Laguna Seca Raceway in California is one of the most famous automobile racing tracks in the world.

The hilly 2.2-mile circuit winds its way through what is technically a Monterey County park that also has campsites and a shooting range.

The venue has hosted IndyCar and other racing series in the years since it opened in 1957, and tens of millions of people from around the globe have driven on it … from the comfort of their own homes.

The track has been a staple in racing video games like Sony’s Gran Turismo and Microsoft’s Forza Motorsport for the past quarter-century. Would-be Will Powers test their skills in simulated cars on its famous Corkscrew  — a left-right S-curve that drops nearly six stories at an 18-degree slope. It would be tough for some to ski down it.

It’s fitting, then, that Hyundai chose the track to introduce the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, because it is a simulator on four wheels.

The Ioniq 5 N is a sports version of the electric Ioniq 5 that was named 2022 World Car of the Year, and it just followed it up by winning the 2024 World Performance Car of the Year award.

The zero-emissions compact SUV has been transformed from green to mean with the addition of a 601 hp all-wheel-drive system that makes it more powerful than a Chevrolet Corvette Stingray.

The Ioniq 5 N also has a computer-controlled suspension, a widebody stance, steamroller tires, brakes the size of manhole covers, deep bucket seats, and a wing extending from the rear end of the roof to let you know it means business. It definitely sounds like it does.

Unlike most electric sports cars that zip around in near silence to the soundtrack of their tires chirping, the Ioniq 5 N has been enhanced to make it sound and feel like an internal combustion engine car.

It is equipped with a feature called N Active Sound+, which pumps the synthesized sound of a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine into the cabin and through speakers on the outside of the vehicle at up to 85 decibels. The driver can also choose a more futuristic noise or one inspired by fighter jets.

The engine is the most appropriate because it is synched to another system called N e-Shift. Electric cars typically have a single gear that delivers the power more smoothly than a multi-speed transmission, which a lot of drivers find to be numb and dull. What N e-Shift does is break that up into eight steps that simulate gears and jolt the car when they change.

It can be left in an automatic mode or “shifted” with paddles behind the wheel. It will even act like you’ve hit the redline if you don’t upshift in time.

Other electric cars have tried interior sound enhancement before, but the haptic feedback is something new. I was skeptical, but it won me over before I finished a lap.

I’m an electric vehicle fan, but definitely in the camp that finds them to be bland. Even the fast ones. What Hyundai has done here has cracked the code, so to speak.

The sound is still a little artificial, but the overall effect is unbelievably convincing. I doubt many would realize the Ioniq 5 N was electric if they hadn’t been told.

The gearchanges are right when you’d expect them to be, and the “exhaust” even crackles and burbles like when you let off of the gas ped… sorry, I mean the accelerator pedal.

You can turn it all off if you like, but I don’t think that I ever would. I was laughing the entire time, though the car’s other merits are entertaining.

Despite being heavy for its size at 4,861 pounds, thanks to its 84-kilowatt-hour battery pack, the Ioniq 5 N handles and brakes very well. Along with the discs, the electric motors turn into generators to create resistance to recharge the battery as it slows down and provide .6g of stopping power as they do, while the heavy battery pack gives the vehicle a low center of gravity that helps it in the turns.

There is also a button on the steering wheel marked NGB, which is short for N Grin Boost, and it is aptly named. When you press it, the power increases to 641 hp for ten seconds and is accompanied by a change in the engine note that makes it sound more like a Formula One car’s. Try not to smile when you use it.

With it engaged, the Ioniq 5 N can accelerate to 60 mph in 3.25 seconds, which would leave most muscle cars in its dust. Its top speed is 162 mph, though none of Laguna Seca’s straights are long enough to reach it.

Hyundai says you can drive the Ioniq 5 N full-out on a track for 20 minutes, which is how long a typical session is, use its fast-charge capability to refill the battery in 18 minutes, and then go out again for more.

Unfortunately, on the road the Ioniq 5 N’s range is just 221 miles a charge. A standard all-wheel-drive Ioniq 5 with a smaller 77.4 kilowatt-hour pack is rated at 260 miles. Some of that drop can be chalked up to the Ioniq 5 N’s wide tires and bodywork, which increase its aerodynamic drag and friction at highway speeds.

And then there’s the price, which is $67,475. That’s about ten grand more than its closest competitor, the Mustang Mach-E GT, which only has 480 hp. Not coincidentally, that’s exactly how powerful a V8-powered Mustang GT coupe is.

Of course, the Ioniq 5 N is like getting those two cars in one.

The automaker provided travel to facilitate this report.