2014 Hyundai Elantra Limited on 2040-cars

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An inside look at Rhys Millen's new Pikes Peak Unlimited racer [w/video]

Wider, Lower And Decidedly More Sinister
Rhys Millen was sitting on a cooler whittling away at a piece of aluminum when I first arrived at the expansive skidpad at the California Proving Grounds, owned by Hyundai, located in a desolate part of the California desert about a dozen miles east of Mojave. By the time I had walked over to the accomplished driver for introductions, he had picked up a piece of sandpaper and begun to arduously file away at the alloy's rough edges, smoothing them masterfully.
He was focused on the job, but I politely interrupted him and asked what he was making. Ryhs looked up, smiled, and then grabbed a few zip-ties and asked me to come over to the new Hyundai RMR PM580-T, destined for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in just two short weeks, raised on its air jacks just a few yards away.

Hyundai Veloster N TCR gives the hot hatch legit racing credentials

In addition to debuting the Elantra GT N Line, Hyundai used the 2019 North American International Auto Show in Detroit to debut a new race car, the Veloster N TCR. With a 350-horsepower turbo-four, it is eligible to race in the 2019 International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Michelin Pilot Challenge series and the 2019 Blancpain GT World Challenge. According to Hyundai, the Veloster N TCR was designed by the same Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing team that created the i30 N TCR and shares about 85 percent of the "core components," including the engine. The Veloster N TCR is powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter direct-injection four-cylinder that makes 350 horsepower at 7,000 rpm and 332 lb-ft of torque at 3500 rpm. Power is sent to the front wheels using a six-speed sequential gearbox with paddle shifting and an AP Racing cerametallic two-disc clutch. Life Racing handled the ECU, the power management system and the instrumentation. The Veloster N TCR rides on MacPherson struts with adjustable dampers up front and a multi-link rear suspension, also with adjustable dampers. Behind the Hyundai Motorsport 10x18 wheels, two-piston calipers up front and six-piston Brembo calipers in the rear handle braking. The exterior, which features a ferocious widebody aero kit and enormous rear trellis wing, uses steel and composite fiber paneling for the bodywork. With an added steel roll cage and the driver in the car, the Veloster N TCR weighs a claimed 2,833 pounds. Hyundai admits that the move works well for marketing its cars. Previously, the i30 N TCR has been racing in markets where the i30 N road car is not available. In the U.S., the i30's equivalent is the Elantra GT, but Hyundai does not offer an Elantra GT N in America. It does, however, now offer the new Veloster N here. So now fans of the touring car racing series will be able to watch a car that they can walk into the dealership and buy. The IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season starts on Jan. 25 at Daytona International Speedway and spans 10 races across North America. Bryan Herta Autosport, the designated Veloster N TCR retailer in the U.S., will race two cars in the upcoming season. Michael Lewis and Mark Wilkins will race one, while 20-year-old Mason Filippi and 18-year-old Harry Gottsacker will drive the other. They will go against the likes of the Honda Civic Type R TCR, the Volkswagen GTI TCR, and the Audi RS3 LMS TCR.

Hyundai patenting speed bump detection

Often patents are more about solving a small, annoying problem than really taking on the big issues. Take Hyundai's recent filing for a system to detect speed bumps, for example. Other than teens with a fresh license and ground-scraping supercar drivers, no one really sees spotting these traffic-slowing devices as the bane of their existence. However, the Korean automaker is out to make driving just a little more convenient for everyone with this tech. The Hyundai patent combines several pieces of currently available technology in a new way. GPS, a camera, and multiple sensors identify an oncoming speed bump, and they then measure its height, width, and curvature. With that info, the software calculates the appropriate speed to drive over the hump. If drivers are going too fast, then a warning message tells them to slow down. The patent is a straightforward solution to a problem that doesn't seem to really exist for many drivers. However, while Hyundai makes no mention of this in the documents, this tech could be extremely useful for applications in autonomous vehicles. All the system would need is the additional ability to slow itself automatically, and the driverless car could potentially handle a speed bump just as well as a human.