I have had quite a few people say "when am I upgrading from my SR to an i30N?" or you should have waited for the "N" etc..
So I thought I would start this thread with a few observations.
Now don't get me wrong. I sure I will love the i30N and it is the right car (at the right time) Hyundai badly needed a Halo car in Australia as we never got the fully fledged Genesis Coupe (closest we got was the V6 Tiburon)
As much as I enjoy an occasional fang in a sporty car, there are a lot of other times where an auto trans is so convenient. The DCT in the SR is really very good and is not yet available in the N.
I paid around $31K on the road for my PD i30 SR DCT (non Premium) and haven't missed the Sunroof or heated/cooled seats one bit.
I would have liked the LED headlights but for $63 I upgraded my headlight globes to brighter ones with great results.
Anyway, for a minimum of 10K extra (for even the base model N) I would get a manual N with quite a bit more grunt, a customizable tune and a sexy exhaust note. But, how often would I get to use that? The SR already has plenty of zip and more performance than I can regularly use on public roads.
If I was 10 or more years younger and been happy to part with 10K or 15K more (for the Performance model) then I may have waited for the N.
I am really happy with the SR in every way and certainly wouldn't now pay $15 to $20K upgrading to an N.
If we ever replace Trish's 2014 Manual Tourer though (and have $40K burning a hole in our pocket) then we could trade that and I'm sure as someone who likes Zippy and prefers a manual, she would be very happy. But that scenario is extremely unlikely as she has only done just a bit over 20,000 kilometres in 3 years.