Hyundai Motor America showed off four specially modified vehicles and one racecar today at a press conference at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show. "This marks Hyundai's first appearance with a booth and modified vehicles at this important show, " said David Ossenmacher, Director of Product and Strategic Planning at Hyundai Motor America.
"Until now, Hyundai's official association with high performance and racing in the United States has been successfully tied to the SCCA Pro Rally series and the annual Pike's Peak Race to the Clouds Hill climb. However, having seen the growth of the SUV customization market and the import car performance market we decided to come to the headquarters of high performance marketing in the U.S. – the SEMA Show," he added.
"We are here to display our cars, meet with aftermarket vendors and develop programs for Hyundai to participate in the import performance market. With our value advantage versus the import competitors, a Hyundai customer can buy one of our cars and still have a lot of money left over to purchase accessories and personalize their vehicle," Ossenmacher said.
Hyundai has just introduced three all-new vehicles to the U.S. market, the Santa Fe sport utility, the XG300 sedan and the all-new Elantra. The company displayed specially modified versions of these new vehicles in their SEMA booth. In addition, a modified version of the Hyundai Tiburon sport coupe was displayed along with the championship-winning Pro Rally Tiburon prepared by John Buffum's Libra Racing.
The Tiburon sport coupe featured in the Hyundai booth was modified by Rimmer Performance. Engine modifications include an engineering prototype supercharger system with Autorotor twin-screw compressor and water-to-air intercooler using Laminova heat exchanger cores. Power output from this combination is reported to be 204 horsepower @ 6500 RPM. The 198 lb-ft of torque is available at a usable 3700 RPM.
Rimmer claims the modified Tiburon will accelerate from 0-60 mph in just 6.5 seconds and cover the quarter mile in 14.7 seconds with a trap speed of 97.7 mph. The car is also fitted with custom wheels and tires, an aerodynamic body package, rear spoiler and special graphics package.
Source: Hyundai
