We got to hand it to Hyundai for completely reinventing itself as a car maker and constantly expanding its portfolio to include performance-oriented vehicles, such as the i30 N hot hatch, in addition to new crossover and SUV models.
The compact hot hatch debuted almost three years ago as the Korean brand’s alternative to the Volkswagen Golf GTI, Ford Focus ST, Renault Megane RS and Honda Civic Type R. In the meantime, some of its rivals got updated, and it’s now time for the i30 N to go down the same route.
Expected in the coming months, it will follow in the footsteps of the regular i30 range, which was facelifted for the 2020 model year gaining slimmer headlamps, a wider grille, larger infotainment screen with smartphone integration, and more.
Driven: 2019 Hyundai i30 Fastback N Improves On A Winning Recipe
The i30 N will get all of those plus the usual bells and whistles required from such a car. Those will include the sporty appearance, joined by chassis upgrades consisting of a firmer suspension and bigger brakes.
Power will continue to come from the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, which currently makes 246 HP (250 PS / 184 kW) as standard and 271 HP (275 PS / 202 kW) in Performance guise, with a peak torque of up to 278 lb-ft (378 Nm) on overboost. The car only comes with a six-speed manual transmission, but this will change with the 2021 i30 N, which will add an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic option.
The prototypes spied testing recently on and around the Nürburgring and featured in the short video embedded down below were equipped with the auto ‘box, which will improve the 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) acceleration by a few tenths of a second. In the 2020 Hyundai i30 N Performance, the benchmark sprint takes 6.1 seconds, while the top speed is limited at 155 mph (250 km/h).