Hyundai teases i20 N exercising in the snow

Thursday, 7 May 2020

Hyundai is nearly finished preparing its i20 N for debut and, has shared some pictures of the smaller hot hatch playing in the snow before its big day.

The camouflaged hatchback was filmed in northern Sweden with Hyundai Motorsport's WRC driver Thierry Neuville behind the wheel. In spite of the camo coverings we can see bigger brakes nestled behind larger wheels, a lower suspension system and two exhausts poking out of the rear bumper.

We're not sure on what lies beneath the bonnet but rumour has it Hyundai will either detune the 2.0-litre inline-four found in the i30 N or use the 1.6-litre turbo donk currently employed in the Veloster.

Not much to see here but this is the i20 N, the i30 N's smaller sibling.

Either way, expect an excess of 150kW in order to rival the Ford Fiesta ST and VW Polo GTI. If Hyundai is feeling brave, it could even turn the wick up enough to try to match Toyota's upcoming 200kW GR Yaris…

**READ MORE:

The i20 N will do battle with the Ford Fiesta ST and VW Polo GTI.

* Hyundai teases i30 Sedan N-Line

* Hyundai to expand N range even further

* Road test review: Hyundai i30 N-Line

* Hyundai Kona is a baby-SUV that's born to be mild

A dual-clutch transmission is almost guaranteed but Hyundai could slip in an extra pedals by using the manual transmission from the i30 N, a process made easier if the 2.0-litre engine also makes the cut.

The i20 isn't the only Hyundai to be getting an N variant. The Kona will undergo treatment later this year, as will the larger Tucson SUV. Finally, the N division has been linked with a standalone halo car, which could well be based on the mid-engined RM19 prototype (also visible in the video above).

We should know more about the smaller hatchback in the months to come.

When Stuff reached out for comment, Hyundai New Zealand said that if the i20 N is built in right-hand drive, it will 'assess the merits of bringing it to New Zealand.'