The very impressive Hyundai i30 range continues to grow with Hyundai’s reveal of its i30 three-door hatchback ahead of the Paris Motor Show. The three-door joins the five-door hatchback and i30 Tourer (available in Europe) in completing the stylish Hyundai i30 range.
The three-door i30 gets 16-inch wheels, a sharply-raked waistline and a more angular glasshouse with longer front doors. Although sharing an identical platform and engines, the three-door has a much sleeker silhouette than its five-door sibling. Up front there’s a new black mesh insert and central intake for the grille, with new fog light clusters connected to LED daytime running lights and a new look lower bumper.
In Europe the three-door i30 offers a choice of four engines, including petrol and diesel, with five different power outputs. Talk in Europe is of Hyundai using the i30 three-door as a bed for a future hot hatchback to compete with the Golf GTI and Ford Focus ST.
Here in South Africa, however, we currently have a simpler and less frugal engine line-up in the five-door i30, due to the concerns over local fuel quality. Concerns that have delayed the local launch of Hyundai’s other head-turning coupe, the Veloster, from October into the first quarter of 2013.
