Category: Small Family 
Price Range: £12,000 to £17,000
Looks good, nicely detailed cabin, rides well, quiet, economical, good value.
Blue LCD display is hard to read in sunlight, UK range lacks a 2.0 petrol engine.
Thoroughly modern European family hatchback from Korea.
Price range £10,995 to £16,595. On sale in UK September.
You've probably read about the Kia Cee'd. Now meet its close cousin, the Hyundai i30. The Hyundai Corporation owns both brands, and these two cars are the corporation's most serious bridgehead yet into Europe. The Cee'd is made in a new Slovakian factory, while the i30 will soon emerge from another new plant in the Czech Republic. The idea is to make Kias more youthful, sportier and cheaper, while Hyundais will appeal to a more sophisticated, possibly older buyer. Think Seat versus Volkswagen.
Under the skin, these are pretty much the same car: a Golf/Focus-size five-door hatchback. A different nose and tail design marks out the i30, with a chrome blade across the top of the front upper air intake, and the tail lights are tall, vertical and pointed. It's a crisp, handsome car, with a bit more visual pizzazz than the tidy but bland Cee'd.
Engines are 1.4 and 1.6-litre petrol units, of 109 and 122bhp, plus 1.6 and 2.0-litre turbodiesels with 115 and 140bhp and healthy torque outputs of 188 and 224lb-ft respectively. The 2.0 diesel has a six-speed gearbox, while a four-speed automatic is available with all engines except the 1.4. Other markets also get a 2.0-litre petrol unit, but Hyundai UK is waiting for the forthcoming turbo version whose engine will also be used in future hot Cee'ds. Trim levels are Comfort, Style and Premium.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Hyundai i30
wrote on 04 03 2008
wrote on 23 10 2007