Hyundai i30 N Line Manual 2021 review | Chasing Cars

We drive the updated Hyundai i30 N Line and see what this warm hatch is like to drive.
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Is the 2021 i30 N Line manual the best-value Hyundai you can buy? We think it is. For just over $29,000 before on-road costs, the i30 N Line is packed to the gills with equipment, it has a punchy turbo engine, independent rear suspension and good looks - plus a slick six-speed manual. This kind of formula won’t last forever, and it’s also a huge value for money standout in a Hyundai range that has been creeping up in price for a few years.
But should you go for an i30 N Line? Does that spec make sense? Should you wait for the new Volkswagen Golf Mk 8? How about a Mazda 3 or Kia Cerato?
In today’s video, Tom takes a detailed look at the revised Hyundai i30 N Line manual in 1.6T guise to give you detailed insights about this vehicle.
What do you think of this car? Leave a comment below.
While you’re there, please consider subscribing and joining our Chasing Cars community.
Time codes:
0:00 - What is the i30 N Line?
1:20 - Interior
3:11 - Back seats
3:59 - Boot space
4:40 - Insurance, fuel consumption, servicing, warranty
5:38 - Driving and handling
11:57 - Verdict

[@raffivartanian1718]

I really like this guys presentation style. Straight down the line, no bs, tells it like it is

[@sca69001]

I bought the premium manual version at the end on June. So far I’m loving it. The car and driving dynamics are great. I’m just starting to appreciate the premium features, like the heated seats and panoramic sunroof in miserable Melbourne July. For the money it’s been a no brainer.

[@humbleweed7284]

Top-spec manuals are near extinct, it's good to see Hyundai offering them

[@chasingcars]

Sure is.

[@CathodeRayNipplez]

Hyundai are just nailing it. 110 kW/t, decent wheels n trim and premium tyres for $30K is good buying. Good review Ed! 😁

[@maxt7525]

Fantastic review Tom 😃👍✅

[@AndrewKNI]

Great review Tom. Nice looking i30 N Line. :-)

[@stephengriffin4990]

love the colour with the wheels.

[@650thunderbird5]

Here for the confirmation bias, recently bought the DCT N Line. Great review, Tom 👍🏻👍🏻

[@Junior6502001]

Good looking and a great option for those that enjoy manual cars 🏆🏆🏆

[@chasingcars]

For sure! Bit of an enthusiast special

[@simoncouch1523]

Another wicked review

[@chasingcars]

Thanks!

[@jasongordon9602]

I picked up one of these a week ago. Exact model with fluid metal paint and a manual transmission. Drives and handles brilliantly with a smooth clutch transition and well gated shifter. Got the dealer to throw in a full size spare. Keep this in the garage so space saver only has to do the trip home if necessary. Lots of unmentioned upgrades from previous SR model. Including fantastic full led twin headlights with led high beams. Love the new digital display and great visibility all around. Also assessed this as the sweet spot. Local dealer had 3 manual N-lines so even had a colour choice. Shopped this against Corolla manual, none of which were available in Australia to test drive. Made to order in base model only. Also Mazda 3. The Mazda is beautiful inside and out however I-stop in manual is super annoying and excessive c-pillar blind spot and price blow out for sportier versions.

[@ayfj4572]

A shame the manual gearbox wasn't talked about a bit more. Would have been great to compare it to the only competition here in Aus, the Mazda 3 with its absolutely superb 6 speed manual transmission.

[@drumaasepp9899]

Another nice review Tom. I’ve heard a bit about modern manuals being reasonably disengaged from the driver. Additionally stock problems mean it’s super hard to actually drive a manual version of a car, be it the Mazda 3 sp25 or i30 n line there’s just not many around. So I was quick to jump on this video, but I was left hanging because you didn’t elaborate too much on how the gearbox felt - just better than the auto. Don’t worry I’m not hating, you can’t say everything in 12 minutes after all. But I’d love to see a compare video on the few remaining warm hatch manuals, as they seem the only budget friendly replacement to my non kid friendly 86... not all of us can afford Kia Stingers. I just hope there are others (and yourselves at CC)who feel the same. Keep up the good content, been excellent to see the channel grow!

[@madhatterjones4781]

Great looking and good specs with nice materials inside. And reasonable price. Nice job hyundai

[@zhaochongyao9997]

Only thing that it need is simply a set of shorter springs

[@maryn6543]

Have a ‘18 SR premium with DCT. Love it.

[@PrinceofPeace2000]

the reason i bought the n line because of the SR.

