Hyundai Ioniq 6 N - long-term review

There shall be no easing in period for the 6N, it’s straight in at the deep end – specifically, the Top Gear track, chasing around of the world’s fastest and most extreme cars. Because when it comes to filming track-only hypercars capable of 236mph, producing 2.6-tonnes of downforce and 1,578bhp from an 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 engine, you need something capable of keeping up… or at least making a decent fist of it.

Chase cars don’t much more perfect than the Ioniq 6N. The low, flat snout is ideal for mounting cameras on and sniffing out dramatic, tarmac-hugging angles of the hero car. With all those batteries stashed in its belly you get a low centre of gravity, which means less body roll, which means less chance of the video crew redecorating the interior with their breakfast.

And crucially, it’s rapid. Not Bugatti Bolide rapid, but an instantaneous 641bhp kick up the backside is just what you need when trying to position a camera lens precisely relatively to a €4.5m low-flying missile.

Importantly, you don’t need to fuss about with modes. Switch it on, rotate the stalk to D - and even without touching any of the buttons that festoon the steering wheel, it’s good to go. Silent, swift, nicely balanced, not too firm. However, if you’d prefer a more deep and meaningful conversation with the Ioniq 6N’s electronic nerve centre, then you can customise until you’re light blue in the face.

Spend an hour fiddling with the menus on your driveway (entirely necessary or you won’t know what’s going on) and you’ll inevitably land on a preferred set of parameters for the suspension stiffness, steering weight, volume and type of fake noise and throttle sensitivity.

You can toggle through a couple of these grouped presets via the big ‘N’ button on the left, the one on the right activates the simulated ‘DCT’ gearbox – pull the paddles to take manual control. Is it as good as the real thing? Do you care when you’re having this much fun?

You’re always aware that the soundtrack is simulated, but the detail is so good, it matters little – the little power cut on upshifts, the different torque maps in each ‘gear’, the pops and grumbles on the overrun, the self-loathing when you smash into the limiter. It’s mesmerisingly good, and weirdly makes the car feel even faster because you experience the 640bhp in punctuated lunges, not one identical wall of G-force.

And then the fun really begins. Switch the ESC off, engage the N Drift optimiser and unlatch your inner hooligan. Or simply turn the front/rear torque split to 100 per cent rear and see how fast you can get this 2.2-tonne mako shark to demolish a set of tyres.

Even the styling – the part I was least excited about has grown on me. It’s an unapologetic statement, and that’s OK because underneath is a proper driver’s car.

Not all is rosy, though. Twice now this snorting, zinging, flappy-paddle EV has gone totally silent. By which I mean the entire audio system has packed in - no bongs, no music coming through the speakers, no fake engine noise and no electric guitar jingle every time you switch it off (OK it’s not all bad).

A quick call to Hyundai and it’s an easy fix – disconnect the battery for a few seconds, then reconnect, and sonic order is restored… but a black mark nonetheless on an otherwise unblemished report card.