To better demonstrate Hyundai's determination to move from purveyor of sensible, bland people-ferriers into the domain of speed and fast, the South Korean giant has built a two-seat, mid-engined performance concept for its home Seoul Motor Show. Oh, and it's packing 300bhp.
Welcome, people, to the Hyundai Racing Midship 2015. It's a ‘confident statement' about Hyundai's passion for performance. For ‘confident', read ‘bloody fast'.
The RM15 is built around the Veloster platform, but here with an aluminium spaceframe and carbon fibre reinforced body panels. We're told that compared to an all-steel frame, this aluminium structure saves 195kg. All in it weighs just 1260kg.
Weight distribution is 43:57 front to back, it's lower, there's more downforce, and there's a 2.0-litre turbo engine slotted in behind the seats, cooled by slots in the rear arches.
How much power? 296bhp and 282lb ft of torque are fed through a six-speed manual gearbox to the rear wheels, meaning 0-62mph takes just 4.7 seconds. Not too shabby at all.
There's the obligatory WRC-spec roll cage, double wishbone aluminium suspension and 19in forged alloy wheels, too.
"We intend to demonstrate our progress with high-performance technologies with other exciting prototype projects in the near future," says Hyundai's Joonhong Park.
Hyundai, of course, already runs its i20 rally car in the WRC. Is this further proof that the Koreans are getting the hang of going fast, or do they need to unleash a proper hot hatch before you'll take notice?
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