SPY PICS: Hyundai Veloster RN30 nears

If there was any doubt that Hyundai wasn't fully committed to its high-performance N brand, the latest sighting of a mid-engined Veloster mule puts any misgivings to bed.

Revealing the sort of aero work to make a Porsche 911 GT3 RS take notice (massive rear wing, batty rear diffuser, pumped wheel-arches and a grass-cutting front splitter), these spy shots from Germany reveal that Hyundai is definitely up to something.

Something significant.

The track-ready Korean bruiser could be a production version of the intriguing Hyundai RN30 concept shown at the 2016 Paris motor show.

Fitted with a 280kW/450Nm all-wheel drive powertrain, the wildest ever Veloster would give the current Ford Focus RS a good rinsing -- and maybe even Audi RS 3 and Mercedes-AMG A 45 too!

Beyond the Hyundai Veloster N's racecar-style body work, the mid-mounted engine in this test mule is almost certainly hooked up to Hyundai N's new eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, which will debut in the i30 N by the end of the 2019.

Take a close look at the rear-end of this race-ready – but road-legal (number plates!) – Veloster and you you'll see two circular exhaust vents connected to a lot of a tubing. The rear side windows are replaced with ducts to feed air to the engine located behind the driver.

There's no hiding the fact this is a mid-engined vehicle, likely the latest development of the brand's Hyundai Veloster RM 14, RM 15 and RM 16 models it's been toying with over the last few years.

Riding on lightweight forged alloy wheels fitted with sticky footwear and brandishing big Brembo brake callipers, this overt test vehicle signals that the Hyundai N performance sub-brand is closer to achieving its goal of a mid-engine, two-seat sports car.

Whether this vehicle will become the hard-charging all-paw RN30 or another vehicle is not yet clear, however. What we do know is that new powerplants are being tested here.

As previously reported, there are a couple of distinct powertrain possibilities for Hyundai N's new flagship two-seat sports car. The first is a further development of the Hyundai i30 N's 2.0-litre turbo (202kW/353Nm) that could pump out around 300kW or 400hp.

The second is a hybrid system comprising the regular 202kW 2.0-litre turbo-petrol i30 N motor coupled with the Kona Electric's motor (150kW/395Nm), creating an AWD monster that would be a lot of fun with a drift mode, like the Focus RS.

Hyundai Australia would not comment on the spy photos, but it's clear something exciting is brewing.

Back in 2016, the head of Hyundai N division, Albert Biermann, said: "RM models will continue to play an important role as the 'rolling lab' in the development of our future high-performance 'N' cars."

Ergo, we could be way off the trail and this could be a test mule for Hyundai's luxury brand Genesis, which is plotting a new supercar – which could be mid-engined.

Watch this space.