[Brotality]

Hey everyone,

Glad to be here. I always love being part of the forums for the current car I'm driving. I'm coming from a 2015 Clio RS. The car was a beast but a pain in traffic and not good for my stuffed right knee on my long commute.

I've test driven both the Cerato GT and the i30 SR. The i30 SR is orders of magnitude better than the Cerato GT. The Cerato has the most horribly vague steering I've ever seen. Throttle response was quite weird, especially with that button when you floor it. The Lane keep assist was no where near as advanced as the i30 and finally the adaptive cruise control in the Cerato is useless for start stop traffic since it cancels itself under 5km/hr. (Main reason I was looking at other cars)

I've decided to pull the trigger on a i30 SR Premium, in that rare grey metalic colour which I really liked. I found one on the other side of the city (Melbourne), it had 14,700KMs on it, and in near new condition.

I've had the car for exactly 1 week now. The car drives like a dream, I can't push the limits with it like the Clio RS, but its quite close. (Maybe I can with better tyres). Overall I'm quite happy with the car.

And now onto my horrible luck with cars and questions whether these things are normal.

(side story: Driving around on the first day I picked it up, the tyre behind the driver picked up a nail (fun fact, I've had that exact tyre go flat on all of my cars). The car was telling me that we are just getting started.)

After fixing the nail, I decided to go to a dealer close to me (I was very late for work anyway) and check out this steering noise that I noticed when I first tried to park the car. It is not odd or loud, just like light friction. if someone told me it was normal, I might've believed them. Someone from service came and listened, said it is definitely NOT normal and I should book the car to be looked at under warranty.

I went inside and the guy there simply refused to book it since it is this new. He was concerned it might be something external and hence not covered under warranty. He said I should take it back to the dealer I bought it from. (Is that normal practice?) I couldn't do that since it was very far, so I called the dealer I bought it from, had a chat, he told me to call customer care and they will sort it out.
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I call the customer care line and I believe the lady didn't know I was a new owner, she didn't confirm personal details, just car details. and then she said "Is this the same engine problem you had before and asked for a refund". My heart sank.

I tell her no, I'm a new owner and what on earth is wrong with the engine. She said it was a starting problem raised in Jan 2019 at the dealership I bought it from and was fixed. Eventually she transfers me back to the dealer close to me to book the car.

I then call the dealer I bought it from and demand to know what work was done on the engine. Someone from the service department called me 2 hours later saying it was a faulty injector causing low fuel pressure and replacing it fixed the problem. (I assume this is the same famous problem I've read about here?)

2 days later I drop off the car for the steering to be looked at. they had it for 2 hours and gave me a call saying that it needs a new Steering Wheel Column Assembly. They are currently on back order from Korea and they should have it in 1-6 weeks. The guy said it was safe to drive and had no idea what can cause such a failure (I'm inclined to believe it was like that since new and I was first person to notice)

Today I noticed 2 more issues.

1) When it was quiet (AC off, windows/sunroof closed), I could hear a very faint but noticeable noise coming from the engine bay when it revs above 3000 RPM. Almost sounds like a chain of sorts because the click-iness of the noise speeds up the more I rev it. Not sure if that is me being pedantic or something might be wrong somewhere. It's easy to brush off but not when I know someone might've touched the engine.

2) My brother complained 8 times regarding the mic quality of the car. He said it's quiet, then very loud noise comes in, then quiet again. Is this normal?


A great start (sarcastic) for a great car (not sarcastic, I do love the car). Thanks for reading my book. Looking forward to chatting with everyone.

[Dazzler]

Wow! Great first post. Sorry to hear about all the twists and turns. I have heaps to say about your post but I'll have to come back to it as I have people to see and places to go this morning. Watch this space. 

[Mikkantoo]

Hello and welcome!

I can't help you much either because I'm a new owner as well, however good on you for not letting it go so easily with your car issues with Hyundai

[Purplehazeffc]

Welcome...

The injector problem is well documented. From the ones that have been repaired. All has been good with them. And it doesn't happen on all SR's

The steering is a new one I haven't heard about before. The engine noise I'm not sure on. But these engines are not the best to listen to

[Dazzler]

Hello I'm back! Now where do I start! I'm going to do the reply in two parts because I just did a $hit load of typing on my Tablet and the bloody thing rebooted before I hit post! Don't you hate that!

