2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N at Lightning Lap 2025
Class: LL2 | Base: $67,575 | As Tested: $67,785Power and Weight: 641 hp • 4858 lb • 7.6 lb/hp Tires: Pirelli P Zero PZ4 Elect; 275/35ZR-21 103Y PNCS HN
We ran the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N's platform-mate, the 576-hp Kia EV6 GT, at Lightning Lap last year, so it's natural to compare the performance of these brothers from different mothers. How much would Hyundai's upgrades to the 5 N's structure, chassis, tires, software, and motors improve its lap time over the EV6 GT? And would the changes tame the EV6's dicey handling?
The answer is unequivocally yes. The 5 N crushed the EV6 GT's time by 4.6 seconds. It clawed around Turn 1 at a sports-car–like 0.98 g versus the GT's 0.93 g, and it rushed into the Climbing Esses at 133.4 mph, almost 10 mph faster. It was quicker through all the track's sectors and faster virtually everywhere. We realized after our third and quickest run that on VIR's straights, we'd forgotten to punch the N Grin Boost button, which takes power from 601 horses to 641 for 10 seconds and may have cut a few more tenths. After a lunchtime recharge, we tried a final run, using N Grin Boost, but the afternoon heat degraded track conditions, and we couldn't find more time.
The 5 N has a dizzying number of settings. Here's our setup for VIR: Track mode with N Race on to maintain the battery for hot-lapping, the dampers in Sport (one rung down from the stiffest setting), stability control off, and the battery charged to at least 95 percent. Stable and sure-footed, with mild understeer, surprisingly tactile steering, and capable brakes, it was a 4858-pound cube of fun to drive. We barely noticed the powertrain's silence—sounds and simulated shifting are off in these settings—but the instantaneous torque meant mid-corner accelerator adjustments required barely moving a big toe.
On track, the 5 N's need to recharge limits it to maybe two 20-minute sessions. Absent a track-side fast-charger—we shared Lucid's portable unit—the Ioniq 5 N isn't going to log many laps in a day. The 5 N's weight and speed tax the tires too, turning them greasy after a couple of laps. It would kill at autocrosses, though, which rack up only a few miles of flat-out running per event, thus eliminating the need for recharging. Guess where we'll be taking it next.
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Car and Driver
15 hours ago
- Car and Driver
1977 BMW 320i Test: Never Dull
From the December 1976 issue of Car and Driver. To begin with, it's a splendid little car. The new 320i is not just a successor to the great 1600/2002 legend; it's a whole new level of sophistication and style in the 20-year evolution of BMW from bankrupt-builder-of-kitschy-sedans to personal and public darling of the West German Economic Miracle. You might be a little stunned by the price (about $8000) at first, but the car's undeniable charm makes it seem more reasonable every time you fire it up. Our test car was a glorious sort of restrained dayglo red. Maybe the reddest red on the road. A color you would prefer to be if lost at sea or marooned on the wrong side of Annapurna. At first, it also seemed like a color guaranteed to get you arrested, but in these days of radar and Vascar, old-fashioned visual observation isn't so much a part of the policeman's portfolio. The wheels were good-looking, argent-painted steel cosmetic racers with a lot of offset; there was some discreet black-and-chrome trim laid on the here and there; and the whole thing reeked of understated wedge-shaped go-fast. View Photos Ben Humphrey | Car and Driver Open the door, and the vinyl interior is just about perfect. Ours was what the British used to call "biscuit," and the seats were—like the first exterior impression—an open invitation to drive somewhere very nice very quickly. Our test car had a sunroof mit crank that worked very smoothly and seemed quieter than most at speed. The white-on-black instruments were neatly clustered in a semicircle framed by the top half of the steering wheel, right where the driver can see them, and at night they're indirectly illuminated by a red glow that reminds you of war movies shot in submarines. The wheel itself is a thing of beauty—small in diameter, slightly dished, and raked at exactly the correct angle for serious pleasure. Lights, turn signals, windshield wipers and washers are all controlled by wands on either side of the steering column, and the shift lever for the four-speed transmission is on the floor, exactly where you'd have put it yourself. View Photos Ben Humphrey | Car and Driver The front seats are firm and very German in the way they position you relative to the business at hand. The rake adjustment is controlled by a handy lever that you push to release, and the range of adjustment