We’ve heard that the Hyundai i20 N scorching hatch is ready to exit manufacturing subsequent month, and even when it’s going to stay obtainable in Australia into 2027, it’ll nonetheless be a disgrace to see the primary era of this iconic little efficiency hatch go.
The information means prospects quickly gained’t have the ability to order and specify a brand new i20 N; as an alternative they’ll have to select from whichever vehicles sellers have in inventory. It’s under no circumstances a sign that Hyundai’s N division is slowing down, however it’s honest to anticipate future N merchandise to look fairly completely different to the diminutive i20.
There have even been studies {that a} new i20 N is in growth with a hybrid powertrain. We don’t know when it’s due for launch, however we do know that Hyundai isn’t trying to push it into the luxurious automotive world.
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Accessibility is essential, 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 motive, we’ve determined to take an i20 N to the racetrack to revisit it in its pure habitat.
Sure, a traditional week-long street check would have been simply as thorough as some other CarExpert assessment, however it’s not each day you get the prospect 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 may seem like should you take your reasonably priced 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 tips on how to beat Oscar Piastri. However a racetrack is the best place to check your and your automotive’s limits in a protected and managed surroundings, and should you’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 Competition-goers do.
And no, in case you’re questioning, this isn’t a sponsored article – it’s merely a recount of a observe day, relatively than a conventional assessment, to ship off this era of i20 N.
For transparency, we borrowed the i20 N from Hyundai as a part of a typical 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 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 offered regionally solely in a single high-performance N trim. Luckily, it’s nonetheless one of many least expensive efficiency vehicles you should purchase in the present day.
After a sequence of worth will increase in latest 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 in and out, a brand new alloy wheel design, and Hyundai’s suite of related providers.
Meaning its mechanicals are virtually equivalent to when the automotive was launched. Underneath 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 gas and returning official mixed gas consumption of 6.9L/100km – that’ll be vital afterward.
Drive is solely despatched to the entrance wheels, and – uniquely for a contemporary automotive – it’s solely obtainable with a six-speed handbook transmission. No automated right here.
2026 Hyundai i20 N tools highlights:
- 18-inch solid alloy wheels
- Tyre stress monitoring
- House-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
- Automated high-beam
- Leather-based-wrapped steering wheel
- Leather-based-wrapped shifter
- Bose sound system
- Sports activities seats
- Material 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 providers
Normal security tools 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 digital camera
At 4075mm lengthy, the i20 N is a light-weight automotive comparable in measurement to a Toyota Yaris, however it doesn’t have almost as many direct rivals as that will recommend. At this worth level and efficiency stage, its solely actual competitor is the Volkswagen Polo GTI, an auto-only mannequin that isn’t obtainable with a handbook transmission.
Importantly, not like most auto manufacturers, Hyundai Australia backs its efficiency fashions together with the i20 N with a five-year, unlimited-kilometre guarantee (seven years should you service inside its vendor community) that won’t be voided by racetrack use – in case your automotive is customary (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 homeowners to drive at tempo on observe amongst like-minded individuals, in a weekend-long carnival-style environment with a bunch of off-track actions.
In fact, our observe day was additionally strictly non-competitive, however the N Competition occasions are effectively price investigating for any N homeowners (together with i20 N, i30 N, and Ioniq 5 N) trying to get their observe repair.
A full breakdown of the Hyundai i20 N’s worth and specs is on the market right here.
The observe
These comparatively new to motorsport in Australia will not be conversant in the placement for our observe day, however it was as soon as considered one of Victoria’s most outstanding racing services.
Calder Park Raceway is situated 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 Seventies, who oversaw common street racing, drag racing, and even Rallycross occasions that utilised the infield part of the unique circuit.
Varied high-profile occasions came about on the facility till as lately as 2001. Most notable had 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 System 1 occasion in 1985.
However maybe essentially the most iconic function of the ability is the 1.8km-long oval observe often called the Thunderdome. An unmissable function 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 sequence to Australia.
It was accomplished in 1987 and started internet hosting races shortly after, combining each the oval and the prevailing 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 exterior of North America.
This occasion, like a handful of occasions held as a part of varied Australian-based sequence, 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 document is simply 28.2 seconds, set by NASCAR legend Richard Petty in a check session earlier than the actual race.
The final occasions held on the Thunderdome had been in 1999, adopted by just a few extra years of races on the Nationwide Circuit. There was then almost 15 years of basic inactivity at Calder Park, except for authorized off-street drag racing on the ability’s present 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 may be the state through which 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 primary straight of the prevailing Membership Circuit to just about 1km in complete. The result’s a 2.3km observe with seven right-hand and three left-hand turns, with an official race lap document of 52.69 seconds set in 1986.
It might not seem like essentially the most technical observe on paper, however it contains elevation modifications, a mixture of low- and medium-speed corners, and various floor varieties. The primary straight doubles as Calder Park’s drag strip, which suggests the final sweeping flip briefly transitions from customary bitumen to concrete coated in tyre rubber.
The venue’s services are definitely exhibiting their age, however the few garages and different ancillary buildings are of acceptable high quality. There are additionally first rate viewing areas for the Nationwide Circuit, primarily a tall earth mound subsequent to the primary 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 faculty can also be run at every occasion, open to anybody, although it isn’t necessary.
