Hyundai’s first electrical N automobile, based mostly on the Ioniq 5, guarantees to be fast round a racetrack – however lap occasions usually are not an important factor, says Hyundai Govt Technical Advisor and all-round N model guru Albert Biermann.
Mr Biermann, now retired from his position as Hyundai Motor Group’s total R&D head, was current on the fourth annual Australian N Fest at The Bend Motorsports Park in South Australia final weekend, the place greater than 200 N vehicles and their house owners converged.
Naturally, discuss swiftly turned to what comes subsequent from the N model, specifically the Ioniq 5 N set for a 2023 launch.
“Whereas our engineers preserve banging on about what ought to be the lap time goal for the Ioniq 5 N on the Nürburgring, I simply say it’s not about that, it’s in regards to the feeling you get whenever you’re throwing 2.5 tons across the Nordschleife – that’s what issues greater than something,” mentioned Mr Biermann
“We don’t care about rattling lap occasions, however in fact it’s quick. After I undergo Schwedenkreuz at 220km/h to 230km/h, I need to really feel comfy and I need the automobile to really feel assured. That’s a lot extra necessary than any lap time might ever provide.
“We do not make this automobile for skilled racing drivers, we wish regular drivers within the automobile to benefit from the efficiency – that’s the entire concept of any N automobile. On that foundation alone, the event of the Ioniq 5 N requires a complete completely different method to solely going after lap occasions as a measure of success.
“On a typical race observe the Ioniq 5 N will simply fly away from combustion engine vehicles, as a result of it has a lot prompt energy out there. And, it’s not gradual in corners, both. As you already know, we’ve had a number of tuning classes on the Nordschleife and it’s actually sensible.”
Tuning classes on the ring usually contain each driver and an engineer who screens every kind of dynamic hundreds, however even at near 2.5 tons, Mr Biermann nonetheless raved in regards to the driving expertise.
“Once you go down Fuchsröhre at 230, 240km/h, you’re considering that is utterly loopy given it’s such a heavy automobile, and for certain there are moments you are feeling the load of the automobile, nevertheless it’s nonetheless very succesful.”
In contrast to Kia’s upcoming EV6 GT high-performance EV developed on the identical E-GMP structure as Ioniq 5, the Hyundai has been developed with a observe focus in thoughts, incorporating varied adjustments particularly within the cooling division.
Mr Biermann defines the EV6 GT extra succinctly, given he additionally oversaw the event of the go-fast Kia EV.
“Once we developed the Kia EV6 GT, in fact we observe examined it, nevertheless it was by no means presupposed to be a observe succesful EV, like an N automobile. An N automobile has to have the ability to survive on observe for a sure period of time, whereas the EV6 GT is a high-powered GT following the spirit of the Stinger.”
In relation to Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 N, Mr Biermann cited vital challenges in creating a track-capable EV of appreciable weight and proportions.
“Our two largest challenges are the emotional involvement of the driving force into the cockpit, which is the place we attempt to create this with sound, vibrations and a digital gear shift. It’s additionally a large problem to make a automobile like this correctly observe succesful. That is the place the enjoyable actually begins.
“We’ve spent a number of focus, money and time to make a automobile race observe succesful, as a result of that is the place the substance is. You’ll be able to simply make a declare, however after one or two laps the enjoyable is over as a result of excessive degradation of most vehicles. Most vehicles are fairly ineffective in a observe setting.
“However with Ioniq 5 N we need to present you possibly can nonetheless have some enjoyable and be capable of keep out on observe for 20 minutes or so with out main methods collapsing. The temperature goes up a lot that you simply get battery and inverter degradation, however our E-GMP structure is a superb place to begin to construct high-performance EVs.
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“There’s a unique battery within the Hyundai, as we place extra emphasis on the cooling system as a way to push Ioniq 5 N on a observe. Once we first began testing on the Nordschleife we might do one lap, perhaps, however now we are able to two, and even three laps in a single session.”
Hyundai plans to wrap up improvement of Ioniq 5 N by April/Could 2023 previous to its rumoured world launch later within the 12 months.
