Hyundai i20 N Line rally car: Here's all you need to know!

Win on Sunday, sell on Monday is a tough sell for the Indian National Rally Championship, with the INRC grid relying on cars that have long since ceased production. Over half the grid rallies the Volkswagen Polo with the rest comprising a mix including the Mitsubishi Cedia, the fifth-gen Honda City and the Maruti Suzuki Baleno (sedan). But the latest entrant on the national rally scene aims to be a disruptor – meet the Hyundai i20 N Line rally car. Prepped by JA Motorsport, the i20 N Line rally car has been built for the new INRC 3T category, marking a pivotal shift in Indian rallying. Turbocharged engines are now commonplace among the general car buying public and the INRC 3T category hopes to align rallying with the cars you and I buy while also keeping Indian rallying in step with global motorsport trends.

Hyundai i20 N Line rally car: What is different from the road car?

The reason that the Hyundai i20 was chosen by JA Motorsport was because the car was already a proven winner in global rally championships. As of now, Hyundai Motor India is not involved in the INRC project. JA Motorsport bought the i20 N Line from a local dealer and have done all the testing and development of the car on their own, but that said, J Anand (the JA in JA Motorsport) tells us that talks are on to potentially take this project further.

The car gets a 1-litre three-cylinder engine producing 118bhp in stock tune, and it now gets a motorsport ECU to bump up the power to 138bhp and torque to 205Nm (from the stock 172Nm). The engine is aided by the high performance air intake and exhaust system. Power is sent to the front wheels via the OE 6-speed manual which now gets a performance clutch, along with performance engine mounts. You also get a Limited Slip Differential and the brakes get carbon metallic brake pads.

Syam Mohan, project management lead, JA Motorsport said, “To convert a car into a rally car is not an easy job.” Converting the i20 into a rally car meant stripping down the entire car, MIG welding and TIG welding the chassis to boost torsional stiffness and building a roll cage as per FIA specs, ensuring the safety of the driver and co-driver. The rally car is also equipped with a 6-inch TFT screen and WiFi assisted data loggers to record performance parameters. It has also been fitted with three- way adjustable double-tube Reiger suspension and runs on 15-inch MRF gravel rally tyres.

Hyundai i20 N Line rally car: Testing and driving impressions

Before it could be deployed into action, the rally car underwent testing and development with ERC driver Martins Sesks behind the ’wheel. J Anand says, “Sesks wanted some improvements which are going to come in the next one or two rallies.” Jeet Jhabakh debuted the i20 rally car at the Indu Chandhok Memorial 48th South India Rally and finished third in his class. Describing his experience, Jhabakh says, “Nobody expected that the car would be up there. We ran maybe 4 or 5 seconds faster than the second performing car.”

However, things would take a turn for Jhabakh on the next day, with the driveshafts of the i20 failing. “That was a major setback for us because we didn’t drive all of Day 2.” The following day, the i20 also sprung a turbo leak, which was not ideal. “There were heating issues that we were dealing with, but the team was able to control that. That was a good sign. Between the last two stages, when we had service, we identified the issue and were able to control that, so we were considerably quicker in the penultimate stage. But in the last stage, we kind of hit the same issue again.”

However, these issues are to be expected for a brand new car in its first rally. Every new rally car goes through initial testing stages, where components which break are identified and improvements are made over time. J Anand also emphasised that the regulations for the category need to be changed to allow for stronger driveshafts. Currently, the category allows the ECU of a rally car to be upgraded but the driveshafts have to be OE units, which are not able to handle the additional power and torque liberated by the ECU. As a result, Anand says they might be forced to run the car in a more conservative state of tune.

These are still early days for the INRC 3T class, and the FMSCI is looking into any changes that might be needed for the category because reliability is essential to keeping costs in check. One of Jhabakh’s insights when piloting the i20 was the change in driving style due to the turbocharged engine. “With an NA engine, as soon as you hit the apex, you are flat on throttle and you expect the car to pull you out. But in a turbo, there is that lag for us to hit the power band and it is extremely tough to get used to it in the beginning. Once you get used to it, you get accustomed to that style of driving. I think in the long run, these cars will outperform the NA cars.”

JA Motorsport has already received an order for 35 cars from Europe for this i20 rally car, which they will be delivering from next year – based on the body shell of the Indian Hyundai i20. This marks a big moment for Indian motorsport as it is the first time a rally car made in India will be exported. At the same time, JA Motorsport is also working on an INRC1-spec rally car. The i20 is not the only new car in the INRC 3T category. The Maruti Suzuki Fronx, built by a privateer, has also debuted in Indian rallying and it grabbed the top two spots on the podium in its category, finishing ahead of the i20 in its debut rally. These cars mark a new chapter in the INRC and are sure to attract more interest from manufacturers looking to win on Sunday and sell on Monday.