[JulianRomano]

Gday fellas,

Great to be a part of this forum,

Im looking at purchasing either an i30 N line or N performance. Main questions I have are about whether the N line provides you enough engine performance to put a smile on your face? And are there any common problems you have encountered in owning an N line ? Id be looking at getting an automatic.

The main reason I'm looking at an N line as opposed to an N is due to the price difference and the manual transmission, I have had my manual license since my P plate days but have forever hated hill starts. Although if you do own an N performance, how has it been for you as a daily?

Cheers in advance guys ,

Julian

[Dazzler]

Welcome Julian,

I guess the big question is what sort of cars have you had previously? Are you the type to crave more power and be looking to upgrade the performance all the time. What age group are you in?

If your previous cars have been basic naturally aspirated 4 cylinder cars like Corolla or Nissan Pulsars or something then an N-Line would feel quite fast enough I reckon. A lot of guys in their teens, 20's and even early 30's buy cars like an N-Line or the previous version (SR) and then start asking how they can upgrade it for more performance. Potentially spending thousands in upgrades while possibly compromising Insurance and Warranty.

I like cars that are a little bit sporty and I replace a 2014 (V6) Holden Calais V with a 2017 i30 SR and was more than happy with the SR's performance.  I had a couple of drives of the N and did a basic review in which I explain why I personally preferred my SR.

Dazzler borrows an i30N for the day (or maybe longer) ;-)

The DCT doesn't harm performance and also means you get Automated Cruise (which I absolutely love) But I am 64 next month and have some medical issues which Auto cruise helps to offset.

To be totally honest when they bring out a Fastback N in Australia with the new 8 speed DCT and Automated Cruise I would be tempted to trade my 2019 Camry Hybrid sport.. 

[JulianRomano]

Cheers Dazzler,

I’m currently driving an 06 Naturally aspirated Forester (2.5 litre engine) , it drives like a fridge , probably due to the suv size and has no sporty feel to it whatsoever. Fuel economy is also abysmal, something like 12.5l/100km

I get what you mean with the upgrades haha , id prefer not to spend lots of cash on performance once the car has been purchased, mainly for warranty and insurance costs!

Main use of the car would be daily driving for work around metro Melbourne. I’d be looking to do some ‘spirited’ driving around the Great Ocean Road or country Victorian Roads , nothing stupid just enough to bring a smile to my face.

[Dazzler]

Cheers Dazzler,

I’m currently driving an 06 Naturally aspirated Forester (2.5 litre engine) , it drives like a fridge , probably due to the suv size and has no sporty feel to it whatsoever. Fuel economy is also abysmal, something like 12.5l/100km

I get what you mean with the upgrades haha , id prefer not to spend lots of cash on performance once the car has been purchased, mainly for warranty and insurance costs!

Main use of the car would be daily driving for work around metro Melbourne. I’d be looking to do some ‘spirited’ driving around the Great Ocean Road or country Victorian Roads , nothing stupid just enough to bring a smile to my face.

Glad my feedback was helpful. Some will probably say drive both back to back but being that you are in Melbourne trying to test drive cars would be a nightmare at the moment.

With what you have said i'm sure the N-line would be more than adequate and you would be pleasantly surprised by the fuel economy I averaged around the ADR figures in my SR. Although, Tassie would be better from a traffic point of view than Melbourne.

Talking of traffic, if you spend a lot of time in bumper to bumper traffic a car with a DCT transmission is not ideal as to creep with the traffic basically involves riding the clutches which can then overheat. Mind you we did several mainland road trips in our SR 1.6 T with DCT and got stuck in traffic for fairly long periods in both Sydney and Melbourne and being aware of the need to not creep too much I managed ok without any issues.

Even though service intervals are every 10,000 kms I suspect the i30 would still work out a lot cheaper to service than the Forester too.

The N-line is very capable of bringing a smile to your face. 

[asdetail]

DCT n-line is a great sporty drive with not too much to complain about(well maybe a little!), compared to most of the small hatchbacks in its class it is a borderline "hot hatch".

However there are some caveats, the interior looks a bit cheap and monotone with lots of hard plastic surfaces, road noise is the biggest achilles heel of this vehicle IMHO, and the only reason i have considered, at times trading it for something else, i guess i am probably expecting too much for 30 grand and should have got the golf gti and paid the extra 17 grand!.

That having been said it's still the best "bang for buck" small hatchback you can buy in that price bracket  

[JulianRomano]

Thats pretty much what I'm after! A reasonably priced warm hatch. Would love to get the N or a Golf GTi like you've said but the extra 17k is a lot of cash for me at this point in life (Maybe for the next one I get ). Hopefully dealers reopen in Melbourne soon so I can go suss them out. Any advice on colours? I'm liking both the blue and the red colours but concerned that the Red may fade with the Aussie sun ?

[Dazzler]

Thats pretty much what I'm after! A reasonably priced warm hatch. Would love to get the N or a Golf GTi like you've said but the extra 17k is a lot of cash for me at this point in life (Maybe for the next one I get ). Hopefully dealers reopen in Melbourne soon so I can go suss them out. Any advice on colours? I'm liking both the blue and the red colours but concerned that the Red may fade with the Aussie sun ?

The blue and the red are both great. Metallic reds don't usually fade. I would never buy another solid red after having a solid red Mitsubishi Lancer start to fade after only 18months from new. But was happy to buy a Firey red SR and no signs of fading after 28 months when traded. See plenty of that popular colour all look as good as new. Looks great with black wheels too.. 

20180108 183803 — ImgBB

[Mister Paul]

I had a 1.4 petrol (SE Nav) for a few weeks over the summer. I still can't get over the performance for such a small engine.

Things went awry with it (nothing wrong with the car) so we swapped it for a pre-reg 1.0 n-line. I miss the acceleration but the handling is much better.

Interestingly the SE Nav was much quieter. Must be down to the deeper tyres and softer suspension.