The eagerly-awaited Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is finally here, and it looks to be the insanely powerful track-focused electric car of our dreams. Combined output? A cool 600 horsepower, unless you’re in Boost Mode. Press a little button marked NGB on the steering wheel and, for a brief period of time, you have 641 horsepower at your disposal. That’s Lamborghini Huracan output in a Hyundai. However, to focus on power alone is to miss the point. The Ioniq 5 N is a serious exercise in thermal management.
When you’re giving an EV this much power and wanting it to perform on track, cooling becomes a serious issue. Without anything up to track duty in the parts bin, Hyundai want back to the drawing board and came up with a new 84 kWh battery pack. Independent cooling, including a battery chiller combine with a multitude of battery preconditioning modes, keeps everything happy on track. You can choose between Drag Mode, which is optimized for maximum quarter-mile burst acceleration, Sprint mode, which is optimized for short on-track stints, and Endurance Mode for extended lapping sessions. It shows a lot of thought, but then again, it needs to.
Speaking of electronic gadgetry, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N sports three-level launch control for optimized traction on various surfaces that should rocket this oversized hatchback from zero-to-62 mph in 3.4 seconds, which feels somewhat conservative, and top speed sits at a respectable 161 mph, good enough to show most German machinery a pixelated set of tail lights.
When building something this serious, it’s a good idea to sweat the small stuff. As such, the body of the Ioniq 5 N sports 42 additional welds and 2.1 meters of additional structural adhesives to enhance structural rigidity. The drive units adopt one-piece axle and hub assemblies like you get on the Elantra N, and there’s a proper variable e-LSD out back for both clean corner exit traction and hilarious oversteer. The dampers, bushings, and spring rates are new. A faster steering ratio, more rigid steering column, and fresh steering calibration are all said to boost feedback and confidence, critical for chucking a two-ton crossover through, say, Mosport’s turn two.
For rolling stock, 21-inch forged wheels wrapped in Pirelli P Zero summer tires cover four-piston front calipers clamping 400 mm front discs, proper performance crossover sizing. Mind you, the friction brakes are less intriguing than the curiously strong regenerative braking system fitted to the Ioniq 5 N. While a Tesla Model 3 typically sees 0.2 g of regenerative braking force, the Ioniq 5 N can pull up to 0.6 g of regenerative braking force to mitigate friction brake fade.
In addition to all the hardcore performance hardware you’d expect from a trackworthy EV, the Ioniq 5 N sports gizmos that should cause contention. N e-shift simulates the eight-speed wet-clutch DCT from the Kona N, finessing motor output to give the driver a shove between simulated shifts while piping in an artificial soundtrack for aural reference. You have a choice between a simulated two-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, a futuristic soundtrack, or jet noises. Truthfully, I’d just turn it all off, since external speakers will alert everyone in the vicinity if you’re ever driving like a bellend. I’m much more excited for drift mode, 11-step variable front-to-rear torque distribution, and clutch-kick simulating Torque Kick Drift mode anyway.
Slide inside the Ioniq 5 N and marvel at the N-specific digital instrument cluster layout with a friction circle and massive temperature readouts while you sit in heavily-bolstered front seats that feature a 20 mm lower hip point than the standard model. If those thrones alone aren’t enough for you, Hyundai has also fitted a fixed center console to brace against in the corners. Minor tweaks in the grand scheme of things, but then again they should be. This is still a practical, spacious family car with a flat floor and room in the cargo area for a Costco run.
On the outside, the Ioniq 5 N sports the cassette futurist styling we’re all familiar with, just butched up. From the black front bumper trim to the pumped arches to the orange lower body accenting, it’s all textbook hot hatch stuff. Mind you, most anything that seems excessive is actually here for a good reason. For example, the slats in the rear arches aren’t just macho posturing, they’re actually ducts that send cool air to the rear brakes. Oh, and here’s something pragmatic that regular Ioniq 5 owners will be jealous over — the Ioniq 5 N comes with a rear wiper. On a similarly light note, the color palette for this latest N-car might be the most diverse ever. The trademark Performance Blue paint gains a matte option, while matte gold and a bright orange both make appearances. Of course, you can still order it in greyscale shades, but why be boring? This car is all about fun.
