Hyundai's N Performance Brand Working on AWD, Paddle Shift Transmissions

Hyundai’s N performance brand is currently working on bringing both all-wheel drive and paddle-shift transmissions to market.

The Korean automaker’s high-performance ‘N’ sub-brand was officially launched with the recent debut of the i30 N hot hatchback. The i30 N produces up to 271 horsepower from a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine and sends power to the front wheels through a six-speed manual transmission. That combination should prove to work just fine for now, but if N wants to offer more power and attract more buyers going forward, all-wheel drive and automatic transmissions will be a necessity.

While Hyundai has been experimenting with all-wheel drive, the automaker doesn’t have any concrete plans to offer it in its N cars. It’s possible that the Korean brand is simply playing its cards close to its chest, but if we’re taking N brand boss Albert Biermann’s word for it, N has no intent to offer AWD at the moment.

“We have been testing four-wheel drive,” Biermann told Top Gear in a recent interview. “But there is no plan at the moment to offer an N car with it. Of course we are looking into this. We have all our in-house tech, and the cost of the car could still be reasonable.”

“But we are just starting with the N brand,” he added. “People need time to discover N, and understand what it is. Maybe later we can add stuff like this. There are prototypes out there and it is not a big deal to do it.”

SEE ALSO: 2018 Hyundai i30 N Enters the Hot Hatch Arena With 270 HP

Purists will happy to hear that Hyundai is keen to keep a manual-transmission in the mix. While the automaker is working on paddle-shift transmissions and sees them as a necessity going forward, it knows that the types of consumers who typically buy-up performance hatchbacks like the i30 N or the upcoming Veloster N like to row their own gears.

“We are developing such a transmission (a paddle shift automatic) in Hyundai and we are thinking sooner or later to bring it into the range,” Biermann said. “But will N cars always offer a transmission choice? “Yes. Manual has to survive of course!”

The first N product to arrive in North America will be the Veloster N, which is rumored to arrive sometime in 2018. Little is known about the performance hatch, but it has been spied testing on the Nurburgring on numerous occasions – evidence of its sporting credentials.

[Source: Top Gear]