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HOW IS THIS A THING: Korean Mid-Engined Hot Hatch

Hyundai is ready to stun the world again. While they’ve been working on their Genesis spinoff brand, which made quite a presence at this year’s New York International Auto Show, they’ve also just made big improvements to their performance lineup, the “N” division. Not sure what the “N” stands for but we guess the F’s, M’s, R’s, and S’s have all been claimed by other manufacturers.

Recently, Hyundai announced the performance prototype development of the i30, which is the Elantra GT for the Americans. The prototype i30 N will house a 2.0 liter turbocharged engine and have a top speed of 155 mph, designed to compete against the likes of other hot hatches like the Focus ST, Subaru WRX, and Volkswagen GTI.

In addition to the i30N, seems like Hyundai has more hidden up their sleeve as they have another concept car in the works called the RM16. RM stands for “Racing Midship,” denoting a race focused mid-engined Korean car. Just think about that for one second and take it all in. The RM16 is based off its predecessor RM14 and RM15 and is planned to have a 2.0 liter turbocharged engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission with an electronic limited-slip differential. With an electric supercharger forcing more air, expect a total of 300 brake horsepower pushing this mid engined hot hatch around.Hyundai-RM16-Concept-lineup Hyundai-RM16-Concept-rear-three-quarters Hyundai-RM16-Concept-front-three-quarters Hyundai-RM16-Concept-FrontWe really hope this concept becomes a reality and goes into production. The RM16’s carbon reinforced plastic and aluminum frame is the perfect lightweight chassis to house a powerful forced induced and lightweight engine. This combination would seriously threaten, nay, beat existing hot hatches.

(Source: Automobilemag)

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Forget the Focus RS, How About The Focus RS500?!

Oh Hail No!