Honda Accord vs Hyundai Ioniq 6

What's the difference?

Will the new Honda Accord e:HEV RS topple the SUV throne? Unlikely, but it proves sedans can still haul the family around in relative comfort and style.

The new Accord drives stupidly well and offers great ongoing ownership costs, even if it's price tag is a little steep. It's hybrid powertrain also offers fantastic efficiency and that's a big win.

In the Ioniq 6 N Hyundai has built an incredibly quick and high-capable performance car. But that doesn’t mean it’s flawless and an obvious recommendation over its rivals.

Its looks remain divisive, and while obviously each individual will need to judge the design of the Ioniq 6 N themselves, objectively speaking there is a lot to like about this latest addition to Hyundai’s N stable. 

Yes, it’s very fast, but with all the N modes switched off it’s also a very quiet and relaxed sedan with a premium look and feel. So it will play the dual role of track terror and everyday family transport well. 

But it needs to be for the price, which is really testing the limits of Hyundai’s brand appeal. It obviously won’t be a best seller, but with the less-polarising Ioniq 5 N only selling approximately 300 cars since its launch, this could be a very niche proposition, reserved only for those who crave its special kind of electric performance.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with accommodation and meals provided.

The design for the new Accord is powerful with a sexy silhouette that features a rear spoiler, black accents and sporty 18-inch alloy wheels.

The old chunky grille is long gone and at certain angles you almost get a Nissan 200 SX vibe, which is gorgeously retro and a refreshing take for Honda - which has been playing it safe for the last few years.

The interior is simply styled but looks timeless. The dashboard has clean lines and a featured honeycomb mesh that hides the air-vents. It's a feature which might not land with everyone but it adds personality.

The black upholstery looks plush and there are enough soft-touchpoints to make the cabin feel like it deserves a premium tag.

The original Prophecy concept, which previewed the Ioniq 6, was a thing of beauty, a case study in elegance and simplicity. The final production version of the Ioniq 6 is a case study in awkwardness, with a design that polarised opinions.

For the Ioniq 6 N Hyundai has been given a second chance to try and make it look more appealing and less divisive. To that end they’ve added this gloss black bumper with an integrated splitter, highlighted by the N-specific fluro orange strip, as well as unique fenders and 20-inch forged alloy wheels.

The facelift also introduces much more appealing slimline headlights that help reduce the awkwardness.

At the rear, there’s a new rear bumper design, with more black to try and hide some of its most awkward lines, plus an unmissable rear wing to further attract your attention. And while it undoubtedly provides a sportier, more dynamic look, it actually provides up to 100kg of downforce.

Inside, Hyundai has made a number of key enhancements to ensure the Ioniq 6 N looks suitably sporty. There’s a sports steering wheel, complete with a pair of N buttons to immediately activate the more dynamic driving modes, plus sports seats and even a soft knee pad built into the side of the centre console, so you can brace yourself when you're lapping the track at speed.

There’s a 12.3-inch multimedia touchscreen in the centre, which houses all of the various car settings, including the very detailed N performance driving modes. This is where you can either program the N buttons or dial up the individual settings.

There’s also track-themed graphics that appear on the head-up display, if you really want to do your best Oscar Piastri impression.

Access to the cabin is great thanks to wide door apertures but the Accord is a low car to get in and out of with its 134mm ground clearance. Expect a couple of grunts when parked on a hill!

Both rows offer ample legroom but the front enjoys the best of the headroom. A 183cm (6.0ft) friend was lumped with the middle seat and spent the trip dreadfully hunched over and uncomfortable. Save the middle seat for kidlets.

The electric front seats offer decent comfort for a longer trip but it's disappointing that only the driver’s side gets lumbar support.  

The rear row enjoys well-padded seats and amenities, like retractable sunblinds, reading lights, two USB-C ports and directional air vents but it took a while for the back to cool down on hot days which my kid made known. Loudly. 

Storage consists of a large glove box and middle console (which can accommodate a small handbag), a sunglasses holder, four cupholders, four drink bottle holders and two map pockets. There is also a dedicated phone tray but a few extra cubbies up front would be welcomed.

