[tk421]

Ok, Eyma came up with a thread on HF (‘What I love and what I hate about my i30’) that was pretty interesting and gave a small insight into this area.

So why did you choose the i30 model you have?

I’ll kick it off…

Why the i30?
1.   I quickly needed a replacement for my ’98 Honda Civic Cxi that was written off in an accident (f’n WA drivers!   (yes, they are that bad!).
4.   The ‘unknown’ factor - diesel engine cars at the time were not all that common. I thought it’d be safer to stick with the main stream.
5.   The SR doesn’t come with the diesel engine option.

Knowing what I know now, would I have preferred a diesel engine?
No. The extra torque sounds like a lot of fun, but I just wouldn’t use it. I discovered this when I had the XR6 (now that had torque!). Sure it was fun for a brief period, but the novelty wore off as soon as I had to pay for the first fuel bill. My SR rarely gets above 3200 rpm.
It would have also been outside my budget if I did get a SLX Crdi with all the addons I wanted.

Tim  

[Dazzler]

Hi Tim...

Nicely worded little summary thanks  

It's a bit like my last few cars with driver's airbags... Would have loved to upgrade to a nice sports wheel but would have compromised safety (so much for progress!)

Just thinkin' out loud.

Cheers,

Dazz

[tk421]

Hi Dazz,

That's not a bad idea re: the seats. I'll definitely look into that.

Fortunately, the SR comes with a full compliment of airbags. I think now i'll be viewing the crash tests of any new car before buying, and paying more attention to the NCAP rating.

If anyone hasn't seen the i30 crash tests, it's worth a look:

i30 NCAP 4 Star:


as opposed to the Holden Barina ACAP 2 Star:


Tim  

[EymaTeapot]

Hi Tim,
Your summary made good reading and i agee wth you on most of your points. I took into account prttey much all factors you did ie.
# Style,  I agree with you, i think it is best in class (still not sure about the tail lights)
# Safety, with a young family was definatly after all the airbags. (Wish i had been patient and ordered ESP as well)
#Fuel Economy, The car I replaced was a V6 so this was important. I choose the Deisel and though i can see you point that it takes maybe up to 100,000k to re-coup the price difference, the deisel still leaves me more money in the pocket at the end of the week. How? I reason it this way even though it is a false logic in many ways. We financed the car over 5 years. The difference for paying the extra $2500 for deisel works out to about $12 per week. I figure we save maybe $20 bucks a week on fuel so we are a little ahead. The real savings by owning a deisel is hard to determine with out knowing what fuel prices will do over the next few years.


#Why the SLX, It sounds stupid. The main reason personly for me was that i love trip computers. I am a bit of a stats freak and love checking out fuel econ, Ave speed, Ditance to empty ect.
# I also really like the leather wrap steering controls.
# Not a huge fan of the benefit of fog light but do like the style they add to the front end.
# Not fussed about the alloys, allways intended to replce them with a bigger set
# Wife loves the i-pod jack. Doesnt phase me, i grew buying vinyles!

Overall, really happy with my car. Only complaint is the cost of deisel and i dont think i can lay the blame for that on Hyundai.

[EymaTeapot]

# I also really like the leather wrap steering controls.

Sorry,Should read that i love the leather wrapped steering wheel with built in audio controls.

[Lakes]

hi Tim,
good reasoning, i note you say you have an XR6 and like the cruise control, i have had two falcons and that's how i got to like CC too. problem is useing CC with a 4 cylinder 2L that needs 4,000rpm to make Torque the CC will not work very well mate, as if the motor can not hold the rev you set the CC @ it just cut's the CC out. but withn the Falcon XR6 having a relitivly low ratio of 3.45 to one and ok Torque the CC works ok. with my V8 5.4L the CC work good.
now i have CC with my i30 CRDi 1.6 this motor put's out 255NM or Torque from 1,900 to 2,750 rev the 2L petrol needs 4,000 rev and only makes around 180nm at that rev, and as it is Torque that thrusts you forward not horsepower, this is what count's not the size of the motor but the Torque it put's out and what rev that Torque comes in at.
i can set my CC @ 1,900rpm in 5th gear and the little CRDi motor will hold the set speed up just about any hill and i checked this useing a GPS digital speedo so was easy to see how well it held the speed, it can drop 1KPH up a steep hill in 5th set @ 1,900 rev, my 5.4L V8 that makes just over 500NM TQ @ 3,000rev and 80% of that Torque number @ 1,500 rev, if it is set at 1,500 rev it will stay in overdrive ( auto trans) up most hills too but will drop off about 2 to 3 KPH useing this digital GPS speedo.

i'm not overly excited about the look of the i30, it look ok, i don't think wheels can help lack of styling on a car but nice wheels can compliment a nice looking car but can't help an ugly car. i'm not saying the i30 is ugly just the styling is not perfect.
But get behind the wheel of the CRDi and its very nice to drive, handling is good in some circumstances but not soi good in others, i think the spring rate and damping could be improved, but it is ok as it is just not outstanding and all the models have the same springs and damping.
what i love is not having to fill up for 1,200K.

