Ioniq 5N review: Hyundai’s first performance EV takes on Porsche Taycan

As EVs slowly fill out the various segments of the vehicle market, it seems like every other day brings us a new option. The latest kid-on-the-block in the performance category is the Hyundai Ioniq 5N – with The Driven attending the recent two day launch of the new model variant.

When it comes to Hyundai performance ‘N’ vehicles, Hyundai market them as having three pillars to their design: these being fun to drive, everyday usability and race track capable performance.

The Ioniq 5N is, however, Hyundai’s first fully electric N car – and as such has big shoes to fill in regards to their earlier internal combustion engine (ICE) N cars.

It also is joining EV performance cars such as the (much more expensive) Porsche Taycan and Audi e-tron GT, as well as its (slightly) cheaper platform sibling the Kia EV6 GT.

So how did the Ioniq 5N going to measure up to this somewhat daunting collection of benchmarks? Thankfully, Hyundai gave the attendees two days (and three sets) of driving conditions to try it out on their ‘three pillars’.

Day one consisted of initial city and motorway driving, followed by winding 100 km/h country roads. Day two was a ‘serious’ day of full bore driving at the Sydney Motorsport Park.

To raise the bar further, Hyundai themselves admit they were benchmarking the Porsche Taycan in their testing and development. Certainly, having now driven both plus the Kia EV6 GT, I found the driving and handling more akin to the Porsche that the Kia, so one box ticked there.

Another question to be answered was how long it would last under racetrack conditions.

Albert Biermann (until recently the head of R&D at Hyundai and lead engineer behind Hyundai’s N car range) said in a video interview from his home in Germany that to be a proper N car, a track oriented EV had to be capable of sustained track-day type use. (Presumably to dispel the image of performance EVs having poor ranges when pushed – effectively the racing version of the now effectively dead concept of ‘range anxiety’ for road use EVs).

To address this – during the development phase Albert specified this as a minimum of two laps of the famous Nürburgring in Germany – or for more typical track-days (such as we spent on day two): 20 minutes on-track, 20 minutes recharging to 80% followed by another 20 minutes of track driving.

To achieve this, Hyundai have upped the battery system to provide 48% more power from an 8% bigger battery – all with a less than 1% increase in battery weight. Battery cooling capacity has been almost doubled, plus battery preconditioning programs added for drag or track events. (30 to 40 degrees C for drag, 20 to 30 degrees C for track).

Interior

For the N version, sports-style seats, with manual adjustment, have been swapped in, as well as a very practical console (for bracing one’s leg against in hard cornering).

The drivers display has also been customised to reflect the needs of more ‘willing’ driving – including temperature readouts for the motors and battery consumption by lap plus the heads-up display (HUD) shifts to a racing mode when a race mode is selected.

The steering wheel is specific to the Ioniq 5N, along with a number of other interior styling changes to denote it as the N version.

Exterior

Similar to the coming updates to the standard Ioniq 5 range, the rear spoiler has been lengthened and a rear wiper added. For the N-line, an orange line insert has been added to the bumpers and sides, along with specific N-line front and rear bumpers. N line 21 inch wheels are part of the package, with Pirelli P-Zero 275/35 rubber fitted to them.

Performance and aerodynamic changes

These are what has been changed in comparison to a standard Ioniq 5 and include:

• Front motor power increased by 60%/torque up by 31%;
• Rear motor power up by 47%/torque up by 12%;
• increased motor controller capacity with improved electronics to handle higher loads;
• Stiffened chassis, body and suspension points;
• Electronic limited slip differential;
• Larger diameter brakes and improved brake cooling;
• Numerous suspension, steering, and drive axle changes;
• Improved underbody aerodynamics to reduce drag and increase downforce;
• Regenerative braking programs changed to give up to 0.6G from regen alone, as well as coordination of it with torque vectoring plus maintaining regen during ABS and ESC activation.

