Hyundai goes rally racing
A rally-prepped turbodiesel i30 will enter the Australian Rally ChampionshipHyundai's critically acclaimed i30 small car is about to join the 2010 Australian Rally Championship for the "eco-challenge" in the showroom class.
But not any old Hyundai i30. No, this particular model was last seen by large audiences in 2009 at Sydney's Acer Arena, taking part in the Top Gear live program.
Since then the car has been stripped back by Team Hyundai Rallye, had a powertrain swap (it's now a manual diesel, not an automatic petrol), and then pieced back together to meet the Production car standards for the showroom class.
The rally-prepped car will make its debut at the NSW Round of the Australian Rally Championship, which is held in Coffs Harbour on May 15 and 16.
Mick Gillett, one of the team drivers, is upbeat about competing. "It's taken a long time to get the i30 ready to rally. We did it the hard way, not only starting with a pre-loved vehicle, but having to do the drive train swap as well. But the i30 is ready and so are we."
As well as the mechanical changes, the car was fitted with a roll cage to withstand the rigors of dirt rallying, and was later given a new 'Hyundai Blue' colour scheme.
The Hyundai i30 turbodiesel rally car can be seen at this month's Rally of Lithgow on the April 17, which kicks off from 12 noon in the Main Street of Lithgow, before its Australian Rally Championship debut at the NSW round at Coffs Harbour.
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