Pricing for the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N hasn’t been announced yet, but expect a dollar amount along with range figures to be released closer to the car’s on-sale date in early 2024. Previously, truly holistic track-capable EVs have largely been the domain of the rich, but the Ioniq 5 N should move that price barrier closer to Earth. Needless to say, we’re stoked to try it out.
(Photo credits: Hyundai)
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I can completely understand the concept of EVs but to me it seems like they everyone is degrading performance to simulate a complete sensory experience that comes with a great engine and gearbox in a 20yo “shitbox”
I love every stupid fake poser detail on this, but I also thought the FK8 type R ruled. “Sleeper car” styling is for snobs. But I don’t know how many people are able to justify buying an openly silly car for seventy thousand….
I, and many other N owners, were thrilled to pay 35k for openly silly cars. 70k for one is indeed a tough pill to swallow.
As a very happy Kona N owner, I agree. The affordability felt like part of the branding, though I’m sure this will sell just fine.
Fake engine sounds and fake shifting remind me of all the over-the-top stripe and appearance packages on 70s “sports” cars to try to convince you that it’s still an exciting performance vehicle, but all it does in the end is serve as a painful reminder of what the car isn’t.
Unlike those sad 70s “sports” cars however, these fast EVs are actually, well, fast. Instead of making lame attempts to be something they’re not, they should embrace what they are and find their own ways to be fun. How are you supposed to fall in love with an electric motor that constantly reminds you it isn’t an internal combustion engine with a proper gearbox? If you keep trying to pretend it’s something it isn’t, you’ll miss out on what it actually is. Hyundai doesn’t have to insult our intelligence by selling a lie, just sell us the rowdy overpowered hatchback and make it the EV-est EV it can be – give us a chance to like an EV that’s unapologetically electric.
And if they’re going to try and give it a manual shifting experience, at least make it real. Or if the transmission has to be purely electric, how about making it a multi-position switch – as in an actual electrical switch, not just a button telling a computer to simulate anything – that changes how power is delivered to the wheels. That’s more or less how EVs in the past delivered power to the wheels when speed controllers were expensive and prohibitively complex, who says we can’t improve the old stuff and use it today?
I’d hate to see the replacement cost for the popcycle stick in the spokes when it snaps. 😉
My memory of many of the people who bought the tacky stripes back then is that they weren’t posing: it was loud & tacky & fun. Plus better gas mileage & cheaper insurance.
Later, I guy I knew in HS had a Mustang ll with one of the trim kits. He said, “It don’t go for shit—but it makes the girls laugh!”
But, yeah, there were a fair few posers/losers who took it seriously
Hell, if we’re going to keep doing fake engine noise, why not offer some proper engines.
Why not a Ferrari Colombo V12, or a Rolls-Royce Merlin, or a J-3a Hudson steam engine?
If you’re gonna be silly, go way over the top: play the Beast of Turin at full song. That’ll get people’s attention!
A car like this? It should play Meshuggah’s ‘Bleed’ at max volume.
I want the Jetson’s car sound
At what point will we get customizable fake engine noise. The fake engine and shifting noises sound moronic, but if I could make it a Pod Racer…
The fake shifts and fake sounds are stupid, but as long as they can be disabled I can live with that. It sounds like they did some legitimate engineering on this too so it could be a legit EV hot hatch.
Clearly you don’t recall the fake whips and bridles as well as the fake “clip-clop” sounds made by early Model T’s to entice horse riders of the day into automobiles.
Of course you don’t remember it because it didn’t happen. Fake sounds and pretend controls are dumb.
