Hyundai revealed the latest prototype of its mid-engine sports car today at the Los Angeles Auto Show, dubbed the RM19. A Hyundai insider with knowledge of the RM19 project confirmed to Road & Track a toned-down version of this car is heading for production.



Hyundai says the RM19 project dates back all the way to 2012. RM stands for Racing Midship, and represents a series of one-off mid-engine prototypes. The first one was introduced in 2014, and was based on a last-generation Veloster Turbo. This latest one is the most extreme yet. It's powered by a version of the company's TCR racing engine, and looks a lot like the company's current Veloster TCR race car.

Behind the cabin sits a version of 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four found in the company's TCR cars. Because the car doesn't have to conform to any regulations, it's tuned all the way to 390 horsepower. Hyundai estimates a 0-60 mph time of under four seconds, along with race-levels of grip and braking, all while maintaining road-friendly driving mannerisms.

As with past RM Hyundais, this particular car is likely being used as a testbed for future N performance parts.

“The RM platform is a versatile engineering testbed, allowing effective evaluation of various powertrains and performance levels, all on normal roads and environments,” Albert Biermann said in a statement. “Throughout the evolution of the RM series, our engineers have gained tremendous hands-on knowledge of high performance vehicle dynamics with various front-to-rear weight distributions coupled with the effects of a fully-weighted, high-strength body structure on vehicle performance.”



The production car probably won't have the extensive aero bits or high-output race engine, but, still! It's a production mid-engine Hyundai hatchback!

Cool stuff.

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