[tk421]

Eyma,

I don't think that having a trip computer is such a bad reason for buying a particular model. This is the first car i've owned with a trip computer, and what it has done is make me very aware of fuel consumption and what driving techniques work best to keep the consumption figures down. Using those driving techniques makes for a smoother, quieter and more comfortable ride for passengers, so all in all, it's a very good thing.

Lakes,

The cruise control in the SR works extremely well - to the point where I can't recall ever having a problem with it. I use it on the freeways in 5th gear, and for some reason it will just come into its own at 100km/hr and 2600rpm. This speed, gear and rpm combination seems to be a sweet spot for the petrol engine. It appears to have ample torque available to tackle any hill and still have plenty up its sleeve. I honestly couldn't tell you the difference between the cruise control in the XR6 and the i30 when it comes to driving on the freeways at that speed/gear/rpm combination.
I agree with you on the styling to a certain extent. I think i may have mentioned in the HF thread that Eyma started that i wasn't too keen on the i30's bland front styling. It's just ordinary. I think that overall the SR looks fantastic and i think i'd struggle to find a more aesthetically appealing set of wheels for this car. Even last night a guy commented on my car and thought it was a BMW - he was looking at the back/side of it though.
I will be heading back to melbourne in July for 3 weeks - a much needed break from work. I'll be sure to take a diesel for a spin then and get back to you with my thoughts (i'm sure i'll be impressed). I was actually very interested to hear your motivations for buying an i30. You seem to love your high powered vehicles, so why would you opt for something like the i30? I was seriously considering buying an HSV, but as much as i love them, i just couldn't justify the expense.

Tim  

[Lakes]

Tim, it sounds like i was wrong, with the technology  that the i30 has in it . like fly by wire throtle and so on these small motors can do things real time that you would not think possible .
have a drive of an i30 diesel, they can impress you in there own way. i had a friend with a Mercedes Benz Diesel come and stay this weekend and he said how quiet the i30 was said when it runs you would not know it was a diesel, and this guy would not normally give praise to  a Hyundai

[Dazzler]

Hi Again Folks...

Late last year when I threw in my last Manager's job and returned my "top of the range" Rodeo V6 dual cab ute , we decided to start shopping for a 2nd slightly larger vehicle than our 2006 Hyundai 1.6 Getz. As a temporary measure I picked up a 2002 Hyundai Elantra GL with around 95000km on it that had a stunning body kit and 17 inch alloys amongst other thinks. Looked good but turned out to have a few niggling, minor but annoying faults.

Due to all the different industries I have worked in... Banking, Appliance Rental, Retail Electrical, Roofing, Wall & floor Tiles, Car Sales Etc.. Etc.. I often get asked by friends to help them with purchasing decisions including cars...So have always kept up my knowledge of what is available and their pros and cons etc... Even vehicles I would never consider owning.

After a lot of research we had narrowed down our short list to Astra CDX wagon, Subaru Outback or Liberty Wagon, Honda Civic VTI-L, Lancer VR/VRX , Mazda 3 Diesel or even Mazda 6 Diesel Wagon. Decided Subarus were getting a bit late in their model cycle a bit thirsty and relatively expensive. Lancer had cheap interior with high dash and terrible road noise. Mazda 6 Diesel became almost impossible to source (couldn't find one to test drive) This left the Astra Wagon, Honda Civic and Mazda 3 Diesel.

Over this period of research my best mate Dorian had been on my case about this great new Hyundai i30 (especially the diesel). Although I was happy with the Getz I wanted something better than a Hyundai for our 2nd (main) new vehicle. We had seen one in the show room (which the wife was impressed with) when we finally bit the bullet and signed for an Astra CDX manual wagon. Unfortunately there was going to be a 3 months delay in getting Astra and couldn't supply either of my preferred colours.