I mean, there was (at least the idea of) the Horsey Horseless: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsey_Horseless
Tracking an EV is a joke, battery is depleted in a 25 minute session, tank of gas lasts most of a track day and takes 5 mintues to replenish. Looked into model 3 performance until I realized I would need to leave the track to supercharger station after every session.
friend of mine got the Kia EV6, very cool car, but the back seat is only fit for midgets.
the floor is so high and the front seats mounted so low that your feet don’t fit under the front seats, combine that with a short seatpan to ceiling dimension and any adult will feel severely cramped. I’m not tall (5′ 7″) with short legs and I was chewing my knees while ducking my head.
driving it is a hoot though. scary fast accelleration, cool HUD, nice ride, basically silent.
Hmmm, haven’t been in the EV6 but I have sat in and drove the Ioniq5 and 6 briefly. The 6 (sedan) loses headroom in the back seat only, better off to be 6’1″ or shorter but you can pull it off for shorter stints just fine. The Ioniq5 though, closest to the EV6, easily fits me at 6’4″ in front and back, with seats adjusted to fit me comfortably up front.
I have an ev6. I’m 6’2″ and can confirm. Front seat basically goes back further than I can comfortably reach the pedals. With it in my normal position, I fit in the back just fine. The floor is raised so there is more bend to the knees than in some other cars, but I wouldn’t say it is extreme.
Ok, the likely disableable “fake” shifts and sounds will probably get as much use as the paddle shifters in my Sonata, but…
Holy mother of Jeebus this thing looks cool.
I drive the Sonata N Line and honestly thought I would hate the fake or enhanced engine noise. But, even though I keep it at a normal setting so it barely adds any fake sound, when I go into sport or sport + mode and it is set to be a little louder, I actually like it. I can completely see why nearly every skeptical auto journalist a few weeks ago seemed to be gushing over the noise and simulated feel.
I hope more EVs include the engine noise and fake shifting stuff, and make it user customizable. It’s so goofy, and part of what makes cars fun. Of course it’s theater, just like exhaust systems, paddle shifters, and racing stripes.
This is a two ton crossover. It will never be the fastest thing at the track, at least it can be fun.
Bullshift. I call bullshift.
I’m tired of all this bullshift and the bullshit noises.
I want an EV. I want an EV to drive like an EV. EVs are vastly superior when they drive like EVs.
Don’t give me all this bullshift.
Other than that, this looks brilliant and I can hardly wait to see the price.
It’s like simulated meat. Vegan food is great. So is meat. Let them be their best selves.
When you don’t you wind up with something that’s less than the sum of its parts….which is exactly what this vehicle is
Okay I agree with the “I don’t want bullshift” sentiment, but I don’t think fake meat is the best analogy. Have you ever tried fake meat? To be clear I have no qualms with eating an animal and am in no way shape or form a vegan, but I’ve tried that impossible “meat” stuff out of curiosity and it’s genuinely delicious. It doesn’t taste exactly like the meat it’s trying to replicate, but it does taste very much like some kind of real meat, enough for me to consider it its own thing.
The difference is that the knowledge that you’re eating an animal and the nuances of the realness of meat being genuine animal flesh having an impact on the meat experience, is not where the joy of eating meat comes from. At least I don’t think of it that way. You enjoy eating meat because meat is delicious food. Vegan faux-meat is delicious food. I can tell the difference between the two, but that doesn’t matter because they’re both delicious in their own ways.
And most importantly, simulating meat doesn’t make the vegetable worse, just different. If anything, simulating shifts makes the EV slower and is effectively admitting that electricity on its own merit can’t be fun. It’s not a different or more genuinely exciting EV, just an EV failing to simulate something, and car enthusiasts don’t want fake.
Quorn is awesome. I made ‘chicken’ Alfredo for my nephew and he didn’t know it never clucked!
The thing that got me about the older model S I drove was the vicious silence as it took off: all I could hear was the tires spinning as my head snapped back and I involuntarily blurted “Ho-LEE Shit!!”
