The second-generation Hyundai i20 looks set to become the brand’s first model to wear the “N” high-performance badge when it launches a year from now.
Jürgen Grimm, Hyundai Motor Europe’s head of powertrain, said that the time is right for a hardcore i20 hot hatch, 10 months after the announcement of the N brand. “Think i20, there is a big logo called N and it is a sporty brand. They are thinking to set-up such a car with 1.6-litre turbo, 250 horsepower, something like that, as a kind of replica for a WRC car,” Grimm was quoted as saying by Australia’s Motoring at the Paris Auto Show.
The executive said the i20 N would use the same turbocharged 1.6-liter engine used in the Hyundai Veloster Turbo and Kia Pro_cee’d GT, but with an increased output.
In the Hyundai i20, the engine is expected to produce 250PS (248hp), which together with chassis upgrades, bigger brakes, bigger wheels and tyres, sports suspension and full body kit should allow the i20 N to present itself like a worthy road-going homage to the i20 WRC.
The Hyundai i20 N will compete with models including the VW Polo R WRC, but it’s not clear yet whether it will be based on the five-door version shown in Paris or on the three-door i20 Coupe version (pictured above) which will debut in the coming months.
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