Hyundai i30 1.6 Style review

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Hyundai i30 1.6 Style Road Test

Test date 08 August 2007 Price as tested £13,695

For Excellent ride quality, spacious interior, high level of equipment

Against Euro-bland appearance, engine noise at high speed, high driving position

It’s easy to be cynical about this new Hyundai i30. It is an understandable reaction when its creator asserts that this car is the most important it has ever launched in Europe and that its abilities match or beat the best in the class. We have, after all, heard it all before and from a range of non-Japanese Pacific Rim manufacturers. And we’re equally used to these lofty claims turning to dust in the hands of the road testers as they pick through the hype and find yet another thoroughly undesirable tin box. Yet somehow there’s still a market for such cars – prospective owners whose expectations and aspirations are so modest that they can be persuaded by a low price and extensive list of standard equipment.

First impressions suggest the i30 is singing from the same hymn sheet. The price is low – undercutting many key European rivals by a four-figure sum – yet the goody count is exceptionally high. Alloys, air-con, six airbags, remote central locking and all-round electric windows are standard, even on the £10,995 1.4 Comfort entry-level model. But is this really the same old formula?

Not quite. Most recently with the Santa Fe SUV, Hyundai has already proved it can build a car fully competitive with its class members on raw ability and not just short-term showroom appeal – and that alone means the i30 deserves to be taken seriously by buyers and rivals alike.

As we shall see, there is much about the i30 to suggest that a new approach has indeed been taken, one led by the product and not its price. So if you’re reading this and happen to work for any European car manufacturer on their C-segment cars, prepare yourself for something of a shock.