SPY PICS: SPY SHOTS: Hyundai i20 N hits the 'Ring

Hyundai’s most affordable hot hatch has been caught testing at Germany’s famed Nurburgring ahead of its 2021 arrival Down Under.

Confirmed for local release earlier this year, the baby Hyundai i20 N will be one of the headline acts among 18 new models to be released by Hyundai Australia by mid-2021, including N and N-Line models.

Included in those are the hydrogen-powered Hyundai Nexo, the Elantra-replacing i30 Sedan, new Sonata and all-new Palisade large SUV – all due here by the end of 2020.

Based on the new-generation Hyundai i20, which won’t be sold in Australia, the first i20 N is yet to be unveiled but has been previewed by a teaser image and some sideways action in the snow, courtesy of WRC racer Thierry Neuville.

However, we know the Hyundai i20 N will sit lower and wider than its mainstream hatchback siblings and will come with beefy side skirts and redesigned front and rear bumpers, as well as twin exhaust outlets – most of which are visible on these latest spy shots.

Hyundai’s smallest N model is also due to get rally-car inspired wheels and bigger brakes.

What’s still unknown however, is exactly where the Volkswagen Polo GTI rival’s power will come from – the same 150kW/265Nm 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine found in the Veloster Turbo, or the i30 N’s 202kW/353Nm 2.0-litre turbo four.

Either way, the Hyundai i20 N is all but guaranteed to come with a manual option, given Hyundai’s recent three-pedal promise, potentially making it much cheaper than the Fiesta ST ($32,290), Renault Clio RS (from $30,990) and Polo GTI ($32,890).

We can’t wait.