[@mciantar1999]

Hi Tom. Any news on the Hyundai i30 N Line hatch manual for 2022? I can't find anything online. Will it have any major changes to chassis or tech? Thanks

[@scottallison2296]

Interesting the middle seat belt in the rear isn't red like the others

[@chasingcars]

Good pickup. You wouldn’t want to be sitting there anyway! Probably a tad less distracting in the rear view mirror as well

[@blizzliftie]

Which drives better? This or i30 sedan n line manual?

[@chasingcars]

The hatch.

[@vmat377]

Tom Baker taking a right into Baker St at 9:44

[@SCELO_MYEZA.]

Hi Tom , I think this is a very good car from a reliable brand. unfortunately, Hyundai SA decided to discontinue the non-performance hatch and left the i30 N only for us South Africans. Suggestion: on your boot space section, please show the space wethout any suitcases and then loaded.

[@chasingcars]

That’s a shame! OK, will keep that in mind.

[@SCELO_MYEZA.]

@@chasingcars thanks 🐶

[@donnyazoff980]

Great review mate. I am picking up an i30 N line this week and I enjoyed your review.

[@chasingcars]

Enjoy it!

[@metrofox65]

What was waiting time?

[@donnyazoff980]

@@metrofox65 it was a used 2020 model I bought privately so no wait time.

[@jhannbnd]

@@metrofox65 Ordered mine in late feb. Still waiting from dealership to confirm it's arrival. As of early May, car it still not on the boat yet.

[@Sam-ch3fk]

The Elite is the sweet spot if you 99% city drive. The N Line turbo DCT has a much shorter shelf life if you do a lot of slow speed, stop start driving.

[@LegolasTheFresh]

Any news on the updated exterior facelift coming to aus?

[@chriswillis3721]

Hi Chris, just ordered one and no news on facelift version. Long wait time (Nov worst case) but I was told if the model changed in anyway before my car was built that I would get the new features at no extra cost.

[@MikeyyPham]

Mine was built 08/2022 and they call it MY2023, no facelift. Found many in the local dealership's backyard, since I got some discount though.

[@Jt3ch69]

Does anyone know the ideal tyre pressure for these michelin tyres ?

[@stevesage4466]

What a pity that it (inexplicably) does not have adaptive cruise control & blind spot monitoring......seems like a great small car for the family with enough under the bonnet for those that enjoy a more spirited drive. Was prepared to buy one until the dealer mentioned it did not have those 2 things!! Bugger, back to the drawing board to look for a similar car at this price point (Mazda closesr to the 40k, VW Golf is IMO too expensive for what you get and those touch controls would annoy me).....the search continues!

[@MikeyyPham]

I just bought a premium N line and it does come with adaptive cruise control. They call it smart cruise control or SCC. It works between 30-180km/h though not sure why you don't have it. But yes no blind sport monitoring is a big disappoinment

[@gbalmain]

I have a 2012 gd i30 manual and have always found the gearbox to be quite notchy at times and somewhat agriculture in feel, how is their current manual transmission and are the pedals suited to do some heel and toe shifting?

[@chasingcars]

Pedal position still isn’t perfect but at least the engine revs quickly for quick synchronisation

[@gbalmain]

@@chasingcars Also im surprised by the fuel figures of the 2L, i know mine is "only", a 1.8L but I can get low 6's on a long drive and mid 7's consistently in town, well, so my trip computer tells me.

[@anthonystonehouse]

Does the new Kona N line inherit the same (high quality) interior from this i30?

[@MikeyyPham]

I wouldn't call the interior in this i30 premium, acceptable at max. Premium should be in a Mazda 3. Apart from the N steering wheel and shift, the rest are hard plastic. Kona interior has the same quality and design but how it drives is much worse. It doesn't feel refined for the Kona

[@Mexxx65]

1st Like! Hyundai are putting out some good sweetspot cars, I agree!! Independent rear end wow! Who would have ever thought Hyundai would be selling that to us for this little money! (not even Mazda can!) Tom, on our typical "broken tarmac B roads" what rides more comfortably over them, this N-Line i30 or the i30N, same or different?

[@chasingcars]

Used to be commonplace, but there's been a big recession away from IRS

[@MyAppie1]

Do u prefer this I30 n-line or Polo gti you drove. I’m weighing up both these cars

[@chasingcars]

That’s such an apt comparison. I think I probably, just, prefer the dynamics of the Polo GTI, but that car isn’t available with a manual. Both excellent choices, and the i30 is so well priced in this spec.

