Hyundai explains Oz-specific i30 sedan quirks

HYUNDAI Motor Company Australia (HMCA) has explained some of the peculiar specification differences between i30 sedan models sold here and other versions made in South Korea for domestic and export markets.

The company offers a broad range of i30 sedan models, from the entry-level petrol at $29,000 before on-road costs, a petrol-electric hybrid range from $33,000 + ORC and up to the high-performance i30 sedan N from $52,000 + ORC. 

While each variant in the range has pretty extensive standard equipment, there are some interesting omissions in the base models, as well as higher up the tree.

For example, entry-level i30 sedans have a twist-key ignition plus keyfob with remote unlocking and a remote boot opening button, but no physical button on the boot itself to open it. 

At the higher end, Australian i30 sedan N customers miss out on an electric handbrake, rear side airbags, adaptive cruise control and Hyundai’s Blind Spot View Monitor system that displays a camera feed on the driver’s info screen when indicating. The front seats that were updated for other markets are also carried over from the pre-facelift model.

HMCA product planning and development manager Tim Rodgers explained some of these anomalies at the Australian launch of hybrid and N variants of the i30 sedan in Albury last week.

“There are some spec differences between the Australian model and the global models,” he acknowledged, suggesting this is not uncommon in other models in the Hyundai line-up. 

But Mr Rodgers did explain that there are more significant spec differences for the i30 sedan N, which runs a manual handbrake rather than the electronic park brake seen in other high-grade i30 sedan models.

“The electronic handbrake has actually been the trigger for some of the development pathways for ADAS (Advanced Driver Assist Systems) … Our cars still have a manual handbrake,” he said of the i30 sedan N models.

“We’ve chosen to have it that way, and we just need to specify based on the combination of ADAS available,” claimed Mr Rodgers.

“This is still maximised as far as we can for our market.”

As for the inclusion of rear side airbag protection being offered in the version sold in South Korea, Mr Rodgers said HMCA “did ask for it early on” but was unable to answer why they ended up being omitted.

Similarly odd is the fact Australian cars have the pre-facelift i30 sedan N seats, where other markets get lower-slung sports buckets with illuminated N logos. The company says this is due to those seats not being available from the factory for Australian cars.

The i30 Sedan N is now $1800 more expensive than the model it replaces, and remains available with a sunroof ($2000) and multiple colour choices, including the no-cost hero Performance Blue, and Atlas White. The extra cost ($595) choices include Cyber Grey, Ultimate Red, Intense Blue Metallic, Ecotronic Grey and Abyss Black Mica.