Facelifted Hyundai i30 Sedan N spotted, here this year

Photos of a disguised Hyundai i30 Sedan N have been posted to social media, suggesting an updated version of the small four-door performance car is set to lob soon, possibly even by the end of the year.

The quartet of photos were posted in the Hyundai N Owners Facebook group today (January 11) and show a Performance Blue example parked in an underground carpark masked by heavy black camouflage front and rear.

Clearly a fan of N products, the photographer went in for a closer look, revealing a new ADAS (driver aid) sensor pad, pointing to the addition of radar cruise control), revised headlight arrangement and what could be a Staria-style full-width lighting signature.

A full-width lighting signature would make sense given the next-generation Hyundai Kona also flaunts the bold new styling cue.

Other apparent cosmetic changes include a less aggressive alloy wheel design and a subtler front fascia with redesigned grille mesh.

Rumour has it the raucous exhaust system will also be toned down for select markets in the wake of the California saga which saw an Elantra N owner stopped, fined and the equivalent of yellow-stickered for driving the car in N-mode.

Hyundai Australia had nothing to share about the prospects of a facelifted N Sedan, but carsales understands the new model is on track to arrive Down Under later this year as part of a wider i30 Sedan range facelift.

The non-N range launched here in early 2021 and expanded with the addition of the N in December that year.

Depending on when the new i30 Sedan line-up arrives in 2023, a mid-life update after just two and half years or so point to a five-year production run; something that would see the current generation loosely overlap with the implementation of Euro 7 emissions regulations.

Global Hyundai N executives told carsales late last year that Euro7 would see-off the i30 N’s and Kona N’s blistering 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine, and that it would be replaced in the future by an N-spec version of the Hyundai Sonata N-Line’s bigger 2.5-litre unit.

Chief technical adviser Albert Biermann later confirmed a second-generation i30 Sedan N was all but locked-in.

“Of course, certain engines will go into Euro 7 homologation, but not all engines will survive that we have today,” he said.

“So some will phase out when Euro 7 comes in for Euro 7 markets and so there’s still some development going on… with the 2.5 turbo I think we can still come up with some nice powerful N-cars.”

Biermann’s comments and the 2.5 years left before the new regulations come in strongly suggest the facelifted i30 Sedan N will continue on with the familiar 2.0-litre engine, albeit with the usual mid-life update tweaks.

The same goes for the rest of the i30 Sedan range which features a naturally-aspirated 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and much newer – and EU7-compliant – 1.6-litre ‘SmartStream’ turbo-petrol four.