We’ve heard that the Hyundai i20 N sizzling hatch is about to exit manufacturing subsequent month, and even when it’ll stay accessible in Australia into 2027, it’ll nonetheless be a disgrace to see the primary technology of this iconic little efficiency hatch go.
The information means prospects quickly gained’t be capable to order and specify a brand new i20 N; as an alternative they’ll have to select from whichever automobiles sellers have in inventory. It’s on no account a sign that Hyundai’s N division is slowing down, but it surely’s honest to count on future N merchandise to look fairly completely different to the diminutive i20.
There have even been experiences {that a} new i20 N is in improvement with a hybrid powertrain. We don’t know when it’s due for launch, however we do know that Hyundai isn’t seeking to push it into the posh automotive world.
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Accessibility is vital, and that’ll proceed to be the theme for the Korean model’s future efficiency merchandise, a lot because the i20 N has lengthy been synonymous with incredible bang-for-your-buck sports-oriented motoring. For that purpose, we’ve determined to take an i20 N to the racetrack to revisit it in its pure habitat.
Sure, a traditional week-long highway take a look at would have been simply as thorough as another CarExpert evaluation, but it surely’s not each day you get the possibility to deal with a automotive to an actual performance-focused send-off.
So right here we’ll try to interrupt down the i20 N in a circuit setting, which is supposedly the place it’s at residence, and endeavour to color an image of what your first observe day would possibly appear to be for those who take your inexpensive Hyundai N-car for a spin.
Now, I’m not claiming to be a quick driver by any means, nor am I right here to show anybody beat Oscar Piastri. However a racetrack is the best place to check your and your automotive’s limits in a secure and managed setting, and for those who’ve ever yearned for a track-day expertise, we encourage you to look into native alternatives to see what it’s all about – as many Hyundai N Pageant-goers do.
And no, in case you’re questioning, this isn’t a sponsored article – it’s merely a recount of a observe day, fairly than a conventional evaluation, to ship off this technology of i20 N.
For transparency, we borrowed the i20 N from Hyundai as a part of a regular week-long mortgage, which simply occurred to coincide with a observe day. I additionally personally paid to take part within the occasion, simply as most of the people does.
With that each one cleared up, right here’s the way it all went down.
The automotive
The Hyundai i20 N ought to want no introduction, however in case you’re unfamiliar, we’ll take a second to interrupt it down.
Arriving in Australia in late 2021, the third-generation Hyundai i20 is in-built Turkey and bought domestically solely in a single high-performance N trim. Luckily, it’s nonetheless one of many least expensive efficiency automobiles you should buy as we speak.
After a collection of worth will increase in current months, it’s now listed at $38,500 earlier than on-road prices, about $3000 greater than when it launched. A minor replace was rolled out for 2025, bringing no main modifications past barely tweaked aesthetics inside and outside, a brand new alloy wheel design, and Hyundai’s suite of related companies.
Which means its mechanicals are virtually similar to when the automotive was launched. Below the bonnet is a 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine producing 150kW of energy and 275Nm of torque, operating on common 91-octane gasoline and returning official mixed gasoline consumption of 6.9L/100km – that’ll be essential in a while.
Drive is completely despatched to the entrance wheels, and – uniquely for a contemporary automotive – it’s solely accessible with a six-speed handbook transmission. No computerized right here.
2026 Hyundai i20 N gear highlights:
- 18-inch cast alloy wheels
- Tyre strain monitoring
- Area-saver spare
- Rain-sensing wipers
- Heated, power-folding exterior mirrors
- Rear privateness glass
- Lively variable exhaust with Regular, Sport, Sport+ modes
- 6 drive modes (Eco, Regular, Sport, N, Customized 1, Customized 2)
- Reflector LED headlights
- Computerized high-beam
- Leather-based-wrapped steering wheel
- Leather-based-wrapped shifter
- Bose sound system
- Sports activities seats
- Fabric seat upholstery
- 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster
- 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system
- Wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
- DAB+ digital radio
- Satellite tv for pc navigation
- 1 x entrance USB-C outlet
- 1 x rear USB-C outlet
- Proximity entry with push-button begin
- Single-zone local weather management
- Electrochromic rear-view mirror
- LED inside lighting
- Bluelink related automotive companies
Customary security gear highlights:
- 6 airbags, incl:
- Autonomous emergency braking
- Blind-spot monitoring
- Entrance and rear parking sensors
- Clever pace restrict help
- Lane-keep help
- Lane Following Help (lane centring)
- Rear cross-traffic alert
- Rear occupant alert
- Reversing digicam
At 4075mm lengthy, the i20 N is a light-weight automotive comparable in dimension to a Toyota Yaris, but it surely doesn’t have practically as many direct rivals as that might recommend. At this worth level and efficiency degree, its solely actual competitor is the Volkswagen Polo GTI, an auto-only mannequin that isn’t accessible with a handbook transmission.
