Hyundai i30 now with a more frugal 1.0

Komoko Motors, Singapore’s distributor of Hyundai automobiles, has now introduced a more frugal i30 Hatchback. The automotive manufacturing giant has recently been on a roll to introduce not only more cars to their lineup, but new product introductions, like their award-winning “bread and butter” Avante compact sedan, are truly previews of what is to come ahead, as we turn the decade. The i30 has made its mark here, with the introduction of hatch, estate and fastback body styles, all powered by 1.4 litre turbocharged engines, and topping this off, Hyundai had also fielded their VW Golf GTi - rivaling i30N… their first foot into european hot hatch territory.

OneShift Editorial Team

16 Dec 2020

While we hopefully await Hyundai’s delivery of the next batch of 1.4 litre i30 cars, they have introduced a more frugal 1.0 option, with a facelifted front and rear. The 1.0 is equipped with a set of 16” diamond cut alloys, redesigned LED head and tail lamps, and new bumper design, said to be better at wind cheating. Four new colours have also been added to the i30 palette, Shimmering Silver, Dark Knight, Silky Bronze and Sunset Red; this is in addition to three existing colours, Polar White, Phantom Black and Engine Red.

While styling tweaks are in-line with Hyundai’s evolved design language, the more important bits are on the inside, where the Korean brand has also included an enhanced version of their Hyundai SmartSense suite of safety features. This includes Lane Following Assist (LFA) automatically adjusts steering to help keep the vehicle centred in its lane. The Rear Cross Traffic Collision-avoidance Assist (RCCA) system can activate the brakes to avoid a collision when the car is in reverse. And also new to the i30 is LVDA (Leading Vehicle Departure Alert), a system which warns the driver when the vehicle ahead of them starts moving forward and they don’t react quickly enough – for example, at a traffic light.

Users will benefit from an all-new 7” digital instrument cluster, that replaces the previous analogue one; while a new 8” touchscreen fronts the infotainment, and offers users Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity.

The smaller 1.0 3-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, benefits from Hyundai’s SmartStream technology, with two fuel injectors per cylinder. The turbocharged gasoline direct injection engine punches out 120ps, and is mated to a 7-speed dual clutch transmission.

Interestingly, low-end torque of 172Nm is made readily available at engine speeds of 1,500rpm, while maximum torque of 200Nm, is realised at 2,000rpm, ensuring that drive delivery is going to be rather linear.