Hyundai N developing 2.3-litre turbo four

Not content with releasing eight new or upgraded N or N Line models in 2021, including the more powerful new i30 N hot hatch with DCT auto and the first i20 N and i30 N sedan, Hyundai is reportedly working on a bigger, more powerful turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine for its next generation of N performance models.

According to Korean news outlet Kyunghyang Shinmun, the new Hyundai N powerplant will grow from 2.0 to 2.3 litres and will rev as high as 7000rpm.

Performance figures for the new N engine are yet to be leaked, but they will naturally be more than the 206kW/392Nm outputs coming from the 2021 Hyundai i30 N’s upgraded 2.0-litre turbo four.

Mercedes-AMG currently sets the performance benchmark for four-cylinder production engines, with its latest M139 turbo four developing 310kW/500Nm in the new A 45 S hyper-hatch, CLA 45 S sedan and GLA 45 S small SUV.

While the 2.3-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder in the previous Ford Focus RS produced 257kW/440Nm, AMG’s smaller hand-built engine employs motorsport technologies and a 7200rpm rev limit to set new output standards.

Likewise, Hyundai’s next-gen N engine reportedly shares cylinder-head and cylinder block rigidity enhancement technologies with the Korean car-maker’s title-winning World Rally Championship racers.

While a 7000rpm redline is still 1500rpm short of the engine speeds generated by full-flight WRC cars, it’s nonetheless impressive for a factory-warranted, mass-production engine that meets emissions standards globally.

Of course, Hyundai has a smaller 1.6-litre turbo-petrol four for its upcoming i20 N, and a new 213kW/422Nm 2.5-litre turbo four for the upcoming Sonata N Line.

News of a larger 2.3-litre engine for the second-generation i30 N due by 2025 makes sense, given a Veloster-based track car was caught on a tow truck in Korea in April wearing 'MR23T' graphics, suggesting it was a mid-engined, rear-drive, 2.3-litre turbo vehicle.

That said, in recent years Hyundai has also shown off various mid-engined rear-drive Veloster-based concepts based on its Rear Midship (RM) platform, which it describes as a “rolling lab” for future high-performance vehicles – perhaps including the electric supercar it’s developing with Croatian hypercar-maker Rimac.