2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N: How Does Hyundai's Hot EV SUV Perform at the Track?

MotorTrend

We’re very fond of the Hyundai Ioniq 5—so much so we named it our 2023 SUV of the Year—and our appreciation has only grown since. Upping the ante is the hopped-up Ioniq 5 N version

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00:00This is kind of the car of the moment, right?

00:12The IONIQ 5 was already a spectacular vehicle.

00:15It won our SUV of the Year award and now we have a 641 horsepower version with uprated

00:21brakes, revised suspension and an 8-speed dual-clutch transmission.

00:25Well, not really, but kind of.

00:27It does a really, really good impression of one.

00:31I drove this thing at Laguna Seca recently and it was affirmational, aspirational, inspirational.

00:37It was incredible.

00:38Trust me, you want to hear this thing come out of the corkscrew and rev up to redline.

00:43Oh yeah, did I not mention this thing can rev?

00:47Come on Hyundai, give all the other car companies a chance.

00:49Stop making such amazing vehicles.

00:55Listen to this.

00:56This is Hyundai's Active Sound Plus.

01:00Sounds like a combustion car revving out.

01:02I've got to remind you, I'm in an EV and yet the sound that's being pumped into the

01:11cabins and also being pumped outside using the exterior speaker is that of an 8-speed

01:16dual-clutch transmission.

01:20I'm also using these paddles here to change gear and as I do so, my head rocks back and

01:29forth, the feeling of a combustion engine car in an EV and not just any EV, it's a

01:35big vehicle and yet the work that the Hyundai engineers have done with the revised front

01:41suspension, the adjusted track, this is a couple of inches wider and longer.

01:46Everything's been in service of making this car more dynamically enjoyable.

01:51This does have a drift mode, it also has a thing called N-Pedal which allows the front

01:57end to tuck in the corners, helping to facilitate the rotation you need to carry speed through

02:03the corners.

02:05601 horsepower is this car's operational power figure and then you've got 40 extra

02:12horses for an up to 10-second boost using this red N-Grin Boost button on the steering

02:19wheel here.

02:22Great steering.

02:26It's a little bit artificial, doesn't obviously connect you to the road in the same way that

02:36some of these real track racers do but it's very, very good.

02:42Look, watch, I'll hit the red line, you ready?

02:46Look at that, kick me forwards, that is insane.

02:50I don't take any pleasure from hitting the red line but at least in this I know that

02:55it's not going to have the valves bouncing off the top of the hood, it's all make-believe.

03:01The geometry is exactly the same as the standard IONIQ 5 but every single component of the

03:07front suspension has been redesigned.

03:13The benchmark that Hyundai set was that this should be the first true performance EV.

03:21They don't think that an EV has come to market yet, aimed directly at enthusiasts

03:27and it's all about performance.

03:29Yes, there have been very, very, very, very, very quick EVs but they don't think that anyone's

03:34got the handling, dynamics, track day ready usability down.

03:41That's what they want this to be.

03:43This is a car by enthusiasts for enthusiasts.

03:49For nine years, almost 10 years since Hyundai launched the IONIQ 5, this is the first EV

03:56for nine years since N brand was launched but this, this is kind of the first real embodiment

04:05of that and it's so good.

04:10It's epic.

04:13They want this car to be able to complete 20 minutes on a circuit at full power, no

04:19heat bleed, no power loss, no brake fade and then they want it to go on a fast charger

04:25for 20 minutes whilst everything cools down, the battery's preconditioned and it gets a

04:30little bit of charge and then it should be able to go out for another 20 minutes and

04:33repeat and repeat and repeat and then of course you should be able to drive home.

04:38That's the standard Hyundai have set as they've engineered this car.

04:43Indeed, they also managed to achieve two full speed, full pace timed laps of the Nurburgring

04:53back to back without any power loss.

04:57Come on, that's impressive.

04:59Most EVs start losing power as the battery percentage gets lower than 60 or 70%

05:10not the IONIQ 5N.

05:14I drove this car at Laguna Seca just a few weeks ago.

05:17It handled that course amazingly but of course a lot of the circuit's corners are on camber, right?

05:25Everything's kind of a bowl.

05:28Here in Chapuala, a lot of the corners are off camber, a lot of the corners require you

05:33to wait, wait, wait.

05:36You hit the apex, you have to wait again, you come over this blind crest for example

05:40and there now.

05:43And a little bit, the tyre's just warming up now, you can hear a little bit of tyre squeal

05:46but there's power.

05:50It's so good.

05:54And yeah, launch control. In fact, we can give that a go now.

05:57Should we do that? Let's find a straight.

05:59Okay, left foot on the brake, mash the right foot.

06:12It's plenty powerful.

06:14What a thoroughly impressive car.

06:17I've got a feeling you might be seeing a lot of these on the streets

06:20especially considering that they only cost $67,000.

06:25That's a lot of bang for your buck.

06:28That's a lot of bang for the buck.

06:30And when you add into the fact

06:33it's also a spectacularly functional city and highway car, an SUV, a huge trunk.

06:41Come on, winner, winner, chicken dinner, don't you think?

06:45Will it be a finalist at our 2024 Performance Vehicle of the Year?

06:52I think it will be.

06:53I think this thing could go far in this competition.

06:57www.rimbaracer.com

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