Why we selected a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N for One Lap of America

“Hey, if nothing else, it’ll be a great story!”

This line is a universal enabler, especially when you’re in the business of making magazines. And it’s what drove Andy Hollis and I to give up on a string of fast, modern cars that were right at home in the arms race that is the modern Tire Rack One Lap of America Presented by Grassroots Motorsports magazine paddock. 

This grueling weeklong event puts teams on a new track every single day (sometimes multiple tracks per day) and sets them on thousands of miles of transit all across the country. All driven in their race cars, on their race tires. It’s not for the faint of heart.

And that aforementioned line is how we talked ourselves into doing the event in Andy’s gutted, caged, K-swapped Honda CRX. We wanted to show that two friends in a cheap car could beat giants, and we did, putting that CRX 11th overall in a field of 77 cars. You can read all about that adventure here:

[One Lap of America: What we learned competing with an underdog CRX]

By the end of the event, though, Andy and I were exhausted–physically, mentally, emotionally, everything. We’d driven thousands and thousands of miles in a gutted race car, Kirkey seat and all, and it had pushed us to our limit. We were covered in bumps and bruises, and the 90-decibel transits meant we were screaming at each other the whole time, too. 

We ended that story with the following words:

Two guys walk into a bar. Behind them? The still-smoldering Honda CRX they’d just driven for 3500 miles and 16 track events all over the country. One or two or four beers in, they agreed: “We’re doing next year’s event with a/c, padded seats and a radio! Whose idea was it to spend a week driving this stupid CRX, anyway?”

Which brings us to this year’s entry. There’s always been a fundamental compromise inherent in all cars. Speed brings compromises in comfort, in economy, in reliability, in cost, and more often in all of the above. Race cars are fast but uncomfortable. Street cars are comfortable but slow. Finding the perfect compromise is the challenge of One Lap, and there have been many metas over the years. Nissan GTR. Porsche 911 Turbo. McLaren, Corvette, Viper and more. 

But what if that perfect compromise is electric? Electric motors promise huge power without the drivability and durability compromises that high-horsepower internal combustion brings. Modern EVs are ruthlessly fast, comfortable, cheap to run and bring critical AWD for One Lap’s inevitable rainy sessions. And a few teams have campaigned them, usually plagued by heat management issues–the Achilles’ heel of tracking an EV.

Which is why we were so curious when Hyundai launched the Ioniq 5 N. Here was an EV that, theoretically, was ready for track time right off the showroom floor. No heat management workarounds. No weak links. No excuses. Then our own JG Pasterjak reviewed one at Laguna Seca and loved it. Then one set a record at the Pikes Peak hillclimb. Then Hyundai picked up the phone when we finally called. 

[Video: How does the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N perform on track?]

“Hey, uh, can we borrow a car the first week of May? For science?"

That’s how Andy and I found ourselves with flights booked to Tire Rack’s headquarters, the starting line of the Tire Rack One Lap of America Presented by Grassroots Motorsports, with a voucher for a 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N in my pocket. Will we prove our hypothesis correct and show that this 641-horsepower, $66,000 SUV can be a front-runner? Will we prove that the electric future won’t just be acceptable, but actually better? We’re about to find out over a grueling week of racing.

Hey, if nothing else, it’ll be a great story!

Comments

Displaying 1-10 of 71 commentsView all comments on the GRM forums

You'll need to log in to post.