I threatened to pull the plug and buy a Mazda or Honda Civic ( it was at this point my friend Dorian pointed out the i30 has the same size boot as a Mazda 3 hatch) so to keep him quiet I promised to take the i30 and a Mazda 3 diesel for back to back test drives... and the rest is history. We subsequently ended up trading the Getz on a new 2007 Nissan Tiida on a whim when they offered an amazing drive away price and $1000 free fuel.

NOW... The interesting part is I hadn't seen an SR in the flesh at this stage and hadn't really considered the Petrol i30 option due to my friends ranting about the diesel. Think the average experience with my interim Elantra had left a bad taste. My wife seems to just love her Tiida so this is all academic now but in hindsight after all my involvement with this and the H-F site over the last three months I think I would have been equally as happy if we'd got maybe a Manual SR i30 in Silver and a Moonlight blue SX Diesel i30 with Tint and Alloys.

Would have probably been a couple more K out of pocket and no free fuel... but nice combo just the same. Although wife would have wanted to mostly drive the petrol I reckon and I would have been confined to the Povo pack! Anyway too late now!

Hope you find these rantings interesting...

Dazz

[encountar]

I myself was getting quite sick of my kia rio.... good car overall, but did not have enough power (76kw 156nm - yeah .. laugh i did)
so i started looking around for what i could get, and basically came between my dads subaru librety 3.0r 2004 model (very nice interior, a bit thristy for fuel and needs the higher octane:| ) or an astra diesel, vw golf diesel or an i30.

i went to the holden dealership, sat in an astra, hated the interior and dash... had no salesman even remotly in sight, got in my car and drove off.. didnt even want a test drive.
my dads car was going to set me back 33k + 3k insurance + expensive fuel....... decided to leave that sort of car till im over 25


^^ my typing isnt exactly perfect because im not trying, i use a computer every day and i am set to "i dont care just relax and type quickly mode" so theres probably a few spelling mistakes and uncapatalized things, eh

[Mullet]

Ok well i travel about 120 klm per day round trip to work . Was driving a 1992 subaru brumby . The brumby would be the most reliable car i have ever owned and not to bad on fuel. But she is very agricultral no luxuries at all except for the a/c. Very noisy on the road . Then i got a good pay rise so thought about a novated lease to reduce my tax. I did the sums and come up with an afordability figure per month . This then narrowed my choice. Was about to go lancer vrx , but fuel started to go up this then swung me to the i30 . I had a very short test drive , round the block. But i read heaps of reviews and all where good . The deal i got through custom fleet was awsome . Fleet discount on cdri slx man $23500 out the door with a 10.5k pay out after 3 years sounded like a bargin . So i signed up having only sat in one for all of 5 mins . Still like the look of the vrx lancer but i think i made the right choice. So the plan is for me to travel to work in the i30 for the next 3 years , buy it out when the lease is over. Then give it to the wife as here car. It will have 105 klms on it and still have 2 year factory warranty. The wife drove it the other night for the first time and commented how quite it was and she sad the boot space was good .Things i dont like so far , the carpet is poxy .Lucky i got the i30 mats, and the position of the trip computer button is wrong its to hard to see while driving .

[Shambles]

Motivation?

The past 25 years I've bought 9 new cars. The one previous to my i30 was a MGZR (MG Rover) which I bought 7 days before Rover announed they were bankrupt, hence my 3 year warranty was voided. And wouldn't you just know it... over the 3 years I had it it needed new disks (factory fitted ones were warped), new alternator, new battery, new starter motor, 4 new tyres (all had gone 'out of shape'), replacement nearside transaxle housing. In short, a shoddy piece of British workmanship - no wonder they went under.

Anyway, all my repairs were carried out near my place of work, which is in the coastal resort of Blackpool in the North West of England. That dealership (formerly a MG dealership but now Hyundai) went to every possible length to make me feel at home, with their courtesy and efficiency. Picking me up from work to collect my car, driving to work once I'd left my car there. Top folks.

The last time I took my MGZR to them I said that, because of their professionalism in sorting my Zed out over the past 2 years, that I'd be buying my next car from them.

Well, when I picked up my Zed they had just put an i30 in the showroom. Sure, I had a look while my bill was being prepared. Then - and here's the killer - I spotted a small sign on the top of it which said "5 years warranty, 0% finance". Nought percent? NOUGHT?

Well, I said "I'm having some of that".

So I placed an order there and then after a test drive. Later I was told they couldn't get the model I wanted in the colour I specified, but if I spent $oads more I could have the top spec very soon.

SOLD!