Anyway, lets try again.

Firstly thanks for the feedback on the Cerato GT. I did wonder how it compared and if I'd seen one available locally I was going to take it for a spin. I've rattled on about the excellent Auto Cruise on the SR several times. It is also light years ahead of the brand new Corolla. But you won't read that in road tests.  I did over 1200 kilometres in one while visiting family in WA a month or so ago and the AC is crap. It wouldn't hold speed down a gradual incline, let alone a steep hill like ours will. 

I initially wasn't a big fan of LKA but use it regularly now on highways and it does work really well and makes for a really relaxed drive when combined with the cruise. I've been able to catch up on my reading ... ( only joking) 

I'm not normally a fan of grey cars. Worries me that they blend in with the road although DLR's reduce the risk of that. Also I have to admit the Sparkling Metal colour really sets off the lines of the PD SR for some reason. It also works really well with the  Stock SR wheels which says something because I sprayed mine black on my Fiery Red SR.

One of the best mods you can do to the SR is switch to som Michelin Pilot Sport 4's when your Hankooks wear out. You've probably seen my thread about that. It really transforms the behaviour of an already good handling car.

To be continued...

[Dazzler]

Part 2 of my reply...

Now let's address your problems.

The punctures, now that's just plain weird! Enough said..  Buy a lottery ticket your luck must be due to change.

With regards to your car being one that was refunded due to issues, I checked the profile of the only member I know of that got rid of his SR that way and he is in another Capital City about 700 kilometres away. I guess it could be another one of our members that has kept a lower profile. 

I think that member may have had the steering issue as well, pretty sure someone on here reported two significant issues on the one car.

They are a great car and I love mine, but I haven't had anything major to complain about in almost 49,000 kilometres and 21 months. In your case you might possibly have a case to ask for a refund in view of the issues and lack of disclosure.

If the Steering is sorted and the other issues are explained/sorted to your satisfaction you have say 4 more years of warranty and a great car to enjoy. Fingers crossed it gets sorted without too much disruption to your daily routine.

I must commend you on your positive attitude and keeping your sense of humour in the circumstances.

[Brotality]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

Special thanks to Dazzler for retyping all of that again!

I paid a bit more attention to the engine noise today. Definitely sounds like the air intake. I will check tomorrow how dirty the air filter is and maybe consider a K&N filter.

I actually don't want to refund the car. If everything is fixed and it doesn't have any other major issues, I'm very happy with it. One never knows though, the only thing I do know is my luck!!! If I don't keep a positive attitude, I would lose my mind!! 

I fully agree with changing the tyres, these hankooks lose grip very quickly. I had 2 sets of Goodyear Eagle F1s on the Clio and they were phenomenal. Might change to those when I get a chance.

I'm switching mainly to grey because I can't live with black any more, too much maintenance!!! Also someone scraped along my side at night because my car was too clean and was invisible!!

What are some of the famous mods for this car? I was thinking about replacing the rear indicator lights with LEDs, maybe the reversing ones too.


Here is the picture of the car!

[Dazzler]

Cheers for the photo . Is that a black car with a scrape up the side in the blackground background? 

There is a thread on here about changing those globes.. I did some, but not much of a modder so will let others answer that question. 

[Purplehazeffc]

It is pretty easy to change the rear lights to LED's. With the reverse lights. You get the added bonus of a better view from the reverse camera at night..

Quite a few have also changed the interior lights to LED's as well.

On the performance front. There is the usual exhaust change & intake filter. Either with the K&N drop in filter of a pod style set up.
There is not a lot of extra performance to be gained though. Due to the clever Hyundai ECU limiting power output.
The the only other way is a complete ECU type of tune to suit your car. Or the plug in type that tricks the ECU

Of course you can go all out with a bigger turbo, intercooler ETC

[Dazzler]

Here's a few links for our new Peter to check out...

I30 PD Racechip now available. For 2017-2019

i30 SR PD 1.6 Turbo Upgrades

i30 SR Air Intake

PD SR BEST MODS

Remap for SR PD I30?

