[Tourer_Guy]

OK, so I have now had my i30 Tourer crdi for a week, and have formed some opinions...

First, it's a very practical vehicle.  The main reason I bought it (and traded my 3 year old WRX) is that I now have two children and a large home and wanted a vehicle that could fit all our stuff (including my music gear - I'm an electric guitarist) in the back, as well as step up for some light duty towing.  Last weekend I managed to fit our daughter's pram, my big bass amp, my guitar amp, my pedal train bag, my laptop, 4 folders of music, two guitars and a medium sized box toys all in the wagon, and it wasn't packed to the roof.  It still had room for two adults, two 8 year old boys and our baby daughter.  I have also discovered all manner of storage boxes and trays under the floor of the boot, and have used some of this space to wrap and stow my towbar and a small tool kit.  This weekend I'm going to buy a bicycle carrier that connects to the towbar, so I can take our bikes to the lake for a ride.  Practicality - very happy on this front.

As far as driving goes, it's been interesting.  When I first picked it up it felt a bit slow, but I figured I was just adjusting from the WRX.  After nearly 400km, though, the engine has started to free up a bit and performance is markedly better.  Fast takeoffs aren't really what this car is about, but cruising at speed is superb.  Useful power comes on board from about 1500rpm (there's nothing at all below that) and extends to well over 3500rpm.  I have given the car a few squirts of full throttle, but am mostly just tickling it along.  Fuel consumption is amazing.  With 400km on the clock the trip computer tells me I'm averaging 5.0l/100km.  With some more kms on board I'm hoping to see averages in the high 4's, and at this stage I see no reason why I won't achieve that.

Comfort-wise, the car is surprising.  Compared to the WRX it is insanely quiet, and the ride is very comfortable.  There are times when it leans a bit in corners, but that's probably me needing to adjust from the WRX (which had very aggressive suspension).  The i30 Active could never be accused of being a luxury car, but despite this the seats are good, and there are lots of nice little features which I'm enjoying.

Problems?  Minimal.  The only thing I've noticed is that sometimes the seatbelt warning light comes on when I start the car, but then goes out after 30 seconds or so.  I'll report it at the inspection service and see what happens.

So far I'm very happy.  If things continue this well I'll be back to Hyundai in 2017, as I buy a new car every 3 years.

[FatBoy]

Good post, Tourer_Guy.  I'm glad you're enjoying your car. 

[Phil №❶]

 

Glad you're happy, overall.

Never going to be a sports car, but you're well and truly a family man now, have to drive like one. 

I too, love the open road cruising and your Diesel will simply get better, over the next year or so. Just in time for you to sell it.

[Tourer_Guy]

Cheers! 

I probably won't sell it straight away, but will hand it to my manager (wife) and get rid of her car.  I am an itinerant worker for tax purposes, and so have good tax deductibility of my main vehicle, but need to declare the price at which the car was disposed of.  Because I tend to take care of my cars, I ended up with a small capital gain that needs to be declared, so now I'll give the car to the wife for three further years so I don't end up with the same issue.

So the plan is every three years I buy a new car, give the wife my three year old car, and get rid of the oldest car.

[Doggie 1]

 

I have that seatbelt light issue too, but it isn't sufficiently annoying for me to lose my car for a day and have them tell me that they couldn't replicate the problem, so I just live with it.

[Tourer_Guy]

I have that seatbelt light issue too, but it isn't sufficiently annoying for me to lose my car for a day and have them tell me that they couldn't replicate the problem, so I just live with it.

Interesting.  I'll report it at the 1500km inspection and see what happens.

[Phil №❶]

Cheers! 

I probably won't sell it straight away, but will hand it to my manager (wife) and get rid of her car.  I am an itinerant worker for tax purposes, and so have good tax deductibility of my main vehicle, but need to declare the price at which the car was disposed of.  Because I tend to take care of my cars, I ended up with a small capital gain that needs to be declared, so now I'll give the car to the wife for three further years so I don't end up with the same issue.

