- 3 weeks ago
With the all-new 2026 Hyundai IONIQ 6 N now here in Australia, Ben McKimm from Man of Many hits the track at Sydney Motorsport Park to figure out if this is the ultimate electric sports sedan, and if its $115,000 price tag is justified.
Ben dives into what makes the IONIQ 6 N arguably the most engaging EV on the planet. From its massive 478kW dual-motor powertrain to the incredibly immersive N e-Shift simulated gearbox and advanced thermal management, this electric corner rascal is pushed to th
Ben dives into what makes the IONIQ 6 N arguably the most engaging EV on the planet. From its massive 478kW dual-motor powertrain to the incredibly immersive N e-Shift simulated gearbox and advanced thermal management, this electric corner rascal is pushed to th
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00The most fun EV that money can buy, and it's why so many brands like Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari are copying
00:08this formula.
00:09Hyundai paved the way with the 5N, they've refined it here with the 6N, and it's a really good thing.
00:20This is the Hyundai IONIQ 6N, and we're at the track today, which is a rare place to find an
00:27electric vehicle.
00:28But this is exactly where this car thrives.
00:30So in this video, we're going to spend all our time pretty much on the track.
00:34I'm going to quickly show you guys around the exterior of this car.
00:37I'll show you a little bit of the interior, and then we're just going to cut some laps with a
00:41little bit of POV and a little bit of onboard as well, because this is where this car shines.
00:46There are a lot of changes over the IONIQ 5N, which sort of set the benchmark for EVs and track
00:52-oriented, fun-to-drive EVs.
00:54So I'm going to talk about that as well in this video.
00:56So let's get into it.
00:57Let's start with the exterior design of this car, because doesn't it look so much better than that previous generation
01:03Hyundai IONIQ 6N?
01:04We still don't know if that standard model is coming to Australia, but we do know that we have this
01:08one here in front of me.
01:10This front bumper is so much better than the previous generation.
01:14It actually looks really aggressive now.
01:16It looks less catfish than before.
01:18It actually looks really Lamborghini, in my opinion, with these thinner headlamps.
01:23And this really aggressive front sill here, this flick, made all the more aggressive by this aerodynamic package that this
01:30car has.
01:31It's a track package of sorts.
01:32It's available as an option at your dealers.
01:34And there's all this carbon fiber around the trim here.
01:37And this giant rear wing, which looks exactly like it's off a Porsche GT3.
01:41And you also get these wheels too, which look very track focused and quite cool.
01:46At the back here, a different rear diffuser.
01:48It looks even more aggressive, quite frankly.
01:51The back, not really sure too much about this black trim going on here.
01:55I feel like it's almost too much contrast.
01:57But overall, I think it looks pretty good.
01:59They've blacked out all of this IONIQ 6 badging here.
02:02They've made this one sadden.
02:04I love the way it stands out.
02:06Yeah, you guys tell me what you think about the design of this car in the comments.
02:09I think it looks pretty epic.
02:11Still not a big fan of these pop-out door handles.
02:14But I guess that's a good segue to the interior.
02:16So let's take a look at this.
02:19So when we jump on in to the...
02:22Oh, there's a big lip there where the side skirt is.
02:25So keep that in mind if you plan on driving every day.
02:28If it's an IONIQ 6, as we sort of know it, just a little bit more comfortable.
02:34I will take the shades off.
02:36Yeah, so we've got the sort of run-of-the-mill N steering wheel here with your N-Grin boost,
02:42your drive modes up here, and two N1 things which have been taken straight from BMW.
02:48They're custom modes, programmable, so you can quickly punch them in on track.
02:52We didn't have that much time to do it today, but trust me, it comes in super helpful.
02:58Especially on the street when you're just cruising around and you go,
03:00Oh, there's a good bend coming up.
03:01So I'll press the N1 button, crank it into sporty mode, get the gears going.
03:04Then the N2 button can just be your chill-out mode, maybe when you're going to work or with the
03:08wife.
03:09What else is here on the interior?
03:11Well, you've got this ambient lighting down here, which turns into a shift light,
03:16which sort of engages the passenger a little bit more.
03:20Not really sure about that one.
03:21You've also got heaps of wireless charging, a place to put your second phone, your missus phone.
03:26It feels really well made, 100-watt charging there, so you can do a laptop.
03:30And then you've got that dual-screen display up the top here as well,
03:34which gives you perfect readouts.
03:36Heads-up display for the driver includes an N heads-up display
03:39that gives you a rev counter and makes it really easy to use the simulated gearbox.
03:46Strange thing about this car is the window switches are in the center console,
03:52which kind of makes no sense to me.
03:56N-bucket seats or sports bucket seats, very similar to the ones that we get,
04:00i30 N, things like that, but they're so good,
04:03so we don't need carbon seats or anything too crazy in this car.
04:05They hold you in really well with these bolsters.
04:07They're quite stiff.
04:09They're plastic-backed, so they do have a good stiffness to them,
04:12and all this is super comfortable.
