Hyundai’s red-hot N pair gives Golf GTI food for thought

Not too long ago, people laughed at the thought that a conservative little Japanese company – the one which builds the Camry – could also be behind genuine high-performance cars. But now you have red-hot Toyota GR offerings which are becoming more and more sought after.

The moral of this story is that you could be equally quick to dismiss Hyundai’s advancement with the high-performance N brand – but that would be just as foolish, and you would miss out on driving a car which has more personality than the likes of a Golf GTI.

Hyundai with a twist

I know this is a big statement but go drive a Hyundai i30 N or Kona N, and then argue with me.

From air intakes to splitters and spoilers, 19-inch forged lightweight wheels, wrapped in Pirelli P-Zero ultra-high-performance rubber – which was specifically developed for these cars – to an N Grin button, every little component and feature is geared towards delivering performance in these two special cars.

I do not have the space to sufficiently cover it all, but the likes of the N Grin control system – which not only offers driving modes like Eco, Normal, Sport, N and Custom, along with N Grin Shift (NGS) and N Track Sense Shift (NTS) – is worth a mention.

It also makes for a seriously customisable driving experience and really changes the character of the cars by adjusting the operating parameters of the engine, electronic stability control, exhaust sound and steering.

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NTS is about optimising your experience on the track, but the NGS button will put the biggest grin on your face. Hit the button and for 20 seconds, which is counted down on the dash, you are given a healthy boost.

Hyundai says you can use this feature on the track when chasing the best lap, and I would love to say I was responsible and only used this button on the track, but it was raining and the track was wet, so I played with it on the road, as most owners will.

Powerful

Speaking of playing, 206kW of power and 392Nm of torque are on offer from the 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine.

On both models, the hatch and SUV, the power is driven down to the front wheels.

This transfer of power from the engine to the road is done via a new eight-speed dual wet-clutch transmission.

While the purists might whine about the demise of a manual gearbox, the boy racers that actually buy these types of cars love a double-clutch gearbox, and when making use of the launch control function that sees a claimed 0 to 100km/h in 5.4sec for the i30 N and 5.5sec for the Kona N, you won’t miss rowing through a gearbox one bit.

A recent magazine shootout had the Kona N SUV ahead of the GTI 8 on the track, which says a whole lot about the performance of these Korean offerings.

Hyundai box superior

This Hyundai DCT box is fast on the shifts and allows for complete manual shifting, unlike a DSG which can be annoying when it thinks it knows when it is best to change a gear mid sweep.

The combo of settings, the box, the engine, the e-diff and suspension allowed me to tackle some proper stretches of road with confidence- and this was in less than ideal conditions.

These cars felt like they had more than enough grip for anything.

Obviously, tackling corners and sweeps at a serious pace is what these cars do well, this does come with the compromise of the ride being firm and then firmer. But what did you expect?

Both models offer a host of active safety and driver assistance systems from forward collision-avoidance assist, lane following assist, blind-spot collision-avoidance assist, to rear cross-traffic collision-avoidance assist, and rear cross-traffic collision, to airbags all over the place.

Conclusion

Before you automatically dismiss both N offerings’ R749 900 price tag as more expensive than the competition, do your homework and check feature for feature what is offered standard in the Hyundai and what you must add to the price tag when shopping elsewhere.

For more information on Hyundai’s N offerings, click here.