Insurance Group: 16
MPG: 40.9
CO2: 162
0-62 Mph: 11.9 secs
BHP: 124 BHP
Range: 477 miles
PROS: The Hyundai i30 is well equipped, good looking and has a good quality interior.
CONS: The steering is a little vague and numb and the Hyundai badge still has very little kudos.
The i30 is fitted with Hyundai's 1.6-litre petrol engine which develops 124bhp and 116lb-ft of torque. This translates into a 0-62mph time of 11.9 seconds and a top speed of 116mph. It's a good engine and the fitment of the automatic gearbox doesn't harm the performance too badly either, adding only 0.3 seconds to the 0-62mph time.
The i30's ride is very composed and only the roughest roads will make a significant impact on the quality of the ride. The i30 also handles well with very little body lean through bends, although we wish that Hyundai had made the steering a little more weighted and focussed.
The i30 is very refined too and the petrol engine is smooth and quiet. There's a bit of wind noise at high speeds but road noise is well isolated.
Gone are the days when Hyundai made ugly cars with interiors that felt like they came straight from the early nineties. The new i30 is a very handsome car indeed and the quality of the interior is just astounding. It all feels very stylish and the plastics feel very luxurious.
You also get an impressive level of standard equipment with alloy wheels, air-con, electric windows, electric mirrors and a CD player with MP3 connectivity included as standard. Sat-Nav will set you back a further £515 and metallic paint can be selected for another £445.
The i30 scored the full five stars in the Euro NCAP crash tests and is fitted with an impressive amount of safety equipment including ABS, six airbags, stability control and hill-start assist.
There's plenty of head- and legroom in both the front and back seats and the i30 also offers a capacious boot, with 340-litres on offer with the rear seats up and 1250-litres available with the rear seats folded down.
The i30 should be a reliable car as Hyundai have a good track record in this department. It is offered as standard with a five year unlimited mileage warranty.
The Hyundai i30 1.6 Comfort Auto is priced at £16,030 - well over a grand cheaper than the equivalent Ford Focus. It represents excellent value for money when you consider the quality of the car and the amount of equipment included as standard.
The running costs are a little on the high side for a car of this type. The petrol engine and the automatic gearbox mean that fuel consumption is fairly high at 40.9mpg (combined) and CO2 emissions of 162g/km mean that the i30 falls under VED band G. Group 16 insurance, however, is more than reasonable. for an extra £140, you can get the diesel model with a manual gearbox and this will return 62.8mpg (combined). When you consider that the diesel engine also offers better all-round performance, it makes this petrol model seem like a poor choice.
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