Hyundai: Pure driving pleasure in the i30 Fastback N
POWER MADE IN KOREA With the i30 compact car, the Koreans have long since proven that they can compete with Volkswagen's classic Golf. The i30 Fastback N hunts down lap times with 275 turbo horses. Until the champagne corks pop on the home stretch on the Nordschleife, the baby-blue 2.0-liter turbo gasoline engine is intoning a mighty concert in the pipes. Where seniors [...]
Until the champagne corks pop on the home stretch on the Nordschleife, the baby-blue 2.0-liter turbo gasoline engine intones a mighty concert in the pipes. Where senior citizens suspect an insidious attack, the Koreans have merely put blanks through the barrel. Today, sound design is the science with which long-lost rally sounds are brought back to life.
Drive controlled via the front wheels
With an unladen weight of up to 1509 kilograms, the Hyundai is by no means a greyhound. The engine is installed transversely at the front, the drive is controlled via the front wheels, and then there is room for five people and a large shopping bag. The Koreans know that power and torque alone do not make a sports car. That's why an electronically controlled limited slip differential on the front axle regulates the delivery of the 353 Newton meters of torque from the turbo compressor to the drive wheels.
Target flag signals N mode in action
Hyundai gives the driver an easy-to-grip sports steering wheel to control and at the same time gives him a special responsibility: A button with a checkered flag flashes out from under the right spoke to activate N mode. Opposite it, the other driving programs (Eco, Normal, Sport, Custom) can be selected.
So the attractive flag button is quickly pressed and the i30 N goes wild. Now you can see what Hyundai means by performance: low roll tendency, tight dampers, constant boost pressure and automatic intermediate throttle give the compact five-door the tools for the country road. There's also Launch Control for perfect starts.
Rigid body and tight chassis
Thanks to the stiff body, the tight adaptive suspension, and also the direct steering, the i30 can be driven directly onto the Nürburgring Nordschleife. The suspension has a narrow working range in N mode, so that every bump below 70 km/h is absorbed by the popometer, and above 70 km/h the turbocharged Korean is firmly connected to the road. Above 150 km/h, the set-up then reaches its limits.
