2022 Hyundai Elantra N Review: Race-Bred Rascal

Auto123 reviews the 2022 Hyundai Elantra N.

Not that long ago, if you’d told me that of all the Japanese and Korean automakers that have entered the Canadian market in recent decades, Hyundai would be the first to come out with a proper performance line of their own, I’d probably have accused you of living in a dreamworld.

It’s not without precedent, exactly. Honda has offered performance trims – think Civic Si – and what you could call fully-fledged performance models like the Civic Type R; Mazda has the MX-5, and it once sprinkled Mazdaspeed love on a very light selection of models (though it hasn’t done so since 2013);  Toyota has its TRD stuff but that’s been mainly cosmetic.

Hyundai, though, seems to have spotted a gap in coverage here because it is going all out with its N division. And its efforts go beyond offering fun road cars, because it’s also racing in top-flite leagues like the World Rally Championship, TCR (touring car) Pirelli World Challenge and TCR Michelin Pilot Challenge.

So, what to do when you’re going racing and it’s time to better monetize the effort? Well, you develop some super cool road cars with a little flare, inspired by those racers.

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