The boot offers plenty of space with its 570-litre capacity, which is great for the class, and you can also open up storage options with the ski-port door, if need be. The powered boot release is a handy feature.

The touchscreen multimedia system looks nice but is a pain in the butt to use until you set some time aside to get to know it. It’s just not intuitive but the screen is responsive and it's a bonus that you get the built-in sat nav and Google apps. 

The new Accord gets wired and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto but it took a few beats to get the wireless CarPlay to work.

The charging options are good throughout the car with four USB-C ports, two 12-volt sockets and a wireless charging pad to choose from.

The cabin is very practical too, despite its sportiness. There’s good storage spaces, including a pair of cupholders and a tray built into the centre console.

There’s also USB-C charging ports in the front and back of the cabin to keep small electric devices charged, as well as a smartphone wireless charging pad.

By relocating the controls usually found on the door (windows, mirrors, unlock/lock buttons), the door pockets have been sculpted out to create more width and space for the front seat occupants.

It’s comfortable and roomy too, especially in the back, where Hyundai has taken advantage of the Ioniq 6’s bespoke electric underpinnings to have a flat floor with good knee and legroom.

The boot measures 371 litres, which is on the smaller size for a mid-size sedan, and well short of the class leaders, like the 524L Toyota Camry.

While it pushes the boundaries in terms of performance, it also stretches the appeal of Hyundai as a brand. Priced from $115,000 plus on-road costs,  it’s the same price as the Ioniq 5 N but that still makes it one of the most expensive Hyundai’s ever sold. Only the $119,750 Ioniq 9 is pricier.

For the asking price, beyond the performance elements, standard equipment includes LED headlights and tail-lights, 20-inch alloy wheels, dual-zone climate control, an eight-speaker Bose premium sound system, a 12.3-inch multimedia touchscreen, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and Hyundai’s Digital Key2.

There is only a single specification and the only option is the choice to delete the sunroof, free-of-charge (although, given carmakers typically charge extra for a sunroof, it seems a little sneaky to not get any discount for removing it).

However, if you want to make your Ioniq 6 N more special, there is also a carbon package available through the accessories department. It adds an even larger rear wing and unique front splitter and side sills (all in carbon fibre, of course) for an additional $27,000, pushing the price past $142,000 before on-road costs.

While it may be expensive for a Hyundai, in terms of how many dollars for how much performance, it’s arguably one of the better value performance cars on the market. Would be rivals include the $187,900 Mercedes-AMG C63, $156,990 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio and $169,100 BMW M3, although the latter will get a full electric vwersion in its next generation.

Our test vehicle has an electric continuously variable transmission and features a new self-charging hybrid powertrain that couples two electric motors with a 2.0L, four-cylinder petrol engine that combine to produce 135kW of power and 335Nm of torque.

Only being available in one powertrain may limit its audience but the combo delivers decent performance for a sedan of this size.

As mentioned earlier, while it may be expensive for a Hyundai, if you want a car capable of making 478kW and 770Nm you’ll typically need to spend a lot more than $115,000. This makes the dual-motor electric powertrain the star of the show in many respects.

Those figures are the maximum performance available when you use 'N Grin Boost', a 10-second burst of ultimate power. The ‘normal’ performance is a still an incredibly impressive 448kW and 740Nm.

These come from a 166kW front motor and 282kW rear motor, to give you all-wheel-drive capabilities.

That’s enough for the Ioniq 6 N to do the 0-100km/h sprint in just 3.2 seconds with N Grin Boost activated (0.2 seconds faster than the Ioniq 5 N). Top speed is limited to 257km/h, which is obviously too much for the road, but Hyundai is pitching this as a track car and in that sense it will struggle to keep up with some supercars at the end of long straights, but that’s probably a minor quibble in the grand scheme of things.

Like most electric cars, the Ioniq 6 N has a single-speed transmission. But like the Ioniq 5 N, Hyundai has developed an artificial ‘manual’ gearbox, which it calls N e-shift. By torque limiting the engine to create a false ‘rev limit’ there are eight virtual gears for you to use via the paddles on the steering wheel.

