2023 Hyundai i20 N laps the Melburgring

What is Australia’s version of the Nurburgring? It surely has to be a place larger than life, like Mount Panorama. Or something with worldwide appeal, such as Melbourne’s Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit. Perhaps even Australia’s longest circuit – the Bend Motorsport Park – to match the Nurburgring’s awesome outright length.

It’s a question I’ve wondered growing up alongside the Nurburgring’s fame becoming ever more popular – if Germany can have a grand circuit for track days, racing and car development, why can’t Australia?

It got us thinking in the Drive office, and it wasn’t long before we pulled up Google Maps to try and imitate Nurburgring’s iconic outline somewhere locally.

Anyone in Melbourne with a keen interest in driving will know the Yarra Valley as prime territory for exercising a car, so it’s this area we focused on to find a suitable loop. What we came up with, as seen in the Google Maps insert above, is eerily reminiscent of the Nurburgring’s own layout – even matched in slight tilted orientation.

The likeness doesn’t stop there, though. Just like the Nordschleife our loop is comprised of public roads, it's set in lush greenery, and the region is often inundated with inclement weather that can change in an instant.

Granted, our Mëlburgring (as we’ve coined it) is a mammoth 129km in length compared to the Nürburgring Nordschleife’s 20km. Our version is also throttled by speed limits, but we won’t let that get in the way of a good story.

It was a loop worth exploring further, so we set to thinking about what car would best suit. The Nurburgring is used to develop all kinds of cars from myriad car manufacturers. Not only is it situated in the backyard of German giants like Porsche, BMW M, Audi RS, and Mercedes-AMG, but the locale has even attracted carmakers including Jaguar Land Rover, Aston Martin, and Hyundai N to set up bespoke test centres.

In fact, Hyundai’s entire N performance division is centred around the Nurburgring. The ‘N’ is said to stand for Namyang, Korea, where the division’s cars are created, and the Nurburgring, where they’re honed into sharp performance machines.

For our Melburgring lap, we’re behind the wheel of the most affordable model in the Hyundai N line-up, the 2023 Hyundai i20 N. It’s a light hatchback that has been pumped, prodded, and perked up into a performance car, complete with a turbocharged 1.6-litre engine under the bonnet.

Specifically, the i20 N is equipped with Pirelli P Zero tyres, 18-inch alloy wheels, a variable sports exhaust, 320mm front brakes, and rev-matching. A notable omission is a set of adaptive dampers – Hyundai reserves this for the more expensive i30 N.

The Hyundai i20 N is one of the most affordable performance cars you can buy, despite price rises since its introduction. It costs $34,990 before on-road costs and it only comes with a six-speed manual transmission.

Like all good drives through the Yarra Valley, the Melburgring start line begins at Beechworth Bakery in Healesville after coffee. Photographer Ted and I look decidedly out of place in the eye-catching hatch, painted in Hyundai’s requisite Performance Blue. But there’s all manner of other bits and pieces to the look – red accenting on the lower portions, an entirely black roof that extends down to the boot, and a little rear spoiler if you didn’t get the picture otherwise.

Fuelled up, we peel out of the bakery and head north towards Reefton and Narbethong. In true 24 Hours of Nurburgring fashion, the weather comprises a mix of cloud and rain that reminds us to take it easy as the bitumen serves up greasy, leafy and mossy patches intermittently.

The i20 N is wholly simple to pedal at mundane speeds. The clutch action is light with a high bite point, the steering is light and accurate in the Normal driving mode, and its diminutive size is easy to place around town.

Through the rain on the way out of town, we experience some light instances of aquaplaning when the 215/40 R18 Pirelli tyres struggle to find purchase on the drenched road. In the dry, they’re grippy little units that permit the driver to lean on them hard through corners.

It’s not long after setting off before we encounter our first pit stop as Photographer Ted identifies a quick photo opportunity at Selover’s Lookout. As he hurriedly unpacks his kit stowed in the i20 N’s 310L boot – real Nurburgring racers don’t have to worry about such frivolities – it gives me pause to have a play around the i20 N’s interior.

Inside the cabin it’s honestly a nicer experience than I’ve come to expect from light hatchbacks. Usually they’re laden with hard plastics and there’s little in the way of contrasting inlays or colour accents. While the i20 N uses its fair share of plastics on door tops and the dashboard, it’s full of interesting bits like the streamlined linear pattern through the dash, and contrast light blue accents on the steering wheel buttons, shift knob, and door pulls.

There’s blue ambient lighting, blue contrast stitching, and N logos on the seats, which really make the inside feel as racy and intentional as it presents on the outside.

It's a polarising boy-racer look that you’ll either love or hate, and while I can’t count myself in the former, at least you can’t confuse it for anything else than a purpose-bred hot hatch.

Back in the cabin, the front seats hold you in with good support around your waist and sides, while the twin 10.25-inch screens control infotainment (in the centre) and driving data (in front of the driver).

The i20 N’s infotainment system is exactly the same as you’ll expect through the rest of its model line-up and that’s a handy thing – it’s dead easy to use, contains functionality like satellite navigation and digital radio, and you’ll have no trouble connecting up Apple CarPlay or Android Auto through a wire.