Importantly, in contrast to most auto manufacturers, Hyundai Australia backs its efficiency fashions together with the i20 N with a five-year, unlimited-kilometre guarantee (seven years for those who service inside its seller community) that won’t be voided by racetrack use – in case your automotive is normal (ie: unmodified) and utilized in non-competitive, non-timed motorsport occasions.
That’s partly why Hyundai’s N-fest occasions are so in style, but in addition as a result of they permit N-car house owners to drive at tempo on observe amongst like-minded folks, in a weekend-long carnival-style ambiance with a number of off-track actions.
After all, our observe day was additionally strictly non-competitive, however the N Pageant occasions are effectively price investigating for any N house owners (together with i20 N, i30 N, and Ioniq 5 N) seeking to get their observe repair.
A full breakdown of the Hyundai i20 N’s worth and specs is out there right here.
The observe
These comparatively new to motorsport in Australia is probably not accustomed to the placement for our observe day, but it surely was as soon as considered one of Victoria’s most outstanding racing services.
Calder Park Raceway is positioned 24km north-west of Melbourne’s CBD, straight off the Calder Freeway close to the suburb of Keilor. It started life as a mud observe earlier than a bitumen floor was laid, enabling the primary official race assembly on January 14, 1962.
It was then bought by race driver and Melbourne tyre retailer Bob Jane within the early Nineteen Seventies, who oversaw common highway racing, drag racing, and even Rallycross occasions that utilised the infield part of the unique circuit.
Varied high-profile occasions happened on the facility till as not too long ago as 2001. Most notable have been the Australian V8 Supercars Championship, held sporadically between 1969 and 2001; the worldwide World Touring Automotive Championship in 1987; and even the Australian Grand Prix earlier than it moved to Adelaide as a Components 1 occasion in 1985.
However maybe essentially the most iconic characteristic of the power is the 1.8km-long oval observe often known as the Thunderdome. An unmissable characteristic when travelling alongside the Calder Freeway, the Thunderdome was a part of Mr Jane’s grand plans to carry America’s massively in style NASCAR stock-car race collection to Australia.
It was accomplished in 1987 and started internet hosting races shortly after, combining each the oval and the present Nationwide Circuit. NASCAR would maintain a non-championship exhibition race on the Thunderdome in early 1988, marking the primary time a NASCAR occasion had ever been staged outdoors of North America.
This occasion, like a handful of occasions held as a part of varied Australian-based collection, together with AUSCAR (Australian Inventory Automotive Auto Racing), utilised the oval observe solely. If 1.8km doesn’t sound all that lengthy, that’s as a result of it isn’t; the oval’s unofficial lap file is simply 28.2 seconds, set by NASCAR legend Richard Petty in a take a look at session earlier than the true race.
The final occasions held on the Thunderdome have been in 1999, adopted by a number of extra years of races on the Nationwide Circuit. There was then practically 15 years of common inactivity at Calder Park, apart from authorized off-street drag racing on the power’s current drag strip.
In 2023, underneath the possession of Bob’s son, Rodney, Calder Park was repaired and upgraded sufficiently to permit club- and state-level motorsport occasions to return to the venue. This could be the state wherein the Nationwide Circuit would stay for our observe day.
Map supply: Will Pittenger
The Nationwide Circuit has solely existed since 1986, because it was created by extending the principle straight of the present Membership Circuit to just about 1km in whole. The result’s a 2.3km observe with seven right-hand and three left-hand turns, with an official race lap file of 52.69 seconds set in 1986.
It might not look like essentially the most technical observe on paper, but it surely contains elevation modifications, a mixture of low- and medium-speed corners, and diverse floor varieties. The primary straight doubles as Calder Park’s drag strip, which implies the final sweeping flip briefly transitions from normal bitumen to concrete coated in tyre rubber.
The venue’s services are actually exhibiting their age, however the few garages and different ancillary buildings are of acceptable high quality. There are additionally respectable viewing areas for the Nationwide Circuit, primarily a tall earth mound subsequent to the principle straight, accessible by way of a protracted flight of stairs.
Most of the people is welcome to look at on observe days, as they’re for Calder Park’s common drag racing and drift occasions.
Our observe day could be hosted by Drive Occasions, a Victorian enterprise that additionally hosts drive days at Phillip Island and Broadford. An all-encompassing observe driving college can also be run at every occasion, open to anybody, although it isn’t obligatory.
The day
Naturally, the total track-day course of begins effectively earlier than you truly hit the observe.
Given this explicit i20 N, like another press automotive, belongs to its producer, we performed our due diligence and kindly requested permission from Hyundai to take it to the observe.
To our delight, it had no points with our track-day plans, and solely requested whether or not the automotive would wish tyres afterwards. In any other case, it left us to our personal gadgets.
