There's a new Hyundai i30 and this is it: Hyundai is looking to bolster the mass market appeal of its family hatch with this high-tech model
This is the new Hyundai i30, the latest generation of the Ford Focus and VW Golf rival that’s been unveiled at the company’s European HQ in Frankfurt ahead of a public debut at the forthcoming 2016 Paris Motor Show. UK specs and prices have yet to be announced, but we’d expect the new i30 to stay broadly in line with the figures of the car it replaces. That should give it a starting price of around £15,500.
The new i30 has to build on Hyundai’s improved profile in Europe to deliver mainstream sales - and its styling is clearly aimed at the masses. The firm’s design chief Peter Schreyer says, “To create a car for everyone, we focused on a wide range of different people.” The overall look is neat but conservative, with less of the dramatic bodywork surfacing of the old i30 but what Schreyer calls a “more mature approach”. The i30 also gets an inverted curve in part of its hexagonal front grille; this is going to be a trait shared between all future Hyundai cars.
The new model is 4,340mm long, and a little longer and wider than the car it replaces, though its roofline sits slightly lower. Its wheelbase remains the same, though, at 2,650mm, so we’d expected the packaging to feel pretty similar to the outgoing car’s. The boot capacity is 395 litres - or around 15 litres more than a VW Golf’s - and 1,301 litres with the rear seats folded down.
New Hyundai i30 engines and 'RN30' hot hatch
The engine line-up comprises three petrols and three diesels. The entry-level petrol is a 1.4-litre four-cylinder unit producing 99bhp and 134Nm; it’s offered only with a six-speed manual gearbox and can take the i30 from 0-62mph in 12.7 seconds. Next up, and also manual only, is a 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo producing 118bhp and 171Nm. Its extra shove helps it to reach 62mph in 11.1 seconds.
The range-topping petrol (for now) is a 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbo with 138bhp and 242Nm. With this motor you’ll be able to choose between the six-speed manual gearbox and Hyundai’s newly developed seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. As a manual it can crack 0-62mph in 8.9 seconds, while the DCT takes 0.3sec longer.
The diesel editions have the best official figures, as usual; the 94bhp unit emits 95g/km of CO2 when it’s on 15in wheels, rising to 98g/km on 16in and 17in items. The mid-range diesel wth 109bhp emits 96g/km on 15in wheels - or 89g/km when it’s in Eco trim. Even the range-topping 136PS diesel dips down to 99g/km in its most efficient form, and even when it’s on larger wheels, all of its versions still emit less than 110g/km.
Unlike many dual-clutch transmissions, Hyundai’s seven-speed unit doesn’t manage to beat the manual box on economy or CO2; in most cases it’s a few g/km higher on emissions - enough to nudge the car up at least one band on VED and company car tax.
2017 Hyundai i30 interior
Inside, the i30 finally does away with the old car’s LCD display and adopts a central touch-screen display. Even entry-level editions will get a 5in colour screen, incorporating a rear-view camera and Bluetooth connectivity. There will also be an 8in system, mounted high up and ‘floating’ in the centre of the fascia. It brings Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility along with navigation with TomTom live traffic updates. There’s also an induction charging mat for smartphones.
Hyundai claims the new i30 has the strongest line-up of safety kit it has ever offered. In addition to autonomous emergency braking and a driver fatigue monitor, the arsenal of equipment includes blind spot monitoring, radar-assisted cruise control, rear-cross traffic alert (which warns you of approaching traffic when you’re reversing out of a tight space) and lane keep assist.
Q&A with Hyundai i30 design boss Peter Schreyer
The new i30 has cleaner, simpler lines than the outgoing model. Is this an intentional shift towards a more sophisticated look?
I think the new car has matured a lot over its predecessor. The actual measurements of the vehicle are pretty similar, and yet somehow it looks more substantial. I think we’ve introduced a different sort of design quality - not just in areas like perceived quality, where we know we have improved - but also in the impression the i30 makes.
The old car certainly had a lot of complex surfacing - and that distinctive rising glass line. Have you moved away from that?
Deeper and deeper doors have become popular, but part of me often looks at things like that, where lots of people are doing it, and intentionally moves away from it. We have lowered the window base line so the cabin becomes more airy and children sitting in the rear seats can see out. In any case, with the wedge rising towards the rear, at which point do you stop raising it? The new line allows us to have more of a prominent shoulder above the rear wheels.
Hyundai has already confirmed there will be a hot version. Have you been able to experiment more with the i30’s shape for its N edition?
It’s not so much about design; it’s about the type of car. It’s still going to be recognisable as the i30, but it’s very exciting that Hyundai is entering that segment of the market. It’s a really interesting time, in fact, with the performance side, the Ioniq and the hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, and then there’s [luxury division] Genesis as well. I’m not likely to get bored.
Can the new Hyundai i30 beat the Focus and the Golf? Let us know in the comments section below...
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