The 2022 Hyundai Elantra N has to be one of the most unsuspecting vehicles to have a performance model. With that being said, I’m glad Hyundai did so and definitely did it the right way.

The Intense Blue color stood out and reminded me of the late 90s Honda Civic Si color. Adding a red trim color along the lower aero added a little of a boy racer look but it still looked great. The 19” wheel’s unique design exposed the red brake calipers which performed as good as they looked. The front bumper did remind me of a catfish with the majority of it painted in black and not the blue color. Even though a lot of the grille was blocked off, there was still a large amount of air that flowed through the parts that were opened. When you see the Elantra N drive away, you’ll see the unique rear spoiler and the nicely polished dual exhaust tips.

Getting inside, you’ll be surprised to see that the N comes with its own light sport bucket seats with the illuminating N logo on them. The manual shifter was a nice surprise after virtually driving over 90% of press cars with automatics. The shifter also felt great with short and precise throws. The gauge cluster was a full digital screen that changed layouts depending on the drive mode you selected.

Under the hood of the 2022 Hyundai Elantra N is the 2.0L twin-scroll turbocharged inline 4-cylinder. Hyundai says it is rated at 276 horsepower and 289 lb.-ft of torque but I think they may be under reporting it. The 6-speed manual gears went by really fast when you decide to get the turbo spooling. The most impressive thing about the Elantra N is the way the N corner carving differential was able to get this front wheel drive rotating around twisty turns.

I was surprised at how incredibly well the 2022 Hyundai Elantra N performed as a fun sedan.