04:14Not super-duper aggressive like your BMW carbon buckets or anything like that,
04:19but you don't really need that, to be completely honest with you.
04:22I really like the design of the cabin too here.
04:25Some of these design features, the way it wraps around,
04:27does make it feel significantly more sports car than an Ioniq 5N.
04:34A little bit of an interesting one for me.
04:36It has a sunroof as standard kit here in Australia,
04:40so it opens up decently well,
04:44but when you're wearing a helmet, headroom is a massive problem for me in this car.
04:49You can, thankfully, no-cost option, no sunroof,
04:52which is what I would be doing if it was me,
04:54and I intended to go to the track.
04:57Let me run you through some of the drive modes,
05:00because there's a million of them.
05:01We won't have time to get through every single one of them.
05:03I'll go through the most extreme ones and explain how some of that stuff works.
05:07I'll give you an example of some of the noise.
05:10So it does have a quick button there to get to that N-Mode.
05:14Does a cool thing.
05:15And then we're in Sprint on the battery.
05:17You've got Drag, Sprint, Endurance.
05:19We're running Sprint today, which is what you want.
05:21Torque distribution, so you can use this thing up here to flick between full rear,
05:25full front, or somewhere in the middle,
05:27usually 60, 40, 70, 30, things like that.
05:30An N-pedal, drift optimizer, yada, yada, yada.
05:33Things that were in the IONIQ 5N.
05:36You've also got all of these, which, I mean,
05:38if you don't like the letter N, you're going to hate this.
05:41Launch control, e-shift, active sound.
05:44This is what I want to get to.
05:45Three active sounds in this car.
05:47They're now played out of six speakers rather than two.
05:50So they're the same as before.
05:51You can turn them up and down in terms of the volume.
05:54We've just got to max out.
05:56And here's how it works.
05:57You pop the car into neutral, here with the shifter.
06:00And then you can just stand on it.
06:07Why you would want to do this, I'm not sure,
06:09but you can sit there in a car park and please yourself.
06:12It doesn't really make the sound outside either.
06:16But people probably get pretty concerned.
06:19You can see the shifter light here.
06:27In case you want that.
06:29But yeah, so when you're driving,
06:31you've got paddle shifters in case you don't know about it.
06:33So you've got downshift, upshift.
06:35You've got region on the paddles too.
06:37You've got all these things.
06:38You've got Engrin boost,
06:38which will give you 10 seconds of more power.
06:40You can flick through your drive modes here.
06:42You've got physical buttons for the sound
06:45to sort through the menu.
06:46If you hold down that mute button,
06:48it turns off the speed level warning chime,
06:51which is the best thing ever invented.
06:53Congratulations, Hyundai, for coming up with that.
06:55But yeah, that's pretty much the basics of the interior.
06:58There's a decent amount of lay room in the back there.
07:00There's not too much head room.
07:02I think it's about time we take this thing for a drive
07:04and get it out on the track.
07:05So let's do that now.
07:13We're back in the IONIQ 6N.
07:17Got to hit some track laps.
07:19Get comfortable first.
07:21All cars delivered in Australia
07:24have a sunroof,
07:26which is really good for mounting a camera,
07:28but not so good for tall people.
07:37So it's a no-cost option
07:43to not have a sunroof.
07:49The cars are a little bit tired.
07:53Have seen a lot of laps.
07:57So we're not going to be pushing too hard
07:58in this session.
08:06So it's actually a little bit slower.
08:10It's actually a little bit slower
08:12when you're running
08:15in manual.
08:15So you see more like 230,
08:20240 down the straight.
08:25So something that's standing out for me here
08:29is that rear end.
08:31They've done a lot
08:32to the IONIQ 6N
08:34over the 5N through the rear end.
08:38It's a lot stiffer.
08:40They told me there's 44 wheels,
08:43which sounds like a BMW fact.
08:45Man.
08:51There's an in-grid boost comes on.
08:53I give myself
08:56an extra bit of a boost
08:57here down the main straight.
09:00And yeah, we're seeing
09:02delayed downshift.
09:04230 through that.
09:07We're coming to turn one,
09:08keep the weight on the back.
09:12Super torque
09:13in the rear end.
09:16The steering weight
09:18is very firm.
09:23It gives you
09:24a lot of feel.
09:25Well, as much feel
09:26as we expect these days
09:27with electronic steering racks.
09:30Very akin to BMW M,
09:32I should say,
09:33in terms of the steering feel.
09:36It's not at the level
09:37of the Porsches of the world.
09:39Some of the modern Lamborghinis.
09:43But they're still very good.
09:46On centre,
09:47it weights up
09:48as you get through the corner.
09:49So,
09:50even here through this hairpin,
09:52you turn it in,
09:54you start to feel the weight,
09:55especially there
09:55in the mid-corner.
09:57Then as you unwind
09:58the steering wheel,
10:01the weight comes out
10:01of the wheel,
10:02which is really good.
10:03We've got four-piston
10:04brakes up front
10:05with a 400mm disc,
10:07which is not small.
10:08And that's good
10:09because this is
10:10a very heavy car.
