Hyundai N models: loving every curve from Namyang to the Nürburgring
Press material
-
Download
-
Images
In October 2018 Hyundai introduced the N Option car, presenting a look at future high-quality exterior and interior individualisation options for Hyundai owners. With the New i30 N Line, a trim line featuring dynamic design and tuned driving characterics which came to market a few months earlier, Hyundai N performance is and will be available to even more customers – from full-bore N with the i30 N five-door and i30 Fastback N, to N-Line premium sportiness and a new frontier with the N Option customisation programme.
Hyundai has developed the N range according to the same philosophy as for its racing cars. The ‘N’ stands for two important components: first, Hyundai Motor’s global R&D Centre in South Korea’s Namyang district, where the idea was born, and second, the Nürburgring, one of the most challenging race tracks in the world and home of Hyundai’s Testing Centre, where the N models are honed. The N logo itself symbolises a chicane, the ultimate corner where the high-performance N models have been further developed and tested. Since its inception in 2015, the N range has performed at the highest level, succeeding in the Nürburgring’s VLN series, the TCR International Series, the Pirelli World Challenge and the gruelling Nürburgring 24-hour endurance race, arriving this year at the top of the podium in the hotly competed World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) taking home the 2018 team victory as well as the drivers championship with Gabriele Tarquini.
Inspired by Motorsport - the proven track record of Hyundai
Born at the start of 2013 and based in Alzenau, Germany, Hyundai Motorsport was set up to develop a long-term motor sport programme that demonstrates the emotion and engineering which Hyundai puts into its cars. For the last five years Hyundai Motorsport has participated successfully in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), regarded as one of the most challenging and diverse motor sport disciplines.
2013:
- Launch of i20 WRC
2014:
- Re-entry to the World Rally Championship
- With i20 WRC Hyundai Motorsport takes four podiums and finishes the WRC in fourth position in the manufacturer standings.
2015:
- Launch of the Hyundai high performance N range at Frankfurt Motorshow with the concept cars N 2025 Vision Gran Turismo and RM15. - Hyundai’s Customer Racing department established.
- Hyundai takes four podiums and finishes the WRC in third position.
2016:
- Launch of the high-performance racing concepts RM16 at the Busan Motor Show and RN30 at the Paris Motor Show.
- The i30 N TCR is first created by a TCR-dedicated team of experts.
- Hyundai takes seven podiums and finishes the WRC in second position.
2017:
- The dawn of a new era in the sport with the introduction of new technical regulations resulting in more distinctive, powerful and dramatic-looking WRC cars.
- Launch of Hyundai’s first mass-produced high-performance car, the i30 N five-door.
- Hyundai Motorsport concluded its fourth season in the WRC, finishing second overall, with Thierry Neuville winning four events along the way.
- Hyundai i30 N TCR starts thorough testing mid-year in Spain, takes part in final rounds of WTCR schedule with Gabriekle Tarquini is chief test driver and on-track team leader.
- First i30 N TCR chassis delivered to customers in December.
2018:
- Launch of Hyundai’s second mass-produced high-performance car, the i30 Fastback N.
- Hyundai scores three victories, 11 podiums and 68 stage wins
- The team finished as runners-up in the manufacturers’ battle with Neuville second in the drivers’ classification.
- Hyundai Motorsport i30 N TCR wins both drivers’ and teams’ titles for 2018 season at final round of WTCR in Macau.
i30 N TCR wins inaugural WTCR titles
With the WRC experience over these years, the constant push ahead to reach the top of that podium, and launch of the i30 N TCR customer car, Hyundai Motorsport capped all this off in 2018 with both the drivers’ and team crown in the first annual World Touring Car Cup series. The titles both were secured at the final weekend of racing at the demanding street circuit in Macau, with Gabriele Tarquini taking the drivers’ point title and MRacing-YMR the team. For the 2019 WTCR season, both the driver and team lineups gain strength, particularly with the signing of Augusto Farfus and Nicky Catsburg to join Tarquini and Norbert Michelisz in the four-car attack.
Nürburgring Testing Center
Hyundai N’s high-performance technologies have been honed at the Nürburgring’s GP and Nordschleife circuits – two of the world’s most challenging race tracks. The latter with 73 corners and 20.8 kilometres of tarmac, it is also a motorsport complex and home to Hyundai Motor’s own 3,600 square metre testing centre, operated by the Hyundai Motor Europe Technical Center. Hyundai Motor’s accelerated durability tests are conducted there. Each car taking part in the tests laps the Nürburgring 420 to 480 times in both dry and wet conditions, simulating up to 180,000 km of severe driving, the equivalent of a normal vehicle’s lifecycle, in just four weeks.
Race track capability
The World Rally Championship is the “proving ground” for Hyundai Motor’s high-performance vehicle technology in extreme conditions. The high-performance vehicle concepts took shape during the development of WRC cars. That is why the WRC is considered to be the cradle of the N line-up, but N is also inspired by the Touring Car Racing (TCR) Circuit Driving, one of the fastest growing categories in motorsport. The TCR project continues the expansion of Hyundai Motorsport, with the new car built and developed by the Customer Racing department at the team’s headquarters in Alzenau, Germany. The expertise gained during the WRC and TCR racing performances strongly influences Hyundai’s N line-up.
Contacts
-
Florian Büngener
Head of Department PR & Communications
fbuengener@hyundai-europe.com LinkedIn ProfileAdriana Cerami
Head of Section Corporate & Brand PR
acerami@hyundai-europe.comKatharina Kupper
Hyundai Newsroom Lead
kkupper@hyundai-europe.comAnja Wente
Product PR & Communications Expert
awente@hyundai-europe.comElvira Herrera
Corporate Communications Expert
eherrera@hyundai-europe.comÁngel Pino Pérez
Product Communications Professional
apinoperez@hyundai-europe.comMaria Bricio
Corporate & Brand Communications Expert
