ɫɫ��

The rain is a bit of a drawback, especially as my tester is equipped with high performance Michelin Pilot Cup 2 tires, which are better suited for dry weather. Less intense Pilot Sport 4 S items are also available.

The beauty of small performance sedans, such as this, is that you can have plenty of fun at everyday speeds. This car gets a peppy turbocharged, 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine that makes 276 horsepower and 289 pounds-feet of torque, plus either a close-ratio six-speed manual gearbox or a dual-clutch eight-speed auto.

I’m driving the manual and it’s a joy. The shift lever feels great and the clutch has a crisp bite. It provides quick shifts under acceleration, and requires less legwork when at low speeds around town. A quick note: if you do opt for the automatic ($49,199), you get what’s called an “N Grin Shift” button that boosts horsepower by 10 hp for a limited time. In the manual ($47,599), that button is replaced by one marked “Rev,” which, when pressed, makes for smoother, rev-matched downshifts.

The TCR Edition gets all manner of bright exterior colour choices, including the fetching Performance Blue; special 19-inch lightweight wheels finished in gloss black; the red pinstripe signature of Hyundai’s N models; and, the pièce de résistance, a massive trunk-mounted spoiler, finished in carbon fibre. Even though it looks a little on the aftermarket side, it’s about more than looks and has been designed to add downforce and stability when the car is on a racetrack, while still enabling the trunk to swing open. You can even adjust it to provide different levels of downforce. For the full race-car effect, you can choose a bloody great big “N” badge on the rear quarter panel.

Needless to say, this isn’t your average Hyundai runabout, even if it does get heated seats, a heated steering wheel, and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The theme carries on inside. The standard Elantra N already has blue-painted steering wheel buttons and seat stitching, and ultra-supportive bucket seats. The TCR Edition gets additional glimmer from blue seatbelts, the aforementioned suede steering wheel, and a suede-covered front armrest and handbrake lever.

The 10.25-inch, central infotainment display provides even more flash and dash. The graphics are ultra bright and contain all sorts of supplementary performance data, such as the brake pressure used, turbo boost levels and so on. For an individual feel, you can adjust drive parameters, steering and throttle response, suspension, and even the exhaust note, from here. Two blue buttons on the wheel enable you to toggle between pre-set drive modes as well as your own custom settings. It’s a lot to take in, but I suspect there are plenty of performance-driving aficionados that will get a kick out of all this … at which point they’ll find their preferred settings, and probably never look at the menus again.

The TCR Edition gets new front brakes with two-piece rotors and four-piston calipers. That all sounds pretty techy, but all you need to know is that these brakes bring things to a stop from speed in short order with exceptional pedal response. There’s no numbness in the pedal; as soon as you start to depress it, you can feel the friction as the brakes begin to do their work. It’s not uncomfortable; it inspires confidence.

More than anything, the Elantra N TCR Edition is about fun. It’s a testament to how far Hyundai has come that it’s been able to deliver a performance compact that can take the fight to the old guard, such as the Volkswagen GTI and Golf R, the Honda Civic Si and Type R and the Mini Cooper and GR Corolla, and then some.