Hyundai i30 Active sedan 2021 Review

The Hyundai i30 sedan is a bit bigger, and owes little to the current i30 hatchback.

It also tends to weigh less (about 80kg in Active and Elite form) than its hatch equivalents, which evens out any disadvantages inflicted by the 2.0-litre engine’s slightly lower power and torque outputs – which we’ll mention later.

Hyundai has worked hard to give the sedan i30 a ‘premium’ feel (enhanced by the base Active sedan’s leather-look interior trim, wireless phone charging and eight-speaker sound system) which, whether it’s compared to the outgoing Elantra or its i30 hatch equivalents, is not really reflected in the price tags.

Looking at on-roads-inclusive pricing, the auto-transmission $26,790 Active i30 sedan is only $290 more than the retired Elantra equivalent and is actually less than the current ($26,920) Active-spec i30 auto hatch.

Though the prices are generally otherwise higher than the hatch, it’s not by much: At $30,790 the mid-spec Elite i30 sedan is $570 more than the equivalent hatch, while the $32,990 N Line sedan is $870 more than the N Line hatch.

The differences are a bit bigger when it comes to the most expensive i30 sedan, the $37,290 top-spec N Line Premium, which costs $1070 more than its hatchback sibling.

At base Active level the equipment is a mix of generous and not-so-generous: The standard leather-look seat trim, wireless phone charging and rear air-vents are definitely plus-points, as is the rare provision of also-wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto functions. So, provided you  already have a smartphone, you don’t have to plug-in a cable to activate sat-nav.

These plus-points play against the Active i30 sedan’s less-premium features such as key-activated engine starting, a one-touch power window on the driver’s door only, and manually-adjusted air-conditioning and front seats.

Although Hyundai says the i30 sedan’s so-far unstated safety rating comes from concerns its scoring potential would be affected by its lack of a front centre airbag (like many of its competitors it has just six airbags), the safety-tech rollcall is comprehensive.

Under Hyundai’s SmartSense umbrella, the i30 sedan comes with a radar/camera informed autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system that includes a ‘junction turning’ capability able to detects pedestrians and cyclists when the vehicle is making a right turn.

There’s also stop & go adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist, with semi-autonomous driving also provided by lane-follow assist that is designed to keep the i30 sedan tracking accurately when both sides of the lane are marked by white lines. Cross-traffic alert is also provided for both front and rear ends.

With all this it’s a bit disappointing that, at Active level, the headlights are halogen, not LEDs, and lack the self-dipping function seen in same-spec i30 hatchbacks (there is a base-model i30 hatch below the Active).

The i30 Active and Elite sedans are suspended by a MacPherson strut front-end working in conjunction with a non-independent torsion beam rear-end that is replaced, on N Line variants, by a more complex multi-link independent system. Braking is by four-wheel discs, ventilated at the front-end.

Although the 2.0-litre four-cylinder powerplant in the Hyundai i30 sedan is essentially the same as that used in i30 hatchbacks, the power and torque figures have been fiddled downwards. The 117kW/191Nm outputs undercut the hatchback’s 120kW/203Nm.

The positive side is that the altered power/weight ratios tend to favour the sedan and that the reduced maximum torque comes in at slightly lower rpm (4500rpm compared to 4700rpm), which helps with flexibility and responsiveness.

In fact, coupled to the six-speed auto gearbox, the results are slightly surprising: There’s always adequate torque and at times the i30 sedan feels almost spritely.

The occasional giveaway comes when you want that extra bit of punch and have to wait for the normally-aspirated torque to come on board. The six-speed auto plays a role in minimising that wait by responding quickly and is (partly) helped by having three different modes – normal, eco and sport – to choose from.

None disguise the transmission’s tendency to hunt around finding the right gears when climbing gradients on the open road, however.

The adaptive cruise is great: It holds speeds with determination up hill and, with assistance from the braking, down dale.

The aspirated 2.0-litre engine, though it’s hardly reminiscent of an eagerly-spinning Euro, is quiet enough and is happy reaching towards the 6500rpm redline.

