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By Jonathan Crouch

Introductionword count: 29

By 2020, Hyundai's N division was establishing quite a track record with its shopping rockets. That was when we got the smallest of them, the rather endearingly frantic i20N.

Modelsword count: 3

5dr supermini [1.6T-GDi]

Historyword count: 239

If you like your small hatches serious and spicy and want one from the 2020-2023 period, Hyundai's wild i20N will be right up your street. Compared with the Madras served up by its Fiesta ST arch-rival, it's a bit more Vindaloo, but if you think that's what a shopping rocket supermini should really be about, you'll like this one very much indeed. Performance branding can sometimes be a disappointment - names like CUPRA and DS spring to mind. But Hyundai's N Series of uber-fast hatches proved to be anything but. Masterminded by former BMW M Series boss Albert Biermann, credibility for the Korean maker's hot hatches was achieved remarkably quickly. Things kicked off in 2017 with a car we really liked, the i30N, which got closer to unsettling the Golf GTI than we ever thought it would. That model's was then in 2020 followed up with two more, the Kona N small performance crossover; and the subject of this review, the i20N, a ballistic supermini-on-steroids aimed directly at the small fast hatch champion, Ford's Fiesta ST. By 2020, the Hyundai N recipe had become a familiar one. Take the standard hatch; stiffen it up a bit; insert a bigger, gutsier engine. Then remove the wheels, brakes and suspension and replace with circuit-tuned parts. Finally, season with a bit of madcap visual drama. Which clues you in for what you're in for with this i20N. It sold until late 2023.

What You Getword count: 703

Perhaps wanting to do something a bit different to the understated look championed by rivals, Hyundai gave this i20N a fully fledged 'Max Power'-style World Championship Rally demeanour - as you could say it was entitled to do given its World Rally Champion manufacturer status in the period of development. You certainly won't lose this car in the Long stay car park. The rally references are obvious with the use of a proper roof-mounted wing, rather than the usual subtle spoiler. And there's a serious-looking serrated lower diffuser too, housing a big fat oval exhaust, though it's surrounded by a rather unnecessarily large amount of 'Tomato Red' flashing. In profile, the standard i20's wedge-shaped silhouette, emphasised by a rather unique swept-up design around the C and D-pillars, works well with the shopping rocket embellishment - the red lower side sill stripe, the black mirrors and an optional black contrast-coloured roof. There are lovely details too, like the silver i20 badge just above the rear wheel arch and branded red calipers for the N Performance Braking System peeping out between the spokes of the 18-inch Matt Grey light alloy wheels. Of course, you'll want overtaking presence too, delivered at the front by a bespoke red-trimmed lip spoiler and a black branded grille with a unique chequered flag-inspired pattern, though which you can just about glimpse the huge intercooler necessary to calm the throbbing turbo. After all that, it'd be disappointing to get inside and find a merely mildly warmed-over interior. Don't worry though: that wasn't what was served up here. Instead, this cabin's full of serious statements of intent. Like the firmly contoured blue-stitched steering wheel with its blue N mode paddles and prominent red 'Rev'-matching button. And the N Sport Seats with blue branding that grip you properly around the nether regions. All the shopping rocket detailing you'd want is present and correct too; a perfectly positioned gear lever with serrated black and silver finishing; N-branded door sill tread plates; race-style silver pedals; and blue stitching to decorate the upholstery, the handbrake, the door cards and the gearshift gaitor. Shopping rocket fans will love it all. But not perhaps quite as much as what they'll find on the two 10.25-inch screens that dominate the dash. Prod either of the blue N wheel paddles and the Digital Supervision Cluster transforms from a twin-dial display into a single rev counter gauge to the rather chintzy accompaniment of a fiery ring. And the complementing Centre Console Display has an 'N mode' section with a home screen for serious drive info: or you can swipe across to Custom screens that allow you to tailor responses for engine, steering, rev matching, ESC and exhaust sound. Plus you can also activate Launch Control for Grand Prix getaways and select from a further menu of 'Performance Options'. Brilliant. And in the rear? Well, unlike its arch-rival, Ford's Fiesta ST, the i20N couldn't be had with the alternative of a sportier three-door body style, but the designers did try to deliver some of that look with the swept-back tapering roof silhouette, something that will slightly impede access for taller folk. The doors open nice and wide though and once inside, you'll find that this Hyundai has as much rear space for legs and knees as you could reasonably expect in this class; there's certainly a little more than is offered by the five-door version of that rival Fiesta. Headroom isn't quite so noteworthy, thanks to said roof line, but this design's relatively wide exterior width and notably low centre transmission tunnel mean it'd be just about realistic to take a trio of passengers back here if you absolutely had to, though the raised central cushion won't do much for the comfort of the middle occupant. As for the boot, well lift the hatch and you're greeted with quite an accommodating luggage area, 352-litres in size, which is a useful 60-litres larger than you'd get from that Fiesta ST. One day, a supermini maker will offer the flexibility of either a ski hatch or a 40:20:40 seatback split, but back in 2020 that day hadn't yet come, so there's just a conventional 60:40-split backrest that lowers to reveal a 1,165-litre total capacity.

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