OILY RISER

A SUNDAY DAWN BLAST SENDS OFF OUR SHARP SEDAN

- ALEX AFFAT

HYUNDAI i30 SEDAN N

Price as tested $49,060

This month 841km @ 10.6L/100km

Overall 6579km @ 10.3L/100km

THE PHONE ALARM blares, the upbeat ringtone feeling somewhat ironic as it still looks suspiciously dark outside. The screen reads 'six-something' in the morning and the vibrations echo harshly throughout the wooden side table.

I'm up.

I'm not usually a morning person, but the Hyundai i30 Sedan N in the garage goes back in a few days, and I've had this Sunday circled in my calendar for weeks.

I've written in previous reports that the i30 Sedan N is the sort of car that will have you looking ahead for the next big drive opportunity, and today is the payoff after many busy weeks of anticipation.

The car and I have a date with the Victorian High Country, ultimate destination: Lake Mountain.

The weather down in Melbourne is cooling, and come snow season, Lake Mountain becomes a ski resort.

For now, though, it remains an infrequentlyy traversed mountain road with no real destination.

But this morning isn't about the destination, it's about the drive. And so we hit the road.