There was some rough-starting in our test car at times, but this was clearly a glitch in the system and presumably easily rectified.

The i30 sedan’s fuel consumption was gratifyingly close to the official figure. Over two weeks of driving in varied conditions, our review i30 sedan averaged 7.8L/100km.

That’s not too far from the official claim of 7.0L/100km and indicates a range of better than 600km from the smallish 47-litre tank would be achievable. The i30 sedan is recommended to run on 91 octane unleaded or an E10 ethanol/petrol mix.

On the road, the Hyundai i30 sedan matches Hyundai’s ‘Sensuous Sportiness’ brief. Well, given the conservative 2.0-litre engine, at least partly.

The Australian-developed suspension settings continue to give Hyundai an edge in terms of both ride comfort and agility. With decent road grip from the standard 225/45R17 tyres, the i30 sedan is smooth and settled in just about any conditions you’d choose to throw at it.

The steering is well-weighted, accurate and quite quick, with 2.5 turns required to go from lock to lock for a competitive 10.8-metre turning circle.

In Active form, noise suppression is fine on anything but coarse-chip bitumen, where you might be inclined to bump-up the volume on the eight-speaker sound system.

The Hyundai i30 sedan initially seems huge, suggesting it’s the same size as, say, a Toyota Camry. For passengers, already comfortable in an exceptionally roomy interior, there’s no doubt it’s a pretty quiet place with decently-supportive seats, lots of leg and shoulder room and, for all but the tall, no problems with headroom. But Camry-proportioned? Not quite.

Although its monotone trim looks somewhat bland at a first-time glance, the general feeling is that, although the slightly-soft touch trim on front doors and dash morphs towards generally hard-touch in the rear, it’s all of a pretty high quality.

The materials look robust and hard-wearing, not cheap and temporary, and the general fit and finish (apart from the odd misdemeanour such as a bit of ill-fitting carpet in the rear of our review car) is pretty flawless.

Commendable on the entry-model i30 sedan, there’s an electric parking brake and a central air-vent for rear-seat passengers, who also get a fold-down centre armrest and one mesh-covered pocket behind the front-passenger seat.

The practical and accommodating 474-litre boot, complete with a full-size alloy spare, is right up there in the small-sedan class, although why it’s missing an external release catch is a bit of a puzzle.

It operates via either a lever on the floor next to the driver’s seat or the key, which can lead to fumbling when trying to unload arms full of supermarket shopping. The 60/40-split folding rear seat, unlocked via handy in-boot levers, is easy to access once the lid is opened.

Hyundai has got it all pretty right with its new i30 sedan. If there’s anything the i30 hatch can do, the sedan can do it just that little bit better (except, of course, it can’t offer quite the same degree of loading versatility).

There’s certainly no argument with the pricing, and the overall mix of safety provisions, driveline performance, ride and handling and, above all, cabin and boot dimensions, make it hard to flaw.

The i30 sedan’s styling seems to elicit mixed reactions but it can’t be denied it’s a well-proportioned, relatively clean design that sits well with its small-sedan competitors.

Hyundai’s recently-discovered penchant for clean, balanced yet individual styling – originally overseen by design guru and former Hyundai group director Peter Schreyer – is not put at risk here.

It’s more sharp-edged than the Hyundai i30 hatch but the sedan’s styling, though sometimes-polarising, is nevertheless handled with a similar restraint.

Additional models, such as a hot 202kW/378Nm N version expected sometime in 2021 and a hybrid version further down the track, will broaden the i30 sedan’s appeal too.

If other sedan versions of popular small hatchbacks prove to be pulling their weight in the marketplace, there’s no reason why this all-new, well-credentialed Hyundai shouldn’t be able to do the same.

Watch for the i30’s combined sales performance to reflect its new-found competitiveness against the small-car heavyweights this year.

How much does the 2021 Hyundai i30 Active sedan cost?
Price: $26,790 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 117kW/191Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 7.0L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 150g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: N/A