The Hyundai RM-19 Isn't Just a Mid-Engined Veloster

The Hyundai RM-19 Isn't Just a Mid-Engined Veloster

The slide was actually rather comical. “N Motorsport; N Cars; N Performance Parts; N Line Aesthetic Packages” - in order of descending importance. Sound familiar? I chuckled into my coffee, but they were serious. We were at the Hyundai Proving Grounds outside of Mojave, CA one of the greatest wonderlands a driver could hope for: it had a high-speed oval, several off-road courses, including a proper rally stage, the biggest skidpad I’ve ever seen, and a 3.1 mile “Winding Road” - a track with street lines painted on it. I couldn’t wait to go play. The Hyundai RM-19 Isn't Just a Mid-Engined Veloster

Hyundai doesn’t just want a piece of BMW, they want the whole thing. After poaching Albert Biermann from BMW’s M division, the Korean automaker has a determined plan to follow his former employer's playbook. Biermann’s first round of products, the Genesis G70 and Veloster N, I personally think are better than any current BMW on the market.

And in between the N Motorsport (in this case, the Veloster N TCR racer) and the standard cars, a slot as of today only occupied by Veloster N, our 2020 PCOTY, is what Biermann is calling the ‘Brand Shaper.’ The Hyundai RM-19 Isn't Just a Mid-Engined Veloster

The Brand Shaper is neither a virtual car like the Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo, nor is it a production halo car like the Lexus LFA. Rather, it is a functional prototype used to test new technologies and demonstrate the vision for the brand, but in the real world, in a way that works. And folks, it works real good. The Hyundai RM-19 Isn't Just a Mid-Engined Veloster

That Brand Shaper is the RM-19 prototype: a mid-engined race car loosely based on the Veloster, but cranked up to full Shogun. The Renault R5 Turbo 2 wishes it could pull this look off. The Veloster N is friendly; this is angry, like it’s ready to run up the hill at Pikes Peak, with a body five inches wider than the Veloster N, and two inches wider than the TCR car. It’s longer than the TCR car too, with a massive rear wing and extended front splitter. The bodywork shrouds front tires 10mm wider than a Ferrari 458’s, and rear tires the same size you’d get on the C8 Corvette: 305/30ZR20.

RM-19 (standing for Racing Midship) is actually the fourth iteration of the RM design: RM’s 14, 15, and 16 had different levels of development, but Hyundai is confident enough in 19 that they are letting a bunch of us have a go, and using words like “chassis capable on both track and public road” to, maybe, subtly imply we may be able to buy something like this one day?

So The Hyundai RM-19 Isn't Just a Mid-Engined Veloster.