Hyundai and Motorsports.

 Rhys Millen is easily one of the best!

Well Rhys Millen does it again! He puts his Genesis Coupe (twin turbo charged 650hp!!) on the podium again in Irwindale! This time taking 2nd place. I received an email form the Hyundai Think Tank with a video, but it has not been release yet to the public (hence why I can not share it with you...BOOO!!

Rhys Millen has been with Hyundai for three years now. We first saw Rhys with his 2010 Genesis coupe at SEMA in 2008. This gave all of the Hyundai tuners something to talk about, especially since this car was at SEMA prior to the car even being debuted! Since then people have been taking both platforms (2.0 turbo and the 3.8 v6) to their limits.
 

Over the years, their joint venture has brought awesome cars like his Genesis coupe (for drifting and redline time attack races), but also the RMR 580. This fantastic car was used to climb pikes peak not to long ago this year. The previous year he raced his Genesis coupe and broke the record for RWD vehicles.



Rhys has also been busy building the Veloster rallycross car. This 2.0 liter(stroked out by BC from 1.6 liter) turbo AWD beast is packing 500+ hp. The car was first shown at the Chicago Auto Show but its first ride was in the Rallycross Series this past summer and at the 2011 X-Games. Although not as successful as they might have hoped, it brought the brand and the car to the rallying world again.




If you remember Hyundai had a World Rally Car some years back with the LC Accent (2000 model) and the WRC program ran from 2000 to 2003 until the budget wore thin and Hyundai pulled out in 2004. Too bad, it was smoking fast!! 300hp from turbocharged 2.0 Beta motor. People have tried to duplicate the car by putting the 2.0 in the LC Accent and then turboing it (its actually ALOT easier then you would think, its almost a direct bolt in) but without the AWD...it lacks in the traction department. Check out the video of the WRC Accent VS the R34 GTR!

Others are following in the path of RMR and teaming up with Hyundai for this years SEMA Show. ARK will be representing with their latest rally inspired car. This 2012 Veloster will be sporting a TON of aftermarket parts from ARK, including a custum turbo kit making 210hp. ARK has been keeping the guys and gals over at Veloster.org updated on almost a daily basis. It should be sweet to see!! (maybe in person???)

Fuelculture is another break through company that has received a Veloster from Hyundai Motor America. This car sports a custom blue paint job (I actually LOVE this blue! if only Hyundai made a color similar!) and custom tan leather interior. They too have quite a bit of aftermarket goodies including KW coilovers. They too Veloster.org and are updating us on a regular basis.

Last but not least I would like to take a minute and talk about THIS Genesis coupe picture. This picture was released and the guys over at Gencoupe.com went bananas with it. I knew that this could not possibly be true because I have read about the new 3.8 liter GDI motor putting down 333hp would be the successor to the port injected 3.8 that was rated for 306hp. People began to suspect that THIS would be the new motor. I knew it then that it wouldnt be, but this is what spawned my entry "The return of H.A.R.D?" could you imagine if this WAS a factory option? it would be pretty sweet. What we did learn some weeks later was that this Supercharger has been in the making for the past couple of years with engineers from Hyundai American Technical Center and others from Rhys Millen Racing (RMR), Magnuson products, Harriman International, and Torvec INC. This motor is good for over 450hp! But dont expect to see this in show rooms. Instead you'll find it in the Genesis Coupe Hurricane SC to be showcased at SEMA in the not so distant future.

This is just the beginning...

Although Hyundai has been making a huge push toward having the most fuel efficient cars (4 cars that are at 40mpg or more), we know that CEO John Krafcik is a car guy deep down. He has his fair share of cars in his garage including a Caterham and a Porsche Boxter S. He knows his cars and how they should drive! I'm personally looking forward to seeing (and driving!) the facelifted Genesis coupe and Veloster Turbo. Both of these vehicles should be unveiled in the first quarter of next year (I'm thinking at the Detroit or Chicago auto show). They should then be on sale in Korea first, then shipped to our shores here in the U.S. There is also an Elantra Coupe coming (and I have heard a rumors of an R-spec edition...possibly with the same 1.6l GDI turbo good for 208hp and 195lbs that will be coming in the Veloster Turbo).

Keep feeding us Hyundai, because we are are going to eat them up!