Its name is a misnomer. Or at least only partially accurate. The Hyundai RM19 isn’t quite a true mid-engine machine. Hyundai says "RM" stands for "racing midship," but this car's engine—a turbocharged 2.0-liter producing 390 horsepower—isn’t mounted ahead of the rear-axle line. According to Alberto Iob, calibration engineer at Hyundai Motorsport, “The engine is basically on the rear axle, so it’s actually in between mid-engine and rear-engine.”

The RM19 began life as a production front-wheel-drive Veloster, and it maintains much of its bodywork and dashboard to prove it. “I don’t want to call it a toy; that’s not fair,” says Thomas Schemera, the man in charge of Hyundai’s High Performance Vehicle and Motorsport Division since 2018. “It’s a test bed, a rolling lab.” Hyundai has indeed confirmed that it intends to create a high-performance production car with its engine in back, although it's still a couple years away.

Riffing off cars like the engine-in-the-back-seat Renault R5 Turbo and Clio V6 Renault Sport, Hyundai has been toying with mid-engine-powered hatchbacks for a while now. The Korean brand just won its first World Rally Championship this year, and the N Performance line continues to grow. The RM19, which was revealed at the Los Angeles auto show, is the latest high-performance vehicle in the sequence. “It’s the wildest machine we have so far,” Schemera says with a smile.

Part Race Car, Part Hot Hatch

Visually, the RM19 is easy to confuse with the front-engine Veloster race car fielded by Bryan Herta Autosport for IMSA competition. Its exaggerated bumpers, flares, hood, and rear spoiler are made of carbon-fiber and Kevlar composites, and the signature rear door on the passenger's side has been eliminated. Two large side scoops feed the intercooler, which also has water sprayers for additional cooling, while the engine breathes through a round hole in the bodywork behind the driver’s door. For a while, the engine’s intake wore a scoop to direct more air into the engine, but it was deemed too unsightly, so Hyundai removed it.

The company says the RM19 has spent time in its rolling-road wind tunnel and weighs 3200 pounds. The four-cylinder engine and sequential six-speed gearbox are primarily aluminum, and the 48 percent front and 52 percent rear weight balance is achieved by relocating the fuel tank and the radiator to the front. Two fans force hot air out of the engine compartment through holes cut into the backlight.

Can Be a Handful

Helmet on, we step inside and fasten the prototype's four-point harness. The RM19 sounds and feels like a race car. There’s a beefy cage, hard racing seats, and a small three-spoke steering wheel with carbon-fiber paddle shifters. The 2.0-liter is fitted with a muffler but idles at over 1200 rpm, and the gearbox, with its straight-cut gears, finds first with clunk. Unfortunately, we’re told to leave the Launch button on the steering wheel alone.

There’s a clutch pedal, but it’s only needed to get the car moving from a dead stop. It chatters a bit, but we keep the revs up as we pull onto the track. First gear is long and the engine builds revs smoothly but slowly. The gearbox is noisy, so much so that it drowns out the engine, even at the 6800-rpm redline. We zing past the redline to find that there’s a rev limiter

In faster corners, the RM19's chassis holds on tight, allowing you to get back on the power early. Gearchanges are firm and immediate. Its power steering is quick, with the same 12.3:1 ratio as the production Veloster N. It’s also light and precise, with plenty of feel. The Veloster’s multilink rear suspension has been replaced with control arms, but it’s tuned softer than expected. We're told the spring and damping rates are just a little higher than the specs of a production Veloster N. There’s a bit more body roll than expected, which actually makes it easier to drive. 

Another surprise is its rubber. Instead of the expected slicks, the forged aluminum wheels are wrapped in Pirelli P Zeros, size 245/30ZR-20 up front and 305/30ZR-20 in the rear. Choosing street tires might not result in the most grip, but they break away progressively and allow you to play right on the edge. Get the hang of its balance and power delivery and the RM19 is entertainingly tossable. It would be all smiles at a track day.

Hedging Its Bets

Although company reps have already confirmed Hyundai's intentions to produce a mid-engine sports car, Schemera tells us that such a car isn’t approved, but if it were, it would be three or four years down the road and would have to have a flexible platform that would work for Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. It would also have to have the ability to accept a wide range of powertrains, including electric, hybrid, and fuel cell. “It would be challenging to make such a car affordable at $35,000 to $40,000,” he says. “It makes the most sense for Genesis, at $50,000 to $80,000. This could be a strategy to compete with the Corvette, but it hasn’t been decided yet.”

In the meantime, the Veloster N will get a new eight-speed dual-clutch transmission eventually, and a Sonata N-Line is on the way. Both cars will have their engines in the front.

Source: Car & Driver