Prices revealed for new 2019 Hyundai i30 Fastback N
272bhp i30 Fastback N arrives with £500 premium over hatchback sibling
Hyundai has revealed UK prices and specs for the new i30 Fastback N, which is on sale in Britain from 21 January.
Just one version of the i30 Fastback N is coming to these shores. While internationally, it'll be available as a base model with 248bhp and as a Performance model with 272bhp, the regular UK car will be equipped with the Performance pack as standard and priced from £29,995. That makes it £500 more than the i30 N Performance hatchback, while standard equipment is carried over.
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Under the guidance of former BMW M division boss Albert Biermann, the N brand is looking to strength its foothold in the performance car market following the successful launch of the i30 N, which dramatically outperformed the company’s initial expectations.
Marketed as a more ‘elegant’ and ‘sophisticated’ alternative to the regular i30 N, the Fastback sits in a more exclusive area of the market without any direct competition. Hyundai says it’s the first five-door performance coupe in the C-segment.
It features design cues familiar from the i30 N such as the aggressive bumper design, dual tailpipes and F1-inspired triangular fog lamps that will be used as visual identifiers of N models in the future. However, the Fastback does adopt a sleeker five-door body and integrated boot spoiler with black gloss detailing.
The mechanical makeup of the i30 Fastback N is identical to that of its Performance pack hatchback stablemate. Both are front-wheel drive as standard and use a six-speed manual gearbox, the quicker of the getting from 0-62mph in 6.1 seconds.
The top spec Performance model, of which 90 per cent of buyers are expected to go for, features larger 19-inch alloy wheels wrapped in Pirelli P Zero tyres, an electronically controlled limited slip differential, adaptive dampers and a sports exhaust system.
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An i30 Fastback N was never originally in Hyundai’s product plan – the success of the regular model and customer demand encouraged the brand to put it into production.
Thomas Burkle, chief designer at Hyundai Europe, told Auto Express: “We offer the Fastback as a more elegance car, people who like sophistication. And the icing in the cake is the Fastback N – where we can combine elegance with the performance.
“We have to make a step from the practical cars we make to do something really special. The Fastback N opens the door to new territories.
“We wanted to do something born not out of the mathematics of rational thinking and marketing, rather something that is purely emotional. I told my design team ‘lets do something you would like to buy’”.
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