goes anywhere from puritan vertical to profligate horizontal. The front seat backs are folded forward by means of a release lever on either side of each seat—making it possible tor the driver to fold the passenger's seat forward without either getting out or lying down across the compartment. Fore and aft adjustment is both smooth and vast—you can even get too far away from the wheel. The rear seats are roomy and comfortable. Real people really can ride there, largely because the rear wheels are set so far back on the chassis. Our first drive in the 320i was a little more than 500 miles from New York City to New Pittsburgh, Ohio. We drove through some awful rain squalls in Eastern Ohio, averaged just about 55 mph for the trip (including a stop for lunch) and achieved a not-to-be-sneezed-at 22.7 mpg for the trip, cruising at 75 most of the time. The car was superb. It ran like a train, hour after hour, and the absence of features like a radio or air-conditioning or power steering was never noticed. It's surprising how inconsequential such things become when you're in a car that works. View Photos Ben Humphrey | Car and Driver Our photographer, Humphrey Sutton, drove the BMW back from Detroit a few days later after photographing the new Ford Thunderbird. His reaction was like ours. "It's a wonderful car, that," he said. "It's very comfortable, quite nippy, really perfect for that sort of long drive. It gives you the feeling that people who really cared actually sat down and thought seriously about all the things that went into the design. Everything works the way you'd want it to. I'd swear that it's bigger inside than the Thunderbird and it goes faster. It'd be hard to come up with a reason for buying anything else." Once we got going, we tried to catalog our initial impressions. First, it's a much more sophisticated car than the 2002, the design of which was getting a little long in the tooth, no matter how much we loved it. Second, the smoothness and quiet in no way detract from the car's overall sportiness. Third, it's a long-legged car-while waiting to pass somebody at 55 or 60, you can preselect third and cruise along indefinitely without any feeling that the engine is straining or that the noise level is becoming intolerable. All the frequencies seem to be tuned for blissful cruising somewhere between 60 and 80 mph. It isn't one of those Europeans that simply rebels at the 55-mph limit, but it does feel best going a little faster. It's possible that the car would settle down at 55 a little more enthusiastically if you ordered it with the optional ZF three-speed automatic transmission (our test car had the standard four-speed). View Photos Ben Humphrey | Car and Driver The heater/fresh-air system has been improved and will now move 89 percent more fresh outside air or 42 percent more heated air through the passenger compartment than its predecessor. We tried both. For the first 400 miles of our westward journey, we ran with the sunroof open, the heater controls in the maximum fresh-air "Vent" mode and the swing-out rear windows open, because it was hot and muggy. We never felt too warm, and neither the fan nor the sunroof noise was in any way obtrusive. We could still talk without shouting. Near Youngstown, Ohio, the temperature had dropped considerably and the rain reached cloudburst proportions. With the BMW all buttoned up, the windshield suddenly fogged over at about 70 and we needed defrosting fast. Slam the vents closed, open the defrost lever, push the temperature-control lever about a half-inch toward the red and, voila, a clear windshield again. Not many European cars could have done so well under those circumstances. Our second set of impressions were more those of the traditional road-tester and a bit less those of the blown-away car fancier. The gear spacing in the transmission was a little hard to get used to. First is a fairly short starting gear, with a longish gap between it and second. Then second, third, and fourth ratios are spaced logically and predictably. Unless we wound the engine pretty tight, the first-second upshift never sounded or felt quite the way we wanted it to. Also, we found the engine a little rough and hesitant below 3000 rpm. It never actually balked or spit back at you, but it did seem to vibrate and stumble a little when trying to cruise at lower rpm. We avoided this by simply changing down to a lower gear whenever the revs dropped below 2800, but less-keen drivers might find the phenomenon disquieting. View Photos Ben Humphrey | Car and Driver As our experience with the car grew, we came to appreciate how large and commodious the luggage compartment turned out to be. Initially, we threw in a rather heavy load of luggage, which was no problem. Then there was a side-trip in Ohio for a little antique shopping and several more parcels disappeared