No one would accuse me of having good taste. This is visually appealing to this middle class American with arrested development around Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift. The whole car feels so close to being cool, but they just sort of missed. I don’t know who has been behind the wheel of an EV, and thought “Damn, I wish this could stimulate a shift!”. And why do we need fake noises. At least let me download noises like a ring tone. I finna blast around my local track with the car making the noise of a card in the spokes of bike wheel.
The only proper reason to have the fake noises is to be ridiculous. Its options should be “Cat D10 dozer, Flight of the Bumblebee played on kazoos or Jim Carrey doing the most annoying sound ever from Dumb ‘n Dumber the entire time you drive.
It should default to the last one.
I’ve always said TIE Fighter sounds…
For real, the reason car guys like engine noises because it’s a byproduct of horsepower. More noise comes with more horsepower, they are essentially one and the same in an ICE. Fake engine noises are always disappointing because we know full well that it means nothing. EVs not making sound with power isn’t as bad as EVs trying to make up for it with auditory lies.
Now I think it’s a great job only if you can turn off the fake stuff. Blast around in a true stoplight sleeper
This is the dawn of EV’s. I have no problem with companies trying all sorts of stuff to see what works. Everyone insults the shifting, but without trying it, how do you know it sucks? Could be a fun feature. Or not. Try all the things, car companies.
Plus I think this is one of the best looking EV’s around.
It sucks because it’s fucking fake. It’s theater. We’re enthusiasts. We love the mechanical nature of ICE vehicles. I like the fact that the DCT in my Kona N is rough for sure, but it’s also doing something mechanical. There are physical gears it’s banging through. It makes me feel connected to the car, much like rowing your own does in manual cars. You want to feel one with what you’re driving.
This doesn’t provide that. It’s a programmed impersonation of it. It’s actually adding distance between you and the powertrain. I’m pro EV too. I will absolutely consider one in the near future…but I’d want it to be, you know, an EV. Silent. Brutal torque off the line. Linear power delivery with no gear changes. Etc.
Let EVs be EVs and focus on perfecting what they’re good at. Don’t do this dumb shit and disconnect drivers from the experience. No one wants to drive a simulator on wheels.
I agree with many of those sentiments, but I do appreciate this pushing forward the cooling nature. Cooling is something that hasn’t been a talked about part of most sport focused EV’s, but something that is a big part of all track focused cars. The rest of the dressage of this car is to make it sporty, but the cooling is what tells me that they at least tried.
I don’t disagree, but just want to point out that most modern ICE cars have varying degrees of fakeness too (and not just the engine noise).
Steering, shifting in an automatic, even pushing the gas pedal….none of these are purely mechanical connections anymore. A computer is telling the car what to do, based on your suggestions.
This is true, but at least when I yank a paddle on my N’s DCT it leads to an actual, mechanical gear change that you can hear and feel.
I wouldn’t call those fake in the same vein as an EV simulating shifts. An automatic transmission still shifts gears. The wheels are still connected to the steering wheel through a motor. The gas pedal actuates a sensor to actuate the Throttle body.
This is faked mechanical actuation, not faked mechanical connection.
It’s all a continuum is my point.
Yeah, I don’t any of those either. I once owned a drive-by-wire Audi and it wouldn’t let me blip the throttle on a downshift.
Last I knew, they were planning on having the fake noise and fake shift stuff be optional (I don’t know whether it’s default-on or default-off). At least that was the plan when they previewed it a couple months ago.
Meh, as long as it can be switched off the fake engine noises alone wouldn’t turn me off if the rest of the package works as good as it looks. Pricing and availability are an entirely different story though…
Once the initial hype dies down I don’t think these will be hard to find at all. They’ll be way too expensive and too fake for the usual N crowd and I don’t think the majority of people who can afford to drop $60,000+ on a performance oriented car are going to trip over each other to get a Hyundai.
