Sportswagon buyers will be pleased by the good quality leather seats and leather-wrapped steering wheel with wheel-mounted controls, a welcome premium feel over the SX’s almost ‘commercial van’ fabric seats, plain black dash, rubber gear knob and synthetic steering wheel grip.

The plastics in the interior of both trims are of the same high quality we’ve come to expect from this latest generation of Hyundais, while the dash and door trims offer a soft-touch feel (something that many of the i30’s peers, in the name of penny-pinching, simply aren’t bothering with).

For interior space and comfort, the i30cw is well thought-out and quite appealing. The steering wheel is both height and reach adjustable - as is the driver’s seat - while the seats front and back are better than expected for the i30cw’s price point: comfortable even on long drives, and nicely trimmed in both the SX and the Sportswagon.

The i30cw also offers over 20 storage compartments, including a chilled glovebox, spring-loaded cupholders and four storage bins under the rear floor.

For space, the i30cw offers that in spades - it is, of course, the whole point of the wagon back - with 415 litres of storage with the 60/40 split fold rear seats up, and 1395 litres with them down.

And that’s the i30cw’s main drawcard, really. With such excellent storage capacity and fuel economy that blows away any SUV, the i30cw will be appealing to the family on a budget - or simply mindful of the cost of running an SUV - looking to pack the kids and the luggage into the car and bugger off up the coast for a week.

Riding on a 50mm longer wheelbase means the i30cw’s engineers have delivered not only more storage space, but even more legroom for the rear passengers, more than accommodating for the average adult.

Hyundai acknowledges that the wagon market in Australia (there are 25 wagons available here) amounts to less than one percent of the total market, but Oliver Mann, Hyundai’s General Manager of Marketing, points out that 35 percent of SUV owners don’t use their vehicle’s AWD capability, and that’s exactly the buyer Hyundai is aiming the i30cw at.

Equipment and Features

The SX offers air conditioning, but it’s the range-topping Sportswagon that gets fully automated climate control - an addition which, aside from being a welcome touch, gives the interior a more upmarket feel.

For the Sportswagon, wheel-mounted cruise control comes as standard, and can be optioned in the SX. With a recent spate of roadtrips filling out the calendar, the TMR team has found life without cruise control to be barely a life at all.

A six-speaker sound system, including tweeters, features in the Sportswagon, while the SX gets the requisite four speakers. Both cars offer great sound quality, while the customary iPod integration and auxiliary inputs feature in both trims.

The i30cw Sportswagon also features trip computer with distance to empty, trip distance and instant fuel consumption, automatic headlights, rain-sensing wipers and rear parking sensors as standard, while SX owners must simply learn to live without such luxuries.

For safety, the i30cw comes with ABS with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), ESP and Traction Control as standard. Driver and front passenger airbags are standard in both trims, while driver and front passenger side (thorax) airbags and side curtain airbags are standard in the Sportswagon and available as an option in the SX.

There are also fully-adjustable driver and front passenger active ‘anti-whiplash’ head restraints.

The Drive

With the 1.6 litre turbo diesel’s 255Nm of torque available from a pleasingly low 1900rpm, the i30cw SX CRDi is punchier than its 85kW maximum output - coming in at 4000rpm - would suggest.

It’s deceiving, really: the i30cw weighs in at a relatively portly 1445kg, and 255Nm of torque isn’t much, but it easily cuts the mustard in this little wagon.

But while that maximum torque is available through to about 2800rpm before it begins to drop off, you still need to be mindful of keeping the engine in its sweet spot if overtaking or belting off the line.

It’s when you’re stopped at the traffic lights that the i30cw SX CRDi is betrayed a little by its price point, with the rattle of the diesel more than a little audible. When those pesky pedestrians finish crossing and you get your long-awaited green light, the rattle settles down nicely to a much smoother hum.

While the petrol i30cw Sportswagon we tested was an automatic (and struggled a little if pressed), the SX CRDi was paired with a five-speed manual transmission. Smooth shifts and just the right amount of ‘give’ in the clutch made the manual a joy to drive, reminding us that the Hyundai i30 is every bit as deserving of the praise it’s been receiving.

Officially, the manual i30cw SX CRDi is good for a fuel economy of 4.9 l/100km, and while we couldn’t get the number in the dash to drop below 5.1, we’re not going to complain. Whether it’s 4.9 or 5.1 l/100km, the diesel i30cw is gentle on the wallet.

The first impression of the petrol-drinking i30cw is one of serenity. Inside, windows up, this car is very quiet at idle. The diesel’s no tractor, but the petrol feels a lot more upmarket thanks to its vibration-free nature.