As I settle into the Ioniq 5 N bucket seats surrounded by the black cabin and “Performance Blue” accents, I feel the aura of something fast. Very fast. I grip the alcantara-wrapped wheel and prod the “start” button. The displays come to life and I can’t help tapping the button to switch modes; just to see what it’s about. The info-display switches to dual digital dials, the right one resembling a tachometer marked up to 8,000 rpm. There is a whirr of an engine piped through the premium speaker system. With N Active Sound Plus, the Ioniq 5 N has a number of sound themes. “Ignition” simulates the sound of N’s 2.0T engines, “Evolution” captures the high-performance sound inspired by the RN22e, and “Supersonic” is inspired by twin-engine fighter jets and offers variable volume during cornering. It feels like I’m in a race car.
There is even a gear indicator. Oh, yes. The Ioniq 5 N has been equipped with the equivalent of an 8DCT or eight-speed automatic transmission that mimics the N eight-speed dual-clutch automatic in the 280-hp turbocharged Veloster N. This “N e-shift” system simulates a gear-shift by fine-tuning motor torque output at various levels. There’s more. There is a rev-build-up very accurately managed and it even has an over-run soundtrack—should I not flick the paddle to shift up—to make it feel like it’s hit the rev-limiter! This is the next evolution of the passenger car. This is engineered engagement to bring back the magic of spirited driving to a world that is experiencing a deluge of electric cars, each one more like the others. It’s like a driving simulator but in the real world with real hardware, live! It is truly astounding.
Getting a move on, there is zero lag of any sort anywhere. Everything seems perfectly in sync and the Ioniq 5 N rolls out of the basement car park of the magnificent Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas luxury hotel into sub-zero temperatures outside. There is chill in the air, but the hairs on my arms are standing for a completely different reason. There is palpable potential here.
The drive route would take us north close to the border at Paju with a mix of city streets, highways, narrow village roads, and winding hilly sections. There is no other way to say it. In this world of instant everything, especially gratification, the 5 N delivers just that. Millisecond responses, be it steering, acceleration or the brakes, are at hand and that inspires some serious confidence in the driver. The sharp handling and perfectly tuned suspension make for a sublime ride.
More features surface! The “N Pedal” was developed to combat the weight and size of EVs to achieve responsive handling. The N Pedal gives fast cornering higher priority over energy efficiency and even uses the deceleration force to create an aggressive weight transfer for a nose dive and sharper entry into corners. It’s fantastic! Then there’s the “N Drift Optimizer” which helps maintain the drift angle in response to real-time inputs. The “Torque Kick Drift” function even simulates the clutch kick action of rear-wheel-driven vehicles. “N Torque Distribution” provides 11-level variable front and rear torque distribution with an electronic limited slip differential at the rear. More wheel sensors and greater damping capacity and size also widen the working range of the electronically controlled suspension.
Also read: Hyundai Ioniq 5 – Pune to Goa on One Charge
Furthermore, special mention must be made of the full suite of advanced assistance systems, all of which work perfectly together to make for a safe drive. From smart cruise control, lane keep and steering assist, collision warning and autonomous braking, and speed-sign recognition, every system onboard worked flawlessly.
While I wasn’t driving, my “colleague”, also a rival and friend, engaged in some truly juvenile shenanigans. Stamping on the accelerator for a burst of speed and hearing the sound of hitting the rev-limiter—in an EV—is thoroughly fun and engaging, but also a bit pretentious, if I do say so myself.
While many around me were celebrating the “gearbox” and “gear-shifts” with “gear-shift” paddles on the wheel complete with a sonorous “engine” soundtrack piped through the premium speaker system, with even the “red-line” and “rev-limiter” thrown in to complete the experience, I was sad. This is what the world has come to. Trying to recreate what will soon—presumably—be history. While there is a more than fair argument against combustion engines and climate change and this seems like the best way forward for now—barring synthetic carbon-neutral fuel in the same “primitive” application—I was quite disheartened because it felt like living a lie. Everything seems to be there but it simply isn’t real.
I have the perfect analogy for this; grossly inappropriate as it may seem. You know when you’ve been intimate with a renowned adult entertainer—well, you probably haven’t but imagine it anyway—and experienced their very desirable assets? This is the equivalent of the thing that sounds like—and resembles—a flash-light that is manufactured with perfectly crafted lady parts using medical grade silicone. The experience is all there. It just isn’t real.
There is no word about the Ioniq 5 N coming to India but there is no doubt it was created to bring driver engagement and involvement back in what seems to be a bleak future for the enthusiast. And the Ioniq 5 N delivers the goods. It does exactly what it was meant to do and for that, I tip my hat to Hyundai N.
Need to Know – Hyundai Ioniq 5 N
Price: Rs 95 lakh (estimated)
Battery Pack: 84 kWh, 800-volt, lithium-ion
Max Power: 448 kW (609 hp); 478 kW (650 hp) in N Grin Mode
Max Torque: 740 Nm; 770 Nm in N Grin Mode
Transmission: Simulated eight-speed automatic, all-wheel drive
Suspension: MacPherson strut front, multi-link rear
Weight: 2,100 kg (estimated)
Also read: Hyundai Ioniq 5 First Drive Review