Its kinda funny that people want the track car experience. Most dedicated track cars are hell on earth to drive. I have an all out built MK4 VW and the damn thing is so hot, loud and rigid, my wife won’t even sit in it if it’s running. It’s hella fun for like maybe 15 minutes to a half an hour. But the car is totally unusable off the track. I’ve driven a Tesla on the track, and actually rules pretty hard. You don’t feel like your going to die three laps in. I could actually enjoy the experience and focus on driving. It just feels like a soft simulation of experience that kinda sucks.
note: There are good track cars, but those cost real money.
so if you can make any fake engine noise why, why a turbo 2.0-an engine type IMO that has become so ubiquitous and bland that I welcome it’s replacement by EVs in most applications I’ve sampled. And simulated shifting is just stupid. This seems like a real silly gimmick in what might otherwise be the coolest EV yet (in fact maybe the first i’ve genuinely sort of wanted to try driving?) and one that otherwise seems very thoughtfully and well designed and engineered.
To be fair, the 2 liter in the Ns is one of the best turbo 4s on the market. It has a broad power band, it’s unapologetically unrefined, it’s the best sounding 4 cylinder on the market, etc. It’s an amazing powertrain and if you haven’t experienced it yet I encourage you to go drive an N. I agree that turbo 4s have become ubiquitous and there are A LOT of ones that are about as exciting as watching paint dry…but the 2.0 in the Ns isn’t one of them.
That being said, I agree with you. While I think the entire fake noise/fake shifts situation is asinine, if you’re going to do it you might as well go nuts with it. Hell…this is going to cost about the same as an IS500 or a top tier muscle/pony car (used ZL1/top spec SS 1LE, Dark Horse/Mach 1, loaded 392 or used Hellcat, etc). You might as well make the aural experience wild enough to compete with those cars’.
I’ve been behind Ns while they pop and flatulate doing hard launches from stoplight to stoplight. They sound like shit.
That Hyundai is leaning into that on an electric vehicle shows how much they’re aiming for a very particular, immature clientele.
I was pretty intrigued until getting to that part of the article.
You can literally turn all of it off if it’s not to your taste
It should have an F1 soundtrack, and also a modern Triumph triple. Oh and a Honda VFR V4.
I became fully car-aware/obsessed the day I ran out of our house to find the source of this ungodly beautiful snarl and saw our new neighbor tuning the carbs on a v12 E type. If I’m going to have a fake soundtrack to an excessively fun EV, that will be it.
There are flat-plane crank Ferraris out there whose scream warms my cockles as well—but, well, you never forget your first, right?
My favorite V12 is the NA mercedes v12 with exhaust. It’s hilarious when you do it on an S Class.
Juxtapose this with the 700hp F150, they are polar opposites that both stimulate my spaz glands.
I like it. A lot. Yes the simulated shift points and noise are stupid (please stop) but the rest of it is real engineering, not just puffery. And I love the cassette styling.
Extra kudos for the Mosport Turn 2 shoutout. That is one scary corner.
I really dig the bodywork, not really a fan of the wheels and still not convinced I’ll ever want to actually own an EV. I do love what Hyundai is doing lately though!
I haven’t been this underwhelmed since I lost my virginity. Hyundai swung for the fences on a 3-2 count and popped a fly ball into the infield. I knew when Biermann soft retired things might get weird but this is an abomination in the eyes of god. Fake DCT shifts that change the fake ICE engine sounds in the car and cut off power from the battery?
Probably the dumbest shit I’ve heard in years. We’ve reached peak 2020s car everyone. We can all go home now. For what’ll probably sell for around 60-70k you might as well just build yourself a nice driving simulator and get an ICE performance car of your choice with the rest…because that’s what this is. A rolling driving simulator.
I award Hyundai no points, and may god have mercy on their souls. No one wants this shit. Not a damn soul. If you’re going to make a performance EV embrace the fact that it’s an EV. This is a poor impersonation of an ICE hot hatch that’s pretty much worse in every way.
