[RahulNagaraj]

Hyundai N division's former head, Albert Biermann revealed in September 2022 that the Korean carmaker was working on a mid-engined supercar to top its performance lineup. However, he later stated that the car would not be put into production.

Now, at the 2023 Canadian International Auto Show, Hyundai's design head Hak Soo Ha suggested that the supercar could still be a possibility. As per reports, Hak Soo Ha mentioned that the fate of the car has not yet been sealed. He added that efforts were on to check the economical viability and address many of the concerns regarding the supercar, before deciding on its future.



Biermann had previously stated that the supercar would be to Hyundai, what the NSX was to Honda. He had also mentioned that Hyundai was considering all types of powertrains, from petrol-powered to hybrid and even a hydrogen fuel cell system. The former N division head stated that the high cost of the supercar (around $150,000) was one of the main factors in the decision for not proceeding with the project.

Without revealing too much, Hak Soo Ha mentioned that though affordability was still one of the hurdles, a Hyundai supercar was still a possibility but not a certainty.

Source: CarScoops

Link to Team-BHP news

[carthick1000]

Recently drove the 11th gen Honda Civic and Hyundai Ioniq 6 (will write Driving impressions review soon) and I think Hyundai has a long way to catch up to Honda when it comes to driving dynamics.

There is some fundamental issue with Hyundai and what they think is a good driving car. I hope this new one plugs that gap..

[Livnletcarsliv]

Originally Posted by carthick1000

Recently drove the 11th gen Honda Civic and Hyundai Ioniq 6 (will write Driving impressions review soon) and I think Hyundai has a long way to catch up to Honda when it comes to driving dynamics.

There is some fundamental issue with Hyundai and what they think is a good driving car. I hope this new one plugs that gap..

While I agree that Hyundai is not as good as an enthusiast choice compared to Honda, Skoda, and VW, it is still not far lagging. Ioniq 6 vs Civic is not an apple to apple comparison. There is a strong legacy to the ICE powered Civic, while the Ioniq 6 is a new born EV. Civic has seen decades of improvements/improvisations, while Ioniq 6 is a just born baby to serve a different purpose. Ioniq 6 is way advanced to a Civic.

[EV NXT]

More pics of Hyundai’s supercar:












Source

[carthick1000]

Originally Posted by Livnletcarsliv

Civic has seen decades of improvements/improvisations, while Ioniq 6 is a just born baby to serve a different purpose. .

Let me explain why comparing them is more logical than you think it is and how important for vehicle dynamics engineers to have their priorities right for sports cars to get their production cars correct.

And BTW, the purpose of both the cars I compared is to transport 4 or 5 people and luggage in comfort. I am not sure what different purpose you mean.

Yes, they have different powertrains. But other than that from a buyer point of view, they have more similarities. The reason I test drove them with a friend is because he is looking for a car in the price range of around 45k EUR. And he wants it to be comfortable for 3-4 passengers and good luggage space in the trunk. He likes to drive and doesn't want a crossover or SUV. If you look at the price of a top of the line Civic eHEV and the entry level Ioniq 6 in NL, there is only a few thousand EUR difference.



As you see the prices are almost in the ballpark and also for the same level of features as Civic to get in Ioniq 6, the buyer has to shell out about 8k ~ 10k EUR more. That is a big difference. Also Civic has clearly better performance than entry level Ioniq 6.

Entry level Ioniq 6 misses a lot of comfort features like adaptive cruise control, heated seats, heated steering, wireless apple car play etc. while the Civic has all of them. Civic has a wide open hatch but the Ioniq 6 has a sedan boot opening. So now some compromises between these 2 cars is Ioniq 6 has preconditioning (heating/cooling cabin remotely) while Civic has the advantage of not relying on chargers. So for my friend is now in a split. Now I hope you get my comparison has some logic to it.

Regarding driving dynamics, I felt the Civic had a fantastic suspension. It is both tight when cornering and takes on smaller undulations without fuss and has a good secondary drive characteristics. Ioniq 6 felt all the same in all terrains. Ioniq 6 is very comfortable but it is not as nuanced as a Civic. Weight of batteries could also play a role as it calls for heavier springs. But still, to me Ioniq 6 is lacking Civic's sophistication and finesse when it comes to ride and handling. Also note that Civic and Ioniq 6 both use McPherson struts upfront and Multilink setup at the rear. And both of them uses stamped steel links and not aluminium.