[EymaTeapot]

Hi Again Folks...

Late last year when I threw in my last Manager's job and returned my "top of the range" Rodeo V6 dual cab ute , we decided to start shopping for a 2nd slightly larger vehicle than our 2006 Hyundai 1.6 Getz. As a temporary measure I picked up a 2002 Hyundai Elantra GL with around 95000km on it that had a stunning body kit and 17 inch alloys amongst other thinks. Looked good but turned out to have a few niggling, minor but annoying faults.

Due to all the different industries I have worked in... Banking, Appliance Rental, Retail Electrical, Roofing, Wall & floor Tiles, Car Sales Etc.. Etc.. I often get asked by friends to help them with purchasing decisions including cars...So have always kept up my knowledge of what is available and their pros and cons etc... Even vehicles I would never consider owning.

After a lot of research we had narrowed down our short list to Astra CDX wagon, Subaru Outback or Liberty Wagon, Honda Civic VTI-L, Lancer VR/VRX , Mazda 3 Diesel or even Mazda 6 Diesel Wagon. Decided Subarus were getting a bit late in their model cycle a bit thirsty and relatively expensive. Lancer had cheap interior with high dash and terrible road noise. Mazda 6 Diesel became almost impossible to source (couldn't find one to test drive) This left the Astra Wagon, Honda Civic and Mazda 3 Diesel.

Over this period of research my best mate Dorian had been on my case about this great new Hyundai i30 (especially the diesel). Although I was happy with the Getz I wanted something better than a Hyundai for our 2nd (main) new vehicle. We had seen one in the show room (which the wife was impressed with) when we finally bit the bullet and signed for an Astra CDX manual wagon. Unfortunately there was going to be a 3 months delay in getting Astra and couldn't supply either of my preferred colours.

I threatened to pull the plug and buy a Mazda or Honda Civic ( it was at this point my friend Dorian pointed out the i30 has the same size boot as a Mazda 3 hatch) so to keep him quiet I promised to take the i30 and a Mazda 3 diesel for back to back test drives... and the rest is history. We subsequently ended up trading the Getz on a new 2007 Nissan Tiida on a whim when they offered an amazing drive away price and $1000 free fuel.

NOW... The interesting part is I hadn't seen an SR in the flesh at this stage and hadn't really considered the Petrol i30 option due to my friends ranting about the diesel. Think the average experience with my interim Elantra had left a bad taste. My wife seems to just love her Tiida so this is all academic now but in hindsight after all my involvement with this and the H-F site over the last three months I think I would have been equally as happy if we'd got maybe a Manual SR i30 in Silver and a Moonlight blue SX Diesel i30 with Tint and Alloys.

Would have probably been a couple more K out of pocket and no free fuel... but nice combo just the same. Although wife would have wanted to mostly drive the petrol I reckon and I would have been confined to the Povo pack! Anyway too late now!

Hope you find these rantings interesting...

Dazz

Dazz, Trade the Tiida, Get the SR. DO IT...You know you want to. So it will cost you a small fortune when you take the hit on the trade, but hey, its only money! You cant take it to the grave!

[Dazzler]

Nice Idea but the Tiida is actually a pretty good car (and the wife loves it) About to start building a 40 square house will see what sort of financial position I'm in after that!

[tk421]

Lakes,

That’s funny about your 'Mercedes' friend. I used to be one of those kinds of people – I once remember saying that I would NEVER buy a Hyundai… and here I am. A lot of my peers think the same way, but one drive in the i30 changes their mind pretty quickly.

Dazz,

Thankfully I also had a friend who pressured me to look at the i30. It probably wouldn’t have got a look-in had it not been for him. I’m sure in the end that his advice saved me a lot of money, and I wouldn’t have been as happy as I am with my choice.

encountar,

Your Holden Astra experience is word for word the same experience I had. But I did go back for a test drive later that week just so that I could say that I did research it thoroughly before ruling it out. The exterior of the Astra looks great, but I couldn’t stomach looking at that awful harsh plastic interior every day.

Mullet,

I have to agree re: the carpet and the trip computer button. I didn’t get the i30 mats, but went straight down to ‘supercheap to pick up some generic mats. They still seem to move around a bit, and I think that has a lot to do with the unevenness of the floor.

Shambles,

That is incredibly bad luck re: the MGZR. I can’t even to begin to imagine what that would have been like when you found out that they had gone under, but I’m sure there was some pretty blue language used.
It all ends well though… you now have a wonderful i30 with a hippy paint scheme!