Five Things The Ioniq 5 N Gets Right - And Three Things Hyundai Screwed Up

The 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is an electric rocket ship with four wheels. It has 601 horsepower and 545 lb-ft of torque for just karting around town but when you press the button for "N Grin Boost" things get real serious, dialing it up to 641 hp and 568 lb-ft. According to Hyundai, it'll do zero to 60 mph in 3.25 seconds – but some outlets that have tested the 5 N made the sprint even faster. 

On top of being the most powerful car Hyundai has ever made, it's also really good to drive. The steering and handling dynamics are excellent, it corners flat, and it's comfortable enough to be a practical daily driver. But living with the Ioniq 5 N for the better part of two weeks had me thinking less about the power, and more about the little things.

There are plenty of quirks and idiosyncrasies in cars that even the most seasoned car enthusiasts can't pick up on in just a short amount of time. So, living with the Ioniq 5 N for the better part of two weeks, using it as my daily driver, I settled in and got a real sense for what it gets right and what it gets wrong. And it turns out the 5 N gets a lot right – more than just a performance vehicle, it's excellent in a number of small ways. There are, however, some little things worth improving too. After all, nobody's perfect.

The Ioniq 5 N's steering wheel is 14.5-inches in diameter: small enough to feel appropriate for high-performance driving, yet large enough to fit some buttons without feeling too crowded. Its rim is thick enough for a sturdy grip and wrapped in perforated leather for a nice, tactile feel. And, the steering wheel is round – in a world of high-performance vehicles that are shifting to flat-bottom steering wheels, this feels much better and more natural. The steering wheel is also heated, a standard feature for the 5 N and a welcome addition on cold mornings.

Learning the button layout of the 5 N's steering wheel requires some dedicated attention. There are multiple buttons related to performance changes, as well as selections for brake regen settings, cruise control, stereo settings, volume, and drive modes, but once I was familiar with the steering wheel, it all felt like second nature. The gear-shift paddles (which provide excellent simulated shifts) are sturdy and provide a strong physical feedback.

On top of wear and tear of your vehicle, driving quickly (especially in a track setting) causes some wear and tear on your body. If you've ever been to a track day or on an extended stint of driving quickly through the mountains, you know that your body braces against all sorts of places in your vehicle. This is especially true if you're driving a car with seats that aren't track-style buckets, or if you aren't strapped in with a racing harness. The G-forces exerted on your body when taking a corner at maximum speed cause your body to shift left and right, no matter how strong your core is, and this means you're bracing things like your knees against either the center console or the door.

Once, in a racing school, I noticed that all the track school's cars had large circular pads on the driver's side door. When I asked the instructor why it was there, he told me that it was to keep novice drivers from slamming their knees against the door during hard cornering. Hyundai, it seems, has applied the same principle to the center console on the 5 N. During some pretty enthusiastic driving on my local mountain road, I was able to place my right knee against this, and place my left knee on the well-padded driver's-side door. After a long day of driving I had no bumps, bruises, or discomfort on either knee.

On top of simulating a tachometer very well, the Ioniq 5 N's driver screen offers a lot of helpful information in an easy to read way. Both it and the center touchscreen measure 12.3-inches: large enough to display things like speed, revs (fake revs of course), a G-meter, the level of battery charge, battery and motor temps, and all the required warning lights for vehicle functions.

The driver display screen is also ideally located with excellent contrast between the lights and darks; it doesn't get washed out in the sun. It's low enough that it doesn't get in the way of forward vision, but sufficiently high enough to see it through the steering wheel easily when the seat and steering wheel are properly adjusted for my height. The center screen also provides data like torque distribution, track-driving settings, and an on-board lap timer – all great features for performance driving.

I love any light-up feature on cars. Puddle lamps? Yes please. Adjustable interior glow? Take my money. Stars on the roof? Outside my budget, but sign me up to dream about it anyway. I grew up during the Fast and Furious era of car modification, when underglow was popular, so Hyundai's illuminated N logos in the front seat headrests were easy to fall for. They're also a key part of the car's overall styling.

