Hyundai Ioniq 5 N vs Mercedes-AMG GT: The race isn’t even close

The electric crossover has proven to be a great performance bargain.

Carow

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N has proven itself to be a great race car. The little electric car has recently humbled several high-performance luxury SUVs, including the Lamborghini Urus and the Brabus-tuned Mercedes-AMG G63. Now it has unleashed its wrath on a more suitable opponent – ​​the Mercedes-AMG GT.

The coupe has a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter AMG V-8 under the hood, delivering 585 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque to all four wheels. Hyundai has two electric motors that give it all-wheel drive, and together they produce 650 horsepower and 545 pound-feet of torque. The AMG has a weight advantage, weighing about 298 pounds less than the electric crossover.

The Hyundai is a fast family car. It outpaced the coupe in the first lap and held on to the finish line. The GT got off to a much better start in the second lap, taking the 5N out in front, but the electric car outpaced the AMG and outpaced it by a wide margin to the finish line. Both cars completed the quarter-mile in 11.4 seconds—impressive for a $66,000 electric family crossover that can create fake gears and corresponding exhaust sounds.

The Ioniq also had some software tricks deployed during the roll-on races. The electric car’s fake gearshifts didn’t help it against the AMG, where it lost by a wide margin. However, a simple change in the setup and a push of the Ioniq’s boost button made the second round a completely different race, with the Hyundai outperforming the Mercedes.

We live in a wild time where Hyundai’s affordable crossovers outsell six-figure sports cars in a straight line, but that’s the big advantage battery electric vehicles offer. They democratize horsepower, and the 5N looks like it’s just the beginning of a new era of high-performance cars that could upend the hierarchy of cars built on combustion power.

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