At the Chicago Auto Show, Hyundai unveiled its motorsports program in the U.S. with the help of drift champion Rhys Millen, who will fabricate and race a 550 horsepower Genesis Coupe in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, the Formula Drift Professional Drifting Championship and at select Redline Time Attack series events in 2009.

“Today’s announcement puts the Genesis Coupe into three great motorsports series,” said John Krafcik, acting president and CEO, Hyundai Motor America. “We like to refer to the Genesis Coupe as the sinister sibling to the North American Car of the Year, the Genesis sedan and we look forward to Rhys harnessing every ounce of energy in the Coupe as he campaigns it.”

Millen and his team are an ideal match to launch Hyundai’s racing efforts. Millen’s driving credentials include movie stunts, multiple drifting championships, a Pikes Peak world record and his recent New Year’s Eve Las Vegas truck flip. But behind Millen’s success in the driver’s seat is a full team of engineers and fabricators that know how to maximise the potential of a race car.

Millen had his first opportunity to test drive the Genesis Coupe’s performance credentials when he performed precision driving for the car’s debut advertising campaign. Millen flogged a Genesis Coupe for three days during the filming process at Road Atlanta racetrack, and the car never missed a beat.

“The Genesis Coupe Concept inspired me to seek out a relationship with Hyundai and it has developed into multiple projects,” said Millen, professional race driver and founder of RMR. “The immediate focus is developing the RMR Red Bull Hyundai Genesis Coupe into a drift car with a 550 horsepower engine and a lightweight, rigid chassis. We are applying everything we know about fabricating into building this car.”

The Chassis

Six RMR employees have already stripped a Genesis Coupe to bare metal and the chassis has spent five days in an Alkali bath removing all rubber and adhesives. The chassis has also been stitch welded for added structural rigidity.

The Carbon Fibre body panels

The hood, deck lid, roof, doors, fenders, front fascia and side skirts are all built out of carbon fibre. The carbon fibre panels range from 50 percent to 80 percent lighter than the sheet metal they replaced. For example, a factory Hyundai Genesis Coupe door weighs 68 pounds but modifications made by RMR reduced the door weight to just 8.5 pounds.

Interior

The interior of the RMR Red Bull Hyundai Genesis Coupe is unrecognisable from its origins as a well-appointed 2+2 coupe designed with everyday driving in mind. All comfort and convenience features are removed to make way for a custom-fabricated eight-point safety cage and firewall which reinforce the Genesis Coupe’s already stiff chassis.

Suspension

The RMR Red Bull Hyundai Genesis Coupe utilises a KW remote reservoir three-way adjustable coil-over suspension. Adjustable chrome-moly sway bars dial the suspension in further for true track performance. RMR also fabricated adjustable lower control arms, rear control arms and toe links to allow precise tuning of the chassis.

Engine and turbo

The Hyundai Lambda 3.8-litre V6 engine, which comes standard on the Genesis Coupe 3.8, will be stroked to 4.1-litres and further enhanced by a Turbonetics turbocharger. An AEM engine management system will also be used. The engine will be mated to a HKS sequential transmission. The end result is a Genesis Coupe that will produce 550 horsepower and 704 Nm of torque.

Wheels, tyres and brakes

To ensure that the enhanced power plant translates all the way to road performance, RMR added 18- by 8.5-inch front and 18- by 9.5-inch rear Enkei RPF1 light weight wheels and 225/40-18 Toyo Proxes R1R front tires and 265/40 Toyo Proxes R1R rear tires.