THE GREAT PRETENDER

Winner, Under $100,000: Hyundai Ioniq 5 N

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"This is it!" exulted editor-in-chief Daniel Pund about the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. "This is the type of electric vehicle we were hoping for when Road & Track started Performance Electric Vehicle of the Year. All of these cars are fast, and many are stupid fast, but this is the most fun by far." The plain Ioniq 5 has become a familiar face since its introduction for 2022, its nostalgic Eighties sheet metal morphing toward boxy anonymity.

And the N still fades into the background. That's a tactical advantage. It's a sleeper, like the fuel injected 1957 Chevrolet 150 Black Widow or the original BMW M5. At $68,705, the 5 N is an expensive Hyundai. It's also a Hyundai that has 641 hp, slashes to 60 mph in 3.0 seconds, and orbited the New York Safety Track circuit in 1:37.8. The only other cars at the event under 1:40 were the Lucid Air Sapphire and the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT.

And the 5 N doesn't take itself anywhere near as seriously as those missiles.

It's a car that underpromises, over-delivers, and keeps quiet about it. Very quiet, except when it isn't. That's when simulated engine noise and artificial shifts take over. Call it kayfabe mode.