[5erg]

Hi all -

First of all, many thanks to the creator of this resource - I found plenty of useful material before purchasing the car which helped me make up my mind regarding what car to get.

How I chose my i30
The choice was between i30 or Peugeot 308 or Citroen DS4. DS4 felt cramped inside, reminded me of the days of driving mum's Nissan Micra and I am 6"4 (~194cm) so that was straight away a big put off for me, but otherwise seemed like a great car! 308 sounded noisy inside the cabin and suspension a little too soft, but offered a lot of kit while costing less - so that got me thinking about the quality of the actual car, which could not have been great if it offers much more kit (touch screen center panel, GPS, 6 speakers, climate control, Xenon or HID lights, auto lights, auto wipers etc.) and costs less, obviously assuming here based on the price and brand's past history (though I've driven a really old 306 as a company car and that was stil going past 100k miles somehow, it became another member of the team and we would ask people if they knew if the car was still going. Sadly it died at 120k). Anyway, i30 seemed like the right car for me - solid build quality, good enough performance, bluetooth for the phone to play music from and cruise control - basically all I need. Plus my car was an ex showroom one, so dealer offered a decent discount on the price of the car.

First good impressions
Love how well the car hugs the road with minimal body roll - old car felt like a jelly on corners - had to accelerate through them to keep the traction with the road. Love the Diesel engine torque - no noise, get decent pull at low revs, feels great! Driving it back from dealer's I had to get used to the car almost accelerating by itself  at low revs in 3rd gear following a slowing down car in front of me, had to change to 2nd / release clutch / break a little to stop going into the back of the car in front.

Couple of things I miss from my previous car
I used to drive Mazda 3 5 dr Sport 2004 - the Sport trim offered lots of kit which I now miss a little bit on the i30 - climate control, Xenon lights, 17" alloys, auto lights and wipers, 2.0 ltr. 150 BHP Petrol engine. But now car is really old and suspension is just gone basically, alarm goes off by itself so I have to turn it off on the key before locking it, engine is noisy and I feel like it's best to stand back and observe the car from a safe distance before it completely goes. But touch wood - mum has it now!
So I've traded a lot of nice kit from my old car for a new car which is freshly (and really well!) built and much nicer to drive, which I am more than happy with.

About me
I am 25 from Cambridgeshire , originally born in Latvia (Riga), lived in Ukraine (Zaporizhzhya) for 12 years since I was 4, then moved to England at age of 16. Graduated with a degree in Computer Science from University of Kent. Now work as an independent contractor in all things software, working with clients to cut their costs and increase business through software, support marketing campaigns. Currently finishing building a software product for a client which is first in its kind and to be used in optimising specialist radio networks. It was really cool to work on this project, but all good things come to an end!
I am huge fan of drum and bass music, particularly Hospital Records, I've been attending their Hospitality events since 2012 and going to one next Friday! First thing I did was punch "PowerBass", plugin my little amplifier pass-through and change Audio Settings to try and match my home monitors

I look forward to reading your posts and sharing any useful info I come across regarding the i30 myself

[~ Angel ~]

Hi there 5erg

to the forum.

[Just Rick]

  5erg you'll love the car

[Shambles]

Welcome to the club 5erg

That's a cracking intro I have to say

[asathorny]

I agree with what the other girls said  ...

 
 
 

[AlanHo]

Warm welcome - 

[CraigB]

   5erg

[5erg]

Haha, many thanks for the warm welcome!

[eye30]

Welcome

[Asterix]

Hi 5erg

 

[cruiserfied]

Welcome

[Surferdude]

Welcome from Down Under.

[Dazzler]

   That was an Excellent 1st post 

[Phil №❶]

 @5erg

[Dazzler]

Actually this has capped off a 5erg of new members!