Now coming back to the original topic of performance/super cars, esp. if Hyundai wants to make something path breaking like an NSX, Hyundai should start sharpening their driving dynamics of their passenger cars. Honda started with the idea of a mid engined sports car (with Pininfarina) around 1984 and launched the NSX around 1990. That is almost 3 decades after introducing Civic. Civic for it's time was a path breaking ICE car having the Front engine front wheel drive with a small economical an environmentally friendly engine. With Ioniq 6 Hyundai is also pushing EV's efficiency boundaries to next level.

Civic in late 90s has grown into a driver's car but not until NSX was developed. The development of NSX and NSX type R paved way for Civic Type Rs of yore. So my point of view is Hyundai is still learning to make better driver's car and still not there yet. But most likely this new performance car might get them there. Let us wait and watch.

[EV NXT]

Originally Posted by carthick1000

Civic has clearly better performance than entry level Ioniq 6.

The top end Ioniq 6 is a whopping 3 seconds faster than the Civic - 5.1 seconds for 0-100kmph.

[Aditya]

Mod note: Please keep the discussion limited to the Hyundai supercar. Off-topic posts will be deleted.

[GTO]

The truth is, it is much easier to build a low-volume supercar than a mainstream car that sells lakhs of units per year, meets the complicated needs of the mass market, all local regulations, requires huge factories, thousands of crores in R&D and still churns out some profit. We can all agree that Hyundai has mastered volume manufacturing.

Building supercars is easier. That's why you have so many small, boutique companies launching low-volume supercars, but none of them sells a 20-lakh crossover or sedan (just as examples).

I think Hyundai should definitely build a supercar. The "Genesis" brand already has a few fans and while a supercar will inevitably be a loss-making proposition, Hyundai is now big enough to partake in such experiments and have some fun.

[Livnletcarsliv]

Originally Posted by carthick1000

And BTW, the purpose of both the cars I compared is to transport 4 or 5 people and luggage in comfort. I am not sure what different purpose you mean.

That is not the purpose I meant. I think as automotive enthusiasts, we are well aware of the basic utility of a car/automobile and I am sure we are not referring to that basic utility here.

Originally Posted by carthick1000

Regarding driving dynamics, I felt the Civic had a fantastic suspension. It is both tight when cornering and takes on smaller undulations without fuss and has a good secondary drive characteristics. Ioniq 6 felt all the same in all terrains. Ioniq 6 is very comfortable but it is not as nuanced as a Civic. Weight of batteries could also play a role as it calls for heavier springs. But still, to me Ioniq 6 is lacking Civic's sophistication and finesse when it comes to ride and handling. Also note that Civic and Ioniq 6 both use McPherson struts upfront and Multilink setup at the rear. And both of them uses stamped steel links and not aluminium.

Now coming back to the original topic of performance/super cars, esp. if Hyundai wants to make something path breaking like an NSX, Hyundai should start sharpening their driving dynamics of their passenger cars. Honda started with the idea of a mid engined sports car (with Pininfarina) around 1984 and launched the NSX around 1990. That is almost 3 decades after introducing Civic. Civic for it's time was a path breaking ICE car having the Front engine front wheel drive with a small economical an environmentally friendly engine. With Ioniq 6 Hyundai is also pushing EV's efficiency boundaries to next level.

Civic in late 90s has grown into a driver's car but not until NSX was developed. The development of NSX and NSX type R paved way for Civic Type Rs of yore. So my point of view is Hyundai is still learning to make better driver's car and still not there yet. But most likely this new performance car might get them there. Let us wait and watch.

Exactly this is what I meant. The Civic is one of the best driver's cars in the market at this price point for many years now. In fact, it is a benchmark. No competition to Civic in terms of driving dynamics from most of the brands, let alone Huyndai.

In fact, the first Hyundai performance-based car was the i30 N debuted in 2016. Obviously, there is a huge gap in terms of experience and expertise between Japan and Korea. Also do note that Honda is losing ground not just in India but also in the global automotive arena. And it is just the opposite for Hyundai, where we see more and more N models coming up, the Genesis brand gaining traction and tasting success, etc.

While I am with you that a Civic is always a better car in driving dynamics compared to any other Hyundai in that price point, Hyundai is definitely catching up with this side of the market. In fact, IMHO, Hyundai should go ahead with this supercar project just to gain experience and expertise on how to make fun to drive cars, let alone make a profit out of this project.