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201-horsepower Hyundai Ioniq Electric track car is awesome

While we've seen plenty of high-performance electric cars, such as Rimac's supercars and Tesla's powerful sedans and crossovers, we haven't seen many modified electric cars. Or at least electric cars modified for more performance in the traditional sense of the word for more speed and handling prowess. Engineers at Hyundai are finally giving us a peak at the future of tuning and hot rodding with their upgraded 2017 Hyundai Ioniq Electric that's competing in the Optima Ultimate Street Car series this year. It's visually much more striking than the average Ioniq thanks in part to a bold color scheme, but also bolt-on fender flares and Volk TE37SL wheels wrapped in fat 275-mm width tires. More important, there are major changes under the skin. The standard Ioniq Electric's 118-horsepower, 218 pound-foot motor has been swapped out for the new Kona Electric's motor, which makes 201 horsepower and 291 pound-feet of torque. Though that's less power than the Veloster N that's also been racing this year, it's more torque than the same hot hatch. Power still goes to the front wheels, but now there's a limited-slip differential up front to prevent the inside wheel roasting its tire in corners. Interestingly, the only suspension change mentioned is firmer lowering springs, so presumably it still uses the torsion-beam rear suspension layout of the regular Ioniq Electric. Beefy six-piston Wilwood brakes up front and four-piston units in the rear help the car come to a stop much more quickly. The cooling systems for the electronics and battery pack have been upgraded, too. It all sounds like a blast to drive. As to why Hyundai built this, the company is using it for research and development purposes. Perhaps this will aid in developing an electric N model. It's also looking to build on its 2017 season when Hyundai was the only brand with a car in the Ultimate Street Car series GTE electric vehicle class. The modifications will certainly be useful this season, since a competitor has been to a few events with a Tesla Model X P100D. The overall standings show that the hopped-up Hyundai is second in total points, which will likely narrow after the Hyundai heads to its third event at Autoclub Speedway this weekend. The two cars have not been at the same events this year, but both appear to qualify for the final invitational event that takes place in Las Vegas following the SEMA show.

Hyundai and Kia introduce new predictive transmission tech

Hyundai and Kia have announced that the two have developed a new transmission control system that optimizes shift logic to both improve efficiency and reduce "gear hunting." The system utilizes real-time traffic data, built-in 3D navigation and the same sensors that feed the cars' advanced safety and driver assist tech to proactively choose the right gear — even neutral in some cases — to reduce both fuel consumption and wear-and-tear. The Korean sister brands call it the "Information Communication Technology Connected Shift System," or "ICT" for short, and Hyundai says it delivers not just improved frugality, but a better all-around driving experience. ICT programming allows the transmission control unit to collect and interpret traffic, camera, sensor, navigation route, elevation and topographical data.  "Using all of these inputs, the TCU predicts the optimal shift scenario for real-time driving situations through an artificial intelligence algorithm and shifts the gears accordingly," the announcement said. "For example, when a relatively long slow down is expected and radar detects no speed irregularities with the car ahead, the transmission clutch temporarily switches to neutral mode to improve fuel efficiency." While this sounds like a primarily green play, there are quality-of-life improvements too. For example, ICT can also optimize gear selection and shift points for safer highway merges, effectively implementing the equivalent of a "Sport Mode" driving profile when a little extra punch is called for.  Hyundai says the resulting decrease in shifts was significant; in some test scenarios, such as roads with lots of curves, the number of shifts executed by the transmission was reduced by almost half. As an added bonus, these vehicles also utilized their brakes less often (11%), which would reduce wear (and accompanying maintenance costs) over time.  ICT is somewhat future-proof, too, as it was developed to incorporate vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) data should such networks improve down the line.  The announcement did not say when the new tech would reach customers, committing only to introducing the technology "on future vehicles." If we're betting, the smart money says it will probably on a new Genesis model and trickle down from there. Related Video:

2018 Hyundai Tucson Sport introduced with new engine

The 2018 Hyundai Tucson Sport its getting its own exclusive engine to help separate it from the rest of the Tucson lineup. It will also get some bragging rights over rivals like the Toyota RAV4. Now, don't get too excited and imagine yourself racing Mustangs and Camaros in your Hyundai-badged compact SUV. The Tucson Sport comes exclusively with a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine that delivers 181-horsepower and 175 lb-ft of torque. This does make the Tucson Sport the most powerful variant in the Tucson range - though the differences are pretty modest. The standard 2.0-liter four-cylinder offers 164 hp and 151 lb-ft of torque, while the optional 1.6-liter turbocharged four serves up 175 hp and 195 lb-ft. Coupled to a six-speed automatic transmission with a SHIFTRONIC manual mode, buyers have a choice of front- or all-wheel-drive. Standard features on the Sport include 19-inch alloy wheels, blind spot warning, proximity key with push-button start, a leather wrapped steering wheel and shift-knob, and dual-zone automatic temperature control. The 2018 Tucson Sport in front-wheel-drive format starts at $25,150, while the Sport equipped with AWD has a starting MSRP of $26,550. This puts the Sport model right in the middle of the Tucson range, which stretches from the base SE model at $22,550, upward to $30,825 for the Limited trim fitted with the turbo four-cylinder and AWD. Related Video: Hyundai SUV hyundai tucson