into the well-appointed cavity. Then two framed prints we'd promised to pick up for Bruce McCall and, finally, a framed painting—a wedding gift—that measured about 30 by 40 inches and simply slid into place on top of everything else without any danger of compression or damage from the hinges. And as a sort of luggage-compartment tour de force, we peered under the open deck lid and discovered a neat little fitted tool kit, offering exactly those six or eight implements without which one should never leave one's driveway. In the cold hard light of testing, the brakes are a delight, pulling this new BMW down straight and sure from 70 in 218 feet. The 2002's arrangement of a power-assisted front disc/rear drum system has been carried over, but front brakes are now ventilated. On the skidpad, the adhesion is impressive at 0.71 g, but the combination of slow steering (4.0 turns lock-to-lock), softened ride and rather upright body is tough to keep track of. At the limit, the semi-trailing arm rear suspension occasionally kicks wide, and retrieving it takes great flinging of elbows. However, none of these aberrations occurred on the road, under any circumstance, so we're inclined to ignore them. It would appear, however, based upon this road test and on conversations with BMW personnel here in the States, that the new 500-series and 300-series products do represent a deliberate move away from the racer-you-can-drive-to-work concept and toward a sophisticated road machine. View Photos Ben Humphrey | Car and Driver The 300-series BMWs have a great deal to live up to. The 1600/2000 series enjoyed amazing success over a decade or so, and were in many ways the cornerstone of BMW's new-found preeminence in the upper atmosphere of enthusiast automobiles. The new cars seem to be worthy successors to that critical responsibility. They are undeniably better and more contemporary cars in every way. All of the basic pieces are recognizable to anyone familiar with the older car, but they've all been reshaped, honed and upgraded, then assembled in more sophisticated ways. Brakes are bigger, cooling capacity is greater, the structure has become far more crashworthy, noise and vibration are sharply reduced, the heater/ventilation system is a paragon of thermal virtue, and the car looks right for the next 10 years. View Photos Ben Humphrey | Car and Driver The BMW 320i stands as eloquent rebuttal to all those who'd have us believe that small economical cars that conform to the U.S. safety and emissions standards must be, by definition, slow and dull, or that automotive performance for the late 1970s is best achieved with decals and trick names. This car is good-looking, sublimely comfortable, fast, safe, economical, and exciting. It is also expensive, but then what isn't? To drive through any major city in North America and check its inventory of Mercedes, Jags, BMWs, Porsches, Cadillacs, and Lincolns is to come face to face with the fact that there is apparently no top on the market for truly expensive cars anymore. The BMW 320i is real value-for-money, no matter how much it costs, because it's beautifully engineered and it's not boring. If that isn't reason enough to buy a car, then we'll transfer our allegiance to mass transit. Specifications Specifications 1977 BMW 320i Vehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door sedan PRICE As Tested: N/A ENGINE SOHCinline-4, iron block and aluminum head, port fuel injection Displacement: 121 in3, 1990 cm3 Power: 110 hp @ 5800 rpm Torque: 112 lb-ft @ 3750 rpm TRANSMISSION 4-speed manual CHASSIS Suspension, F/R: struts/trailing arms Brakes, F/R: 10.0-in vented disc/9.8-in drum Tires: Continental TS771 185/70HR-13 DIMENSIONS Wheelbase: 100.9 in Length: 177.5 in Width: 63.4 in Height: 54.3 in Curb Weight: 2606 lb C/D TEST RESULTS 60 mph: 10.5 sec 1/4-Mile: 17.3 sec @ 77 mph 90 mph: 29.8 sec Top Speed (observed): 108 mph Braking, 70–0 mph: 218 ft Roadholding: 0.75 g C/D FUEL ECONOMY City/Highway: 21/24 mpg C/D TESTING EXPLAINED
Yahoo
18 hours ago
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Prediction: 1 EV Stock That Will Be Worth More Than Lucid 1 Year From Now
