Name another car brand that puts on quite an event like the N Festival? The 2023 event took place over the weekend at Sydney Motorsport Park and it was another record-setter in terms of attendance and general fun-driving festivities.
Hyundai N Festival is basically a party for N owners, and it rotates around to different circuits throughout Australia from year to year. This year, held in Sydney, around 1820 participants took part in either the track driving activities or the on-road drive meet, or just enjoyed the atmosphere.
A record 400 N vehicles hit the track over the weekend, although split up into groups because, you know, 400 cars on a circuit at the same time could cause some issues. And then another 100 N cars also took part in the on-road drives.
Throughout the weekend fans and drivers could enjoy unrestricted track time (in terms of speed and so on), fun at the skid pan, or just viewing pleasure at the show and shine display. The man who basically responsible for the N brand’s conception, former Hyundai engineering boss and current technical advisor, Albert Biermann, was also there and happy to sign rocker covers and various car bits for fans.
The cost? N owners needed to pay just $50 to take part in the event. That includes track driving, a long-sleeve shirt, tote bag, cap and stickers. This is insanely tempting and excellent value for owners. And owners don’t need to worry about warranty or anything as Hyundai’s official warranty covers track driving, for all models not just N models. It doesn’t cover actual racing or competition though which is understandable.
In our view, this is a truly generous package and it really makes us want to buy an N vehicle. No other manufacturer does anything quite like this. Not this cheap and not in such a relaxed and fuss-free way anyway.
Media were also invited, including us, and we were provided with plenty of track time and the full lineup of current N vehicles, including the i20 N, i30 N hatch and i30 Sedan N. The Kona N, as we know, is sadly out of production so there was no need for Hyundai Australia to include it in the mix.
We thought we’d take this opportunity to find out which is faster on the the track, the i20 N or the i30 N? With the Racelogic Vbox connected up we set a lap time of 2:27 in the i20 N and 2:19 in the i30 N hatch with the eight-speed dual-clutch auto.
Unfortunately, it bucketed down rain just as we stepped into the sedan to set a lap. And the track remained wet for the rest of the evening. However, we feel like the sedan might have been slightly quicker than the hatch if the conditions were right.
Either way, all three vehicles were extremely fun and very capable on the circuit. They don’t feel out of their depth. In saying that, the i20 N did feel a bit too agile and small for the big Sydney circuit, just in my personal opinion. I think it’s natural (or more natural) habitat is smaller circuits, hill climbs and nice mountain roads. Still an absolute hoot to drive. Check out the video below to see how they went.
