Hyundai's two performance EVs share a battery, a power figure and a simulated gearbox, so a straight lap comparison was always going to come down to chassis tuning and rubber. Driven+ ran the Ioniq 6 N and the Ioniq 5 N back to back on the same circuit with racing driver Sam in both. The 6 N came out ahead with a 49.52 second lap against the 5 N's 49.81, a gap of under three tenths. The channel places that time inside its overall top ten, ahead of an Alpine A110, with the 5 N sitting fifteenth. Both cars are listed with an 84 kWh battery, 641 horsepower and 770 Nm. The more interesting result is which one the driver actually wanted to keep driving.
Hyundai UK announced pricing for the Ioniq 6 N in January at 65,800 pounds in a single trim, with deliveries from spring 2026. Coverage of that announcement quoted a 302 mile WLTP range and an 18 minute 10 to 80 percent charge. That puts it in the same conversation as electric performance saloons costing considerably more, which is the commercial argument for the car. The comparison in this video carries one caveat the presenters raise themselves, and buyers should hold onto it: the two cars are not on the same tyres. The channel lists the 5 N on Michelin Pilot Sport 4S rubber and the 6 N on Pirelli P Zero, and both presenters say the Pirellis are the weaker choice on this surface. A three tenth gap between two cars on different tyres is not a clean measurement of chassis progress. There is also the practical point neither car escapes. A track day with either one means planning around charging long before it means planning around fuel, and the presenters close the video on exactly that point, noting that circuits have fuel pumps and generally do not have fast chargers.
The channel lists the 6 N at 2,166 kg against 2,235 kg for the 5 N, a difference of about 70 kg, though the presenter refers to it on camera as closer to 100. Sam ran both cars using the simulated eight speed shift mode, saying the rhythm of a downshift gives him something to work to, while acknowledging a driver who committed to running without it would probably be faster. His read on the 6 N is that it puts power down better on corner exit and feels quicker in a straight line, but that it needs a very late brake release to rotate and steps out with less warning. The 5 N, he says, carries more speed in off the brake and is the more forgiving car to extract a time from. The channel puts the 6 N's improvements down to software rather than output: better thermal management, a revised version of the simulated gearbox, and retuned chassis control. Sam scored the 6 N below the 5 N on brake feel while rating it higher on power delivery. Driven+ also reports that the timing beam appeared to misfire on the 6 N's lap, and that the quoted 49.52 came from their own recorded time rather than the display.
Bottom line: The 6 N is the quicker car and the 5 N is the better buy for almost everyone reading this. Three tenths from a professional driver, on different tyres, on one lap, is not a margin most owners will ever find, and the driver who set both times said plainly that the older car was more fun and easier to be fast in. What the test really shows is that Hyundai's software tuning is now doing the work that hardware used to. That is a good sign for the brand and a slightly awkward one for anyone who bought a 5 N expecting it to stay the flagship.
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.