Hyundai i20 N 2021 UK review Car News

Everything is happening for Hyundai at the moment. An electric car that has received rave reviews and features the kind of volt technology normally reserved for sports cars; Autocar’s most prestigious award, the coveted Issigonis Trophy, for President Euisun Chung; and now this – the i20 N, the company’s second N performance product after the i30 N.

Priced at £ 24,995 and with a typical modern hot hatch recipe of four turbo, front-wheel drive and six-speed manual (hire you), the i20 N hits 201bhp and 207lb-ft – pretty good numbers for 0-62 mph in 6.2 seconds. There’s also an electromechanical limited-slip differential and rev-matching function, while Hyundai has beefed up the bodywork in no less than 12 places compared to the regular i20. So it is clear that the car has an intention.

Not that you wouldn’t guess from the looks. The i20 is hardly a shrinking purple, with a big rear spoiler, aggressive rear diffuser, and a protruding chin that gives it a lot more presence on the road than the wiser Fiesta ST.

Some may think it’s a bit OTT, but fair play to Hyundai for pinning their colors to the mast so obviously.

It’s our first time in the right-hand drive version of the car and it’s just as special as the left hook we sampled earlier this year. There is an almost bewildering array of settings to choose from: modes to control engine response, steering, rpm matching, ESC, and exhaust rating (and each of these has three levels of normal). , sport and sport +); three “performance options” (launch control, gearshift and direction of road N, to tell you to switch to hardcore N mode when the car detects an S-turn); agricultural counter; and two programmable N buttons on the steering wheel. At least, you are unlikely to ever get bored one day.

I was racking my brains to think about which car reminded me of the i20 N, until a colleague hit the nail on the head: the Mitsubishi Evo VIII (you can read Vicky Parrott’s opinion piece on this car against the Ford Fiesta ST here). The way the Hyundai follows and dives on a classic British B-road is exactly what this rally stage felt like at the time, especially when you step on the gas when exiting a corner. Or at least that’s exactly how I remember it.

There is wonderful frankness in the i20, the car dives happily into the corners, staying neutral all the way to the top, before a burst of power at the output causes the differential to connect and the front tires wiggle on the wheel. road. You have to focus, because the stiff ride (passively damped) and direct steering means you have to hold on to keep the Hyundai from following the camber in the road.