2025.08.21 Hyundai Motor Company
IONIQ 6 N’s Dazzling Debut Stage at Goodwood
Hyundai N pulled the covers off the all-new IONIQ 6 N for the very first time at the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed, the U.K.’s biggest automotive celebration. Packed with a decade of N heritage and a bold vision for the future, the IONIQ 6 N’s world premiere was more than a reveal—it was a statement.
Hyundai N, celebrating its 10th anniversary, chose the Goodwood Festival of Speed for the IONIQ 6 N’s debut stage. Just as the IONIQ 5 N made its global premiere at Goodwood in 2023, the second high-performance EV from Hyundai N was unveiled at the very same venue.
So why Goodwood? Known as the “moving motor show,” the Festival is unlike a static car event where vehicles sit idly under spotlights. Here, the cars run flat-out up a 1.89-km hill climb with nine corners, engines—or in this case, motors—roaring. It’s an arena where performance can be seen, heard, and felt, a place perfectly suited to showcase N’s passion for driving fun in the electrified era.
At this year’s Festival, Hyundai N presented the IONIQ 6 N while also celebrating its 10-year history and laying out its vision for the future. Beyond EVs, Hyundai N reaffirmed its promise to keep delivering driving thrills across internal combustion and hybrid platforms as well. That spirit was on full display at every turn.
Hyundai N Booth: A Playground for Car Enthusiasts
The N booth was buzzing. Alongside the world premiere of the IONIQ 6 N, Hyundai also showcased a model equipped with N Performance Parts, underscoring the brand’s intent to expand deeper into the motorsports world. The booth also featured the IONIQ 5 N, which had already paved the way by launching with its own set of N Performance Parts and proving its mettle with the one-make eN1 Cup car—built using the same battery, motor, and cooling system as the production model.
Hyundai N had already made waves on the motorsport stage with the IONIQ 5 N. At the 2024 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado, the IONIQ 5 N and its Time Attack spec sibling smashed records, setting 10:49.267 in the production EV SUV category and 9:30.852 in the modified class.
Earlier this year, at Attack Tsukuba 2025 in Japan, the IONIQ 5 N TA spec clocked a blistering 57.446 seconds around the Tsukuba Circuit’s Course 2000, beating the previous EV record by two full seconds and sending shockwaves across both motorsport and tuning circles.
By displaying the record-setting IONIQ 5 N and IONIQ 5 N TA spec next to the IONIQ 6 N, Hyundai N built a clear narrative: the newest N EV draws directly from proven motorsport DNA, powered by the same tech forged in competition and honed through the “Rolling Lab” development program.
It wasn’t just about parking cars under the lights. The booth offered plenty of action for enthusiasts: a tech wall that broke down the high-performance hardware inside the IONIQ 6 N, a racing simulator where fans could experience N driving dynamics firsthand, and an expanded N Collection zone featuring the brand-new 10th Anniversary lineup alongside the exclusive IONIQ 6 N collection.
Visitors who checked out the tech wall, tried the simulator, and joined the SNS-linked event could collect three stamps, which earned them access to the exclusive N Grandstand, a prime spot overlooking the Goodwood hill climb. It was a thoughtful program designed by Hyundai N to give fans a richer, more rewarding experience at the Festival.
Some participants left their impressions: “Other brands invited only their own customers to the grandstands. But Hyundai N welcomed anyone who loves cars. This is the right way to connect a brand with true enthusiasts.”
N Moment: A Decade of History on Full Display
One of the true highlights of this year’s Goodwood Festival was the N Moment session, celebrating ten years of Hyundai N. Key models from the brand’s history took to the course in a solo show run that told the N story loud and clear.
The 2014 Hyundai i20 WRC represented the beginning—Hyundai’s very first rally car. Following it was the 2024 i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, symbolizing today’s success at the highest levels of WRC. Just last year, Hyundai World Rally Team driver Thierry Neuville clinched the 2024 WRC Drivers’ Championship—his first career title—behind the wheel of the i20 N Rally1 Hybrid.
Then came the 2017 i30 N, the first-ever Hyundai N high-performance road car. Entering Europe’s fiercely contested hot hatch arena, it made waves with thrilling dynamics and raw power. The i30 N quickly racked up glowing media reviews and major awards, proving Hyundai N’s credentials. Its racing sibling, the i30 N TCR, went on to dominate the 2018 WTCR series, capturing both drivers’ and teams’ championships—a perfect demonstration of N’s core product philosophy: true race-track capability.
The 2023 IONIQ 5 N, Hyundai N’s first EV, ushered in a new era of electrified high-performance. It carried a clear message: driving fun doesn’t end with electrification. Its Time Attack variant pushed production EV tech even further into motorsports, as proven by the blistering results at the 2024 Pikes Peak Hill Climb and Attack Tsukuba.
Next up was the RN24 “Rolling Lab,” the embodiment of N’s future vision. Designed to pack the 650-horsepower PE system from the IONIQ 5 N into a smaller format, it came loaded with advanced motorsport tech. Rally Mode electronic AWD precisely managed torque across all four wheels through corners, while the E-handbrake used regenerative braking to lock the rear wheels, mimicking rally handbrake maneuvers with surgical accuracy. RN24’s smoky, sideways drift runs had the Goodwood crowd cheering.
The N Moment finale featured three IONIQ 6 N variants: the standard production car, a model fitted with N Performance Parts, and the all-out IONIQ 6 N Drift Spec. Together they highlighted the new EV’s motorsport potential and versatility, directly building on the path laid down by the IONIQ 5 N.
In 2023, Hyundai N unveiled the IONIQ 5 N at the Goodwood Festival and wowed the crowd with the IONIQ 5 N Drift Spec. It proved that drifting—long considered the domain of combustion cars—could be every bit as thrilling in an EV. And this year, as the IONIQ 6 N Drift Spec tore up the hill to thunderous applause and cheers, it became clear that Hyundai N had taken the pure joy of driving shown by the IONIQ 5 N and pushed it to an even higher level.
The IONIQ 6 N Drift Spec came fitted with a dedicated body kit, giving it a lower, wider stance, along with a drift-angle kit for the front wheels to deliver blistering sideways action. It was a show of pure intent—a message to both rival brands and fans that the possibilities for high-performance EVs are virtually limitless, and Hyundai N is determined to lead that charge.
A Future Shared with IONIQ 6 N
Hyundai N earned roaring approval from global fans at Goodwood, not just for the cars on display but for the vision behind them. Every piece of the program reflected N’s relentless drive to create performance machines and share its passion for driving with enthusiasts everywhere. Most of all, Hyundai N proved once again that it listens to the fans. By inviting everyone to join in, by pushing the limits of performance tech, and by creating cars that keep the joy of driving alive, the brand left a powerful impression.
This year’s Festival also sparked excitement for the future with the IONIQ 6 N. From its finely tuned hardware and performance-focused software, to its motorsport-ready versatility, Hyundai N gave fans reason to dream. The brand knows exactly what car lovers want—and keeps pushing beyond the limits to deliver. That’s why so many enthusiasts around the world expect, and cheer for, the next chapter of Hyundai N.
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