The difference with the i20 N is its ability to show various telemetry through the N menus, such as a g-meter, track timer, a boost gauge, and throttle position. A nice touch is the ability to call up Australian racetrack outlines such as Baskerville Raceway in Tasmania or Sydney Motorsport Park. Sadly, I couldn’t find one for the Melburgring… time to get campaigning.

In any case, we set off once again keen to get some kilometres under the tyres. Though it’s arguably more rainforest than the wooded forests surrounding the Nurburgring, the encroaching greenery at either side of the road seems Nordschleife-adjacent.

Rain sets in for the day as we push on further northeast, the tight and twisty sections of Black Spur providing the perfect playground for the i20 N to exercise its 150kW/275Nm outputs. Those numbers don’t raise eyebrows on paper, but under full throttle the i20N delivers punchy acceleration between corners and doesn’t feel as lethargic as I’ve experienced in turbocharged Hyundai hot hatches of the past (looking at you Veloster).

There’s a reliable surge of torque down low in the rev range to pull you out of corners, and the feel of power output doesn’t taper off until you near the redline.

In terms of carrying that speed through corners, the i20 N’s turn-in is keen and the steering weight in sport mode is perfect. There’s excellent feel of grip levels underneath the front tyres and the traction doesn’t let slip easily – even in trying conditions.

When you do have to wash off speed, the reliable brakes offer substantial initial bite and hold on for extended use. While our Melburgring doesn’t feature anywhere near the same level of demand a real racetrack would have on brake fade, these units held up well to continued punishment throughout the day.

Beyond Narbethong, we head right towards Marysville where the speed picks up and the bends start flowing more progressively than the tighter sections of the Black Spur. Though it’s now pouring with rain, the i20 N seems unfazed, holding its line well through long bends and feeling confident despite the weather.

Cycling through the drive modes, the i20 N’s character shines best through either N mode or using a custom-designed setting. While it doesn’t give off extreme shouty exhaust crackles and pops like the larger Hyundai i30 N, the i20 N makes its presence known with a snap as you change gear and satisfying burbles on overrun.

The car can rev-match for itself, but the pedals are placed closely enough that you’ll want to crack on having a go yourself. The gearshift experience isn’t as satisfying or as intentional as you’ll find in more expensive hot hatches such as the Toyota GR Yaris or Honda Civic Type R, but the fact it comes in a manual at all is worth celebrating.

We make a quick stop in at Marysville for a pie before carrying on. Fog also starts to roll in, limiting visibility, and the downpour doesn’t relent, but just like real endurance racers, Photographer Ted and I roll with the punches.

Our stretch up to the Lake Mountain turn-off brings us high into the clouds where the view at Nicholl Lookout is a total whiteout. Funnily, there are more than a few times we have to brake sharply to avoid running over lyrebirds. I’m pretty sure Nurburgring drivers don’t have to watch out for wayward wildlife…

Once you pass the Lake Mountain turn-off, the road immediately becomes narrow again with little margin for error. Gone is the hard shoulder, in its place are tall, thick trees that drop leaf litter and bark over the road.

The roads approaching Reefton are gloriously technical for the little Hyundai to savour. Considering it’s a bit of a road to nowhere, the stretch between Lake Mountain and Warburton is thankfully devoid of other traffic.

It’s some of the best driving you’ll find close to Melbourne with incredible views out over the Yarra Ranges National Park and a challenging series of corners. It’s not uncommon for the area to turn into a winter wonderland full of snowfall midway through the year, and there’s plenty of black ice that could reasonably stand in as our oil patch equivalent.

With such tied-down body control and a firm single-rate damper setting, the i20 N’s handling is brilliantly suited to the unrelenting series of switchback corners. You might reasonably expect the ride quality to suffer everyday as a result, but it’s even compliant over speed bumps and road joins. These impacts aren’t fed through to the cabin with the relentlessness you might expect.

What you will notice is road noise fed through from the Pirelli tyres. Over coarse-chip roads, the Hyundai translates tyre roar into the cabin that can annoy on road trips. Thankfully, the rest of the car is built well and there are no squeaks or creaks – even after this example trudging through some hard press kilometres.

We make one final pit stop in Warburton to fuel up the i20 N before making the return journey to Healesville. Despite a day’s worth of hard driving, freeway miles, and start-stop traffic from our Melbourne office, the i20 N recorded a surprising 7.7L/100km fuel consumption. It’ll even take 91-octane regular unleaded fuel.

By now we’re most of the way through our traditional Nurburgring, but a ways off completing the journey in our big Australian equivalent.

Just as we hit Launching Place, I turn immediately north along a quiet stretch of road I’ve not trekked before. Just as I was starting to enjoy the flowing sections of wide road, the bitumen gives way to unpaved gravel. Somewhat serendipitously, it matches why this car was created in the first place: to compete in the World Rally Championship.

As Photographer Ted does his best to impersonate a crazed rally photographer, I do my own best impression of a rally driver fighting for control as the front wheels unexpectedly lose grip over a wooden bridge.

Safely out the other side of our gravel detour, we hit Healesville proper, pass by the Beechworth Bakery and head directly to the car wash. The i20 N is absolutely filthy and deserves a wash, and I’m happy to oblige.

In all, we completed our Melburgring trip in just under four hours including stops and photography. It’s a far cry from the sub-eight-minute laps you’ll find the best drivers completing on the actual Nurburgring, but our inaugural lap of the Melburgring was a blast in its own right and the Hyundai i20 N was the perfect partner.