Hyundai Gives Us Our First Glimpse Of The Most Powerful i20 Ever!

The performance-oriented i20N is quite literally about bringing power to the masses with its engine rumoured to produce power in the 200+PS region

After teasing us the last time around with only a silhouette of the i20N, Hyundai has now indulged our inner child by giving us our first glimpse of it in action. In a video published by the ‘Hyundai N Worldwide’ YouTube channel, the i20N can be seen testing on a frozen lake in a remote corner of Sweden.​

Behind the wheel of this under-development pocket-rocket is Thierry Neuville, Hyundai’s World Rally Championship (WRC) driver. The motorsport racer first took the WRC car out for a spin, followed by the RM19 prototype, before finally getting behind the wheel of a partially camouflaged i20N version of the upcoming third-gen i20. The N cars of Hyundai are the more powerful versions of their regular cars with the N division itself being responsible for churning out their motorsport cars.​

In Theirry’s words, the i20N is a ‘very easy car to drive’. He said the electronic systems kept the car in check at all times. The WRC driver also heaped praise on the revving nature of its engine and called the sound it emitted, ‘interesting’. He even let slip that he was looking forward to driving this car in the WRC.​

The production version of the i20N could be offered with a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol motor, making 204PS and 265Nm, that is also found in the Hyundai Veloster. This will make it the most powerful production-spec i20 ever. It will give it the firepower to go after popular compact hot hatches in Europe such as the Ford Fiesta ST, the Volkswagen Polo GTi (the previous-gen model was on sale in India), and the Toyota GR Yaris.

Close to home, Hyundai is expected to launch the regular third-gen i20 around mid-2020. It will come with a new engine borrowed from the Hyundai Venue. The go-fast i20N has limited chances of making it to India owing to limited takers of performance-oriented hatches. We would still like to keep our fingers crossed.