This was my first actual style of Hyundai’s help for observe actions, and it’s refreshing for a model that builds efficiency automobiles to really encourage its petrol-head prospects to drive them as they’re meant to be pushed.
With that locked in, all that was left to do was affirm our particulars and join the observe day.
Relying on how recurrently you attend observe days and who hosts them, you might must pay for a day licence with Motorsport Australia. As a relative track-day beginner, I opted for this, which barely elevated registration prices and required further paperwork, but it surely’s comparatively painless and important to being allowed on-track.
Thoughts you, I’ve been on observe earlier than at media occasions, most notably at Sydney Motorsport Park in varied Audi RS efficiency fashions. I due to this fact felt snug sufficient to go out on observe with out tuition – there’s no disgrace in signing your self up for a observe driving college, although, and it might effectively preserve you out of hassle.
The Sunday observe day ultimately rolled round. Vivid and early, I ended for gasoline on my technique to Calder Park, the place I parked up subsequent to my colleague Josh Nevett, who was participating in his private Mazda MX-5.
We then headed in for registration, the place as a result of our highway automobiles have been slower than among the different toys in attendance, we have been positioned within the slowest of the six pace teams. A compulsory driver and security briefing adopted – the significance of which can’t be understated – earlier than it was time to arrange for the observe.
Our group was the primary to go out at 9:00am. It’s by no means simple to be first out, particularly in an unfamiliar automotive and with restricted expertise at that observe, so our first session would focus totally on exploratory laps to familiarise ourselves with the structure and our equipment.
The day would encompass six 15-minute classes, the identical format as each different group. That meant there was no must rush into lap-record makes an attempt, so we opted to take it gradual, studying the braking factors (significantly on the finish of the lengthy major straight) and discovering the place the automotive is snug.
Luckily, there’s no higher automotive for that than an i20 N, for a number of causes.
A comparatively low energy output makes it troublesome to get your self into critical hassle, whereas its front-drive configuration makes it extra manageable and predictable. That permits you to concentrate on studying the observe as an alternative of attempting to tame a beast.
The brake really feel can also be sturdy out of the field, and the steering weight makes it simpler to be clean together with your inputs. After all, we spent the whole day within the automotive’s N mode, which unlocks the perfect of the i20’s engine efficiency, steering really feel, and exhaust quantity, amongst different issues.
That is simply finished utilizing devoted buttons on the steering wheel. The i20 N additionally has an computerized rev-matching operate on downshifts, which provides you one much less factor to consider – you’ll be able to flip this off and manually heel-toe shift, however we discovered the throttle response just a little sluggish when doing so.
The extra laps we did, the extra snug we felt. The tyres, which have been chilly and slippery at the beginning, gripped properly as they warmed up. Pirelli rubber is normal, which may be very worthwhile whatever the automotive’s outright pace.
Earlier than we knew it, the marshals waved the chequered flag to sign the session’s finish, as the following group headed out on observe as we trundled again into the pits; the times are sometimes run to a good schedule.
We then had a wait of simply over one hour earlier than the following session, which is a good bit of downtime however provides the automotive and its brakes loads of time to chill whereas we ate and hydrated earlier than heading again out.
Quickly sufficient, our group was referred to as and we have been as soon as once more lining up within the pit lane. This time, with extra information of the observe and the automotive underneath our belt, it was time to wind up the pace and begin to see what the automotive was correctly able to.
The i20 responded effectively. It dealt with extra aggressive turns with composure, exhibiting well-calibrated energy supply to the entrance wheels, whereas brake pedal really feel remained constant regardless of the more durable braking required at greater speeds.
In reality, we have been starting to constantly attain 200km/h earlier than hitting the brakes on the principle straight, which in some way felt like an actual achievement. It’d be incorrect to say this wasn’t daunting, although the automotive’s stability management system saved issues in examine with out sapping all of the enjoyable.
It allowed me to proceed discovering the automotive’s limits with out concern of ending up on the grass or worse, taking turns quicker, figuring out which gears have been superb for every flip, and persevering with to construct my consolation degree.
After all, you could take heed to the opposite automobiles on the observe – everyone seems to be there for a unique purpose (enjoyable, testing, and so on), making it essential to depart ample room when passing and preserve an eye fixed out for quicker automobiles behind.
Any doubts that quarter-hour on observe at a time was not sufficient have been put to relaxation by the third or fourth session, because the sum of our time on observe slowly began to point out in how drained we felt. It was an hour and a half in whole, in spite of everything.
Monitor-day regulars are little doubt extra accustomed to that, however one factor that caught us off guard was gasoline, as a result of the time spent at full throttle was rapidly draining the i20’s 40-litre tank.
