#HyundaiElantraN

A well-seasoned trope in automotive media is lamentation. The sorrow for those things that we once had but no longer do. We cry out for simple cars we can work on ourselves. We mourn the loss of cheap and cheerful pickup trucks. We weep for the days of low-interest rates and the ability to negotiate prices below the window sticker.

Slap a loud exhaust and bootleg mods on your car, and your chances of having a lousy day increase exponentially. You’re far more likely to experience a breakdown, and that’s before the attention you’ll get from law enforcement. One owner of a Hyundai Elantra N in California recently had a terrible day, but not for the reasons you might think. 

Hyundai’s performance offensive continues with the 2022 Hyundai Elantra N.

Which, yes, is available with a manual transmission.

Hyundai is sharing heavily doctored images of the upcoming Elantra N, offering a taste of what its performance arm plans to do when unleased upon the rest of the company’s lineup. Unlike N-Line products, which are more about supporting modest performance upgrades with visual embellishments, N models are basically as hardcore as the manufacturer can build a vehicle while still attempting to turn a profit.

Thus far the formula has only had sufficient time to produce the 275-horsepower Veloster N — a hatchback that seems intentionally designed to dunk on the more reserved Volkswagen GTI. But the Elantra is rumored to embrace the Veloster’s powertrain and a similar personality, resulting in something relatively unique for our market.

As you read recently, the former Hyundai Elantra Sport has morphed into the Elantra N Line for the 2021 model year. While the redesigned compact sedan’s warmed-up version carries the same powertrain as before, there’s more heat on the horizon.

The purveyor of that added oomph can be seen in spy photos circulating the net today, showing a well-camouflaged (and well-spoilered) Elantra designed to carry the N badge.