Your eyes are not fooling you; our spies spotted Hyundai testing a real version of the mid-engined RM16 N Concept hatchback at the Nurburgring.
The company first revealed the car as a concept at the Busan Motor Show in Korea, representing the third iteration of the Racing Midship series of concepts that started back in 2014.
We still don’t know if Hyundai is really planning to throw a crazy, mid-engined super hatch on the market, but we wouldn’t bet on it. The car you see in the photos is likely a testing bed for future component development.
The RM16 N concept was powered by a 296hp 2.0-litre T-GDI engine that let an electric supercharger do its forced induction magic. Chances are that the prototype you see here is testing a production version of a high-performance engine which is most likely going to power a hardcore AWD version of the i30 N hot hatch.
Another scenario says that Hyundai wanted to test a mid-engined chassis out in the real world, showing their intentions for building a proper mid-engined sports car. But we like the idea of a super-fast hatchback better.
After all, Hyundai did show the RN30 concept in Paris Motor Show, with the company saying that under the bonnet was a 375hp 2.0-litre turbo sending its power to all four wheels through a dual-clutch transmission. If it all sounds a bit too confusing, well, it’s because it is.
Hyundai is keeping its mouth closed around the existence of the mid-engined prototype, which can and will lead to wild speculations, but all we can say for sure is the company’s newly-found N performance division will keep us very busy in the near future.
Photo Credits: CarPix for CarScoops
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