Fitted: TORCON One Bend Aluminium Intake SR Turbo

Fitted: Rear exhaust i30 ST 1.6lt Turbo.

No doubt there are more on previous pages of this board...

ENGINE BAY

[Brotality]

Thanks for the reply guys. Thank you Dazzler for the links, very interesting reads.

I'm going to start with the LED rear lights. I don't think I will do anything on the performance side, I'm more of "how fast can go through this corner" than a "how fast can I get to 100km/h" kinda guy. So I will definitely have to get better tyres soon.

Strange enough, I have LED lights in the interior (front, but not the back) and the boot. Not sure if they were changed by the first owner.

Does anyone know where I can buy those LED rear lights?

[Dazzler]

Thanks for the reply guys. Thank you Dazzler for the links, very interesting reads.

I'm going to start with the LED rear lights. I don't think I will do anything on the performance side, I'm more of "how fast can go through this corner" than a "how fast can I get to 100km/h" kinda guy. So I will definitely have to get better tyres soon.

Strange enough, I have LED lights in the interior (front, but not the back) and the boot. Not sure if they were changed by the first owner.

Does anyone know where I can buy those LED rear lights?

@CraigB is our globes expert.

Sounds very much like your car was owned by a previous member if most globes changed to LED!

With the tyres, I know you are a big fan of the Goodyear Eagle F1, but would definitely go the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 if you change as Hyundai chose them as original equipment on the SR update (N-line) and they are highly recommended by me and Mark Webber. LOL

[Brotality]

I don't know who Mark Webber is, but as long as you recommend them, I will seriously consider them! 

Someone at the dealership (the one I bought the car from) from the service department said that the original owner of the car upgraded to N Line. She mentioned that the engine and the suspension are different, which were one the reasons behind the upgrade.

That threw me off a bit since I was under the impression that all of the internals are identical. The only differences are looks (body kit, interior/steering wheel, and wheels), no blind spot monitoring and the PS4 tyres. Am I wrong? Did they change the tuning maybe?

[Dazzler]

I don't know who Mark Webber is, but as long as you recommend them, I will seriously consider them! 

Someone at the dealership (the one I bought the car from) from the service department said that the original owner of the car upgraded to N Line. She mentioned that the engine and the suspension are different, which were one the reasons behind the upgrade.

That threw me off a bit since I was under the impression that all of the internals are identical. The only differences are looks (body kit, interior/steering wheel, and wheels), no blind spot monitoring and the PS4 tyres. Am I wrong? Did they change the tuning maybe?

If anything they may have detuned slightly as economy rating ADR average is rated 7.1 instead of 7.4 I think. They may have demanded a refund after a couple of issues and gone with an N-line because of the slight stying differences, I think any change to the suspension and tuning would be so minor as to be insignificant. I've read so many N-line and N reviews and Cerato GT reviews that I might be confused but pretty sure as you say driveline and suspension identical AFAIK.

We (SR) get the very handy Rear Cross traffic alert too, which the N-line has lost. 

[CraigB]

Strange enough, I have LED lights in the interior (front, but not the back) and the boot. Not sure if they were changed by the first owner.

Does anyone know where I can buy those LED rear lights?

If it's the lights above the rear doors I think I've heard others mention they aren't changable

As for all other LED's that I use

T10 Park lights 2X WHITE T10 CREE LED W5W CANBUS PARKER LIGHT BULB FORD TOYOTA NISSAN HOLDEN | eBay

T15 Reverse lights 2X iJDM T10 T15 W5W 12V 20W CREE CANBUS LED HEADLIGHT SIDE LIGHT BULBS REVERSE | eBay

T10-w5w 4X WHITE T10 7020 SMD 10 LED W5W WEDGE TAIL SIDE CAR LIGHTS TURN PARKER BULB | eBay

31mm Festoon 6X 12V 31MM FESTOON 7020 4 LED CAR UTE 4WD INTERIOR DOME MAP LIGHT BULB GLOBE | eBay

At a higher price there are also the new iJDM Silicone Carbide 31mm Festoons 2X 12V 31MM FESTOON LED 12V CAR UTE INTERIOR DOME MAP LIGHT BULB GLOBE CANBUS | eBay