From M to N
Hyundai poaches BMW’s M boss to create its first hot hatch, the i30 N – then asks Octane’s man what he thinks of it
ALBERT BIERMANN was perfectly content with his life as the boss at BMW’s M Division. And who in this game wouldn’t be? But then one day he met the chairman of Hyundai, Chung Mong-koo, who offered the 59-year-old German a rather enticing pay offer to go and work for him in Korea, specifically to mastermind Hyundai’s top-secret new N-car project. That was early in 2015, since when Hyundai’s i30 N has occupied much of his time.
It goes on sale next year in the UK and is a surprisingly hardcore, front-drive hot hatch that’s powered by a 290bhp 2.0-litre turbocharged engine. It has a six-speed manual gearbox, electronic dampers and an electronic diff. And it’ll hit 60mph in around six seconds flat. Think RenaultSport Megane Trophy with some Mk1 Focus RS mixed in and you won’t be a million miles away.
In time there will be a whole series of N Hyundais, with the N standing for two things: the Namyang proving ground in Korea where Biermann and his team are based; and more obviously the Nürburgring, where Hyundai has a huge new testing centre in which much of the N’s development has taken place. I was invited by Biermann to drive a prototype of the car well ahead of its launch because he wants to make sure it rides and handles properly in the UK, potentially the N-car’s biggest market.
And that’s why Albert Biermann and I ended up on the road to Beachy Head. I’ve been driving this road for decades now and have so far resolutely failed to find a car that can genuinely unpick it. So when I got the call from Mr Biermann, asking where we should go, the answer seemed obvious.
When we got there, we knew we’d come to the right place. I drove the car, he drove the car, we then talked about the car, and, apart from a few minor points, we agreed it is already where it needs to be to work well on a UK B-road. Quietly, and to myself, I was amazed by how good it was; by how composed it felt over this most evil of roads; by how quick it was across the ground; by how well it drove, full stop.
And maybe the best thing of all about the N is that you can tailor each individual component to suit your mood and/or the road condition. Smooth road equals a stiffer damper setting, a more aggressive throttle response, and as little intervention from the traction control as possible. Whereas on a bumpy road you can dial-in the exact opposite.
‘And when you turn the traction control off,’ says Biermann, ‘it stays off. I hate it when you think you’ve turned something off but you haven’t, and I absolutely refused to have a system like that in our car. So when it’s off, it’s off, and the rest is all down to the driver.’
So having spent a day in it with the boss, I’m convinced Hyundai (of all car companies) has a right winner on its hands with the i30 N. And just think: in Herr Biermann’s own words, this is only the beginning.