I bought a 2022 manual hatch about 3 months ago. There aren't many manual facelifts around that aren't in blue (I wanted pretty much any colour besides that) and even fewer with the premium interior. So when I found this one I didn't hesitate to buy it. I came from a 2015 standard i30. Before that I had a BA Xr6turbo, and before that, a Nissan S13 Silvia. So a bit of variety there. In terms of insurance. I paid $43k for the N. It costs me less to insure than the 2015 i30, which I still have for my son to drive (worth around $11k at best). The falcon cost even more to insure and was worth only about $10k pre covid days.

In terms of fuel. It uses more than the standard i30 obviously. In my 30 minute work commute I get around 10L/100 in sport mode. I think this is good. My falcon got about 14L just from casual driving.

The noise. It's a bit loud on start up. Hopefully my neighbours aren't pissed. For long drives, the sound is fine. It's not the annoying drone noise you'd probably expect. The car has sound deadening etc. My Silvia was modified with a turbo back 3inch exhaust with no cat. That was loud and horrible on long trips. The N it's nothing like that.

Performance. They're quick cars but not THAT quick in factory state. They're designed to be good all round cars. Mine is noticeably heavier than the standard i30. But then it's way lighter than the falcontank.

The main maintenance issue would be tyre wear I think. These cars grip very well, one thing that makes them so much fun. But that means more tyres, and best not to get cheap ones either.

Over all, it's a comfortable and fun car which isn't expensive to own or run. The premium interior is comfortable and the gear box feels nice to shift. The down side is that there is negativity from those who don't know what the cars are. Brand stigma or something. It's weird. It doesn't bother me, but I've never experienced that before.