2018-02-23 17:45
Hot on the heels of the new (SEAT) Cupra Ateca, Hyundai has confirmed that car will be getting a rival. A hot ‘N’ branded version of the Hyundai Tucson SUV is in the pipeline.
At the launch of Hyundai’s new Santa Fe in Korea, Hyundai’s global head of sales, Byung Kwon Rhim, stated when questioned about future expansion of the N sub-brand that: “The Tucson is under development, and other models will come after that”.
The Korean carmaker is looking to build on the initial success of the i30 N, a hot hatch which launched the performance sub-brand headed by ex-BMW M boss Albert Biermann this year. The hot Tucson is in the early stages of assessment and development, so it’s unlikely to appear before the latter half of 2019.
Last year Biermann stated a desire to spawn a more profitable hot model from the Tuscon, Hyundai’s best-selling car in the UK. “If I look at the Tuscon, the substance of it is so strong technically speaking, to make a Tucson N… I would love to do it.”
Details on the hot SUV are thin on the ground at this stage, but we’d expect it to utilise the same 2.0-litre turbocharged motor as the i30 N hot hatch. Given the additional weight of the SUV, it would make sense for only the most powerful 271bhp version of the powertrain to be offered. There’s potential for that power output to be boosted even further to match that of the Cupra Ateca, however.
Alongside the power boost, the Hyundai Tuscon N will benefit from a more performance-focused suspension tune, honed at the Nurburgring racetrack. Sharper steering, bigger brakes and fully customisable drive modes should also feature. As with high-end versions of the existing Tucson, an electronic four-wheel drive system that diverts power from the front to the rear axle when required is expected to be offered.
It’s unclear which market outside Korea will be the first to receive the Tucson N. Most of the car’s development is likely to happen in Europe, however, and we’d predict a debut in the second half of 2019.
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