So the plan is every three years I buy a new car, give the wife my three year old car, and get rid of the oldest car.

Good move, the system's there to be used. 

[Asterix]

Good post, Tourer_Guy.  I'm glad you're enjoying your car.

    

[plasticphyte]

Glad you're enjoying the car.
Making the switch from petrol to diesel is certainly educational, particularly as far as managing acceleration.
Put the boot in too hard and the diesel will just thrash and rev without doing much while belching unburnt diesel out the exhaust.
However if you tickle it just right, and manage the acceleration with a gentler approach, the i30's engine warms up quicker than a ... well, I probably shouldn't say that in a family friendly forum!

The only thing I would like to see Hyundai do for the next model, is iron out the flat response in first gear under 1500rpm, and sell a 110Kw/320nm version. It would certainly dance!

[Asterix]

The only thing I would like to see Hyundai do for the next model, is iron out the flat response in first gear under 1500rpm, and sell a 110Kw/320nm version. It would certainly dance!

That's exactly what I want too. Any other brand have a diesel with those figures in their C-segment cars. Why not Hyundai 

As the i40 is too expensive for me, the lack of this engine will propably be the reason for my next car not being a Hyundai.

The i40 comes with a 1,7 CRDi 100kW / 325 Nm. Why not offer that one in the i30...

[Tourer_Guy]

I considered buying a Kia Rondo which has the 1.7l turbo diesel, but in the end decided the extra power and two seats didn't justify the $12,000 price premium.  Also, it wasn't available in manual.

[Tourer_Guy]

Update:

So I took the Tourer for a decent run (2 hours,  about 200km) on Saturday with the family to check out a local blues festival and craft market.  An hour there on the freeway, another hour back on country roads.  It was a hot day (about 35 degrees C) so aircon was running the whole time.

The freeway run was good, perhaps even better than expected.  I had originally thought that 6th might be a bit tall, but at just over 110km/h it was ticking along at 2200 rpm - right in the torque band.  Even quite steep hills were dealt with by flexing the right foot a little, and no downchanges were needed (not even close).  When we arrived the fuel consumption was sitting on 5.1l/100km, which included about 350km of commuting and running around during the week.

The car was very quiet, and loped along feeling relaxed and understressed.

The trip back was on B grade NSW country roads, with the usual hills, occasional tight corner, lumps and bumps.  The tourer went well, but needed to maintain at least 95km/h for 6th gear to be usable.  This wasn't a problem usually, although a few tight sections up hill saw me drop to 5th then 4th to keep the engine between 1800-2500rpm.  No great hardship, and it's interesting learning to take advantage of the diesel's torque.

The average fuel economy is now sitting on 5.2l/100km, and the fuel gauge showing half full after doing about 570km of driving.

The engine continues to loosen, and feels stronger than when I wrote my last major update on Thursday, which in turn was better than when I took delivery.

So far, so good.  I also noticed that Hyundai is bringing the Genesis to Australia.  I might have to have a look when it's time to pass the tourer to the wife.

[Phil №❶]

Another good report. 

Genesis 'eh. That's 3 sold already, 1 for you, me and The Gonz. 

[Tourer_Guy]

Genesis, hmmm...  They're coming in V8, right...?  Right...........?

[Tourer_Guy]

ANOTHER UPDATE:

OK, so I've had the tourer for a bit over two weeks, and in that time drive about 1000km.  The fuel guage was on 2 bars this morning so I decided to fill up on the way to work.  My local service station is less than 1km from my house.

The first full tank yielded 5.2l/100km by the trip computer.  It took just on 45litres for 831km, which comes out at 5.4l/100km, but I think I achieved a better fill this time than last.

On the easy 19km drive into work (no real hills, plenty of 100km/h cruising in 6th) it managed 3.7l/100km.  I have to say I'm very happy with this, my i30 is very economical on fuel.

Performance-wise it continues to loosen up, and it's clearly quicker now than when I got it. I'm hoping to achieve 5l/100 from this tank.  We'll see how we go...

