How turning down the tempo improves the Hyundai i30 Sedan N’s driving experience

There are three steering settings on the Hyundai i30 Sedan N, and when wicked into its most aggressive mode, it feels about as nervy as Novak trying to get his story straight at Tulla.

Dig into the front end of the i30 Sedan N and there’s a lot of very clever stuff going on. The car features an integrated drive axle, which combines driveshaft and wheel bearings into a single unit, plus there’s a rack-mounted electric motor to power the steering. This system is superior in response to a column-mounted motor as it applies torque directly to the steering gear rather than an auxiliary component.

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Compared to a standard i30 Sedan base vehicle, the steering ratio has been quickened from 12.9:1 to 12.2:1, which cuts the turns from lock to lock from 2.5 to 2.2. That in itself doesn’t sound notably livewire, the Focus ST recording 2.0 turns lock to lock, but such is the tuning of the variable-rate system that in its most aggressive mode it feels neurotic just off-centre. Dialling it back a notch in the individual drive modes is certainly the go-to.

One clue as to why Hyundai has done this comes from the recently departed boss of Hyundai’s N Division. While presenting the i30 Sedan N at its US launch, Albert Biermann was unrepentant when addressing its more aggressive settings. "You [journalists] have told us N mode is too stiff," Biermann said. "That it's unusable; we know that. We will not change, even if you complain more, because our customers love it."

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