Image: Peet Mocke
Image: Peet Mocke
Image: Peet Mocke
Image: Peet Mocke
Driving ImpressionsBy: Siyavuya Mbaduli
Confession time, initially, we had anticipated, maybe even willed, the BMW to win the Shootout because it performed nearly flawlessly in testing in 2022 and the prospect of a better-performing candidate did not seem very likely.
Image: Peet Mocke
Our sentiments haven’t changed. It’s just that the other contenders we previously hadn’t considered had delivered such breakout performances, they thrilled and delighted us more in equal measure. For giggling goodliness, look no further than the Toyota, although three-quarters of a million rand is equally laughable for a max-powered Yaris. On the other hand, the elation and ecstasy from its manual gearbox, video-game levels of grip, and the reckless abandon with which you can order direction changes from behind the wheel are all straight from the rally car for the road playbook.
Image: Peet Mocke
With two doors, it’s not big on practicality and it has received only the most minor of upgrades in 2022 in the form of an updated touchscreen so, technically, it’s no longer a new car and therefore does not qualify. If money were no object, by rights the Audi RS3 (with R262k worth of extras) should and easily could have won the Performance Shootout 2023. But even if its soul-stirring soundtrack and supercar-scaring speed shot it straight to the top of the test sheets, there are chinks in its armour. Driving the RS3 is like playing a video game in God mode … while imperishable in the physics-stretching performance it delivers, at the same time (and as with the Golf R and Tiguan R) an impenetrable divide prevents the driver from truly becoming one with the car. By extension, because it effortlessly delivers such mind-boggling performance, never having to try or face a challenge are the reasons why it’s not the most rewarding to drive.
Image: Peet Mocke
This brings us to the Hyundai. When the i30N was launched in 2020, the enthusiast peanut gallery all rolled their eyes at Hyundai’s publicly stated intent to take on the Golf GTI. Today, those naysayers are eating their words. On the basis of it having four doors and two pedals, it’s practical enough for everyday use. In our value-obsessed economic climate, this counts for a lot. Moreover, at R764 900, it was the least expensive car in the 2023 contest and, for the first time in CAR Performance Shootout history, the one that garnered the most votes.
Image: Peet Mocke
The i30N wasn’t the fastest on the drag strip. With FWD and 206 kW up against rivals sporting half its power again and twice the traction in surplus, it was never going to be. However, when the blacktop got knotted, the hot Hyundai blared, blatted and blossomed as though blessed by the Pope. It is no coincidence the Hyundai mirrors the colours in which the skies and oceans were created. For if heaven truly exists on Earth, the i30N is it.
Keyword: CPS 2023: And the winner is… the superlative Hyundai i30N