Key Points Lucid has struggled to ramp up its production over the past three years. Its track record of missed forecasts and broken promises can't be ignored. Archer Aviation has more irons in the fire than Lucid's luxury EV business. 10 stocks we like better than Lucid Group › Lucid (NASDAQ: LCID), a producer of luxury electric vehicles, attracted a lot of attention when it went public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) four years ago. That's mainly because it was led by Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) former chief engineer Peter Rawlinson, and it had already started delivering its first Air sedans. Yet, like many other SPAC-backed start-ups, Lucid overpromised and underdelivered. It originally set out to deliver 20,000 vehicles in 2022, 49,000 vehicles in 2023, and 90,000 vehicles in 2024. But in reality, its annual deliveries only reached 4,369 in 2022, 6,001 in 2023, and 10,241 in 2024. Lucid blamed that slower-than-expected growth on its supply chain constraints, intense competition, a challenging macro environment, and the delayed launch of its Gravity SUV. Peter Rawlinson also resigned from the CEO position this February, and the board still hasn't appointed his permanent successor yet. From 2022 to 2024, Lucid's revenue grew at a CAGR of 15% from $608 million to $808 million. However, its net loss widened from $2.56 billion to $3.06 billion. Its stock has declined nearly 90% since its first post-merger trade, but it still has a market cap of $8.6 billion -- or 11 times last year's sales. That high price-to-sales ratio suggests that some investors are hopeful that its Saudi Arabian investors (who own nearly two-thirds of its shares) can help it achieve its goal of more than doubling its production to 20,000 vehicles this year. That's why analysts expect its revenue to surge 71% to $1.38 billion this year as it narrows its net loss of $2.9 billion. I don't have much faith in those estimates, though. Lucid repeatedly missed its own expectations, struggled to scale up its business, and continues to dilute its shares as it racks up steep losses. So, instead of betting on Lucid's Hail Mary turnaround, investors should focus on a less valuable EV stock that might just grow faster and surpass its market cap within the next year: the electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft maker Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR), which currently has a market cap of $8.43 billion. Why could Archer Aviation have a brighter future than Lucid? Archer's Midnight eVTOL aircraft can carry a single pilot and four passengers, travel up to 100 miles without recharging, and reach a maximum speed of 150 miles per hour. Compared to helicopters, they're quieter, greener, and easier to land in crowded urban areas. Those advantages make them well-suited for short-range taxi services. 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Archer's roadmap sounds ambitious, but its growing backlog could support those plans, and its nascent market is expanding. From 2024 to 2030, Markets and Markets expects the global eVTOL aircraft market to grow at a CAGR of 35.3% as they displace traditional helicopters. Archer has two strengths that Lucid lacks: an early mover's advantage in a nascent market, and a lot of pent-up demand for its products. Lucid entered the EV market long after Tesla and other EV makers saturated the market, and it quietly stopped disclosing the size of its reservation backlog (which had been shrinking) at the start of 2023. With a market cap of $7.5 billion, Archer doesn't look cheap at 17 times its projected sales for 2027. By comparison, Lucid trades at less than two times its estimated sales for 2027. But if Lucid fails to ramp up its production this year, its stock could easily be cut in half. Why could Archer become more valuable than Lucid? Archer still trades at a steep discount to its biggest rival, Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY), which trades at a whopping 70 times its projected sales for 2027. If Archer launches its commercial air taxi flights in the U.A.E. and gains the FAA's approval for its planned flights in the U.S., it might command a much higher valuation within the next 12 months. If Archer achieves those goals and its stock trades at 30 times its estimated sales for 2027 by then, its market cap would swell to $13.1 billion and eclipse Lucid's current market cap. As for Lucid, it could struggle to maintain its current market cap if it keeps disappointing its investors. Should you invest $1,000 in Lucid Group right now? Before you buy stock in Lucid Group, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Lucid Group wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,774!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,064,942!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,040% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 182% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025 Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends Stellantis. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Prediction: 1 EV Stock That Will Be Worth More Than Lucid 1 Year From Now was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Yahoo
View Photos of the 1977 BMW 320i
Read the full review The "300-series" (as we called it back then) had some big shoes to fill. And whaddaya know, it did. You Might Also Like Car and Driver's 10 Best Cars through the Decades How to Buy or Lease a New Car Lightning Lap Legends: Chevrolet Camaro vs. Ford Mustang!