Hmmmm, that reaction from the resident N-thusiast seems like it might be an issue fom Hyundai.
With that amount of faking going on it may in fact be comparable to losing one’s virginity.
Oh I didn’t even have enough time to fake anything before it was all said and done, but good comparison nonetheless!
Yeah wtf were they thinking, not only was it a pop fly to the infield but it was hit off a lazy pitch right in the middle of the strike zone. This was an essentially unoccupied space in the market, and they botched it. I was kinda psyched on this until I read the fake shifting thing, at least as stupid as fake engine noise is it can be turned off. I assumed hyundai N is run by real hardcore car folks, but this feels like what someone who sees cars as appliances thinks car people like/want. Really sad to see after they’ve had so many home runs lately. Hoping they do a software update that lets the faux shifting be turned off.
I mean, the brains behind N (Albert Bierrman) soft retired a while ago. The Elantra and Kona Ns were the last vehicles he oversaw himself. Honestly it wouldn’t surprise me if the move to EVs is more or less what made him see the writing on the wall. He said in several interviews after stepping down that making EVs an engaging, emotional experience was a unique challenge.
There is a part of me that understands what they were going for here. The ICE Ns are gimmicky, goofy cars that are supposed to be all about fun. That being said, the gimmicks in them are all backed up by real, mechanical stuff. The stock exhaust is ridiculous (and you either love or hate it, as comments here show), the overboost function is ridiculous but you legitimately get extra power/it tightens everything else up for max attack while it’s activated, the hard shifts in the DCT are from…well, actual gear changes, etc.
They more or less tried to take everything folks like about the ICE Ns and make it work in an EV. I get playing to your brand strengths, but as a result it doesn’t let the EV play to its own strengths in this case. Rather than letting it fly its freak flag they’ve created programming that lets it cosplay as an ICE car.
Who wants that? If you want an ICE N you can still buy one. You should probably do it soon…because the Veloster and Kona Ns are dead and the Elantra N is already at its mid cycle refresh. But why the hell would you spend 60k on an EV that impersonates an engaging ICE vehicle when for that much you could just…you know, get an engaging ICE vehicle? There are A LOT of them at this price point…the Integra Type S, high trim V8 pony cars, the CT4-V BW, the RS3, manual Supra, the list is long.
Boy racers will want them LOL
Okay, hold up, hold up.
Potentially good, potentially bad.
Objectively bad and stupid.
Clutching, especially on a regen brake system? Extremely necessary. Period. Non-negotiable. Not a performance car without it.
I’m going to just leave this video of an actual racing driver demonstrating it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUVkVB3SUf4
He doesn’t use the clutch, because he doesn’t need to. The Ioniq N would be under full regen braking at numerous points without a clutch to disengage the motor.
I mean in the context of the fake shifts, not as much the context of regen braking. The stupid fake DCT will literally cut power to simulate hard gear shifts. You have more of an engineering background than I do, so you likely know much more than I do about this…but that just seems dumb and potentially not great for the batteries.
If the Ioniq 5 N is in line with other Hyundai “N” upgrades, we can reasonably estimate the price at around $60,000. Maybe up to the $70k band, depending on demand and costs.
Stepping from the Elantra Hybrid to the Elantra N is a modest $3k bump to just $33k. The top trim Ioniq 5 Limited is about $54k. Percentage match is $59,400 (10%.) My guess is that they’re going to aim for that due to the loss of tax credits.
Perfection.
Any press photos of the other colors? Matte gold sounds intriguing unless it is just a fancy wording for “beige.”
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hyundai_IONIQ_6_CE_Gravity_Gold_Matte_(3).jpg
Have to copy & paste as the .jpg doesn’t link
-would like to see it away from a floor the same color. I wouldn’t call it beige, though
Shout out to Mosport turn 2