Hyundai Elantra N TCR revealed as fully fledged race car

Remember that hardcore Elantra prototype our spies caught back in June? It was indeed a TCR-spec version of the new compact saloon, and now Hyundai is officially introducing its new Touring Car. It joins the company’s expanding international motorsport portfolio that also includes TCR derivatives of the i30 N and Veloster N, not to mention that crazy Veloster N ETCR with a mid-mounted electric motor and rear-wheel drive.

The Elantra N TCR has already done 5,000 kilometres (3,106 miles) of testing on several circuits across Europe and Hyundai says it’s been testing both sprint and endurance versions of its race car. They’ve been testing it for three months and will have it ready for customer deliveries by the end of the year. During development, Hyundai Motorsport took advantage of the know-how gained while engineering the aforementioned i30 N TCR and Veloster N TCR.

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A front-wheel-drive machine, the racy Elantra is equipped with a turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine taken from road cars. Its output is not known for the time being, but TCR regulations call for a maximum horsepower of around 340 bhp and a peak torque of 410 Newton-metres (302 pound-feet). As with other TCR Hyundais, the newest arrival will send its power to the road via a six-speed, paddle-shift gearbox.

Also according to TCR regulations, the car will have a minimum weight of 1,265 kilograms (2,789 pounds), including the driver. Hyundai Motorsport has not provided images of the interior, but even so, we can still see the cabin has been stripped down to the bare essentials while gaining a full roll cage. Stepping outside, the bulging front wheel arches, centre exhaust, and the massive wing at the back denote this is something with a lot more spice than a standard model.

See other TCR-spec race cars:

Hyundai Veloster N TCR is track-ready in Detroit with 350 bhp

It’s not the only hot Elantra model the South Korean marque is working on as a road-going N model is in the works to sit above the sporty N-Line. While the warm version has 201 bhp on tap, the full-fat N model is expected to offer as much as 275 bhp when it will go on sale for the 2022 model year in the United States.