Hyundai i30 N automatic gearbox confirmed for early 2020; will be shared with rest of group

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Hyundai i30 N gearbox will make its international debut next year
Andrew Chesterton
Contributing Journalist
8 Oct 2019
2 min read

The long-awaited automatic gearbox for the Hyundai i30 N will at last make its international debut next year, with the brand's performance boss planning a Korean launch in early 2020. 

The gearbox, an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, won't be an N-exclusive product, with performance chief Albert Biermann confirming it would be shared with the rest of the Hyundai range

But Mr Biermann says the DCT will perform very differently in an N-badged product than it would in a regular Hyundai vehicle.

"Next year it will come into N car. So early 2020 in the Korean market," Mr Biermann told CarsGuide.

Read More: Hyundai Kona N confirmed: Go-fast SUV to join performance stable

"It will also go into other vehicles, not only into an N. But when it lives in an N it (feels) a different transmission to when it lives in an SUV."

Ealier reports had the gearbox arriving in 2019 - though Mr Biermann insists early 2020 was always the plan - but Hyundai is promising it will have been worth the wait, describing the N Mode function specifially as "unbelievable".

"It’s our own in-house development, and we did it so it can meet many cars, but the way we’re applying it and tuning it in an N is a whole different story to how we would for an SUV with a diesel engine," he says.

"You could never tell it's the same transmission. The N mode is unbelievable."

Andrew Chesterton
Contributing Journalist
Andrew Chesterton should probably hate cars. From his hail-damaged Camira that looked like it had spent a hard life parked at the end of Tiger Woods' personal driving range, to the Nissan Pulsar Reebok that shook like it was possessed by a particularly mean-spirited demon every time he dared push past 40km/h, his personal car history isn't exactly littered with gold. But that seemingly endless procession of rust-savaged hate machines taught him something even more important; that cars are more than a collection of nuts, bolts and petrol. They're your ticket to freedom, a way to unlock incredible experiences, rolling invitations to incredible adventures. They have soul. And so, somehow, the car bug still bit. And it bit hard. When "Chesto" started his journalism career with News Ltd's Sunday and Daily Telegraph newspapers, he covered just about everything, from business to real estate, courts to crime, before settling into state political reporting at NSW Parliament House. But the automotive world's siren song soon sounded again, and he begged anyone who would listen for the opportunity to write about cars. Eventually they listened, and his career since has seen him filing car news, reviews and features for TopGear, Wheels, Motor and, of course, CarsGuide, as well as many, many others. More than a decade later, and the car bug is yet to relinquish its toothy grip. And if you ask Chesto, he thinks it never will.
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