If you’re of similar age to us, you might have grown up idolising brands like BMW, Mitsubishi, Honda, and of course Ferrari and Lamborghini. These days, though, it seems it might be Hyundai that gets the crown of the Coolest Car Brand On Earth – because they just can’t stop making bonkers things like this.
It’s called the RN24, and it’s Hyundai’s latest “rolling lab” created to “explore the next-generation of electric driving fun”. And judging by these photos, it appears Hyundai’s definition of “fun” is just a whole lot of gratuitous tyre shredding – Well, we’re not going to disagree.
At the heart of the Hyundai RN24 is the Ioniq 5 N‘s powertrain and battery pack, giving it a maximum output of 650 hp and 770 Nm. But instead of a crossover body shell, Hyundai decided to give the RN24 a stripped-naked exoskeleton chassis that both lighter (by over 300kg!) and smaller than that of the Ioniq 5 N.
Pair that to WRC-inspired rally-spec suspensions, rally-spec electronic smarts, and even an “e-Handbrake” that uses regen braking to fully lock up the rear wheels on command, and you’ll get a deathkart that just can’t go straight even if you tried. (Hyundai does say the RN24 will do 0-100 km/h in under 3.4 seconds, but that’s probably if you glue the tyres down at a drag strip, we imagine.)
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We really don’t have to say this, but don’t expect to see something like this near a Hyundai showroom anytime soon. It’s a development platform after all… or at least that’s the excuse their engineers came up with in order to have some fun on company dime.
That said, there’s a chance that the lessons learned from the RN24 will eventually make their way into future N models. After all, Hyundai claims that it intends to “bring back the compact, lightweight vehicle concept for the next generation of high-performance N road cars”, and if it is anything like the RN24, definitely sign us up.
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