A 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRT turned up to an SCCA rallycross completely standard, on its factory all-terrain tyres at placard pressures, and spent the day trading times with lightweight two seaters. TheTopher and co-driver Chris ran it in stock all-wheel drive class with traction control switched off, one pedal driving engaged through the paddles and the car in Sport mode. The video quotes 320 horsepower and 446 pound-feet of torque. Best time of the day was 61.8 seconds, with a cluster of 62s either side of it, on a fast, open course of long slaloms. The most useful thing to come out of the day was not the times, though. It was where the performance stopped.
Rallycross is a good place to learn this because the format runs cars close to as delivered, on a dirt course, in repeated short bursts, so a showroom EV really can be competitive without modification. What it also exposes is the part of a battery's capacity that is actually usable at full power. The video reports the car started the day at around 70 percent, was down to 44 percent by the afternoon, and that on the one run made below 40 percent the driver was flat to the floor on the back straight with nothing happening. That is a planning constraint rather than a fault, and it changes how you would run an event day: charge to high state of charge before you arrive, and treat roughly the top 60 percent of the pack as your competitive window. Anyone buying an EV specifically for track or dirt use should ask about the taper before the range figure.
On driving, the video is candid about the weight. Braking is where the XRT gives time away, with the hosts saying the car needs the braking done much earlier than instinct suggests and that the ABS intervenes hard on loose surfaces, to the point where TheTopher says he would like to see Hyundai retune it. Rotation is the opposite story. One pedal driving at maximum regeneration produces useful off-throttle rotation, and the hosts describe an initial snap on throttle before the front axle picks the car up. The suspension, which the channel had criticised as too soft at a tighter event, is judged well suited to this faster course. They also note how much grip the ruts offer once the surface dries out, comparing the car to a slot car through them.
Course design flattered the car. This was a fast layout of long slaloms in an open field, and both drivers say the XRT needs room before its torque advantage counts. On the tighter course at the previous event the power arrived just as they were getting back on the brakes. Chris, driving it for the first time, ran a 64 and then a 63.894 by taking the smooth approach, which the pair took as evidence that the car rewards restraint over aggression. They also flag something owners will recognise: the car is so quiet that other people on site could not hear it coming, so the headlights went on as a courtesy.
Worth stating plainly: Hyundai loaned the car for this series of events, which the video discloses at the end. The channel says it pitched the idea of entering a run of SCCA rallycross rounds and that Hyundai agreed.
Bottom line: The interesting part is not that an electric crossover can do rallycross, it is that a completely unmodified one, on all-terrain tyres at road pressures, ran within a couple of seconds of cars built for this. That is a real endorsement of the XRT as sold. Two honest caveats. It stops like the heavy thing it is, and the full power window ends around 40 percent state of charge, which means an event day needs planning that a petrol car does not. If you already own one, stop worrying about whether it belongs at grassroots motorsport and go enter something.
Commentary on a third-party video. Figures and claims are as presented in the source and have not been independently verified. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it.