We arrived with a full tank of 95-octane, which appeared applicable given the minimal additional price over the automotive’s 91 RON requirement. The automotive carried out effectively on 95, and after averaging roughly 26L/100km for the day to date, a splash-and-dash on the close by service station was wanted earlier than the ultimate session.
Remember that Hyundai claims a gasoline consumption of 6.9L/100km in a mixture of regular freeway and concrete driving. The i20 N’s considerably greater gasoline consumption isn’t stunning in a observe setting, the place gasoline is simply one other expense.
We refueled with 91 RON for the final session to evaluate the way it affected efficiency. Suffice to say the engine wasn’t fairly as peppy as earlier than, as evidenced by the very fact the i20 N struggled to hit 190km/h on the principle straight.
There’s little doubt it was nonetheless fast, and that 91 would prevent cash in the long term, however the train additionally confirmed you turn out to be extra perceptive of any modifications within the automotive after 5 classes of driving.
We got here to understand a number of different issues by the top of the day. One is the i20 N’s extremely well-balanced chassis, which gave me little or no to consider whereas controlling the automotive by way of every flip. After all, disabling stability management provides you with higher management for those who’re recreation.
It gave me the boldness to hold increasingly more pace by way of every flip, with the quick right-left kink of the Nationwide Circuit’s turns 4 and 5 being my favorite part for that purpose. However I believe I may’ve gone quicker if I hadn’t been avoiding the kerbs to guard the mortgage automotive.
The gearbox and clutch additionally carried out with out problem all through the day. We discovered the latter’s weighting and engagement good for quicker driving regardless of leaning in the direction of the lighter aspect, which makes it so daily-friendly, and rowing by way of the gears was simple and constant.
It’s additionally simple to evaluate which gear is greatest for every flip, because the automotive pulls or bogs as you speed up out of turns, forcing you to adapt accordingly. There’s a great deal of headroom for studying nook rapidly and cleanly within the i20 N, which is more than pleased that can assist you determine all of it out.
We did discover the brakes weren’t fairly as sharp on the finish of the day, which isn’t any actual shock. You may destroy the brakes of many manufacturing automobiles in a few laps for those who actually strive, however the i20 N’s nonetheless labored advantageous with out the pedal going lengthy, even when the heavy braking into flip one took a minor toll on them.
Equally, the well-engineered steering and suspension techniques not solely stood as much as loads of abuse, however suited the duty at hand effectively. Over the course of the day, the automotive remained comparatively steady by way of turns, and the exact and communicative steering additionally helped us be taught the automotive after which construct belief as pace picked up.
The one disgrace was there aren’t extra high-speed turns at Calder to completely exploit the little Hyundai’s well-sorted chassis setup.
The i20 N shouldn’t be solely an awesome all-rounder on the highway, it makes it exceptionally simple to really feel snug on observe. And it felt just like the automotive may very effectively have saved going into the night time, however as a driver I used to be greater than able to wrap up.
Better of all, we drove the automotive residence as if we’d spent the day procuring, and it felt the identical because it did on the best way to Calder.
The decision
For somebody who isn’t a racing driver however aspires to turn out to be a leisure weekend warrior on tarmac, the i20 N presents greater than sufficient publicity to catch the track-day bug.
It’s a forgiving and straightforward automotive to drive, but it surely isn’t smooth. As soon as the motive force is snug and the speeds decide up, the i20 N solely feels extra at residence, making you wish to go quicker, which solely will get you extra hooked.
You’ll know for those who’ve caught the bug for those who depart the observe fascinated with how you might’ve perfected that one flip, or how you might’ve gone a bit quicker down the straight. This stuff will solely make you wish to come again once more, and even for those who aren’t considering these issues, the i20 N remains to be addictively enjoyable.
It truly is a package deal that’s arduous to fault. And nearly as good as its mechanicals are, the inside is simply as strong.
The ergonomics are on level, the steering wheel’s dimension and end completely match the automotive, and the sports activities seats have an actual old-school really feel to the best way they maintain you in place.
After all, all that interprets to the highway, the place the i20 N is a enjoyable each day driver. These seats keep supportive with out being too agency or arduous to get into or out of, whereas a good tech suite will preserve you secure and entertained. The agency suspension that makes it a lot enjoyable on observe can also be palatable within the suburbs.
We’ll miss it when it’s gone, as a result of the i20 N is a confirmed, participating compact efficiency hatch, and a dying breed lately. Now’s the time if you wish to get your arms on a brand-new instance, and for those who can we encourage getting concerned in any non-competitive observe exercise to profit from it.
That stated, I’m now curious to learn how rather more enjoyable the bigger and quicker i30 N is on observe. Extra energy can solely be a optimistic for tracks with such lengthy straights and, if the i20 N is something to go by, its larger and extra highly effective brother can be a barrel of guffaws at Calder.
And, after all, huge due to Hyundai for permitting us the chance.
