Hyundai Ioniq 5 N DK Edition: Drift King version of electric SUV is hardcore

The 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 NDK Edition has been revealed at the Tokyo Auto Salon, bringing no more power but a host of chassis upgrades designed to make the award-winning high-performance electric SUV sharper and even more like a hyper-hatch on the racetrack.

Created in collaboration with legendary race driver Keiichi Tsuchiya, who’s also known as the Drift King and drifted the Ioniq 5 N spectacularly at the 2023 World Time Attack Challenge in Sydney, the DK Edition will only be available in South Korea and Japan.

It’s launching in those markets by mid-2025.

If you’ve ever driven the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N on a racetrack you’ll know it’s crazy-fast and easy to drift, but the upgrades developed with help from Tsuchiya-san himself should make this special edition even quicker and more thrilling to drive on a closed circuit.

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For starters, there are lighter and wider 21-inch forged wheels, saving 10.6kg in weight and increasing in width from 9.5 to 10 inches.

Stopping the reduced mass is an upgraded brake package with six-piston monobloc calipers, bringing a 54 per cent increase in pad area.

Precision-machined from Duralumin – an aluminium alloy often used in aircraft manufacturing due to its strength and lightness – the new clamps are claimed by the Drift King himself to deliver “reliable braking performance even in the most demanding environments”.

Keeping body roll in check, meantime, are shorter H&R springs from Germany, lowering the ride height by 15mm.

There are no powertrain upgrades, but the standard all-wheel drive Ioniq 5 N already produces a mighty 448kW of power and 740Nm of torque (478kW/770Nm in N Grin Boost mode), powering it to 100km/h in just 3.4 seconds (claimed).

Its 84kWh battery pack gives it 448km of WLTP driving range.

Joining the Ioniq 5 N’s N Drift Optimiser mode is a Torque Kick Drift function, which together are claimed to help provoke and maintain a powerslide without spinning by managing power distribution.

There are 10 levels of driver assistance, as well as an additional Pro mode.

The DK Edition is unchanged inside but features a series of carbon-fibre exterior components, the most notable and effective of which is a huge fixed swan-neck rear spoiler.

Combined with a lower front splitter, beefier side skirts and a more aggressive rear diffuser, the carbon aero package is said to deliver an extra 93kg of downforce at 140km/h.

Priced at $110,383 before on-road costs, the standard N-car sits at the top of the Ioniq 5 model range, making it the most expensive Hyundai ever sold in Australia.

Hyundai sold 933 Ioniq 5 vehicles in Australia last year, which was slightly fewer than in 2023 (947), making it much less popular than Australia’s top-selling mid-sized electric SUV, the Tesla Model Y (12,516 sales), but almost as in-demand as the Toyota bZ4X (977).

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