Hyundai Says The Ioniq 6 N Doesn’t Sound Like An ’80s Video Game

The 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N with its N e-shift and Sound+ features enables it to shift simulated gears and play sounds through the speakers as it accelerates. These features absolutely blew our minds, and they are about to get even better with the 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 6 N. During an industry roundtable at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, CarBuzz learned how the Ioniq 6 N elevates from its predecessor with more realistic sounds and more aggressive shifting.

Like the Ioniq 5 N, the Ioniq 6 N will offer three different sound settings, which can be used with or without the simulated gears. The Ignition and Evolution modes carry over, though they have been fine-tuned, and the Supersonic mode is replaced by a new one called Lightspeed, though it is just a name change. Here are some of the improvements you can expect, according to Hyundai N brand boss, Joon Park.

Making It Sound More Realistic

Ignition is the most interesting mode because it’s meant to resemble the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder from the Elantra N. “We had a lot of interviews with the fans and the media. They said it’s really well-made, but maybe the sound quality could be better. No one wants to hear ’80s video game sounds,” Park joked. “That was one of the key criteria we wanted to change. We changed the hardware first in order to have better sound quality, and we doubled the capacity of the processor.”

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To perfectly replicate the sound of a gas engine, Park even told the engineers to watch a YouTube video of an i20 N rally car using launch control, and base the Evolution setting on it. “I had to visit the R&D center twice a week so we could have a better sound,” he said. The Ioniq 6 N has better mapping, so the Ignition sound now takes elements like wheel slip into account.

Closer Gear Ratios

In addition to creating more realistic acceleration sounds, Hyundai’s engineers also made improvements to the eight-speed simulated dual-clutch transmission.

“First and second gear was around 111 mph [in the Ioniq 5 N],” Park explained. “Now, to get to that same speed [in the Ioniq 6 N], you need third gear.” Essentially, this means you can run through more gears without hitting speeds that can earn you a ticket or even jail time (if you live in Florida).

Fixing N Grin Boost

Hyundai also took feedback on its N Grin Boost feature, a button that, when pressed, increased the Ioniq 5 N’s output from 610 to 641 horsepower. It was great in practice, delivering a quick boost of extra performance, but you had to repeatedly click it on a racetrack to access the car’s full potential.

In the Ioniq 6 N, depressing the throttle to over 95% will automatically kick on the NGB power increase. Then, when the throttle dips below 85%, it will deactivate. Drivers no longer have to choose when to activate it on the track.