The Most autodrome has a new general partner – the carmaker Hyundai, more precisely its Czech representation. The colors of the Hyundai N can be seen in several places on the circuit, especially pale blue, the first turn was given the new name “Hyundai N turn” and cars of this brand will drive at the racetrack.
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Among other things, plug-in hybrid and hybrid tucsons will be used for mobility, and N models will be driven around the circuit. And whoever buys such a car in the Czech Republic will receive a voucher from Hyundai for a half-hour drive on the circuit.
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“Enka” stands ready and waiting for us to set off on the circuit.
Photo: Hyundai
Isn’t that a little on the circuit? I went to find out at a press conference at the racetrack, which included just a few tens of minutes behind the wheel of four different Hyundai N – i30, i30 Drive-N, horses and i20. And also to ride in the queen of all N, the i30 N TCR racer, who rides Jáchym Galáš in the touring car championship.
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However, they will not let me behind the wheel of this special, I have to be satisfied with the passenger seat. Even so, I enthusiastically join the queue for the hood and helmet, and a few moments later I slip through a protective cage into a deep seat, where one of the team members tightens me with four-point belts.
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The i30 N TCR racing is truly an experience.
Photo: Hyundai
I lean my feet against the front of the floor so as not to step on any of the dozens of exposed cables – hiding them under covers would be an extra unnecessary weight – and Jáchym starts and leaves the paddock. It must give a good throttle so that the two-liter supercharged four-cylinder does not go out when starting off due to the sharp clutch.
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The car doesn’t like slow driving very much, but you have to drive out of the pits carefully. But we are already bullied at the beginning of the track and Jáchym takes it for granted. He no longer uses the clutch, it is only here to start, he sets the speed with a large lever on his right hand, as if he were whipping a whip.
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The i30 N TCR still has front-wheel drive and mines 390 horsepower from that two-liter, but what really helps the speed on the circuit is the sequential six-speed transmission.
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Not even a gram of weight is there and everything is controlled on the tiny steering wheel.
Photo: Hyundai
Under full throttle, the racer comes to life, Jáchym goes sharply over the curbs and at the end of the finish line I see a speed of over 200 km / h on the tachometer. But what is most impressive is braking. Full brakes from this speed just before the sharp right will push me forward into the belts, until I think I should have let myself be tightened a little tighter.
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From the strongest to the weakest
The three rounds are over and I’m winding up thanks for a unique experience. There are four road “women” waiting for me on road tires. With a slight apprehension that they will act like snails, I sit in the i20 N and look forward to verifying the truth about the hymns to this pocket rocket.
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The small i20 N in Most was definitely not the fastest, but I really enjoyed it.
Photo: Hyundai
In short – basically everything. He is such an enthusiastic puppy – he has enough strength, grip too, but he makes the biggest impression of a sharp ride, by harmonizing everything together, controls, chassis, steering, so I really enjoy the three wheels behind his wheel.
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What about the fact that I’m the slowest – on the one hand I miss 80 horses for other cars on the train and on the other hand I last rode the Most circuit eight years ago as a co-driver, otherwise never.
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I will change to the i30 N with a dual-clutch transmission. I know this technique is top notch on the roads. I switch it to standard N mode to test how the developers have debugged it, and I move the selector to the manual shift position.
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We ride in a train, but really fast.
Photo: Hyundai
He handles the circuit at least as well as the road. Surprisingly, I do not lack grip, braking effect or the feeling of the car through the seat, the suspension handles the curbs at the tops of corners and exits from them, and I do not lack performance anywhere.
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I have to give the same praise to the address of horse N, which I sit after. Her wildness and constant horniness for a sharp ride, which is sometimes a bit uncomfortable on the road, suddenly makes perfect sense here. But I still don’t care how high I sit here.
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Checking the tire pressure after each ride is a must.
Photo: Hyundai
I drive the last three laps limited i30 N Drive-N, whose bronze-colored wheels together with white mother-of-pearl varnish look much better alive than in the photos. It has a manual transmission, so compared to the previous two cars, it is much more difficult to drive.
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All the more so when the transmission has a classic backdrop, where it is necessary to make an angled movement between the second and third quality; the so-called dogleg, ie a racing stage with two and three in a straight line, would really be useful on the circuit.
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As in the i20 N, automatic downshifts help me here because the driving is sharp – and my effort to keep the cars in front of me – is so much easier and smoother. I admit, it’s a crutch, but when I don’t have time to get used to the car and train the intermediate gases with the edge of my right foot when braking, I’m not ashamed of it.
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I really enjoy the Hyundai i30 N Drive-N.
Photo: Hyundai
A few tens of minutes later, in the SUV, which I have just for weekly testing, I drive back to Prague. The sofa ventilates and massages, I don’t rush anywhere, I think and absorb experiences.
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I enjoy the manual more
Which car I drove was the best? Objectively, I would probably have to say that the N is, because it is allegedly – according to fellow journalists – in Most faster than the i30 N. And true, it went well and, thanks to the dual-clutch transmission, relatively easy.
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But she didn’t fit me because of the high seat. So this time I can safely forget about objectivity and admit that I enjoyed the two cars that had a manual transmission the most – i20 N and i30 N Drive-N.
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My first experience behind the wheel on the Most circuit showed that this is not an uninteresting track at all.
Photo: Hyundai
I admit, I wasn’t the fastest in them, and I’m even a little worried that he had to follow me slower than he wanted to because of me; we could not overtake.
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But I enjoyed it the most – and since I don’t have the hands to chase thousands of seconds on the circuits, this criterion is the most important to me. And half an hour on the circuit, of course, is not enough to drive championship times on it – but that’s enough to touch your car in extreme situations.
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Foto: Hyundai——-
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