My Favorite Car of the Year

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As we approach the end of the year, automotive websites and YouTube channels across the internet will begin posting their awards. Do awards mean anything? Probably not, but that doesn’t stop the thing from happening and for publications to cash on the licensing. I’ve done it. I’m fine with the practice (with a few extremely important caveats).

But I’m not here to talk about awards, I am here to talk about favorites. The thing about talking about my favorite car of the year is that it’s my personal favorite. It doesn’t have to meet any criteria other than my liking it.

Is my favorite car I drove this year the car you should buy? Probably not.

Is my favorite car of the year going to be able to be all things to all people? Also no.

Is my favorite car that I drove during the past year a car I’d buy with my own money today if I could? Absolutely.

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That’s the thing about cars. They’re often an emotional purchase along with a practical purchase. For some, how the car makes them feel is as important as the warranty, the mileage, and the cargo capacity.

It’s fine if you only care about those things. Genuinely, a car is just a tool that really should fit your lifestyle the best and what you need that tool for. You’ll get no shade from me, and in fact, the cars that do that best have gotten good. A new Toyota Camry or Honda CR-V is an excellent choice for most people.

But if people only bought based on those criteria, we wouldn’t have the booming car market that we do. There’d be a total of like 5 different models on sale depending on what your needs were. There’d be no Raptors or Miatas or probably anything at all from a premium or luxury brand.

With all of that being said, my favorite car of the year is a bit practical. It’s an SUV in that the automaker says it’s an SUV. It’s electric, so it’s better for the environment. And it fakes being a gas car better than Ben Shapiro’s wife fakes… nevermind.

“Hey, is he talking about the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N?”

Yes. Yes, I am.

The Ioniq 5 N is a love letter to car enthusiasts. It’s permission to enjoy an electric vehicle in the all-electric future that is coming — despite what Musk and Trump want — and it’s a car that helps shepherd that era in for many.

It’ll make up to 641 horsepower in overboost mode. It’ll charge at 235 kW. It’ll haul a chest of drawers. And it’ll do something that I’ve never seen a car do before; mimic the gear shifts of a DCT without actually being a DCT.

If you haven’t driven one, it’s difficult to explain. But basically, N engineers programmed the car to feel like a gas car. The torque output from the electric motors is managed so it builds output as the “revs” rise. When it’s time for a “gearshift” the car cuts output but also controls a bunch of other systems so the car feels like it just completed a shift. You can bounce off the rev limiter if you miss the shift, and it’ll kick you back in the seat if you time a shift just right.

It’s the most amazing experience I’ve ever had in a fully electric vehicle. Is it slower than just driving around in normal EV mode? Yes. But it’s a ton more fun.

“So, you’re saying the mode that makes the car worse makes it better?”

Yes.

Plus, it comes with everything modern Hyundais do in terms of technology and safety, which is appreciated.

The only downside is it’s not cheap (MSRP nears USD 70,000). I’d like to say it’s the future hot hatchback we all want, but it’s not quite that. It is, however, a good indicator of things to come.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N delivers the fizz that enthusiasts want from a driving experience, and the only people I know who drove the Ioniq 5 N and didn’t laugh maniacally when they got out of it were people who were going to hate it no matter what.

Give it a chance and it’ll rock your world.

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