What is it?

Hyundai has been making solid waves in the world of rallying since its debut in 2014, even scoring a podium in its first outing. The face of its rally campaign has been the i20 hatchback across two generations with top honours in 2019 and 2020. This onslaught has resulted in Hyundai starting its sporty innings for road-going cars with the N Line series of vehicles. After making debuts around the world with various models, the sporty range has finally made its way to India with the i20 N Line.

What's changed on the outside?

A hot hatch gets hot in its name from the racy and larger-than-life design that's meant to help it stand out. This one fits the bill word for word on the outside. The car has all the distinctive design cues of the latest generation i20 hatchback but with some fancy N Line bits. The face gets a chequered flag design for the grille and red highlights on the bumper.

The i20 in itself is a sporty looking car and this one adds to that profile with 16-inch N specific wheels, exclusive to the N Line range. The rear gets a roof spoiler with side wings, a dark chrome garnish running the width of the boot door and our personal favourite- off-set chrome dual exhaust tips.

What about interior and features?

The cabin is an all-black affair with N Line highlights like the red accents on the seats, steering, gear lever and climate control display. The steering, carpet, gear lever and seats get N Line logos as part of the makeover.

The i20 N Line is based on the top-spec Asta (O) variant and so you get a fully loaded version of the car whose arsenal includes the likes of climate control with rear AC gents, touchscreen infotainment with a 10-inch display and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto as well Bluelink connected car tech.

We have explained in detail what the N6 variant and N8 get in terms of features and you can read about that here. The fully loaded N8 variant (that’s in the pictures) gets six airbags, disc brakes on all four wheels, a tyre pressure monitoring system and a stability programme.

What about engines and tuning?

The i20 N Line being Hyundai's sportiest car gets its sportiest engine for its small car range. It's the 1.0-litre GDi turbo producing 118bhp and 172Nm. Gearbox options are either a six-speed iMT or a seven-speed DCT with paddle shifters. You get disc brakes on all four wheels and Hyundai says it has tuned the steering and suspension to offer a sporty driving experience, something we should be able to tell you more about once we drive the car.

When will it launch and what will it cost?

Hyundai has said that it will launch the i20 N Line in the third week of September 2021 with prices expected to be around the Rs 11 lakh mark. Bookings for the i20 N Line have opened at Rs 25000 and it will be the fourth model to be retailed through Hyundai's signature showrooms. The i20 N Line will take on the same rivals as the regular car and this list includes the likes of the Maruti Baleno, Honda Jazz, Tata Altroz as well as compact SUVs like the Kia Sonet, Hyundai Venue, Tata Nexon and Mahindra XUV300.

Photos: Kaustubh Gandhi