First look 2021 Hyundai i30 N DCT – spy video exhaust sound & wet clutch DCT exp
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00:00G'day, I'm Paul. So, I love kimchi, but the only thing I love more than kimchi is the Hyundai i30N.
00:06It is such a fun little hot hatch to drive. It cracks, it pops, does everything that a hot hatch
00:12should do in this day and age. That is why I am super excited to show you guys some footage that
00:16we were sent in of the new Hyundai i30N with a dual clutch transmission. Where did this footage
00:25come from? Well, this is from one of our eagle-eyed followers in Sydney. Hyundai Australia
00:30is testing the i30N in Australia with the dual clutch transmission, and we have snapped images
00:36and video of the fastback, which is kind of a sedan hatch type. Not really a hatch, but not
00:43really a sedan. It's like a mix between the two. I actually think it looks a little bit like an
00:46AU Falcon at the back, but anyway, let's not go there. Why is it in Australia? Why are we getting
00:50these cars so early? Well, Hyundai Australia is in a unique position because it does a lot of
00:55ride and handling tuning right here in Australia for the Australian market. Some of the tunes that
01:00the guys here in Australia do are then exported to other markets as well. They've been really
01:04successful in creating a custom and bespoke ride and handling tune that suits our market and then
01:09can be sent abroad, and that is why they get the car so early. They want to make sure that it's
01:13ready to rumble before the dual clutch version of the i30N goes on sale. And why does it have
01:17so much camouflage? Well, that is because there is a slight styling change coming to this car.
01:22Now, if you look really closely at the back of this car, you'll see bigger exhaust pipes,
01:27so the updated version of the i30N hatch and fastback will get the same size exhaust outlets
01:32as the Veloster N that was recently revealed, so that should make it look a little more aggressive
01:37at the rear. It's also going to get a new wheel design, so if you look closely at those wheels,
01:41you can see there's a slightly different design there. And keep in mind as well that the rest of
01:45it will flow very much in the same way that the i30N line hatch has, so it's going to have a few
01:50sharper angles, a different set of headlights, and also a bit more LED lighting around the rear.
01:56You can actually see a render that we have here of what the i30N is likely to look like when it
02:00is launched, and I think it is a pretty sharp looking car, and I hope they retain that baby
02:04blue colour. I think that looks fantastic and really makes the i30N stand out on the road.
02:08Under the bonnet, it's going to retain the same cracking 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
02:13petrol engine that will drive the front wheels. Yes, Hyundai is working on what looks to be like
02:18a mid-engined all-wheel drive supercar type thing. This isn't that, this is simply going to be the
02:24same carryover engine. It produces 202kW of power and 353Nm of torque. It also has an overboost
02:31feature that cranks that up to 378Nm for up to 20 seconds. Now, what about the noise? I think this is
02:38the bit that everyone's been waiting for. Will it sound like a Golf GTI where it sort of cracks and
02:42pops through the gears? And will it still have that trademark burble and, I don't know, I guess
02:47the gunshot noises that the i30N currently has? Well, have a listen to this as the car drives
02:53past the camera.
03:05Yes, there is no cracking and popping there. So, based on the information we have, we believe
03:10this is a European specification car, which means it will be fitted with a petrol particulate filter.
03:16The good news is that we don't have very strict emissions laws in Australia, so it is highly likely
03:21that the car that we get in Australia won't have a petrol particulate filter, so it means that it
03:26should still have that signature crack and pop. But I bet you're wondering, what does it sound
03:29like compared to the current i30N? Well, here is the i30N Fastback going around a track. This is
03:35the manual version that's sold in Australia without a particulate filter. Have a listen to it.
03:40Big difference there, isn't there? You can really hear the cracks, the pops and all the emotion from
03:57the manual version. Now, when do we expect to see this car in Australia, or the rest of the world
04:02for that matter? Well, it was actually meant to be revealed at the end of 2019, but due to a whole
04:06bunch of delays, we won't be seeing the car here in Australia until early 2021, so you're going to
04:11have to wait just a little bit longer before we get our hands on a dual-clutch version of the i30N.
