Hype is both a gift and a curse; elevating those worthy of attention into the forefront, or setting those same entities (and their fans) up for imminent disappointment.
In cars, certain games rely on hype more than others. The amount of hype for the entry level Hyundai i30, for example. Such a car doesn't really need hype and flashy viral videos and aggressive marketing for it to sell in reasonable numbers.
Its devilish cousin the i30 N, on the other hand, has hoovered up all the hype it can get.
Like most, we're yet to get our hands on a production variant of the i30 N hot hatch. But we're excited to see how it slots into the competitive landscape next to the crazed Gundam Honda Civic Type R, the roaring Audi S3 and RS3 brothers, the ST and RS Ford Focus twins, and — most of all — Volkswagen's Golf GTI.
Hyundai have made no qualms about the GTI functioning as their engineering team's big target. So, videos like this one from the latest season of Top Gearare gold for evaluation.
Here, the i30 N and GTI are compared on the show's now hallowed test track. Conditions are wet, and — unlike many of TG's other webified segments — there's no booming voices accompanying the moving pictures.
Instead we see the two hatches take on a single winner-take-all lap of the track, with a quite surprising result. To some...