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Right gear, wrong car

The transmission that would definitely broaden the appeal of the best driver’s car Hyundai sells here has been unveiled.

 

HERE’S something to make you smile – a wet dual clutch transmission with a ‘grin’ feature.

No, for real. In releasing information about the two-pedal eight-speed box that will provision into its hard-out i30N hot hatch as an option to the six-speed manual that’s the sole choice now, Hyundai has identified one of the box’s three settings is called … ‘N Grin Shift’. Only in Korea, right?

Laugh along, because the joke will be on rivals who might dare to diss. The i30 N as is rates really well and this new transmission is simply going to broaden the appeal.

We likely won’t know by how much for a little while yet, unfortunately.

The make has decided the Veloster N coupe should be the first recipient of this tricky tech. Indications from the factory have long been that this car is only available in left-hand-drive and might only avail in two places, South Korea and the United States.

The brand claims that the DCT Veloster N will accelerate from 0-100kmh in just 5.6 seconds – exact-matching its six-speed manual counterpart.

Slotting into ‘N Grin Shift’ doesn’t make it any faster, yet promises a feistier more feral feel as that ups torque by seven percent to 378Nm thanks to a turbocharger overboost function for 20s.

An ‘N Power Shift’ feature is also included, which stays in the torque band when upshifting at more than 90 per cent throttle.

There’s also an N Track Sense Shift feature can pre-select gears depending on driving conditions, such as downhill or racetrack settings, for “optimal performance”, according to Hyundai.

The edition also retains functions such as rev matching and launch control, while also gain steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters. Expect also see them on the two-pedal i30 N whenever it rolls out.