The Hyundai i30 Fastback N has been unveiled at the Paris motor show, and the firm believes it can fill a gap in the market as a hot C-segment fastback.
The new car also introduces a number of minor tweaks that will be adopted by the i30 N hot hatchback.
Mechanically, the new model is virtually identical to the i30 N, with the same 2.0-litre petrol engine. It will again feature 247bhp in standard mode, or 271bhp with the Performance pack. With the vast majority of i30 N UK sales being the Performance variant, Hyundai has yet to confirm if it will offer the lower-powered Fastback N in this country.
Product manager Adrien Pere said that the decision to offer an N version of the fastback was to target a different audience, saying that it is pitched at buyers “looking more for refinement and sophistication, and a certain kind of understatement”.
Despite the fastback and hot hatch having slightly different target audiences, Hyundai opted against making bigger changes because the firm wants all its N models to have a consistent driving experience.
Hyundai i30 Fastback N prototype: first drive
“An N car is an N car,”said European engineering boss Klaus Köster. “We want an N car to stand for everything N stands for: it’s made for cornering and driver fun.”
Köster added that a number of minor changes to the suspension had been made when developing the new car — including work on the bump stops, hydraulics and anti-roll bar settings — with the target to make it “more rounded in some areas and a bit more playful”.
"The i30 N hatchback has been really successful, and worked very well, so we did not have to change much for this car," added Köster. “But Albert Biermann [Hyundai N division boss] always says there is nothing that cannot be improved."
