FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2019 HYUNDAI i30 FASTBACK N

How big is the boot of the Hyundai i30 Fastback N?

From empty, I could fit twelve shopping bags in the boot, which is two more than a regular i30 hatch and one more than both the Kia Cerato GT and the Honda Civic VTi- LX Hatch.

The boot is nice and deep and large, you do have to bend down into it and there is a large lip. This does make it good for an emergency nappy change though as there's no way Bub can roll out!

The Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller fits with three shopping bags.

The Britax Flexx tandem stroller fits underneath the parcel shelf with five shopping bags.

The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.

Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

The Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle single stroller fitted with four shopping bags beside it.

The Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller fitted with 10 shopping bags beside it.

Or if you remove the parcel shelf then a medium size dog would fit in the boot.

How good is storage inside the Hyundai i30 Fastback N?

Storage in the cabin is practical and functional. The central console storage box is a good size and the lid doubles as your armrest.  The two cup holders in front of it will hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup and a large refillable water bottle fits in them too.

In front of the gear lever is a well I used for storing my phone and there are two USB sockets, a 12V socket and AUX socket.

The glove box is good, I can get my iPad and wallet in there with the manual.

There is a lined glasses case in the ceiling and there are lit vanity mirrors in both front visors.

The door bins in the front are a good size and will hold a large refillable water bottle and there are storage wells in the door handles.

In the back of the i30 Fastback N, the door bins will hold a large refillable water bottle and there are still the wells in the door handles.

There are net map pockets in the back of both front seats that will hold but not conceal an iPad.

In a fold-down armrest in the central seatback are two cup holders. They would hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup.

How noisy is the Hyundai i30 Fastback N?

The exhaust of the i30 Fastback N is antisocially loud!! Most people asked me if it is legal!!

Really annoyingly the i30 Fastback N beeps a baby waking beep when you start the engine if you haven't already fastened your seatbelt. I'm sure most people turn the engine on and get themselves settled in before fastening their seatbelts so it feels quite harassing to have it beep at you.

The media system in the i30 Fastback N is very good, it is extremely easy to use and navigate and it has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto too.

When you put it in reverse the camera image is nice and clear and fills the screen.

You can turn the parking sensor sound off with a button in the central console. And yes, this car is a MANUAL! Fun times!

You can select N mode in the media system and in this screen you can check your lap time, g-force, torque, power etc. All those things we parents like to use on our school run!!

Through the N-Mode screen is the exhaust sound screen, I didn't find this until my last morning, unfortunately, because I leave the house at 5.30am, I spent the week annoying my neighbours and changing my daughter's body clock to 5.30am because of the crazy loud exhaust!

What I discovered on my last morning is this can be turned down to a normal volume which would be much more family and neighbourhood friendly.

The Sat-Nav is really nice and easy to use and you can easily mute the announcements by pressing the button on the left of the screen.

The i30 Fastback N does have lane keep assist, the button to turn that on and off is by the driver's right knee.

Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!

That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.

If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?

It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?

A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!

I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.

The indicators are nice and quiet in the i30 Fastback N and wouldn’t disturb my sleeping baby.

The windows can both be locked from the driver's door control panel. The windows open nice and quietly but do close with a little thud that I don't think would be baby waking.

The door lock is in the centre of the dash below the hazard warning light. The doors open and close quietly which is great.

Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!

So this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)

The cruise controls are on the right side on the steering wheel and are nice and easy to use however it isn't as accurate as other i30 models I have driven because the i30 Fastback N is a manual, so it doesn't have the same cruise control technology. Apparently, it will be available as an automatic soon 😉

The i30 Fastback N is awesome to drive and it is a lot of fun, however, from a parenting perspective, the ride is sporty and hard so you feel the bumps more but that's common in fast cars.

There is a seatbelt removal alarm and panel, on the central dash, that lights up to warn you if a seatbelt in the back is removed.

How many child seats fit in the Hyundai i30 Fastback N?

There are three top tether anchorages across the rear seat backrests of the Hyundai i30 Fastback N. They are within plastic guides and I found them easy to connect to and access through the boot.

The rear seats have ISOFix points in the two outer seats. They are within plastic guides and they are nice and easy to connect to when installing the child seats.

Two child seats fit into the back of the i30 Fastback N and we could not sit between them. Either forward or rear facing child seats fit fine.

The roofline is low in the i30 Fastback N and we had more than a few bumped heads over the week. Posting bub into their child seat from outside the car is compromised from inside the car too.

Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!

There is room to feed a bub in the back if you only have one child seat installed. In the model I tested, the seats were upholstered in a woven material that could be quite difficult to keep clean.

How comfortable is the Hyundai i30 Fastback N? And How good is the Hyundai i30 Fastback N to drive?

In the front of the i30 Fastback N, the seats are comfortable, they have old school manual adjustment and are upholstered with woven fabric which would be harder to keep clean with kids' spills and crumbs getting ingrained.

The headrests are not adjustable but I found I could have a ponytail in the front seat.

I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get this ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!

There is a glasses case in the ceiling and lit vanity mirrors in both front visors.

There is a light in the ceiling in the back that I can just reach from the driver's seat.

I have found Tulsi does not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.

Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bed time and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a five-minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!

It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.

For a mum travelling in the back with bub, the seats are comfortable at the sides. In the centre, the seat back armrest can be uncomfortable.

For the first year of Tulsi’s life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Tulsi so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!

The steering wheel was fully adjustable in/out and up/down.

There are four air-conditioning vents across the front dashboard; two central ones and a round one at either end and none in the back.

The controls are centrally located on the dashboard and easy to use while driving.

There are handles above both back doors that are well positioned to hang a child's toy.

Visibility in the i30 Fastback N is tricky as the rear side windows slope down at the back and the child seats really fill the back window. The reversing camera really helps when manoeuvring and parking.

One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the i30 Fastback N was relatively easy to park.

Aesthetically the i30 Fastback N is gorgeous! It is more practical as a family car than we expected and great fun to drive and it looks great too! The black of the one I tested doesn't do it justice and makes it look less sporty, but there is an awesome eggshell blue colour that I LOVE.

How safe is the Hyundai i30 Fastback N?

The Hyundai i30 Fastback N is yet to be ANCAP safety tested (other ‘non N' i30 models have five stars).

As standard, all models of the Hyundai i30 Fastback N come with electronic stability control (ESC), anti-lock braking system (ABS), brake assist system (BAS), electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), hill-start assist control (HAC), traction control system (TCS), vehicle stability management (VSM), Hyundai SmartSense including; forward collision-avoidance assist (FCA) – City/Urban, driver attention warning (DAW), lane keeping assist – Line (LKA-L), emergency stop signal (ESS), parking distance warning – reverse (PDW-R) and tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) .

Seven airbags come as standard; there is a driver’s knee airbag as well as dual frontal airbags and front side airbags and side curtain airbags for the front and the rear side passengers.

Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!