The race to the 2016 Paris Motor Show is entering the home straight with barely a week left until the curtains go up at France’s premier motoring spectacular. Amongst the flotilla of highly anticipated new releases, this annual petrol-head hotbed also gives us a chance to grab a sneak peek at some of the most cutting-edge concepts from across the motoring spectrum.
Step forward Hyundai, whose high-performance N sub brand has been especially active this year. As well as overseeing the intensive development and testing program for the Korean outfit’s 2017 WRC contender, N division has also been getting its hands dirty in the concept workshop.
It’s a domain that they’re more than familiar with. Despite the N name not having made it to a production road-going Hyundai as yet, the performance brand has thrown its weight behind a number of concept projects since its launch in 2013, not least last year’s pulsating Veloster-based 296bhp RM15.
Following in that particular animal’s paw prints, here’s another motorsport-inspired racing concept from the N stable with Paris in its sights; the RN30.
Gearing up for its world premiere later this month in the City of Lights, the RN30 is a pure track thoroughbred, based essentially on the underpinnings of the Hyundai i30. Spawned from Hyundai Motorsport’s European Technical Centre at the Nürburgring, the RN30 is unlikely to get lost amongst the Parisian hordes with its sharp silhouette, a wilder take on the shape of the new generation i30 hatch. Honed for track-attack, the concept’s lower ride high and wider stance incorporates an aggressive aero-package reminiscent of that which envelopes the all new i20WRC. The end result; maximum stability and precision handling right to the limit of performance.
The Hyundai N Concept RN30 takes its bow at the 2016 Paris Motor Show on September 29 alongside it’s fellow new arrivals on the production side, the latest generation i30 and the new i10. Although there’s no concrete evidence we’ll be seeing a production version of the RN30 emerging in the immediate future, it’s certainly another step towards the N moniker hitting the road in earnest sooner rather than later.
