Hyundai i20N

REPORT 3

£24,995 OTR/£25,545 as tested/£311pcm

WHY IT’S HERE

Is TG’s Car of the Year as great to live with as it is to drive?

DRIVERS

Stephen Dobie

THE HYUNDAI i20N HAS THUS FAR PROVED UNFLAPPABLE. I therefore felt compelled to present TG’s overall Car of the Year with the sort of challenge nothing registered in 2021 could apparently muster. Namely the best hot hatchback ever made. Big words, but I’m willing to nail them to the 2009 Clio RenaultSport 200 Cup.

On paper it’s a dead heat, the Clio’s 1,204kg/197bhp playing the i20N’s 1,220kg/201bhp. Their length, width and wheelbase are even closer pegged. And crucially both feel developed with the same nerdy detail.

Buzz the Clio to 8,000rpm and you’ll wish for nothing else on four wheels. Seriously. The 200 lives on the cusp of analogue and digital; not so ancient that it skates around like it’s on space savers, but old enough to contain no drive modes or complication. You want more noise from the exhaust? You work its fabulous nat-asp 2.0-litre harder. You want your downshifts rev-matched, or to feel the rear axle slide? You learn how to make those things happen yourself.

The Hyundai hands you everything with less effort and speed, yet you’re encouraged to pile on both regardless. With its limited-slip differential, rev-match system and midway ‘Sport’ mode for the stability control, it’s happy to take some dynamic slack for you. It appeases your occasional need to rest, though it does have the more abrupt ride of the pair.

Ultimately both stand for spectacular overengineering in their own way. The Clio’s extra wide bespoke bodywork called for production in Renault’s specialist Dieppe factory while the N’s bodyshell boasts a plethora of additional weld points over a stock i20. It’s those efforts that make these cars the brilliant doses of hilarity they’ve proved to be. The bright green Clio remains my favourite hot hatch of all time, but N division has delivered one hell of a tribute act. And a car still to be truly flapped.