► Hyundai mid-engined coupe/hot hatch!
► RM16 concept spied at Nurburgring
► New N performance brand aims high
Here’s a surprise spot during the industry testing round at the Nurburgring: a mid-engined hyper hatch from Hyundai’s new N performance brand.
It’s the RM16 concept car shown at the Busan auto show in South Korea in summer 2016 – but now they’re testing the coupe/hot hatch hybrid for real on the road and at the Nordschleife.
Sounds like a Renault Clio V6 from the East!
Quite. Whether the new Hyundai follows the mechanical formula of the concept car is unknown at this stage. This could be just for component or powertrain evaluation – or evidence a new sports car is coming…
The RM16 had a 295bhp mid-mounted 2.0-litre turbocharged engine, with an electric compressor, that drove the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox and a limited-slip differential. The car was designed as one of a series of concepts probing a potential successor to the Veloster baby coupe (above) whose profile this prototype certainly apes.
This prototype certainly features some pretty aggressive bodywork, with gaping side intakes to feed air to the mid-mounted engine.
Does this mean that Hyundai will build the RM16?
That’s the $64 million question. We’re tapping up our sources at Hyundai and will report back shortly.
It’s certainly further proof that the Hyundai i30-based N hot hatch could be quite wild. With outputs this high, seems the Koreans could be going after some pretty serious hot hatch machinery…
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