Remember the mid-engined Hyundai Veloster turbo that was seen parading all around Korea? Well it's ready to be shown and appears to be everything we ever dreamt.
The RM15 concept was revealed today at the Seoul Motor Show 2015 and is a motorsport project put together by the same people that gave us the i20 WRC. Instead of a 1.6-liter, this bad boy has a 2-liter T-GDI monster installed at the back and sending power to the rear wheels.
Output was increased to 300 hp at 6,000 rpm and 383 Nm (283 lb-ft) of torque at 2,000 rpm sent to the rear axle via a 6-speed manual gearbox. The RM15 is faster than a Golf R, taking the 0 to 100 km/h stride in only 4.7 seconds.
As you can see from the teaser video below, this is the sort of Hyundai that Ken Block or Tanner Foust would like. It's very loud and feels right at home on the track. Using carbon fiber reinforced plastic, the Veloster has lost 195 kg (429 lbs) of weight, tipping the scales at 1,260 kg (2,777 lbs).
The weight distribution is 43% front and 57% back, which means letting the tail out is not hard at all. Large 19-inch monoblock forged wheels with 265/35 R19 tires take care of traction and in-wheel double wishbone suspension copes with the bumps.
Expect this to arrive in a Hyundai dealership… never. But at least it's something cool to share with your friends and raise awareness of the Hyundai brand. Between 2001 and 2005, Renault made a similar car called the Clio V6, which weight 1.4 tons and was the most powerful series production hatch, thanks to its 255 hp mid-mounted V6. Hey, if the French could do it over a decade ago, why can't the Koreans?
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News