Hyundai built a 402-horsepower drift bus

While in Europe, Hyundai Motorsport is getting down to business developing its new all-electric Veloster N ETCR—the South Korean company still finds time for other fun stuff too. Back in April, it also published a render of an “iMax N” as an April Fool’s joke. Then, a social media poll in Australia put the iMax N idea in second place behind a “Tucson N,” only for Hyundai’s local crew to argue that “the Tucson would have been too easy.” And with that, Hyundai’s “underground skunkworks team” created the iMax N.

This one-off, 402-horsepower rear-wheel-drive van will now make its global competition debut this weekend at the 2019 World Time Attack Challenge at Sydney Motor Sport Park—smoking tires by the pallet, no doubt.

We’ve seen some wild vans before, but while Ford’s iconic Supervans and Renault’s frankly insane Espace F1 are rather on the impractical side with their mid-engined chassis, Hyundai Australia’s iMax N remains as versatile as the diesel van it’s based on. Yet instead of a 2.5-liter oil burner, Hyundai’s eight-seater drift machine now packs a twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6. This engine produces 402 horsepower and 409 lb-ft of torque, all of which is sent through an eight-speed automatic to the rear wheels via what Hyundai calls “a corner carving differential.”

Hyundai claims a 50/50 weight distribution with eight onboard. The iMax N also features electronic dampers, the 19-inch wheels, tires, and brakes off an i30 N, an active exhaust, a full body kit, and all the N goodies on the inside as well: N’s performance seats at the front, rear benches wrapped in matching suede and leather, and almost 30 cubic feet of cargo room. 

Talk about a van ticking all the boxes!