Lots of little squares and 90-degree angles are a big part of the Ioniq 5 N's retro character. The headlights and taillights are made of rectangles and pixel-like squares. Those same little squares are all over the interior, in the engine bay, and even on the pedals. There are unique styling cues everywhere on this vehicle and these illuminated N logos are just another small addition that help the 5 N feel special. 

On top of having cool little illuminated logos in the headrests, the Ioniq 5 N's seats strike a great balance between performance and comfort. Around corners, they're well-bolstered enough on both the seat bottoms and the back to hold you in place, and they're also supportive enough for someone like me with a sensitive back. The Alcantara upholstery is soft, and there's lots of padding in the seats so long road trips or ponderous daily commutes are no problem either.

The 5 N's front seats are heated and ventilated as standard and both of those functions work pretty well. Having them is a big benefit for daily driving comfort, but I wish there was an option for a less well-equipped seat. (This is the part where I complain a bit, even while I'm praising the seat's quality.) As a performance focused vehicle, I'd like to see an available seat that saves a bit of weight by eliminating the heating and ventilation elements, as well as the illuminated N logos. Despite liking all these features, I do think there's a buying audience that would prefer an upgrade package with something like a carbon-fiber seat. On the flip side of that coin, I'd also like to see an available heated rear seat for the comfort crowd.

We've gone through lots of the little highlights that are part of the experience of living with a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, but now it's time to talk about the drawbacks. One such drawback is related to parking. The face of the 5 N's wheels stick out past the tire ever so slightly and that means curbing is a really significant danger if you aren't paying attention. Watching a valet get microscopically close to a curb when he delivered the 5 N to me was a hair-raising scenario, and I can imagine that over the life of the vehicle, the right side wheels could get pretty scratched up if I wasn't being ultra careful.

Street parking is a reality of life in Los Angeles — and in most major US cities really — and often the only place to park is along the street, next to a curb. And with the Ioniq 5 N's 21x9.5-inch wheels, that's a perilous prospect. If I owned the 5 N, I'd solve this problem by fitting a different set of wheels (or tires) to the car, but they'd have to be aftermarket: currently, this is the only design that Hyundai offers. Hopefully, other wheel-and-tire combos will be for sale in the future.

I've espoused the virtues of this practical hatchback, but there's one big drawback on the inside, and specifically the rear accommodations. There are no pockets on the back of the front seats, nor a storage cubby, rear vents, or even small-item storage. Sure, there are some serviceable cup holders available if you fold the center console down, but that's rendered useless if you've got three back-seat passengers.

The 5 N's big, newly-debuted sibling, the Ioniq 9, does this sort of stuff much better. It has pull-out drawers for storage, cup holders everywhere, and even a sliding center console that accommodates first and second row passengers. At the very least, some netting on the rear of the Ioniq 5 N's front seats would allow for the storage of books, magazines, or grocery bags. 

While we're on the topic, it's worth noting that the 5 N's front-seat storage is lacking in the creativity department, too. There's wireless smartphone charging, lots of charging ports, plenty of space for cell phones, wallets, keys, and any other number of items you find yourself carrying around, but the deep pocket between the driver and front passenger seems like it could be better organized.

On the inside, the 5 N feels special. The simulated engine noises put a smile on my face pretty much every time I hear them and the sheer force of the 5 N's acceleration never fails to make my day better. But on the outside, it feels a bit too normal. The styling on the standard Ioniq 5 is unique amongst electric SUVs and hatchbacks, but I don't think the 5 N goes far enough to distinguish itself from the standard model. There are some bright colors (Performance Blue and Soultronic Orange are particular favorites of mine) but there are no deep reds, wild greens, or offensive neon yellows.

The wheels I mentioned earlier? They're nice to look at, but relatively plain, and the gloss-black sections of the wheel spokes make them disappear into the wheel wells a bit — especially with the black lower sections of the 5 N's body work. Without straying too far into the Fast and Furious territory I mentioned earlier, I also think the 5 N could use some even-more extreme body treatments that stand out a bit more. No need for a massive wing poking out of the top of the rear hatch, but a gurney flap or some canards couldn't hurt. After all, when you're a rarity among EVs, you owe it to us all not to blend into the rest of the parking lot.