Hyundai is taking four Ioniq 5 N EVs to next month’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and it’s just given us a sneak look at the lineup, including the two TA Spec versions the team has modified with huge aero kits. While the stock 5 Ns are looking to be the first to set an Electric Production SUV/Crossover time the tuned versions want to set a time for the Electric Modified SUV/Crossover class.
Compared with the production-class Ioniq 5
Ns, which are only lightly modified for safety purposes with a Recaro Pro Racer
SPA Hans driver’s seats, Sabelt six-point racing harnesses, a roll cage and
fire suppression system, the winged cars are far more serious. The bi-motor
drivetrain’s rear motor gets new software that adds 36 hp,
taking the car’s total output to 677 hp, and there are new
three-way-adjustable dampers and motorsport-spec brakes stashed behind 18-inch
wheels wearing Yokohama ADVAN 005 slicks. Naturally, the same safety kit
featured on the stock cars also makes an appearance here.
Hyundai has also modified the road car’s N
Active Sound+ simulated engine noise system with special speakers allowing it
to pump out 120 dB, allowing the team to ditch the awful sirens electric cars
running at Pikes Peak usually have to use, and also promising to deliver some
useful feedback for the drivers. The TA cars will be piloted by four-time PPIHC
winner Robin Shute and Dani Sordo, a Spanish World Rally Championship driver
for Hyundai Motorsport, while 11-time winner and three-time ‘King of the
Mountain’ Paul Dallenbach and rookie Ron Zaras will drive the production
models.
Hyundai announced details about the Pikes
Peak cars at the Nürburgring in Germany, where it will run three Elantra N TCRs
in this weeknd’s 24-hour race, and used the same opportunity to confirm that it
is working on several projects with the makers of the Gran Turismo racing game,
including a PPIHC simulation.
