Another hot hit – probably
Korean car maker keeps its foot on the gas with another hot prospect
Hyundai isn’t hanging around when it comes to rolling out its N-branded performance models. It’s only 18 months since it launched the i30 N hatchback and, having already introduced the Veloster N in markets other than ours, the Korean-based firm is now introducing this: the i30 Fastback N.
From an engineering perspective, working so quickly is a smart move. Hyundai uses a great many proprietary components for these cars, after all, and it stands to reason that the more development opportunities it can lever into a short space of time for the various driveline, suspension, steering and electronic governance systems in the N-brand armoury, the quicker those systems – and the cars they’re attached to – should improve.
Welcome, then, to ‘Hyundai N-car v3.0’. Based on the elongated ‘coupé-like’ i30 Fastback introduced to the UK late last year, the i30 Fastback N uses the same 2.0-litre turbocharged Theta petrol engine as the upper-level Performance Package version of the hatchback N, as well as the same rack-mounted electric power steering system, adaptive dampers, electronically locking front differential and active exhaust.
But thereafter the Fastback N differs from its sibling with the software tuning of those various electronically controlled systems, and in a few finer suspension details: rear axle wheel geometry, front axle rebound spring calibration, anti-roll bar bushing and bumpstop stiffness. Perhaps most tellingly of all, the i30 N hatchback’s front suspension has been softened off slightly for this car, in terms of both vertical and lateral stiffness, with the aim of creating a more rounded, sophisticated performance character.
It’s a pretty minor and incremental shift in flavour. The Fastback N’s driving experience feels at least 95% the same. To access the car, you duck your head past a slightly lower roofline than the i30 N hatchback’s on your way into the driver’s seat, and then find a welcome extra dose of colour around the cabin.
Get moving and you’ll also find the same slightly overcomplicated mix of driving modes (there are four of them, managed by two different buttons, with a fifth ‘custom’ setting that allows you mix the calibration of each adaptable powertrain, suspension and steering system to your own liking). As a rule, each ‘set menu’ setting (Normal, Sport, N mode) delivers a marginally softer, calmer and more progressive feel than they did on the i30 N hatchback: which, for road driving at least, is good news. But often, depending on how and where you’re using the i30 Fastback N, none feel ideally suited to the car. Use the racier modes and the steering can feel leaden, the ride f lat-footed and needlessly aggressive, just as with the hatchback. Stick with Normal and it’s more compliant but less effusive and enticing.
Get it configured just right in custom mode, however, and the Fastback N’s suspension and steering begin to work well, though you must wrestle with a discouraging amount of complexity in the process. This puts the car in a groove in which well-judged steering weight and perceptible feel come mixed with well-matched steering directness and chassis response. Outright lateral grip isn’t sky-high and handling isn’t as delicately poised as it is in certain rivals, but the chassis definitely holds up and makes the driving experience fast and involving.
If that driving experience has a fault, it may be that it still doesn’t land one killer blow: there’s nothing here to match the incisive handling of a Renault Mégane RS, the tactility and high-rpm thrust of a Honda Civic Type R, or the usability of a VW Golf GTI. Is there dynamic star quality here? Perhaps not. From Hyundai, I fear that’ll be a long time coming.
But if you can stop looking for the i30 Fastback N’s absent ace in the pack and instead just enjoy what’s underneath you, there’s a lot to like.