As I mentioned in my Tesla Model S Test Drive, I'm on a mission to see if an electric vehicle could be a realistic choice for my next car - something that serves my commuting and family hauling needs as a daily driver but can be tons of fun when I find some curvy back roads. Yesterday I took the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N out for a spin. The quest isn't over, but the Ioniq raises a completely different set of questions than the Tesla.
My first impression jumping inside the car was how performance-oriented the whole interior is. The steering wheel (at least compared to the Tesla) looks almost like an F1 wheel. There are buttons for driving mode, launch mode, paddles for "shifting," engine sound - all the things that affect the driving feel are right at your fingertips and don't require going through the screen. The dash display behind the steering wheel has several options that all look like a great mix of traditional driving with modern technology. They also nailed the mix of buttons and touch-screen interaction in the main center screen. While playing with the buttons and screens, I noticed there's a race mode with more adjustments you can make to how the car drives, as well as a lap timer! Clearly this car was built for serious enthusiasts.
Getting the car set up to drive, I was surprised to find that the seat and steering wheel position adjustments were entirely manual. I'm sure the manual seats come with the territory with the very race-inspired seats in the Ioniq 5 N. They were indeed great for tackling curvy roads but I wonder if they'd start feeling a bit cramped after a long commute.
Once I got going, I was immediately impressed with how the steering and suspension felt so connected with the road. The acceleration was also plenty fast. It certainly isn't the insane acceleration of the Tesla, but a few seconds of full throttle will still produce grin-inducing G forces that rival any normal sports car.
After finding some curvy back roads, I switched into "N Mode," which decreases the traction control and stability control, turns on the "N Active Sound+," and turns on "N e-Shift." Now I have to admit, when I tried the different simulated engine noises earlier in the drive, it felt a bit gimmicky. But when combined with the paddle shifting to simulate the experience of upshifting and downshifting through a (totally pretend) RPM range, it was nothing but pure driving fun. Braking into a corner, downshifting, carrying some speed through the corner, then accelerating out and jumping back up through the gears was an absolute joy. That audible feedback of power and the active participation in choosing a "gear" were a huge part of what was missing in the Tesla. The fantastic suspension and steering feel complete the package to create a genuinely great driving experience.
For as fun as this car is, the question I'm now left with is actually whether it can serve all those other needs as a daily driver. I could see those seats and that suspension all feeling a bit tiresome after 30 or 60 minutes in traffic every day. Is sacrificing everyday comfort worth it for what you get on those occasional weekend joy rides? I suppose in some sense, the very fact that that's the question I'm left with is already a credit to the Ioniq 5 N. As my daughter and I approached the dealership at the end of the test drive, I told her I had been wondering whether the lack of fun in the Tesla was a problem that would plague all electric vehicles. She summed it up perfectly - "apparently not."
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