[@Tronblue007]

@@chasingcars doesn’t the polo run on premium fuel where the I30 that doesn’t?

[@chasingcars]

Yeah, but you wouldn’t catch me putting 91 in any turbo petrol engine. It’s cheap for a reason.

[@Tronblue007]

@@chasingcars so is that your professional opinion? We have a 2018 I30SR and the Hyundai dealer told us it’s ok to run on 91. it’s tuned for it. Sometimes we put 95 in it but mostly 91. Maybe you should watch John Cadogan channel.

[@bakeryhill]

Having owned one of these for a month now, I can add some further comments. Overall, the review covers it quite well. Some of my cons - the wireless Apple Car Play is hopeless. Drops out every few minutes and as there is no wired connection available, it really makes it unusable. A lot of finger pointing between Hyundai (and other manufacturers) and Apple, but no resolution so far. Turbo lag is awful - really takes a while to spool up the turbo. Under 3000rpm it's quite sluggish. Pros - great fuel economy even with some spirited driving - mine's currently sitting at 6.8l\100kms after 600kms on the clock. Sticks to the road like the proverbial! Overall, I'd give it a 7.8\10 just because of the Apple Car Play issue. Once resolved it'd be a mid 8\10

[@anair86]

Jason, do you own a manual or an auto ? I was thinking of buying a manual nline hatch. The lag in the turbo is playing spoil sport based on user comments... Require my new vehicle to overtake with ease on highways and country roads .

[@bakeryhill]

@@anair86 It’s the auto though I drive it in manual often. The way to get past the turbo lag is drive it in sport mode. It keeps it in a lower gear and therefore higher RPM and this makes it quite responsive. Overtaking on a highway in normal drive mode is no problem as at 100kph it’s at 2000RPM and the turbo is quick to kick in. I simply drop it back a gear when about to overtake and it’s very responsive. The lag is more pronounced around town at lower speeds/RPM but sport mode overcomes this (at the expense of fuel economy).

[@anair86]

@@bakeryhill thanks Jason. One last question - would you happen to know if the turbo lag is only on the auto cars or on both ?

[@bakeryhill]

@@anair86 I’d say it can occur on both given lag is a product of a lack of RPM and how long it takes for the turbo to spool up. A true manual may have a better chance to improve this but the auto is a manual of sorts as well.

[@anair86]

@@bakeryhill helpfull. Thanks for your comments

[@Damo1998]

Are we getting the full i30n facelift here in Australia?

[@chasingcars]

Yeah, the facelift N launches in the next six weeks or so

[@Robert_N]

​@@chasingcars Are we getting the i30n fastback with the eight-speed dual-clutch auto here in Australia? Thanks

[@camerontait9132]

I like those sunnies Tom.

[@andr0iid]

I don't get it? His reviewing 2021 n line in manual but in the video his also showing the auto premium?

[@MrTrashcan1]

395L boot space with seats up = 14 cubic feet. Yet in the US and Canada, Hyundai advertises 25 cubic feet. That's a significant difference--the difference between leading vs trailing the competition. Is there a physical difference in the cargo area between the I30 and the Elantra GT?

[@ashishcodename47]

Nice belt brother! RM ? 😁

[@chasingcars]

You know it!

[@purplehazeffc]

As an owner of a 2018 i30 SR Manual. I think they have go backwards with the design & functionality of the digital dash. The analog dials look so much better.. 100% agree with going with the manual. So much more engaging than the DCT

[@letsseeif]

Similar to the i.30 SR that you drove in late seventeen.

[@chasingcars]

Yeah, but with more stuff.

[@letsseeif]

@@chasingcars yes. But I've got the Premium SR with all the bells and whistles and lumber.

[@drivingschool11]

This channel practices censorship?. Only positive comments are accepted turning this channel as a marketing tool? Please advise.

[@simoncouch1523]

Why do people put after market sequential indicators on their cars haha it looks so floggish

[@chasingcars]

Big fans of that in the 86 community!

[@simoncouch1523]

@@chasingcars does the indicator on the dash look and blinker like a traditional indicator or does it also animate

[@bensimpson4091]

hooyundai 😂

[@kelvpoon]

The picture was of an auto

[@JimboJones99]

I can't drive a manual

[@PrinceofPeace2000]

the N line Auto DCT comes with 7 speed and can also turn to manual, paddles just behind the steering wheel if you want to practice. I'm happy with the auto coz i like to vape while driving.