Hyundai i30 (HD / FD)

Hyundai i30 (HD / FD) is a compact hatchback for drivers who want an everyday car that is easy to place in traffic and still has a proper boot and back seat. By our assessment, its strength is balance: it is neither a stripped-down city runabout nor a bulky family machine, and that makes it an easy fit for ordinary commuting. The weakness is also familiar for this class, because older compact cars can feel plain inside and do not have much flair in the way they drive. In practice it is the kind of car people live with rather than talk about, which is often the point. Against rivals like the Ford Focus or Volkswagen Golf of the same era, the Hyundai i30 (HD / FD) sits in the sensible middle, not the sharpest and not the most polished. The name with HD / FD helps separate generations, and that matters when parts, trim and body details differ.