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The Hyundai Veloster rally car takes flight on its way to Chicago

The 2012 Hyundai Veloster was introduced at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show with its innovative door configuration featuring two doors on the passenger side with just one on the driver’s side and now Hyundai has supported the sporty spirit of the Veloster with a picture of a rally-prepped hatchback soaring through the air – clad in Team Red Bull race livery.

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Before the 2012 Hyundai Veloster was introduced it had been teased for some time, leading many to believe that we would receive the next generation of the Genesis coupe but the sporty Veloster offers more comfortable seating and cargo capacity than the sleek two door Korean sports car. However, Hyundai is still billing the Veloster as a sports car and nothing can bolster the sports car street rep like a factory-assisted race car.

Enter the Hyundai Veloster car shown in the image above and you have a very clear indication as to where Hyundai is headed with their current sports car program. The Korean automaker offered no information as to what powers the Veloster rally car but based on what we have seen from similar sized race cars like the Ford Fiesta, we can expect gobs of horsepower in a super-light chassis with an all-wheel-drive system helping the car tear up any race surface that it encounters. The standard production version of the 2012 Veloster will be powered by a 1.6L 4-cylinder making 138hp and 123lb-ft of torque but with vehicles like the Ford Fiesta rally car making over 600hp, that is probably a good benchmark for the kind of performance needed from the Veloster rally car to compete in the competitive world of offroad racing sport compacts.

Word on the street is that Hyundai will use the 2011 Chicago Auto Show to make a formal debut of the new Veloster rally car and TorqueNews will bring you up the minute coverage as more specifications come out of the Windy City!

Check out the gallery below for a closer look at the 2012 Hyundai Veloster at the debut from the 2011 Detroit Auto Show.

Other Hyundai News:
Hyundai Releases Three Super Bowl Commercials
Semi-Finalists for World Car and World Green Car of the Year Announced
Hyundai Will Report Monthly CAFE Numbers

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