FIRST DRIVE: 641bhp Hyundai Ioniq 5 N eN1 Cup!

We’re big fans of Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 N hot hatch, because it’s about the most fun you can have in an EV. Fake gears, 10-second bursts of extra power, and a drift mode, all sound like gimmicks, but together they make for one engaging hot hatch. But what if the 5 N was turned up to 11?

Enter the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N eN1 Cup race car. It keeps the production 5 N’s battery and motors – so it’s still good for 641bhp. But out goes anything superfluous, and in comes a roll cage, a racing seat, slicks, and a whole lot of aero add-ons. Weight goes down 10%, grip goes way up!

All the novel gimmicks – like N Drift Optimiser – are gone, because this is a focused race car. Yet at the same time, Hyundai wants this to be an affordable race car, so prices will start under €100,000.

It’s starting a one-make championship in Korea, too, and it’ll be a live test-bed as Hyundai hopes to find a path towards making electric racing fun. Teams will be able to choose the sound their cars make, and taking an idea from gaming, race officials can punish you mid-race with less power for over-aggressive driving.

Will it work? Top Gear Magazine’s Deputy Editor, Ollie Kew, has been to find out…

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Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:01 Walkaround
03:44 Drive

MORE ABOUT TOP GEAR:
Welcome to the official home of Top Gear on YouTube. Here you'll find all the best clips from your favourite episodes, whether that’s Ken Block drifting London in the Hoonicorn, Chris Harris in the latest Porsche 911 GT3 or classic Top Gear clips from Clarkson, Hammond and May. You'll also find the latest performance car reviews from the TopGear.com crew, our brand new series American Tuned with Rob Dahm and the fastest power laps from our in house performance benchmark: The Stig.

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