FWD life - Hyundai I20N
Discussion
At the end of the last year I had a Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo and a Panda 100HP, both very good cars in their own way. However, the Coupe was a rolling restoration of sorts and I was getting bored if spending evenings on the driveway tinkering. So I sold the Coupe, kept the Panda and thought I’d spend a bit more on a second fun car that needed less maintenance.
I soon realised that everything vaguely interesting was grossly expensive and would still require money and time being spent on it, so a newer ‘one car to do it all’ was the way to go.
I’d always been a massive fan of the I30N and very nearly bought one when they first came out, but babies/house had taken priority. However used prices at 2-3 years old were about the same as what they were discounted from new, which didn’t add up for me.
I’d also been following the I20N but had largely ruled it out due to what I felt was slightly dubious styling!
Then I looked into the stats a bit closer and realised on paper that size, power and weight were about as close as I could get to an Integra Type R with a modern car (the high point of my car ownership history). 5 year track warranty and a proper LSD were also very important.
I got some quotes, called the old Hyundai dealer I used to work for who did me a great deal and placed an order. Without driving one, or even seeing one in the flesh!
I passed a local dealer a few weeks later that had one on the forecourt, so had a nose around and felt that actually it looked loads better in real life - so that was good.
This was in November. And last week it finally (after many delays) arrived. I’d been without any fun car for over 3 months by this point, so immediately jumped on a 4 hour train ride down south to collect it, and drive one for the first time as I took it off the forecourt…
I soon realised that everything vaguely interesting was grossly expensive and would still require money and time being spent on it, so a newer ‘one car to do it all’ was the way to go.
I’d always been a massive fan of the I30N and very nearly bought one when they first came out, but babies/house had taken priority. However used prices at 2-3 years old were about the same as what they were discounted from new, which didn’t add up for me.
I’d also been following the I20N but had largely ruled it out due to what I felt was slightly dubious styling!
Then I looked into the stats a bit closer and realised on paper that size, power and weight were about as close as I could get to an Integra Type R with a modern car (the high point of my car ownership history). 5 year track warranty and a proper LSD were also very important.
I got some quotes, called the old Hyundai dealer I used to work for who did me a great deal and placed an order. Without driving one, or even seeing one in the flesh!
I passed a local dealer a few weeks later that had one on the forecourt, so had a nose around and felt that actually it looked loads better in real life - so that was good.
This was in November. And last week it finally (after many delays) arrived. I’d been without any fun car for over 3 months by this point, so immediately jumped on a 4 hour train ride down south to collect it, and drive one for the first time as I took it off the forecourt…
First impressions were that it sounded better than expected, the interior was a really nice place to be (for a car of this price range) and it was very stiffly sprung!
The spec I ordered was the Performance Blue with the upgraded Bose stereo. I’m glad I ordered the Bose as it’s perfectly good for what I want. Anything with less sound quality would have been disappointing.
I went for the blue as it’s nice not to have a boring grey, black or white, and the interior has the same blue accents in areas.
After a 4 hour drive home at 40+mpg I was very happy with it’s ‘daily’ credentials but hadn’t had the time to properly test it out on some fun roads, so earlier in the week I took it across the Welsh border for a couple of hours in the evening to see what it could really do.
The pure grip and handling is hugely impressive, you can really feel the LSD working on tighter bends. I genuinely thing it would run rings around an ITR on a B-road (20 years of tyre progress no doubt helps).
Steering feel is a way off any old school but definitely one of the better EPS systems I’ve driven as you do get a decent amount of feedback. It’s infinitely better than an EP3 Type R.
Suspension is stiff but not crashy or uncomfortable. Not quite aftermarket coilover stiff, but not far off. Once it’s up to 50mph+ though it works really well on all but the bumpiest of B-roads, and doesn’t feel like it’s bottoming out even on some pretty awful dips. I wouldn’t want to be driving around a city all day in it though.
