Australia has become a big market for the hot hatch. But which one should they buy for around $40,000. About 20 years ago, the answer would have been a Subaru WRX, while ten years ago, the Golf 5 GTI rocked the world with a 2-liter turbo.
But Hyundai made its first real hot hatch, and this drag race proves it's way faster than the benchmark GTI.
First things first, we have to mention that we're a little unhappy with the footage. How can you film such an essential comparison without ever showing the times or any footage from inside the GTI? Likewise, we have no idea what versions of the two cars are being bested.
While we initially assumed we were dealing with the 245 horsepower version of the GTI, which is the most powerful, one of our readers pointed out that the chrome front badge belongs to the base 230 HP model. Meanwhile, the i30 N costing "$39,990 in Australia" gets the high-output 275 HP engine as standard, together with P Zero sticky tires. No fair!
But there's no question that the i30 N is cheaper, has more power and even sounds naughtier. Of course, the GTI has always had problems with pure hot hatchbacks because its key to success is its all-rounder appeal.
As far as we know, the Australian version of the car has a slightly softer damper setup to deal with rough roads. Of course, the i30 N has standard adaptive dampers, so you could just as well combine the most N setting for the engine with comfort dampers.
Speaking of adaptability, the video makes a point about launch control being configurable. You press the cruise control buttons and adapt the rev cap for the engine. Despite this, the best launch in the i30 N was done the old-fashioned way.
With a new Golf coming out next year and the i30 N being so much cheaper, you really can't go wrong with a Hyundai hot hatch right now.
Update: The review video is in and our suspicions were confirmed. The GTI is indeed a base 230 horsepower manual model, going up against a 275 HP i30 N with the performance pack. How is that fair? Well, Car Advice says that the i30 N is about 170 kilograms heavier.
According to the European website data, the difference is more like 140 kg, but it is undeniably there.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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