Driving

Hyundai themselves admit that they benchmarked the 5N against the Taycan – and having driven both as well as the Kia EV6 GT, I was certainly finding it more akin to the Taycan that the EV6 GT.

Around town, the Ioniq 5N was very well behaved with surprisingly little of the harshness that would be expected of 35 profile tyres. It was certainly not a super-soft ride, but the suspension changes Motorway driving the same.

The seating was very comfortable and well locating (the latter being what you would expect of sports-style seating) – what was slightly more surprising was I felt no soreness or stiffness on the first day after driving for several hours.

(Although perhaps I am just the right size person for the seating – some of the attendees did mention a bit of stiffness at the half-way point).

One feature I haven’t mentioned so far is the simulated rev range gear selection/DSG clutch and V8 engine sound. It was both extremely well done and … believe it or not … added to the driving experience.

Yes, if someone had told me I would love the sound and feel of a simulated torque band, DSG clutch action and roar of a V8 motor in an EV, I would have told them they were nuts.

However, to paraphrase a line from The Matrix: ‘Unfortunately, no one can be told what the 5N experience is. You have to experience it for yourself’. So I will almost certainly be writing this with readers thinking the same thing. (All I can say to that is drive it first, THEN come back and tell me I am wrong 😉

According to Albert Biermann, the amount of effort that went into this feature was immense. Two engineering teams were put to work on it, with the brief to make it feel the same as the DSG experience in their ICE N cars.

Another thing to note was that Albert focussed the teams on getting the V8 sound and feel as good as possible … but nowhere near as much work was put into the other two sound options.

Having tried the other two that try to simulate jet fighter and F1 car sounds – I would definitely agree and give the former an A+ grade, and the latter two an E, returned with the comment ‘could do better’.

Day two saw us hit the track at Sydney Motorsport Park. This was where the car could show its full potential for track day performance. At five laps at a time, the cars would do two stints at this pace (about 20 minutes driving) before their 20 minute recharge to 80% and off again.

The tyres, on the other hand, were showing distinct signs of wear at the end of a half-day session. At $800 to $1000 each, all I can say is I was thankful Hyundai were paying. On the other hand, people buying these for track fun know this is one of the prices of motorsport.

Pricing and options

The Ioniq 5N is priced at $111,000 plus on-road costs. In Victoria, that would equate to around $121,000 on the road. There are by the way only two options – a panoramic glass roof for an additional $2000 and matte paint (available after June this year) for $1000.

That makes it almost $10,000 dearer than its platform stablemate the EV6 GT – but to me, for a performance EV, the Ioniq 5N would be the pick of the two, despite the difference in price. On the other hand, an AWD equivalent Taycan would start at over $200,000 – and to be honest: for fun per dollar, the Hyundai wins.

Summing up

As a car, I would say Hyundai have hit their three N pillars well. It is fun to drive, provides everyday usability and race track capable performance. They have set a benchmark for other manufacturers to meet – including the Taycan as it does not do regenerative braking anywhere near as well as the Hyundai. On the other hand, it may not be yet ready to take on a Bathurst 1000 – but that day is definitely getting closer!

As for its party trick of simulated V8 sounds and torque bands – yes they are fun, but like drifting they are not as fast as simply switching to full EV mode and experiencing the full, smooth torque from 0 to 100% that an EV offers over an ICE equivalent.

EV N features

N Torque Distribution

• Optimises body control / torque distribution
• Dedicated torque / regenerative braking maps

N Drift Optimiser

• Aids drivers to slide car and hold drifts
• Torque kick (emulates M/T clutch kick)

N Launch Control

• Activates N Grin Boost
• 3 road grip levels (low / med / high)
• 0-100k/h = 3.4 seconds

N Race

• Sprint / Endurance modes
• Balances max. power output vs. driving distance

N Battery Preconditioning (NBP)

• Drag / Track mode
• Battery optimisation via pre-heating or pre-cooling