The area I was most dubious about was the engine, and although nowhere near as fun as a N/A screamer, it’s actually far better than I expected. I haven’t taken it about 5000rpm yet as Hyundai say to run it in for 600 miles(!?) but it’s really nice and torquey low down, seems keen to rev and I can’t say I’ve noticed any real rev hang that alot of people talk about. The gearbox is also very nice to use, with a real positive feel to it.
So overall so far I’m very happy with it, nearly 500 miles in after 5 days. I’ll do another update in a few weeks once I can really give the engine a work out, and I may have entered an autosolo in it!
The spec I ordered was the Performance Blue with the upgraded Bose stereo. I’m glad I ordered the Bose as it’s perfectly good for what I want. Anything with less sound quality would have been disappointing.
I went for the blue as it’s nice not to have a boring grey, black or white, and the interior has the same blue accents in areas.
After a 4 hour drive home at 40+mpg I was very happy with it’s ‘daily’ credentials but hadn’t had the time to properly test it out on some fun roads, so earlier in the week I took it across the Welsh border for a couple of hours in the evening to see what it could really do.
The pure grip and handling is hugely impressive, you can really feel the LSD working on tighter bends. I genuinely thing it would run rings around an ITR on a B-road (20 years of tyre progress no doubt helps).
Steering feel is a way off any old school but definitely one of the better EPS systems I’ve driven as you do get a decent amount of feedback. It’s infinitely better than an EP3 Type R.
Suspension is stiff but not crashy or uncomfortable. Not quite aftermarket coilover stiff, but not far off. Once it’s up to 50mph+ though it works really well on all but the bumpiest of B-roads, and doesn’t feel like it’s bottoming out even on some pretty awful dips. I wouldn’t want to be driving around a city all day in it though.
The area I was most dubious about was the engine, and although nowhere near as fun as a N/A screamer, it’s actually far better than I expected. I haven’t taken it about 5000rpm yet as Hyundai say to run it in for 600 miles(!?) but it’s really nice and torquey low down, seems keen to rev and I can’t say I’ve noticed any real rev hang that alot of people talk about. The gearbox is also very nice to use, with a real positive feel to it.
So overall so far I’m very happy with it, nearly 500 miles in after 5 days. I’ll do another update in a few weeks once I can really give the engine a work out, and I may have entered an autosolo in it!
Court_S said:
Good stuff.
I’ve seen a few of these about and I like them. The styling looks more OTT in pictures than in the flesh. The only thing I’m not convinced about from a design point of view are the wheels.
100% agree on the wheels. I’m going to change to some Speedline Turinis at some point in the future, however spending £1200 on new wheels seems a bit OTT if my energy bills are going to triple in the next 6 months I’ve seen a few of these about and I like them. The styling looks more OTT in pictures than in the flesh. The only thing I’m not convinced about from a design point of view are the wheels.
CABC said:
I thought the i30N had adaptive dampers and could cruise in comfort. Is that the case for the 30 and not the 20?
Like the look of these. Discrete reliable fun
You are correct, the I30N had adaptive dampers, whereas the I20Ns are fixed. Not a huge compromise but a softer setting would be nice for round town!Like the look of these. Discrete reliable fun
Terminator X said:
Love these. Hyundai on a roll at the moment. Ex BMW M chap jumped ship to them I think?
TX.
Correct, and now retired, so a fairly limited run of N cars under his watch!TX.
Clocked over 600 miles today so made sure to spend some time above 5000rpm.
This engine is definitely not the slight disappointment alot of reviews make it out to be, seems to pull really well up to the limiter.
Also, no noticeable rev hang which is bizarre as it was widely reported by reviewers and owners when they first came out.
I do wonder if they has been a little engine software tweak while it’s been in production…
Looks grand; glad it’s living up to expectations.
It’s amazing how well Hyundai did with their first attempts at hot hatches having made very little of interest previously. The leaps that the Korean manufacturers have made recently is impressive for their normal cars, but I was properly impressed how Hyundai made a hot hatch that made such an impression straight away. Most of its rivals were finessed over many variations.
