Hyundai set itself a pretty lofty benchmark back in late 2017, with the release of the
highly acclaimed i30N.
We've been waiting for a follow-up act ever since, and now it is just about to arrive.
This is the all new i20N.
It officially arrives in showrooms in 2021, but today we've been afforded a sneak peak
on track.
Let's see how it measures up.
This is a big second coming for Hyundai's N division.
A car tasked with taking on the Ford Fiesta ST and the Volkswagen Polo GTI.
But the i20N will deploy some familiar performance ingredients when it touches down in the first
half of 2021.
A turbo petrol engine, a six-speed manual transmission, Hyundai spec Pirelli rubber
and a bimodal exhaust with a cracking note.
Hyundai isn't being drawn on pricing for the i20 just yet, but we're tipping a circa $32,000
entry point.
The foundations here are certainly strong.
The engine is similar to the one employed in the i30N line.
In this application, drive is shuffled to the front wheels via a six-speed manual transmission
only, as well as a mechanical front limited slip differential.
For a smaller capacity engine, the 1.6 litre revs quite freely.
And although it doesn't have the low down torque of Hyundai's larger 2-litre turbocharged
engine like that found in the i30N, it certainly hustles along the 1250 kilogram i20 fairly
easily.
Although exact figures are yet to be confirmed, Hyundai says to expect about 150 kilowatts
and 280 Newton-meters from the 1.6 litre turbo petrol.
The production car will also be sold with Hyundai's N driving mode system, which offers
configurable settings for the exhaust, engine, steering and stability control, as well as
rev matching.
Stopping power is set to come from beefy 320 millimetre front and 262 millimetre rear disc
brakes.
The fundamentals of the i20N certainly seems strong on track.
It doesn't feel quite as playful as something like the Ford Fiesta ST, but there's a really
nice neutral character to this car that you can really begin to exploit after a few laps
on a closed circuit.
Similarly, the steering has a naturally heavy bent to it.
It's not quite as reactive as some other setups, but you begin to gel with this car and it
doesn't seem as one-dimensional as you might first think.
Get your line right into a corner and it sits positively and it's a car that works quite
well with you.
You get a lot of feedback through the chassis.
And you can actually extract quite a lot of power from this small 1.6 litre drivetrain.
I'm gonna say the i30N sets a lofty benchmark, so there are naturally pretty high expectations
for this car.
But, on first impression, it lives up to them.
One of the real redeeming features of the larger i30N, especially in this latest 2020
form, is that it balances all those great track characteristics with quite a usable
on-road skill set.
It's an everyday hot hatch.
That's gonna be the test for the i20N.
It has already proven itself as quite proficient on a closed circuit.
We'll have to reserve judgement on just how well it goes on the road, but there's everything
to suggest that this second effort from the N division is just as good as the first.
With the overnight success of the i30N, the expectation for a follow-up model was always
going to be high, but thankfully the new i20N steps up to the plate.
It's punchy, it's manual and it's fun to drive.
If Hyundai Australia can get the pricing right, you'd have to think it's gonna be a recipe
for success.