One of the most exciting models Hyundai has ever had in its range is about to be modernized. These pictures show the facelifted i30 N for the first time. The hot-tempered hatchback is apparently fanatical about the Nürburgring-Nordschleife.
During what should have been the Geneva Motor Show, Hyundai presented the facelifted i30 to the world this year. The South Korean car was presented in many variants. In one smooth movement, Hyundai conjured up not only the renewed hatchback, but also the sharpened Fastback and Wagon from the top hat. The competitor of cars such as the Ford Focus and Renault Mégane was immediately shown to the world in a more exuberant than ever-looking N-Line variant, but the real N-fun kept Hyundai at home for a while. The i30 N is of course also under the knife and today we have the first images of that renewed fun machine.
Just like its milder siblings, the i30 N gets a new, wider grille and new headlights, specimens that undoubtedly include standard LED technology on the i30 N. On the back of the characteristic new i30 lighting, but with this N version more seems to change. The complete bumper work gets a different design, complete with apparently more vertically cut cooling vents in the bumper. The grille has a completely new pattern with a coarser mesh. The grille in the bumper is now also fitted with mesh, where it was previously filled with horizontal slats. At the back we see, among other things, a new bumper, one in which the reflectors have been given a place one floor below.
The exhaust tailpipes on this test sample are a lot more robust than the exhaust pipes under the outgoing i30 N. Whether that also means that changes have been made to the blown 2.0 remains to be seen. That four-cylinder currently pumps out 250 hp and 353 Nm, but with the optional Performance Package it delivers a solid 275 hp and 353 Nm. Please wait, we expect the renewed i30 N together with the sharpened i30 Fastback N this year. The recently subtly refined and related to the i30 N Veloster N was recently introduced to a new dual-clutch automatic transmission, an eight-shift version that may also find a place in the i30 N. For the time being, the muscular hatchback is only available with a manual six-speed gearbox.