It’s amazing how well Hyundai did with their first attempts at hot hatches having made very little of interest previously. The leaps that the Korean manufacturers have made recently is impressive for their normal cars, but I was properly impressed how Hyundai made a hot hatch that made such an impression straight away. Most of its rivals were finessed over many variations.
1000 miles completed now and it’s still ticking all the boxes.
Commutes have been good, and actually the stiffness of the suspension isn’t that bad at all. The fuel tank however is tiny! Fuel light to full is about 35L, this is offset by decent 40-45mpg meaning I’m getting around 300 miles to the tank.
Had a fantastic 6am drive out to marshal on a targa rally on Sunday. No other cars, a road I knew well and nice cool morning air. The exhaust is definitely getting a bit more vocal now with spontaneous pops and bangs when really pressing on.
The sound generator is a bit s
t though, and adds an odd vibration noise at high revs. When I get a spare half an hour I’ll investigate disconnecting which I believe is a fairly easy job.
This weekend is a 400mile round motorway based trip one day, followed by an autosolo on the next day. I’m sure it’ll do both very well.
Commutes have been good, and actually the stiffness of the suspension isn’t that bad at all. The fuel tank however is tiny! Fuel light to full is about 35L, this is offset by decent 40-45mpg meaning I’m getting around 300 miles to the tank.
Had a fantastic 6am drive out to marshal on a targa rally on Sunday. No other cars, a road I knew well and nice cool morning air. The exhaust is definitely getting a bit more vocal now with spontaneous pops and bangs when really pressing on.
The sound generator is a bit s
t though, and adds an odd vibration noise at high revs. When I get a spare half an hour I’ll investigate disconnecting which I believe is a fairly easy job.This weekend is a 400mile round motorway based trip one day, followed by an autosolo on the next day. I’m sure it’ll do both very well.
2000 mile update.
Just spent the weekend driving around some Welsh mountains and some Cotswold B-roads with a few mates, one in a Megane 225 and one in an FN2 Civic.
Every time I take this thing out I have so much fun, it’s getting better the more I use it. The exhaust is much louder now than when I first got it, and when hot it’s giving some great spontaneous bangs. Chavvy, but hilarious fun.
Got to try out launch control as well, which is pretty impressive albeit largely pointless.
The front tyres are already starting to look fairly worn, though I’ve lost my depth gauge so I need to buy a new one and measure them. I suspect I’ll be swapping the tyres front to rear in the next 500-1000 miles.
Next bit of fun is a trackday booked at Bedford Autodrome in October. Insurance is about the same price as the trackday but there’s no way I’m risking it without it. I’m very excited to see what it’s like on track.
Just spent the weekend driving around some Welsh mountains and some Cotswold B-roads with a few mates, one in a Megane 225 and one in an FN2 Civic.
Every time I take this thing out I have so much fun, it’s getting better the more I use it. The exhaust is much louder now than when I first got it, and when hot it’s giving some great spontaneous bangs. Chavvy, but hilarious fun.
Got to try out launch control as well, which is pretty impressive albeit largely pointless.
The front tyres are already starting to look fairly worn, though I’ve lost my depth gauge so I need to buy a new one and measure them. I suspect I’ll be swapping the tyres front to rear in the next 500-1000 miles.
Next bit of fun is a trackday booked at Bedford Autodrome in October. Insurance is about the same price as the trackday but there’s no way I’m risking it without it. I’m very excited to see what it’s like on track.
Court_S said:
Looks like you’ve been enjoying the car so far.
I’ve started to notice a few of these on the roads now.
Yeah it seems they’ve actually started delivering some.I’ve started to notice a few of these on the roads now.
Can’t deny I was a bit gutted when I was at C&M last weekend and an identical one turned up 20 minutes later!
I was enjoying the novelty of having something relatively rare
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