10:11Single-piston in the rear.
10:18but most of that weight
10:20transfers to the front.
10:23So,
10:23you don't really need
10:24too much in the back.
10:34gearbox.
10:36Gearbox.
10:37Fake gearbox.
10:41Feels very Ioniq 5N.
10:44Which is a good thing
10:45because it was my favourite thing
10:46about that car.
10:49It does deny
10:50downshifts a little bit,
10:51which is funny
10:51because it's all software.
10:53So,
10:53there is no
10:54gear to deny.
10:58It's just the car
10:59deciding that
11:00I don't have the RPM
11:01for it,
11:01which is
11:02super
11:05internal combustion star.
11:09the sound
11:09is now played
11:10out of six
11:11of the speakers.
11:12I think it sounds
11:13a lot better.
11:14Especially like these.
11:18I know it's all fake.
11:22But it's okay.
11:25Yeah,
11:26I think the main thing
11:26to note here
11:27is that this isn't just
11:30an Ioniq 5N
11:33in sedan form.
11:34They say that
11:35in the press material,
11:36but
11:37I do actually believe
11:38what they're saying.
11:39It does genuinely
11:41function like its own beast
11:42because of,
11:43I think,
11:43mainly
11:45that extra
11:46stiffness in the chassis.
11:48And they've basically
11:49refined a product
11:50that was already
11:51very good,
11:52which is
11:53exactly what you'd
11:54hope for
11:54in a new iteration.
11:56And I'm going to
11:56take it out of
11:57loud mode.
11:59I'm going to
11:59stick it here
12:00in
12:01chill mode
12:02and
12:02give a bit of a
12:03wind down
12:04to the driving
12:04portion of this video.
12:08It sounds like
12:09I'm being
12:09very positive
12:10about this car
12:11and that's because
12:11I do really
12:12enjoy it.
12:13It's hard
12:14in a world
12:15where we drive
12:15so many EVs
12:16these days
12:16and so many
12:17cars that are
12:19genuinely
12:19quite boring
12:21that you get
12:22in an EV
12:23that's this
12:24quick
12:24that has
12:26genuine
12:28engaging
12:29driving dynamics,
12:30talks through
12:31the rear end.
12:31it's an all-wheel
12:32drive car.
12:32It's talking to me
12:33through the rear end
12:34on the exit of the corner
12:35in the braking zone
12:36in the mid-corner
12:37exactly what you want.
12:38The steering weights up
12:40exactly how you would hope.
12:43A little bit stiff
12:44honestly I would say.
12:45A little bit weighty.
12:47Tiny little bit
12:48synthetic
12:48but very good
12:49for an E-pass system.
12:53The suspension
12:55even in full kill mode
12:56here on the track
12:57it doesn't bounce around.
13:00There's no weird
13:02balance issue
13:03between the front
13:03and the rear axle.
13:06A lot of dual-motor EVs
13:08because they're innately
13:09so stiff
13:10have this weird
13:12effect where it just
13:13kind of gallops
13:14that doesn't exist
13:15in this car.
13:16It doesn't exist
13:17in expensive EVs.
13:18So
13:20this is one of those.
13:21I'm glad it's not there.
13:23The power is everything
13:24that you would hope for
13:25for 150 kilowatts.
13:28No joke.
13:30It doesn't die
13:31at the top end
13:31which is something
13:32it doesn't have a
13:32two-speed transfer case
13:33like a Porsche Taycan
13:36but it doesn't die
13:37at the top end
13:38which is quite impressive.
13:39It keeps that
13:40linear acceleration
13:41all the way to
13:42200 plus k's an hour
13:43down the front straight here.
13:45I think a car
13:46with this much power
13:47would be going a bit quicker
13:48here at SMSP
13:49but
13:51230
13:51I mean
13:52it's a turn one
13:53under brakes
13:54you'd be happy with that
13:55every day of the week.
13:58So yeah
13:59they've done
14:00a very good job
14:01with this 6N
14:03and it's amazing
14:04that it's
14:052026
14:05we're punting a car
14:07around a racetrack
14:08that's 2.2 tonnes
14:09and it just does it
14:10and it's fun.
14:11Well done.
14:18but yeah
14:18that's it
14:19for the
14:19IONIQ 6N
14:20and a little bit
14:21of a track test
14:22I haven't driven
14:23this car on the street
14:23so I can't comment
14:25too much
14:25on the ride quality
14:26and how it is
14:27around town
14:28I would expect it
14:29to be quite firm
14:30and quite track orientated
14:31because of what it is
14:32but I guess
14:33if you're buying
14:34this car
14:34that is exactly
14:35what you're looking
14:35for in a sedan.
14:37If you prefer a SUV
14:39like a lot of Australians
14:40then you have
14:41that IONIQ 5N
14:42as an option.
14:43But yeah
14:44that's it
14:44for this car
14:45if you like this video
14:46please let me know
14:46by hitting that like button
14:47to help show this video
14:48to more people
14:49and let me know
14:50what you think
14:51about the
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