The looks
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When first generation of i30 debuted back in 2007 it was plain hidoius and the fact that a Kia Cee'd originating from that same manufacturer and probably the same desing team, was even uglier, seemed to be no concellation. Current i30 was revealed in 2012 and is a huge step forward when it comes to styling. The body is full of sharp edges and bulks and LED day running lights improve car's presence on the road. Only the front grill resembles too much that of a current Fords. Each detail and the chassis as a whole seem to check all the boxes. There's nothing wrong about this car when it comes to looks and yet... there's nothing good either. It's like the guys at Hyundai made a list of all things that people don't like about styling and all things they love about it and then tried to design a car that has none of both. I must admit they did a great job. The car is superanonimous. No single detail separates it from other cars on crowded Warsowian street. When I drove the car home for testing and parked it before our house I told my wife about it and asked her to see the car and judge it. She looked outside, looked around and asked where the car was standing. I said, right there, right in front of our window. You know what she replied? She said "Oh really? I thought it was our Toyota Yaris." This shows best how easily this car can be taken for any brand or model you don't clearly recognize. If you get yourself one of these, you definitely won't be laughed at, but don't count on your neighbor being jealous either.
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Interior
Interior of a i30 is truly a positive surprise. It's definitely not a place of luxury but it is a place of comfort. You get all conveniences a modern car should offer, like A/C, stereo with CD and USB port to stick your music into, power steering and electric windows and mirrors. It really is all you need from a car to get you from A to B with no fuss and with no complaints. The whole dashboard is back-lit in blue which at first may remind you of Volkswagen, but trust me, just the color is the same, no other takeaways from German car maker. Oh, and there's a Bluetooth to get your phone connected so that you can talk safely while driving and when you compare it to how others can complicate such a simple task as connecting your phone, this one is actually easy to use. Do you want more? No problem. Bottom part of the center console has this huge shelf that can store my wallet and smartphone just fine and without me worrying it would fall, slide or whatever. It really was like a made to measure for my wallet and phone. This may seem trivial but I can think of a leading brands that still can't cope with designing a decent storage for phone and wallet. Did anything stun me? No, I don't think so. Did anything bother me? Well, two things. First was the fact that you can recline your window all the way with just one click of a button but to lift it you have to hold the button for as long as the glass goes up. Figures? Second one was the fact that day running LEDs shut down automatically when you take the key out, but if you're driving at night and use regular night lights, these won't shut down once you take the key out. I still can't find the logic behind that. Other than that, this car is a nice place to be in.
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The drive
Driving this Hyundai is rather a story you're being told than a story you tell yourself. Engine compartment is well silenced, so you won't hear much noise from there. Passengers' cabin the same story with very little wind noise coming in. Suspension soaks all ups, downs and bumps you drive into and with ESP set up far far on the safe side you won't get much thrills when cornering. Steering wheel has three resistance modes: "comfort" for easy parking, "normal" for, well... normal people and "sport" probably just put a word "sport" somewhere in the car, because apart from high turning resistance and a lack of unwinding at corner exits there is nothing sportlike in that steering mode. After giving it a try I just chose "normal" and got on with my daily commute with no further drama. This "no drama" atitude is also to be experienced when you try to accelerate in more vigorous manner. "Try to" is a best way to describe it, because I was unable to make i30 do it. A definite positive is that you need to plan your overtaking and lane changes well ahead thus you save loads of fuel and even more nerves. If the car you want to overtake is far and you have little time to do it - you won't make it, don't bother. So how to live with a car driving like that? Just start the engine and chill, there is nothing to prove with this package, so it's definitely not a car for those with weak egos, if you know what I mean. In the end the driving experience was a good one. It didn't require too much effort, too much thinking and too much involvement. After all, not everyone needs a drag race whenever streetlights turn green. I can't believe I'm writing this, but the only missing thing was a start-stop system which could have saved even more fuel.
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Summary
The Hyundai i30 is a lot like your hiking shoes (if you do hiking of course) - you put them on and move on. If you're comfortable and can focus on your journey and things around you it means they served their purpose. You don't think about them all the time and you don't look at them every other step, because it's not what they were built for. The same goes for this car. It delivers a reasonable level of comfort and effortlessness, your ears don't bleed during acceleration and eyes don't pop out under braking. Just drive, reach your destination, get out of the car, and get on with your life, because there probably are more interesting things to take care of. I must admit that in a way it's a great recipe for a day by day driving experience. When I look at a somewhat short history of Hyundai that aspires to be something better than it currently is being perceived I see similarities to Audi which fought hard to get among premium brands like BMW and Mercedes... and succeeded. I also see similarities to Skoda which fought hard to be treated serious and not to be a bottom of the food chain car maker... and succeeded. Whether you like it or not, you'd better get used to Hyundai, because they are going to be here for a long long while.
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Check back for more
Please check back next week to see how this car matches against current version of Opel Astra. Is this "Korean" more likeable to our European taste or not exactly.
The gallery
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