2019 Hyundai Veloster N the tuner car of the future?
Posted by Jeff Ricca on 24th Jul 2018
We at Genracer have put some heavy thought into the "next" Hyundai tuner car. With our Pirelli World Challenge racing efforts running up in 2019, (vehicles are only allowed that are less than 5yrs old) we have to look ahead to our brand and image in the coming years. The Genesis Coupe tuning community is strong for us and we feel it is just getting stronger as the vehicles get less expensive to obtain. However, what is the next car? What car will fill that tuner need 2-5 years from now? We feel that Hyundai's push with the "N-brand" is the answer!
N stands for Namyang. Or at least that was Hyundai’s declaration when it dreamed up the N performance sub-brand in 2013. It seemed a curious choice considering that Namyang, the South Korean home of Hyundai’s R&D campus, has neither the track record nor the actual track that might make the place synonymous with performance. There’s more elevation change in a typical Walmart parking lot than on Namyang’s handling course, and a simple autocross in said parking lot would be a better dynamic exercise for anything the N division might build. In fact, we’ve wondered whether Namyang’s modest proving grounds are a reason why Hyundai’s cars have remained dynamically indifferent even as quality, design, and feature content have rocketed ahead. - car and driver
Hyundai has announced that the 2019 Veloster will have a N model that will feature some awesome race and street features! 275 horsepower and 260 lb-ft with the performance pack, pushing around 3,106 pounds. Front wheel drive hatch that will be a direct competitor to the new Honda Civic Type R. Mcphearson front suspension and multi link rear suspension tells us that there will be a tuning effort to lower the center of gravity and adjust alignments to get the most of the car on the track. A 6 speed manual transmission with rev matching feature is something we are very interested in and feel that we can benefit from that and some tuning solutions that could optimize the car feel on the street and on those weekends at the track.
Would we build a tuner car? Would we build a race car? For sure we will start working on the aftermarket tuning side of this and begin with the basics and go from there. As for a race car, it is an idea that looks great on paper but also does a factory built TCR car to run in the Pirelli World Challenge TCR series. Not ruling anything out right now but not giving any plans away yet to the public. First thing first, we will obtain a Veloster N and begin our in house R&D and testing on the track to see what we think of its future development plans and work with aftermarket manufactures on product development and production.
Stay tuned in the next upcoming months when we start to drive our 2019 Hyundai Veloster N
Performance parts that will come available here at Genracer will be posted under our 2019 Veloster N Section