04:16Okay, let's have a chat about the actual dual-clutch transmission and what you can expect
04:21from it. Now, a bit of background here. Albert Biermann, he's a man that likes his beer, I've
04:25heard. He is from BMW's M division. He worked there for over a decade, and he was poached by
04:30the guys at Hyundai to come across and hone the N division. He actually worked briefly on the Kia
04:35Stinger before it was launched, and has been fully involved in the i30N. He actually said,
04:40we're not going to release this car if the dual-clutch isn't good, which is the reason this
04:44car's been out for such a long time without a dual-clutch. Hyundai only had, I mean, what I think
04:49is a pretty poor dual-clutch available to them, and it just didn't really work in this performance
04:53application, so he rightfully waited. I'm glad they did. Instead of releasing a version of this car
04:58that was just going to be disappointing. Now, what about the gearbox that's actually fitted to the
05:01i30N? Well, it's an eight-speed wet-clutch, dual-clutch transmission. What is the difference
05:06between a wet-clutch and a dry-clutch? Well, a dry-clutch is often used in entry-level cars,
05:11small SUVs, city cars, that kind of thing. They can overheat a little bit more because you don't
05:16actually have that oil submersion of the clutch, and that means that in small SUVs and city cars,
05:21if you do sit them on hills or put a lot of load on them without the car moving, they tend to just
05:26be a little bit funny and not very nice. So that's why Hyundai's gone down the path of a wet-clutch
05:31setup. Now, according to Hyundai, a wet-clutch is submerged in oil, and it means that it reduces
05:35operating temperature because you're using that oil to disperse the heat energy, and it's improving
05:40lubrication as well, which in theory should improve shift quality, and it also means that at low
05:45speed, it shouldn't be as jarring. With some of these dry-clutch setups, they're kind of on-off,
05:49there's no in-between, and that's where you strike a balance with a wet-clutch. It kind of gives you
05:54that smoothness as it takes off. Now, some of the special features that are being fitted to this
05:58dual-clutch transmission from Hyundai, this is marketing lingo, not my words, so I'm sorry if it
06:03sounds a bit silly. N Grin Shift, that is basically a 20-second period where you can have overboost,
06:10which increases torque by 7%. I don't know why they had to give it such a silly name. N PowerShift,
06:15another curiously named technology, it engages when throttle position is at 90% or higher. Now,
06:21Hyundai didn't really explain what this means, but according to them, it improves shift speeds by
06:26maintaining torque delivery. I guess that just means it shifts a little bit quicker and keeps
06:32you moving, perhaps, I don't really know. Finally, N Track Sense Shift. Now, this is probably going
06:38to win an award for marketing spin of the year. It's effectively a sport mode, but according to
06:43Hyundai, it selects the right gear and shift timing, just like a professional race car driver,
06:49to provide optimal performance. Gee, that sounds like fun. So, there is some really interesting
06:54marketing lingo there, but for the most part, it sounds like they've actually spent a bit of time
06:58engineering this gearbox so it works properly. Okay, so what do I think about all this? Well,
07:02to begin with, I think this should give the i30 N the performance kick it needs to compete with
07:07stuff like the Golf GTI. You've got to remember that there is a brand new Golf GTI coming,
07:10which will be a whole lot sharper than the current one, and the current one has been out for a long
07:14time and is still incredibly fun to drive. The key thing that Hyundai has been missing is an
07:18automatic transmission, and this should really seal the deal. Where it won't work is if they've
07:23done what Ford has done with the Focus ST. They kind of just rushed through a gearbox and just
07:27stuck it in a car, and it really isn't that impressive. I'm hoping that Hyundai has spent
07:32enough time on this to make it good, and I think with guys like Albert Biermann from the BMW M
07:36division, he knows exactly what he's doing here, and I don't think he would let a, you know, a
07:42shitty gearbox get through the mix and into this car if it wasn't approved by him. I really hope
07:46as well that it has all the performance characteristics of the manual. When you're in
07:50the chequered flag mode, that N mode, it cracks, it pops, it is just such a fun car to drive, and
07:57there is not one i30 N that I've driven that hasn't put a smile on my face every single time.
08:01It makes all those crazy sounds, so the automatic version of this with the dual clutch really needs
08:06to meet the brief there for it to hold up to that image that everyone is expecting here. The buyers
08:11that have bought the manuals know what it sounds like, they know what to expect from it, and I
08:15think if they're going to go and tell all their friends about there now being an automatic version,
08:19you need to win these people over. You can't just release a gearbox that isn't fit for purpose and
08:23doesn't have all of the sounds that people want from a hot hatch today. Remember, hot hatches are
08:28bought by people who may not have the money for a high-end sports car or don't want a high-end
08:33sports car, they want a car that they can drive to work every day, and this is going to fit the
08:37bill if they can get it right in terms of the gearbox. The suspension is good on this car,
08:40everything else is nicely rounded, just make sure the gearbox is right. Okay, so before we wrap this
08:44one up, I just want to run you through some of the gear that Hyundai has coming up. So N, N is the
08:50division that does all the performance cars, but Hyundai has now launched the N-Line, which is kind
08:54of like, I don't know, the S-Line or the R-Line that Volkswagen does. It's effectively sporty-looking
09:00cars that aren't really as sporty as the proper fully-fledged N version, and Hyundai has a few
09:05of those coming up. So they've just released the i30 N-Line sedan, and that is the car you're seeing
09:11on the screen right now. I think it looks fantastic. They've got so many cool angles here.
09:15This is also known as the Elantra in other markets, but for Australia, it will be the i30 sedan,
09:19and it will be offered with an N-Line. This will be powered by a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol
09:24engine and an optional manual as well, so that should be really good to drive. Later on, we're
09:28going to see the Sonata N-Line. So the Sonata is the bigger sedan. Those are used by some police
09:33forces, and the N-Line will bring with it those sharp N looks, but obviously without the N
09:37performance. Then early next year, we have the i30 N, the proper N coming with this dual-clutch
09:42transmission. There's also rumours that Hyundai is going to be rolling out N versions of other
09:46cars in their range, such as the Tucson. I wouldn't mind seeing a Santa Fe N. Now, they did
09:51a drift bus in Australia, which I thought was pretty cool. That was powered by a turbo V6,
09:56and it was an absolute drift machine. So they're heading down the right path. They have some really
10:00creative ideas, and I'm excited to see what the future holds for Hyundai, especially this
10:05dual-clutch transmission. So if you did enjoy this video, I'd love it if you could share it.
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10:19But until next time, take it easy.