Hyundai has always gone above and beyond when it came to making sure their lineup of engines can survive anything they through at it. The first N-bound engine made its original appearance at the 2016 Nürburgring 24 Hours where it powered a prototype racecar before making its production debut in the i30 N the following year.

Hyundai is making its return to the famed German race track in May and it will once again preview a new engine, which will be put through its paces at the 2026 running of the race.

Hiding in plain sight once again

The new engine will eventually find its way under the hood of the next generation Elantra N but while Hyundai is not quite ready to talk about raw statistics just yet, the Korean car giant did deliver a consolation prize, a brief teaser video showing how awesome it sounds.

Like some of Hyundai’s current engines, the new motor has a pretty spirited soundtrack and as it heats up, we get to see the turbocharger. There’s a strong suspicion the new engine could come with direct injection but we get to wait until the company is ready to reveal it in full.

Making a splash on the racetrack

The new engine will be appearing in two Elantra N1 cars which will be joined by the current Elantra TCR at the Green Hell. However, the N1 vehicles will not be competing in he Touring Car Class and will instead be competing in the SPT4 class.

This niche class is designed for entrants with turbocharged engines that are 2.6 liters or less. This could perhaps be a clue that Hyundai is attempting to get more performance with less which would be a noticeable decrease in liter size from the current 2.0-liter that sees duty in the current generation Elantra N. At the same time, the engine might grow to at least 2.5 liters and if Hyundai is choosing to go in that direction, it might finally allow the N version to crack the 300 hp barrier.

The next generation Elantra is expected to make its debut before the end of the year with the Elantra N possibly appearing a year after. We look forward to hearing more about Hyundai’s plans for the Elantra then and perhaps more information about the N variant too.