hyundai have come a long way from the crap they made back in 2009. I had a Kia Rio diesel and that went surprising well but nothing else was good about it.

Nice car, but no match for Yaris GR, the real hot hatch king.

Hi Ed What must poor Melvin and Melody think about you driving such a car behind their backs and without their blessing…..? 😉😉 Mike

wtf, u should review the facelift version

Not a fan I’m afraid, and at £35k, it’s way too pricey. When you consider what you can buy if you’re prepared to buy something with a few years / miles under its belt, some very, very interesting cars come into view for a fraction of that asking price.

I have to admit I despised Hyundai and Kia as some cheap low quality car producers from korea with no tradition. However, by a chance and opportunity i got this car as my company car. It's just so good that I no longer view them like this.

The 'pops & bangs' is so cheesy

250 ps and 280 ps ??

£40k for a hot hatch LOL That's far more than the majority of the UK population earn in a whole year! Totally overpriced for what they are.

You are right, the BMW is ugly and it is prone to break.

The interior is ghastly tbf, that cheapo tablet thing being especially horrible.

Could you persuade yourself to actually buy one?

15:40 "No doubt..." - this is probably not true, you are a little overconfident. Your heel & toe is much more random not as precise as a computer. The car knows better how much she needs to push the throttle, it's her throttle not your throttle. You are an outsider only, a stranger who's pushing her throttle. You are much less precise with the amount of the gas. You overrev it or underrev it many times. Maybe you just don't take notice of that, because you are an overconfident human with incompetent sense organs, and because the clutch equalizes the cog revolutions very-very quickly, as it's closing. And you make much more mistakes. And she sees that and she's laughing at you. And anyway shifting manually takes a lot of time and the computer is able to keep up with that time easily, she doesn't need to be faster than necessary, she has to finish rev matching till the clutsh closes. Faster rev matching makes no sense, it's not necessary at all. If you wanna switch real fast and you wanna drive real fast then you must buy a sequential gearbox, but at least a DCT transmission. Practicing heel & toe is pointless these days, forget it.

Pah! No opening quarter lights, typical useless modern car. Bet there is no useful cubby hole for my driving gloves...