We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more ›
Hyundai has a new hot hatch on the way that it’s hoping will make the Volkswagen GTI and Ford Focus ST sweat. It’s called the i30 N and it’s based on the new Peter Schreyer-designed Elantra GT. (The i30 is what the rest of the world calls the Elantra GT.) According to Hyundai, the N stands for both “Namyang,” where it was developed, and “Nurburgring,” because…why not?
In a new video released by Hyundai Motor Europe, we see some promising footage of a camouflaged i30 N competently tackling winding back roads in the United Kingdom. There are generic techno beats playing in the background while Albert Biermann, Hyundai Europe’s executive vice president/head of vehicle test & high performance development, tells us why we should be excited about this car.
“With the prototype, we are not in the final stages of tuning, but we are getting closer and closer,” says Biermann. “We can nicely check if the driving performance of our first Hyundai N high-performance car can meet our future customers’ requirements.”
Hyundai knows one of those requirements is a manual transmission, and there are enough shifting shots in the 1:34-long video to make it clear that you will be able to get one with a stick. Biermann goes on to reassure us that “the driving performance is also comfortable enough for everyday driving.”
So it sounds like if this goes well, there will be a whole line of “N” performance cars coming to Hyundai dealers. With the N line along with the upcoming Genesis G70 and Kia Stinger GT, South Korea is suddenly on the performance car map in a big way. The i30 N will be officially unveiled later this year.
