Hyundai is on a roll this year, with the ground breaking i30N making waves on the circuit, and on various reviews worldwide. The N or “Namyang” marks the high performance variants of the Hyundai range, and its no novelty branding either. Its reserved for the sportiest, high performance Hyundai’s that are developed by a talented group of engineers and tested on THE Nurburgring Nordschleife. The latest offering from the N Brand now is something called the RM19 Racing Midship Sports Car prototype. So why should you, as an enthusiast, pay attention to what’s essentially an engineers pipe dream? Here are 10 reasons why you should.
- Its a mid engine development car
Meaning the engine sits in the middle of the car, just like it would in a McLaren, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Pagani, Bugatti, see where we are going with this? Very few cars have spent precious R&D money to develop mid engine prototypes based on their hatches, and Hyundai is one of them now. In their own words, this platform is suppose to provide “supercar-level handling balance and low-polar-moment-of-inertia agility for outstanding connection to the tarmac at all speeds and driving conditions”. Word.
- Yet developed for the road
Yet its not a throwaway novelty car that’s been developed for the sake of it. Its a functional tool for the N engineers in developing technologies for their upcoming models. Everything from power output, chassis balance, weight distribution, and its interaction with the tarmac is analyzed using the RM19. In short, its the ultimate test bed for the engineers to push the development limits.
- Its got a Race engine
And when we say it does push the limit we mean it. Tucked behind the two seats is a mid mounted 2.0 turbocharged TCR spec engine. With its regulatory restrictor removed, this direct injection unit now pushes up to 390bhp. That’s good to push this prototype from 0-100kph in under 4 seconds. That’s faster than a 992 Carrera S, or a sizable chunk of the AMG cars. Yet this engine supposedly retains daily drivability.
- Its got a sequential box
All that power is sent to the rear wheels via a 6 speed sequential gearbox. This box is taken straight out of the TCR cars, and perhaps its for the best, as they could easily handle the excessive grunt
- Testing hybrid powertrains just like the 918
The most curious thing about the RM19 is the fact that it will be used to test various hybrid powertrains. With next generation performance cars all sporting some form of hybrid assistance, like the 918 Porsche Spyder, the new NSX and rumour has it, the next Nissan GTR, it seems like Hyundai wants to crash into that party with something from the N brand.
- Partnership with Rimac Automobili
This is more obvious with Hyundai’s recent partnership with Rimac Automobili, the guys who make the Rimac Concept One. That’s a car that outpaced the likes of the LaFerrari and the Bugatti Veyron in a head to head drag race. That type of engineering knowhow is now shared with Hyundai and the RM19 would be the first place for such tech to be developed and tested.
In short, the RM19 is designed to bring exotic performance and engineering to your nearest Hyundai showroom. The future in Hyundai’s performance brand does not only look threatening to the existing establishment, we could see a benchmark being set by the Korean brand. The most tantalizing part about this whole project is that Hyundai themselves claim that this prototype could lead to the development of a ‘halo product’. A mid engined, Ferrari killer from Korea anyone? What are your thoughts on the RM19? Let us know in the comment sections below!