But this is only part of the story, Hyundai has included a number of N-specific driving settings for the powertrain beyond N Grin Boost and N e-shift. N Torque Distribution has 11 different settings that allows you to adjust the torque split between the front and rear axles up to 95 per cent in one way or the other.

Then there’s N Drift Optimiser, which helps you do big skids, on the safety of a track, of course. Plus N Launch Control to shock your mates with V8s at the drag strip and N Track Manager to keep track of your lap times.

It all sounds very complicated but Hyundai has done a nice job of integrating the systems into the car and making the menu easy to navigate. And because these systems are largely digital, rather than mechanical, it actually helps make the car easier to drive in some regards.

The new hybrid powertrain means lower outputs and the official combined fuel cycle figure is just 4.3L/100km! Which is only beaten by the Toyota Camry's 4.0L/100km.

The on-test figure pops out at 5.1L/100km after doing a some urban stuff but mostly open-road driving. Which is where hybrids tend to be the least efficient, so the fuel usage is excellent.

Based on the official combined (urban/extra-urban) fuel cycle and 48L fuel tank, you should see a theoretical driving range of up to 1116km, which is a little less than the Toyota Camry but still an amazing range for a family car.

That range figure drops to around 940km using our real-world average consumption number.

To power this track-focused EV, Hyundai has had to upgrade the 84kWh battery with specialised heating and cooling systems.

Range is rated to 487km, which is good without being great. And, unsurprisingly, if you access all the power available you will end up using the battery quicker, much like you’ll use more fuel if you drive an internal combustion engine hard.

For track use, Hyundai suggests a ‘20-20-20’ cycle of 20 minutes of track driving, 20 minutes of cooling and then 20 minutes of charging to ensure you get maximum out of a track day. Although we were able to do closer to 30 minutes of track driving from a single charge.

To make this possible, there is a special N Battery mode, which is able to maximise track usage by managing the cooling and output depending on the scenario. There are Drag, Sprint and Endurance settings, with Drag making the battery warmer for sudden acceleration, Endurance trying to keep it cooler to extend on-track range and Sprint automatically applying N Grin Shift when needed.

It’s an incredibly complex system but it speaks to the challenges of making an EV capable of the rigours of high-speed driving consistently.

In terms of charging, the key detail to know is, with the maximum charger, you can go from 10 to 80 per cent charge in as little as 18 minutes, according to Hyundai’s claim, and is compatible with either 400V or 800V charging infrastructure.

Power delivery for the new Accord is pretty punchy and, in most scenarios it’s responsiveness is great. But occasionally, when you’re getting up to speed, there can be a small lag before things kick in.

The Accord handles like a dream and feels firmly planted on the road in corners. Even in high winds, the car feels stable and sure of itself. Delightful.

The cabin is quiet and engine noise is at a minimum most of the time. Around town, the Accord sounds and behaves like an EV. Only once you hit the open road do you get some road noise but it never intrudes on chatting.

It might also be one of the easiest sedans to park and it's got a lot to do with the top-notch 360-degree view camera system and direct steering.

To put it bluntly, the Ioniq 6 N is sickeningly fast. Literally, it can make you feel car sick from the passenger seat if the driver unleashes the power a little too frequently, which isn’t hard because the Ioniq 6 N offers near-instant torque.

The dual motors mean this swooping sedan launches out of corners with a ferocity usually reserved for supercars - it is that quick under hard acceleration. But pure acceleration is only part of the story when it comes to a proper performance car.

As impressive as the Ioniq 5 N is, it was always going to be handicapped by its taller SUV body, meaning the handling was somewhat dulled by its size and shape. The lower, more aerodynamic Ioniq 6 N is therefore noticeably more dynamic and responsive to drive.

The suspension and steering tune isn’t specifically tuned for Australian conditions, instead it’s based on the globally developed setup designed for the Ioniq 5 N, which Hyundai Australia did have input into.

Despite not being tuned specifically for Australia it still rides with impressive compliance for such a performance-orientated electric car. Even on the choppier back roads we tested it on, it feels controlled and compliant while still being responsive, without feeling uncompromising or uncomfortable.

But to really experience the true performance potential of the Ioniq 6 N, you need to hit the racetrack. Thankfully, Hyundai Australia allowed us to test it to its limits at Sydney Motorsport Park.

