I UNEXPECTEDLY got my hands on a delightful sporting hatch the other day and it just left me wanting more.

The Hyundai i30 Turbo is cracking to drive, with all the best attributes of a warm hatch and yet still a real family size on the inside.

I drove the three door, but it is also available as a five door and it comes out around £4,000 cheaper than the equivalent Ford Focus 1.5 turbo.

The 1.6 turbo petrol engine is smooth as silk and sounds beautiful right through its wide rev range.

Its a gem of an engine, revving happily to 7,000 - which is most unusual for a petrol turbo - and giving wonderful acceleration in every gear.

The modified gearchange is slick and quick and the clutch is light, so it drives like a dream.

And the road holding is sorted to match the acceleration, with very little roll in the corners and loads of grip even when pushed much harder than most drivers would venture.

Such sporting hatch owners have to suffer a slightly more lumpy ride than in the more ordinary models and this one is no exception, but I can forgive it that for such bringing such huge fun.

It comes with analogue tacho and digital speedo but, as well as fuel and temperature gauges, it also has rather engaging Torque and Turbo gauges.

They don't really give much in the way of information, but they're great to look at.

Rear legroom is good enough for a six footer to sit behind another and the driving position is just about perfect, with plenty of adjustment.

It comes with leather and suede seats with red stitching and other colour and brightwork touches around the cabin to make it stand out from the crowd.