Still loving the new car, especially the quiet operation and comfortable seats, and nice gearbox.

[Tourer_Guy]

Following the drive home in peak traffic, I'm now sitting 4.5l/100km.

[Dazzler]

  We love positive feedback! 

I think I'll make you Member of the Year, Month, Day, Hour 

Sorry I had to downgrade you but I started a Member of the Month thing a few years back and was told it should be put to a vote 

[Tourer_Guy]

Time for another update.

I've now had my i30 for just over 2 months, and I'm still very hapy with it.  Hyundai told me at the first service that the seatbelt lights are 'supposed to stay on' for a minute or so after startup, but I suspect they're telling porkies.  I've also noticed the right rear door doesn't fit quite as well as the left rear, but you need to be picky to notice.  I didn't report it at service because I was worried they would try to fix it and make it worse.  It's not a big enough problem to be concerned about.

In terms of driving it's been faultless.  The diesel engine continues to loosen, and I find now I rarely go above 2500rpm, and spend lots of time at 1700-1800rpm.  The last two tanks have averaged 5.0l/100km (trip computer), and several days into the current tank is sitting on 4.5l/100km.  I do drive fairly gently, although not necessarily slowly.  The roll-on response is very good. 

I've fallen in love with the wagon concept - moving larger loads is just so easy, especially when you can put the back seats down.  I still haven't towed anything, but will buy my trailer soon (still need to move some stuff out of the spare garage).

So all in all, very happy.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes in winter.

[Phil №❶]

  -1 for the rear door.

[Dazzler]

 

[TheReaper]

Good to hear

[rustynutz]

I still haven't towed anything, but will buy my trailer soon (still need to move some stuff out of the spare garage).

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how well it will tow the trailer.... 

[Asterix]

Nice to hear you still enjoy the car. 

So all in all, very happy.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes in winter.

Winter.

You don't have winter where you live. You have hot summer & not-so-hot summer. 

[TheReaper]

Nice to hear you still enjoy the car. 

So all in all, very happy.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes in winter.

Winter.

You don't have winter where you live. You have hot summer & not-so-hot summer. 

 

[GTR27]

Nice to hear you still enjoy the car. 

So all in all, very happy.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes in winter.

Winter.

You don't have winter where you live. You have hot summer & not-so-hot summer. 

Hey! It gets down to like 10 degrees C in Brisbane in the middle of winter for about a month. few months either side has 13-17 as the minimum (with 24-28 as a max). 10 is cold if you're not used to it. (just like poms who think high 20's is hot ha ha!)

[Tourer_Guy]

Where I live we've already had a night below 0 degrees, with frost in the morning.  Right now I have my huge modern fireplace cranking, as it's only about 5 degrees outside.

Oh, and my i30 is still great, now averaging 4.8l/100km.

[Phil №❶]

Excellent news. !

[Tourer_Guy]

Another update...

I've now had my tourer for a bit over 4 months, and have now done 5500 km.  Today we went for a drive, same as that reported on Feb 9.  This time I filled the car and reset the trip meter before we left, and when we got home 200km later the average fuel consumption was 4.4l/100km.  That was sitting on motorway doing between 105-115km/h. 

The engine has started to loosen up a bit now, and I find I can amble along at 1500rpm in any gear with minimal throttle, no problem at all.  My commuting average is generally 4.9l/100km, and I easily get 1000km out of a tank.

Today was the fastest I have driven my i30, and it sits on 120km/h quietly and comfortably.  The very high 6th gear makes a lot of sense at that speed.

So far I have had no problems.  The seatbelt warning lights don't come on any more when no-ones sitting in ther back like they used to.

One thing I have noticed is when I start from dead cold I get a very small puff of oily smoke.  You can't really see it but backing out of the garage you can smell it.  I'm guessing this is the diesel that was injected during cold cranking burning up, yeah?

This is probably the most practical car I have ever owned, and it's really grown on me.  Everything just works, fits easily, does what it's supposed to.

[Dazzler]

 

[Phil №❶]