Free from speed limits the immense power can be unleashed and to make the experience even better you can use the N e-shift and the N Active Sound+ - three separate artificial soundtracks that are designed to mimic engine noise.

There is one that can broadly be described as ‘futuristic’ and another that is meant to sound ‘electric’ but neither are good enough to bother with. Instead, if you stick to the one that sounds like Hyundai’s petrol engine you’ll enjoy it.

While it is clearly an artificial sound, and there will be haters who just don’t like it (and they can leave it switched off), Hyundai has done a brilliant job mimicking the sounds of a proper petrol performance car. So much so that when you lift off the accelerator, you actually hear a ‘snap, crackle, pop’ from the rear of the car, as if there is an actual exhaust making the sound.

What the noise does do is really help you with a sense of speed, as does the N e-shift, not only helping you drive faster but also just making the experience more fun.

For the serious track-day drivers the amount of adjustability in the Ioniq 6 N is brilliant. In particular the N Torque Distribution system, which allows you to shift the drive split front-to-rear on the move. Experimenting with this system, there is a clear difference between the handling not only as you switch between modes, but if you’re really, really serious, you can even adjust it during your on-track run. As the tyres get hotter, shifting more drive rearwards helps the car rotate better and punch out of the corners easier.

However, while Hyundai may have designed it as a track-capable, ‘Corner Rascal’, as they like to say, the reality is, most of the time you’ll be driving, you won’t be on a racetrack.

Even so, N Road Sense is a special setting that is able to recognise a double curve road sign and urges the driver to activate N mode and have more fun, so it’s always looking to encourage you to have a good time.

But what about when you’re not driving fast? How does the Ioniq 6 N stack up as a daily drive? Well, one of the elements of  performance EVs that I personally appreciate, is how quiet and relaxed they are when you don’t need to go fast. Unlike an internal combustion performance engine, which can feel like a caged animal at suburban speeds, an EV with 448kW is as smooth and quiet as an EV with 148kW.

It means it plays both its roles - weekday commuter transport and weekend fun machine - with equal ability.

The Ioniq 6 N gets a comprehensive list of driver assistance systems, under the umbrella of Hyundai SmartSense.

Among the safety gear included is forward collision assistance, blind spot collision avoidance and the brand’s mild-autonomous functionality, 'Highway Drive Assist 2', which can both maintain speed and lane centring under certain conditions.

The car is also equipped with Hyundai Bluelink, the brand’s connected car service, which includes an ‘SOS’ function that can call the emergency services if you’re in an accident where the airbags deploy.

While there is no questioning the amount of technology Hyundai has put in the car, like so many other models in the range, the systems need more fine tuning to make them class-leading. There are still too many ‘beeps and bongs’ from the Ioniq 6 N, to the point of becoming distracting. While the lane keeping assist can be too uneven at times, needing more work to get it better calibrated for smoother driving.

The entire Ioniq 6 range has a five-star ANCAP safety rating, based on a 2023 test, and given there are no major structural changes (beyond some body stiffening), there is no reason to think the N model would be any worse.

The Accord comes with a five-year/unlimited km warranty, and an eight-year battery warranty, which are now normal terms for the class.

You get a five-year capped priced servicing program and it costs just $199 per service, which is very competitive.

Servicing intervals could get annoying if you put a lot of kays on your car as they're set at every 12-months or 10,000km, whichever occurs first.

Hyundai covers the Ioniq 6 N with its usual seven year/unlimited kilometre warranty, with any non-competitive racetrack usage also covered. So you can do a track day, including the official N Australia organised ones, with peace of mind.

This applies even if you upgrade your tyres and brake pads in search of faster lap times, as long as you don’t enter into a competition, Hyundai will look after most mechanical on-track problems.

Service intervals are every two years or 30,000km, whichever comes first. Hyundai offers a ‘lifetime’ servicing plan that covers the first four years, but with only two services required - one for $645 and the second for $667.

As one of the best-selling brands in the country, Hyundai has an expansive nationwide dealership network, including extensive rural coverage and service centres trained to deal with EVs.