2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRT starts the Rally Car Trail down

• XRT increases the ground clearance of Ioniq 5 and drives to all-terrain tires

• Double engine all -wheel drive train makes 320 hp

• Ioniq 5 XRT gets more cladding, no skid plates

If I really want to treat this on a muddy, sandy, rocky trail on the metate ranch in Indio, California, ferry, but I’m worried that the 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRT cannot really deal with it . Yes, with 7.0-inch ground clearance it is one centimeter higher than standard, and yes, it drives on a square set of 235/60r18 Continental CrossContact all-terrain tires, and yes, I switch between sand and mud modes. But this is not a full stage animal.

For example, the slide packs are missing from the underbody, and a fitting battery in the name of the off-road interior giant is not the best idea.

The XRT joins the IONIQ 5 line -up as part of an updated model year 2025. It’s all part of the industry trend for more off-pavement Wilderness, trail sport, rock creek and tremors. As with other XRT models, it is half a step, ideally built for modest off-roading, bad weather and dirt paths.

The changes compared to other IONIQ 5S are modest, but effective. However, they start with these tires, the greater ground clearance and the addition of mud, sand and snow modes, but also include styling changes from inside and outside. Outside, this contains standard exchanges, a protective layer of the cladding with a black “parametric pixel” chamo pattern and redesigned front and rear cladding, which lean strongly into the black topic and improve the approach and the abortion angle. Inside, the changes to embossed XRT logos are limited on the seats and the button of the terrain mode on the steering wheel.

Hyundai is located with its double engine all -wheel drive train, which is good 320 PS and 446 LB-FT torque. In addition, the battery pack of the 2025 model is equipped with a larger capacity with two-engine and long-term models. It increases its thrust from 77.4 to 84 kWh from changes in the battery chemistry of nickel cobalt manse (NCM) pouch cells.

On this paths, the dual engine drive train offers a lot of stroke and it is easier to access the sand and mud modes, especially if I press the traction control button for reduced interventions. I enter short jumps in sections without washboard surfaces, deep firewains or jagged rocks in the gas. By allowing the largest wheel spin, the mud mode helps the cross contacts to efficiently paint the sand through the water like a swimmer. This enables the XRT to speed faster than in sand mode. Sand still has a sensitive throttle valve pedal, but it is not in a high alarm. I also try to start with the hell. The snow is usually programmed with a lot of traction control intervention so that a car can start slowly and find traction on very slippery surfaces, and this is also the case here. Snow lets the XRT crawl from a stop; Here it is boring and boring, while sand and mud turn the excitement.

Hyundai did not allow us to drive the XRT on the sidewalk, but the company quotes A 5.1 seconds 0-60 MPH TIMEWhat is 0.2 seconds faster than other model versions with a dual motor model. This seems to be strange because I would expect that it is a little slower due to the less traction on the sidewalk from the Knobby tires.

Ioniq 5 XRT: Only shy of a rally machine

The first section of Hyundais curated path is scattered with jagged rocks and littered with a few small hills and deeper rocks. It requires low speeds for the hoppa and a sharp eye for these dangerous stones. At low or high speeds, the tires act well with sand and silt and offer a consistent traction to climb the little hills. Without dealing with extreme angles, I don’t meet any problems with that 19.8-degree base angle or the 30.0-degree departure angle.

These are not particularly aggressive angles, but they are improved from the standard angles of 17.5 and 25.4 degrees of the standard ioniq 5. In comparison, the Ford Bronco Sport Badlands has a 30.4-degree base angle and a departure of 33.1 degrees angle. The most renowned competitor of the XRT, the Ford Mustang Mache-Rallye, has a lower geometry with a 16-degree lower 5.8 inch ground clearance.

Next is a large loop on the way with a 2-3-foot drop that cannot be taken at high speed. Otherwise, this section is largely without rocks and has a wavy sandy area with a few deeper ruts that were excavated by previous drivers.

This is my chance to slip around as if I were on a rally stage.

I start in sand mode and soon find that this car is an explosion under the right conditions.

The 320 HP of the XRT is plentiful, but it is the way it is delivered, which makes it so funny. All three Terrain modes divide the strength in a 50:50 split for the best traction that gets this EV in motion and keeps their momentum through the stirrups that I make deeper and deeper. Loosen the Ioniq 5 XRT into a corner, the gas is geese and the sand mode can slip out the back end. Leave out and the tail puts in again, then control the opposite direction, go again and it swings in the other direction. Let yourself be rinsed and repeated. I grin from ear to ear while I drifted from one corner to the next. As with the starts, the MUD mode with ESC is even better, with fewer stability interventions for an even more experience. Fantastic.

These in -depth laziness scratch the steel underbody, but I don’t smash it against stones or the car. It pulls out of the deeper stires and just moves on. I would like to have a few Bash plates down there like the Mache rally if I would push on a stone, but that’s not a problem today. However, it could be a problem for an excessive ambitious buyer, so I recommend Hyundai to add them, or at least make them available for everyone who wants to give your IONIQ 5 XRT through the desert.

My little rally route has no jumps or large dips that would completely extend or compress the suspension, and this is advisable because the Ioniq 5 XRT has no special fox shocks Or external bypass dampers to cope with this type of sudden shocks of suspension, as well as no secondary damping to prevent the base of the sticks, especially with £ 4,707 for control. The Mach-e rally uses its magnetic dampers for both purposes.

The rest of the driving dynamics are like other IONIQ 5S: excessive light steering without much feeling, a trip that does not beat you (even about off-road pain and bumps) and predictable brakes. The XRT could use some of the IONIQ 5 N vote to add more street (or sand) feeling.

Ioniq 5 XRT: Smaller on-road compromises

Without Street Drive, I cannot say safely how the dynamics of the Ioniq 5 XRT is compared with standard models. However, I expect the same behavior that we have seen in other soft streams: a softer journey due to larger tire side walls, which also leads to a lower traction for the curve on dry pavement and less immediate reaction. Add the additional centimeter of the driving altitude and the occupants can expect that more bodies in corners and a little more head meanders over bumps and curves. Some would say that this corresponds to a compromise.

The other light compromise is less reach; However, the EPA reviews indicate that the punishment will not be so significant. While the dual engine AWD Limited model has 269 miles, the tires of the XRT give it 259 miles.

The XRT costs $ 56,875, including USD 1,475 for the destination, $ 2,700 less than comparable limited and $ 2,400 more than one AWD SEL. However, it is equipped like the SEL, but adds a Bose audio system, a surround view camera system, a blind point camera, a sliding center console, a further automatic parking lot, side savings sensors and an automatic rear brake.

With the addition of the XRT model, Hyundai now has two versions of its adorable EV fluid rear backpack that aims at fun. The IONIQ 5 N offers the route shelf so that we called it Motor Authority’s best car for buying 2025, and now the XRT is opening the funny off -road. It would need skid plates, more advanced dampers and maybe a Baja mode to climb the rally territory, but it is a funny off-roader for the way most buyers want to use it. Just be careful to curate your rally route.

Hyundai paid trips and accommodation for the engine authority to apply sand and bring this report first hand.