How Hyundai’s hot Ioniq 5 N electric car has been tailored for Australia

The high-performance Hyundai Ioniq 5 N electric vehicle (EV) will arrive in Australia next month with a local tune for its electronically controlled suspension (ECS).

This seems to be a return to form for the South Korean carmaker as the Ioniq 5 N is the first vehicle from the brand to receive a local suspension tune since the pre-update i30 Sedan, which was configured in 2019 along with the G80 and GV80 from luxury offshoot Genesis.

Hyundai Motor Company Australia (HMCA) product planning and development manager Tim Rodgers participated in both the global Ioniq 5 N tuning program, as well as the local tune for the car’s ECS system.

“So locally we have done sign off and tuning for the ECS suspension parameters, particularly for normal and sport modes,” said Mr Rogers to CarExpert.

Overseas models shown throughout

“N mode is shared with Europe, along with a lot of the other calibration items we share alongside Europe as we were embedded in the tuning programme very early on.

“We were able to consult and give feedback into those parameters as well.

“So our voice has been heard and reflected in say the steering tune, the differential tune, and some of the setup choices that were made in the car very early on in the piece.

“So really, actually the local element of its is small because we were part of the global giant tuning programme.”

Mr Rodgers said the company “honed in some of the [Ioniq 5 N’s] performance across more of the spectrum of rough roads that we have”.

This is because “when it comes to rough roads [in Australia], there’s no one type of rough road”.

“Australian customers value control, they value being in control, they value feedback, but they also highly value comfort and those things can play at odds to each other,” explained Mr Rodgers.

“I think that’s something that we globally as a motor group have been getting much better at.

“That’s speaking to the amount of talent that’s been growing within the R&D centre, being able to hear a lot of the market’s feedback and being able to make designs that complements the needs [from] North American freeways … [to] rough roads, for example.”

When asked whether Hyundai Australia is going to roll out local ride and handling tunes for all its models, similar to what Kia does locally, Mr Rodgers said it will be on a “case by case basis”.

“Where the opportunity arises, or the need arises, we’ll definitely jump in and do it. So we’re not going to shy away from tuning,” said Mr Rodgers.

Ioniq 5 N road car

“To do full localisation, that’s not particularly part of our strategy.”

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N was first revealed in mid-2023 and is the company’s first all-electric N vehicle. It’s priced from $111,000 before on-road costs, also making it the most expensive Hyundai-branded vehicle offered locally to date.

Power comes from a dual-motor all-wheel drive electric powertrain producing total system outputs of 448kW of power and 740Nm of torque.

There’s also an ‘N Grin Boost’ (NGB) function that ups the outputs to 478kW and 770Nm for 10 seconds.

The two electric motors are fed by an 84kWh lithium-ion battery pack, which is the highest-capacity battery Hyundai has offered in an EV to date.

The Ioniq 5 N offers a plethora of modes and functions that aim to make it more engaging both on and off the track. These include N Active Sound, N e-shift, N Race mode, N Pedal, N Brake Regen, N Drift Optimiser, N Torque Distributor, and N Battery Preconditioning.

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