The day
Naturally, the total track-day course of begins effectively earlier than you really hit the observe.
Given this explicit i20 N, like some other 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 units.
This was my first actual style of Hyundai’s help for observe actions, and it’s refreshing for a model that builds efficiency vehicles to truly 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 usually you attend observe days and who hosts them, you could 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, however it’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 subsequently felt snug sufficient to go out on observe with out tuition – there’s no disgrace in signing your self up for a observe driving faculty, although, and it could effectively preserve you out of bother.
The Sunday observe day finally rolled round. Vivid and early, I finished for gas on my strategy 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 street vehicles had been slower than a number of the different toys in attendance, we had 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 format and our equipment.
The day would encompass six 15-minute periods, 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 (notably on the finish of the lengthy essential 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 tough to get your self into critical bother, 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 easy together with your inputs. In fact, 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 achieved utilizing devoted buttons on the steering wheel. The i20 N additionally has an automated rev-matching operate on downshifts, which supplies you one much less factor to consider – you possibly can flip this off and manually heel-toe shift, however we discovered the throttle response somewhat sluggish when doing so.
The extra laps we did, the extra snug we felt. The tyres, which had been chilly and slippery at first, gripped properly as they warmed up. Pirelli rubber is customary, 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 decent 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 known as and we had 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 tougher braking required at larger speeds.
Actually, we had been starting to constantly attain 200km/h earlier than hitting the brakes on the primary straight, which by some means felt like an actual achievement. It’d be flawed to say this wasn’t daunting, although the automotive’s stability management system stored issues in examine with out sapping all of the enjoyable.
It allowed me to proceed discovering the automotive’s limits with out worry of ending up on the grass or worse, taking turns quicker, figuring out which gears had been preferrred for every flip, and persevering with to construct my consolation stage.
In fact, it’s worthwhile to take heed to the opposite vehicles on the observe – everyone seems to be there for a unique motive (enjoyable, testing, and so on), making it vital to go away ample room when passing and preserve a watch out for quicker vehicles behind.
Any doubts that quarter-hour on observe at a time was not sufficient had been put to relaxation by the third or fourth session, because the sum of our time on observe slowly began to indicate in how drained we felt. It was an hour and a half in complete, in any case.
Monitor-day regulars are little question extra accustomed to that, however one factor that caught us off guard was gas, as a result of the time spent at full throttle was shortly draining the i20’s 40-litre tank.
We arrived with a full tank of 95-octane, which appeared acceptable given the minimal further value over the automotive’s 91 RON requirement. The automotive carried out effectively on 95, and after averaging roughly 26L/100km for the day to this point, a splash-and-dash on the close by service station was wanted earlier than the ultimate session.
Remember that Hyundai claims a gas consumption of 6.9L/100km in a mixture of regular freeway and concrete driving. The i20 N’s considerably larger gas consumption isn’t shocking in a observe surroundings, the place gas 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 actual fact the i20 N struggled to hit 190km/h on the primary straight.
There’s little question 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 periods of driving.
We got here to understand a number of different issues by the tip 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. In fact, disabling stability management will provide you with higher management should you’re sport.
It gave me the boldness to hold increasingly 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 motive. However I feel 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 concern all through the day. We discovered the latter’s weighting and engagement excellent for quicker driving regardless of leaning in direction of the lighter facet, 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 finest 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 tips on how to nook shortly and cleanly within the i20 N, which is more than pleased that will help you determine all of it out.
We did discover the brakes weren’t fairly as sharp on the finish of the day, which is not any actual shock. You’ll be able to destroy the brakes of many manufacturing vehicles in a few laps should you actually attempt, however the i20 N’s nonetheless labored effective 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 methods 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 totally exploit the little Hyundai’s well-sorted chassis setup.
The i20 N isn’t solely an amazing all-rounder on the street, it makes it exceptionally simple to really feel snug on observe. And it felt just like the automotive may very effectively have stored going into the evening, 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 purchasing, and it felt the identical because it did on the way in which 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 gives greater than sufficient publicity to catch the track-day bug.
It’s a forgiving and simple automotive to drive, however it isn’t delicate. 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 should you’ve caught the bug should you depart the observe fascinated by how you can’ve perfected that one flip, or how you can’ve gone a bit quicker down the straight. These items will solely make you wish to come again once more, and even should you aren’t pondering these issues, the i20 N continues to be addictively enjoyable.
It truly is a package deal that’s laborious to fault. And pretty much as good as its mechanicals are, the inside is simply as strong.
The ergonomics are on level, the steering wheel’s measurement and end completely match the automotive, and the sports activities seats have an actual old-school really feel to the way in which they maintain you in place.
In fact, all that interprets to the street, the place the i20 N is a enjoyable day by day driver. These seats keep supportive with out being too agency or laborious to get into or out of, whereas a good tech suite will preserve you protected 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, partaking compact efficiency hatch, and a dying breed today. Now could be the time if you wish to get your fingers on a brand-new instance, and should you 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 greater and extra highly effective brother will probably be a barrel of guffaws at Calder.
And, after all, huge because of Hyundai for permitting us the chance.
