Scheduled for FIA homologation in September, Hyundai’s new NG i20 R5 car is the second prototype to make its first public appearance in pre-homologation form as zero car on the ERC Ypres Rally.
RallySport Magazine's Martin Holmes speaks with Hyundai's Andrea Adamo.The model is the figurehead of Hyundai’s new Customer Racing division, a major secondary activity for the German-based WRC team. Details of the project were officially released at a pre-event test session in Belgium in the hands of team test driver Kevin Abbring.
Customer Racing chief, Andrea Adamo, was cleared to give a run down on the latest plans for this car, which is based on the “New Generation” four-door model used on to the 2016 version World Rally Car.
“The plan is for the car to be inspected by FIA people after Rally Poland in July. We will still have a gravel test beforehand and then we will start to deliver cars that have already been ordered,” Adamo said.
“For now the development process continues to carry out some fine refinement wor, but the most important milestone has already been done.
“The basic road car chassis is the same, so we have used experience taken from WRC design to make the chassis, with just slight modification, such as changing materials because we also have to face the R5 target cost.
The engine is based on a 2-litre turbo engine that is already in the Hyundai production car range, used a lot in Korea and in the USA for a Genesis model. It is already a well advanced engine with good power, with good reliability already in the road car, and is an engine already used to manage high power.
“We reduced its capacity to adapt to FIA rules, reducing the bore and stroke down to 1600cc (not the class maximum limit of 1620cc), with special things such as the turbo. It is a very robust engine with lots of torque and we have never had a problem till now! In final specification the i20 R5 has the widest bore and shortest stroke of all the R5s.”
As for suppliers, the transmission is by Ricardo, suspension has been very well developed with close links to the WRC, but adapted to R5. The dampers are made in-house at Hyundai.
With the suspension the R5 team engineers started with a very good base, as much has been done by the WRC teams, and then adapted to the R5 car. Brembo brakes are used.
As predicted by Hyundai Motorsport Director, Michel Nandan, when the R5 project was first announced in December the main challenge to be overcome is cost limitation.
Adamo: “That has been a huge challenge. Then the cooling is the biggest technical headache, in my opinion.”
Coupled with the design of the car is working out the best form of the technical support for the teams running the cars.
“We are planning to support them as long as we have customer requests. The cars will be used in various championships, European or WRC2, national championships for sure, and we will find some way to support them some how, providing engineering support as well as on the electronic, engine or chassis side.
Hyundai test driver Kevin Abbring (right) and co-driver Seb Marshall.“It is something we are discussing with many customers in order to let them be the most competitive possible in their own targets. I think that in their market the most important thing is not the car itself, but the way they can have a proper relationship with the customers department of every manufacturer.
“I think that if you have the nicest car, but you not be able to manage it properly, you are putting money into something from which you cannot get your value back. So speaking about a car like the R5 is not giving you a proper picture of the situation, you have to see the whole picture.”
The whole project started off nine months ago, and already 12-14 cars have been ordered and are in course of basic construction.
“If you look at the amount of money we have spent building up stocks of parts to both building cars and also to sell as spares, it’s an amazingly high amount of money. We have to have acquire everything first, because we cannot sell cars without spare bumpers and things like that.
“We need to have available spares for customers. If we don’t, for example, have spare bumpers, people will start to copy them and I don’t want to be in that position.”
Physically this is the biggest R5 car so far. It has the longest overall length and the longest wheelbase.
“I am not worried about that. You must know that this is a customer car, which will not be driven by professional, but by semi pro-drivers, or some who are still very young or, let me say, pro-am drivers that would run it in the Sunday or Saturday rallies.
“The longer a car in terms of wheelbase the more stable it will be, and as long as you can manage the weight distribution it will not affect the handling of the car. We have made many miles in mountain narrow roads, and we found a good compromise.
“In my opinion the car is very stable. Also, with the WRC car you can see that our longer dimension is not affecting it at all.”
And finally, is there any particular part of the project that makes this car really special?
“Yes, the enthusiasm that we are bringing to it,” Adamo concluded.
- Martin Holmes
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