Tune into Hyundai’s affordable Fast show

AT the end of 2017 Hyundai launched a car so good that it jumped into my top three favourite cars I drove that year.

It was called the i30n and it was the Korean company’s first proper go at a hot hatch – I loved it.

Now Hyundai has come up with another hot machine which should be just as good – the i30 Fastback N. It’s essentially an i30 hatchback given the Merc CLS or five-door coupe treatment.

There’s a new sportier nose design but the big change is that the roof has been lowered by an inch to give that coupe shape, although it puzzles me why the performance branding – N – comes so late in the car’s name. This is particularly odd because Hyundai has created a new trim level which it calls N-line so there’s room for plenty of confusion.

Talking of naming, the lovely silver Fastback badge on the back looks like it’s come off some gorgeous Maserati from the 1960s.

The i30 Fastback N is reasonably attractive rather than stunning and looks a bit like Merc’s small Hyundai i30 Fastback N five-door coupe

Price: £29,995

Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo, 275bhp 0-62mph: 6.1sec Fuel consumption: 34.0mpg

CLA five-door coupe.

The i30n hatchback comes in two forms – the standard car with 250bhp and the N Performance with 275bhp. This Fastback will only be available with the latter and, at £29,995, will only cost you £500 more than the hatchback if you fancy the new model’s different and more stylish looks.

Actually, you get something rather more substantial than a