Hyundai’s high performance IONIQ 5 N made its debut Australian appearance at the World Time Attack Challenge (WTAC), following its recent global reveal at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Legendary “Drift King” Keiichi Tsuchiya of Japan pilot IONIQ 5 N – the first all-electric model from the N brand – in a series of demonstration laps throughout a two-day event.
Keiichi Tsuchiya is credited with inspiring and popularizing the sport of drift globally, starting with a late-1970s video of Tsuchiya-san skillfully drifting his Toyota AE86.
Drifting to entertain the crowd on the final lap while competing in the All Japan Touring Car Championship in the 1980s cemented Tsuchiya-san’s legend status and Drift King title and he went on to find the D1 Grand Prix, the first professional drift series.
IONIQ 5 N’s N Drift Optimiser feature, which helps maintain drift angle, is designed to make every driver feel like a Drift King. “The most surprising was the agility, which is unthinkable for a car weighing 2,200kg.” he said. “While driving, I thought it would weigh roughly 1,800 to 1,900 kg, but when I returned to the pit, I was surprised to learn that it actually weighed 2,200 kg.”
“It was so fun that the rear of the car moves quite well,” he said. “While driving, I thought, ‘Oh, they’re making playful cars.’ This is my changed impression about Hyundai Motors.”
