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The Hyundai i30 (or Elantra GT, depending on your location of residence) N will be the first in a proposed long line of N-badged hot Hyundais. It’s set to represent Korea in the fast-but-not-super-fast compact car war that currently hosts the likes of the Honda Civic Si, Volkswagen’s GTI, and the Focus ST from Ford. If the Korean automaker’s first N car hopes to set itself above both its economy car roots and its admittedly much more established competition, it better sound like something special. Luckily for us, Hyundai has released a short, but clean clip of the i30 N clearing its throat so we can listen and judge for ourselves. Hopefully this fares better than the underwhelmingly tame Kia Stinger we heard a couple of weeks ago. Headphones on, ladies and gents:
Huh. Quite the step up from the Stinger, then. Its timbre is maybe still a little rough and unrefined for some tastes, but I think it sounds fantastic for its class. I’m particularly a sucker for the way it slightly crackles on the upshift. The pops and bangs on its way down the rev range puts its Focus RS influence on its sleeve. The way it starts up and idles sounds properly menacing as well.
However, one man’s [insert your favorite musical act here] can very easily be another’s Nickelback. What do you think of the sounds of Hyundai’s premiere N machine? Sound off in the comments below.
