Hyundai i30 review

Up front, the i30 is just as roomy as the majority of its rivals; you’d have to be unbelievably towering to feel hemmed in for height or struggle for leg room.

There’s also enough storage, including a fair-sized glovebox, its medium-sized door bins, a lidded cubby under the centre armrest and a couple of cupholders.

There's enough head room in the back if you're six-feet or slightly over, but leg room is really tight. A Volkswagen Golf is better at fitting two tall adults, while the Ford Focus, Seat Leon and Skoda Octavia are all considerably roomier than the i30. 

In addition, although the floor is almost flat, that doesn't help the middle passenger much because they'll also have limited room for their legs. Rear storage, meanwhile, is limited to small door bins.

With 60/40 split-folding rear seatbacks as standard, the i30 matches the spec of many hatchback rivals but the rear seats don’t do anything fancy, like they do in some family SUVs, such as slide or recline. There is a ski hatch, though, for easing in any long items like...well, a set of skis.

The front passenger's seat has height adjustment as standard, but lumbar and electric adjustment are exclusively the reserve of the driver.

The i30's boot has a reasonably low loading lip and a 395-litre capacity. That’s plenty for the average family shopping trip or a buggy, and, on paper, a little more than the Leon and Golf offer. It’s no match for the class giant, though: the Skoda Octavia has 600 litres of luggage space.

Still, the i30's boot is impressively deep and square, with decent access as well. It's just a pity there's no height-adjustable boot floor, because this means you end up with a step in the floor when the rear seats are folded flat.