Future classic: Hyundai i20 N

By Alastair Clements

| 18 Mar 2022

Classic & Sports Car – Future classic: Hyundai i20 N

Conventional wisdom suggests that the first of the line is the purest, the true instant classic, so by that thinking we should have written about the i30 N when it launched Hyundai’s performance arm in 2017.

But while it was exciting, it was very much a rough diamond; with the new i20 N, that potential is realised.

It’s refreshing to hear that the N stands not for a forest racetrack in Germany but for Namyang, the South Korean district where the brand was born in the Hyundai Global R&D Center – although the ‘N is for Nürburgring’ also gets trotted out because that’s where final proving takes place at the Hyundai Technical Center.

Hyundai’s updated i20 N is a vast improvement on the original model

Yet in the best hot-hatch tradition, where this car shines is not so much on a track as a B-road, when its fantastic stance and stiff reinforced bodyshell give it wonderful agility.

It’s firm, but the damping is well resolved so it doesn’t pogo around like the old i30 N, and the fast, accurate helm is matched to wonderfully incisive turn-in and gives a decent impression of steering feel.

It feels honed, athletic, and cross-country surely few – even the much-vaunted Ford Fiesta ST – could keep pace with this spicy supermini, with its outrageous grip and huge traction out of bends.

Great seats give the Hyundai i20 N driver a BTCC-style seating position

That’s at least in part down to the mechanical limited-slip diff, joining a pleasingly analogue package that includes a rapid, responsive six-speed manual gearbox (a seven-speed auto is available) and conventional rather than active dampers.

The engine is relatively old-school, too: a 1.6 direct-injection turbo ‘four’ making a punchy but flexible 201bhp.

It emits an addictive noise that rises from an offbeat, twin-Weber-style gurgle to a blare its WRC twin would be proud of. It doesn’t sound too artificial, either – although the way it automatically blips the throttle on downshifts at the touch of a button definitely is.

The i20 N’s 1.6-litre four-pot produces 201bhp

As well as noisy, it’s demonically quick when you push past the initially mushy throttle response to summon all of that grunt.

It’s even nice inside, with great seats giving a proper BTCC-style driving position – upright, hips hugged, bum on the floor – and a few flashes of red and that distinctive blue to lift the grey gloom.

There’s only one trim level but just about all you could need is standard, and despite the odd iffy bit of plastic it feels superbly screwed together and very practical.

Will the i20 N be seen as a classic in the future? We hope so

We’d only question some of the fussier exterior styling details, such as that faux diffuser and the flimsy black plastic with stick-on reflective red trim, but there is no arguing that it has an aggressive presence.

It remains to be seen whether the i20 will be an all-time great, but this is the car that puts the ‘N’ badge on the road to joining GTI, ST, RS and Rallye in the hot-hatch hall of fame, and you can’t pay it a bigger compliment than that.

Images: Will Williams

Factfile

Engine turbocharged 1598cc ‘four’; 201bhp @ 5500-6000rpm; 203lb ft @ 2-4000rpm
Transmission six-speed manual, FWD
Mpg 40.4
0-60mph 6.1 secs
Top speed 142mph
Price £24,995