Hyundai i30 Active 2017 Long-term Review - 3

On occasion a long-term test vehicle will really endear itself to our team. Such has been the case with our long-term Hyundai i30 Active.

The entry-level model in the range, the i30 Active has impressed for its value, its refinement and its driving dynamics.

There are just two issues I have with this car.

One is the lack of autonomous emergency braking (which is more an in-principle concern than a desperate need for a car to do the braking for me).

The other is the naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine. Sure there's reasonable torque available for easy motoring around the town - the 2.0-litre powerplant is quiet and unfussed at 1500rpm – and there's no labouring at that speed, but there is some thrashiness around the redline (on balance it's strident at higher revs).

But where the engine seriously loses points is its fuel consumption. The best I could achieve over three or four days of commuting and a 60km test loop of mostly country roads was 9.7L/100km. In dense traffic, the figure was up around 11L/100km, which is higher than some diesel-engined medium SUVs driven in the past. The higher figure is based around 200km of commuting, each trip taking an hour to complete a journey of just 20km from a cold start.

Another staff member after two days of country highway driving reported 6.8L/100km, so the i30 can be appropriately economical in the right circumstances. My experience with it reflects the economy of a naturally-aspirated engine without idle stop in an environment favouring smaller turbocharged engines with idle stop.

While the engine pulls well enough from low revs, there's a distinct bump in the power/torque curves at 3000rpm, when the throttle is wide open. Nonetheless, as it's not a turbocharged engine, the output comes on stream without any unpleasant power delivery traits.

Drive is pumped through to the front wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission, which shifts almost crisply and allows downshifts at speeds which would have other powertrain combinations baulking.

It's by now well known that Hyundai Australia orders all its products from the factory with a suspension set-up tailored for the local market's driving environment. Which means the i30 - a basic, entry-level small hatch - steers, handles and grips like a hot hatch. The roadholding is steadfast in the face of excessive speed into a corner, the handling is very well tuned – with little hint of understeer or lift-off oversteer present – and the steering is highly communicative and responsive.

While Hyundai's local arm can rightly take considerable credit for the i30 being such a fun-to-drive 'shopping basket', the tuning wouldn't pay dividends without the chassis providing the fundamentals – and the i30's platform certainly does that. In the dry, there is precisely zero torque steer, and the traction/stability control straddles a fine line, keeping power-induced understeer in check without clamping down too hard on performance. In short, this is a surprisingly agile and dynamic small car for its price.

It's also a quiet tourer, with wind noise predominating on the open-road. At 100km/h the engine is ticking over at about 2100rpm and at that speed it's hard to pick between road and engine noise.

On the flip side of the dynamics coin, ride comfort is also exceptional – in light of the i30's cornering ability. It's very well controlled, yet it can take a pummelling over lumpy bitumen and speed humps alike, without occupants suffering internal bleeding or motion sickness.

At night, the halogen projector headlights cast a yellow beam on the road ahead. They're adequate, but not that flash (to coin a phrase). That's one shortcoming of the entry-level model, over the Premium grades.

Behind the wheel, the i30's instruments are easy to read (including the trip computer in between the two major dials) and the controls require little familiarity to use – particularly earning praise were the switchgear for cruise control, phone and audio all located on the steering wheel. The indicator stalk is on the right of the column, which is where it should be in this country – but so rarely is. Apple CarPlay and digital radio are nice-to-haves at this price point too. I didn't bother pairing the phone through Bluetooth, I just ran it through CarPlay via a USB lead. In short, there's virtually no reason to fault the i30 for its driving position and ergonomics.

My wife had a ‘motoring journalist's moment’ when she sat herself in the driver's seat and spent 10 seconds looking for the starter button. There is none. The i30 relies on an old-fashioned lock barrel with a key inserted to start the engine.

I found the front seats to be generally comfy, with high-density cushioning in the side bolsters to hold the occupants safe and secure in high-g cornering. There was plenty of adult-sized accommodation in the rear, particularly overhead, but as Susannah Guthrie noted in her review of the i30, the lack of adjustable rear vents is regrettable – although to be fair, not many cars at this price point come with that feature.

The children were frustrated when being dropped-off at school when they couldn't unload their bags from the i30’s generous (395-litre) boot – until I noted the lock/unlock button in the centre fascia. Speaking of the boot, there's a full size spare (with a Kumho 205/55 R16 tyre) on a matching alloy wheel under the floor. The 60/40 split-fold seats fold forward, but leave a step from the boot floor to back of the seats which imposes a lower limit on the bulk the rear of the i30 can stow. Anything both heavy and large will be pivoting precariously around the fulcrum of the step under brakes and acceleration.

So, if you're the sort of person to move house every second weekend, don't cart the dishwasher and clothes dryer hither and yon in the back of the i30. Just hire a ute.

For every other occasion, the i30 is fine.

Long-Term Tests
Motoring.com.au aims to make your vehicle buying decisions easier. Our Editorial section does this via our mix of news, international and local new model launch reviews, as well as our seven-day tests.

From time to time, we also take the opportunity to spend even longer with a vehicle.

These longer-term tests can be as short as a couple of weeks, but more recently we’ve settled on a three-month period as indicative of ‘normal’ ownership.

Long-term tests give our staff writers and contributors a chance to get to know a car as an owner would. While the car is with us, we pay for fuel, the servicing, and generally use and live with the car as a new owner would.

We believe long-term tests give car buyers a deeper insight into the vehicle on test, but also the qualities behind the brand and nameplate. The extended period also allows us to touch base with the dealer networks in question.

It comes as no surprise that manufacturers tend to have a love-hate relationship with long-term tests. Three months is long enough to fall out of love with the latest and greatest, and start to nit-pick – just like real owners do.

2017 Hyundai i30 Active pricing and specifications:
Price: from $20,950 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 120kW/203Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 7.4L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 173g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP

Related reading:
>> Hyundai i30 2017 Long-term Test Update Intro
>> Hyundai i30 2017 Long-term Test Update #1
>> Hyundai i30 2017 Long-term Test Update #2
>> Hyundai i30 2017 local launch review
>> Hyundai i30 comparison review