The company will enter the famous endurance race with three cars, including a development prototype of the upcoming hot i30 2,0 Turbo N hatchback.

This is part of Hyundai’s official development process of their high-performance N sub-brand which will eventually spawn models to rival the likes of Renault RS and VW GTI and R variants.

“This Nürburgring 24h race provides the ideal test bed for our motorsport-inspired N sub-brand development and a key part of our ‘born in Namyang, honed at Nürburgring’ performance-car ethos,” said Albert Biermann, Head of Vehicle Test and High Performance Development. “The technological inspiration and experience gained from this extreme testing will accelerate our development of high-performance, fun-to-drive N models.”

Hyundai claims that around 40% of the i30 2.0 Turbo is new, including the new engine, the enhanced transmission, suspension and damping. The steering, wheels and wider fenders are also included to these upgrades. As for the specs, we only know that the new engine produces north of the 260PS mark, as shown in the video linked below.

The idea behind the new N sub brand is to bring models that have been developed heavily on the German track. The company has its own testing center at the Nurburgring that allows them to perform a series of demanding ‘accelerated endurance tests’. These include 480 laps of the Nordschleife (10,000km) completed over the course of a few weeks which the company reckons that simulates more than 150,000km of driving in real traffic conditions.

The development car will be driven by Bruno Beulen, Michael Bohrer, Alexander Köppen and Rory Pentinnen. Hyundai’s other two entries will be an i30 1.6 Turbo and a Veloster, with the former focusing on defending its 2015 class win.

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