Hyundai Ioniq 6 N: Long live (electric) sport!
After the Ioniq 5, the Ioniq 6 saloon has now also been taken under the wing of Hyundai's sports subsidiary N. The result is a remarkable product that will polarize opinion.
Zero to one hundred in 3.2 seconds - that's completely crazy. Just a few years ago, such acceleration figures were reserved for the small elite of hypercars. Today, anyone can experience them in their family car - as long as it is electrically powered. Okay, not every electric car is that fast, and it takes a bit more than just sheer e-power to get a car to these figures responsibly.
However, in terms of performance, a great deal is possible with electric motors without the manufacturer needing a great deal of development expertise.
What Hyundai's N sports department has now done, however, goes far beyond this sprinting power. The new N version of the 4.94-metre-long Ioniq 6 sedan manages an enormous balancing act: comfortable, whisper-quiet and fuel-efficient on the freeway with a standard range of 487 kilometers, very agile and emotional on the mountain pass - and loud, wild and incredibly good on the race track.
Perfectly staged
This transformation from a well-behaved sedan to a sports car to be taken seriously happens at the touch of a button on the steering wheel - and what happens next has to be experienced to be believed. The Korean imitates a dual-clutch gearbox to perfection, shifts gears, accelerates in between, lets misfires sound when braking - but all this is only simulated and only takes place inside the cockpit. At the same time, the full 448 kW/609 hp is released to the four driving wheels, and in the so-called Grin Boost, it is even 478 kW/650 hp for a short time.
More than a virtual gimmick
But the Ioniq 6 N is not just about sheer power and virtual gimmicks. The suspension set-up is first class - the electronically controlled dampers do an excellent job, the electronic limited slip differential (e-LSD) pushes the sedan around the curves as if on rails. The widened track and the aero add-on parts including the rear wing increase stability; additional welding points and structural reinforcements increase rigidity.
And in order to achieve optimum performance on the racetrack, the Koreans have equipped the Ioniq 6 N with a battery preconditioning system that brings the battery to the perfect (performance) temperature depending on the selected driving mode. So completely crazy after all? Yes, in a way - but also crazy good. Such a successful combination of comfortable glider and sports car can be found elsewhere, but it costs considerably more. For 74,900 francs, the Ioniq 6 N is a real bargain compared to the competition.
