Hyundai releases TCR-inspired road-going Elantra

Hyundai has revealed its Elantra N TCR edition road car, following on from its championship success in this year’s KUMHO FIA TCR World Tour, with Norbert Michelisz winning his second consecutive title at Macau.

The Hyundai Motor Company launched the new road model, which is the second performance sports car built for the road to be given a TCR designation, in recognition of WSC and FIA’s top motorsport category designation.

The car contains many of the existing features of the already in production Elantra N sports car, but with several touring car-inspired features, including a carbon fibre spoiler (called the Carbon Swan Neck Spoiler), an adjustable spoiler, not a rear wing, as well as 19-inch TCR-inspired forged wheels.

The model is a limited production model which is aimed for the South Korean brand’s home market to start (where it is called the Avante), before being rolled out to other territories where the Elantra is sold. The Elantra itself isn’t a global model, with the saloon car primarily sold in Oceania and America, while the i30 (which was Hyundai Motorsport’s primary TCR build from 2017 to 2020) is the European-focussed model.

“Hyundai Motor has incorporated the experience and expertise accumulated in motorsports into Elantra N TCR Edition,” said Joon Park, the vice president of the N Brand Management Group.

“We will continue to enhance the DNA of Hyundai N, so that N-thusiasts can experience the thrill of motorsports in their daily lives.”

The Hyundai Elantra N TCR Edition follows on from Volkswagen’s specialised model of its seventh-generation Golf GTI, the Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR, which was launched in 2018. The TCR edition was the highest-specification of the GTI model of the popular performance hatchback, which featured 18-inch forged alloy wheels, rear spoiler, TCR stickers, and a 290bhp 2.0 litre engine.