The sporty Hyundai i20 N will be powered by a 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine tuned to produce 250 HP and will rival the likes of the Renault Clio Cup, Volkswagen Polo R and Ford Fiesta ST in the segment.
Ever since Hyundai announced the ‘N’ performance division last year, a lot has been anticipated to come out from its Namyang Research and Development centre at the company’s headquarters. With the next few years promised to be very busy for the R&D centre, Hyundai promised the i20 hot hatch earlier this year. Now more details have emerged from Jurgen Grimm, Head of Powertrain Engineering who spoke about the N version of the new generation i20 during the European unveiling at the recently concluded Paris Motor Show.
Mr. Grimm states that the time for the i20 hot hatch is now, as 10 months have passed since the ‘N’ performance brand was officially announced. The i20 N is almost production ready and will be taking a lot of inputs from its WRC counterpart that has been doing well on the rally circuit. The performance hatch will boast the 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine under the hood that will be tuned to produce 250 HP of power. The powerplant is the same unit found on the Hyundai Veloster Turbo and Kia Pro_cee’d GT but has been tuned to offer more power on the i20 N.
In addition to the monstrous engine, the Hyundai i20 N will also get updates to the chassis to handle all that new found power, while there will be bigger brakes, tyres, a sporty suspension set-up and even adjustments to the steering. The i20 N will also get a wide body kit inspired from the 2015 i20 WRC model that will not only look fiercer but will also improve the aerodynamics on the hot hatch.
It is still not clear though if the Hyundai i20 N will be available in 3-door or 5-door body styles or both. The performance model will be competing against the Volkswagen Polo R, Ford Fiesta ST, Renault Clio Cup, Opel Corsa OPC and the likes in the segment. While the i20 N with 250 HP is not likely to be sold in India (even though it would be awesome), a hot hatch version to take on the Volkswagen Polo GT TSI will definitely be a welcome move from the South Korean automaker.
