What do you do when you’ve just won a Formula Drift championship? Buy a Porsche, apparently. Reigning FD champ Chelsea DeNofa just bought a 718 Cayman S to turn it into a drift car, and it is one of the coolest things we’ve seen in a minute. A mid-engine Porsche may seem like an unlikely drift car, but with some modification and DeNofa’s quick hands, it works extremely well.

 

DeNofa is detailing the build on his YouTube channel, and it’s fascinating. The Cayman is surprisingly well suited for a conversion into a drift car. DeNofa was able to maintain the stock rear suspension geometry, and simply installed new arms that allow for more adjustment of roll center and anti-squat and ditch the stock rubber bushings for heim joints. 

After dropping the gearbox, DeNofa installed a stronger clutch, beefed-up 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gears, and welded the differential, all of which was surprisingly simple. He chose to go with a Cayman with a turbocharged flat-four rather than a naturally aspirated flat-six for the huge power potential for the boosted engine. Right now, they’re running about 400 hp over the stock 350, but the goal is to get closer to 600. That should require a new exhaust, which is already fitted to the car, and a new turbocharger.

This won’t be a Formula Drift car, so DeNofa is trying to keep as many Porsche parts as possible. Aside from a cage, seats, harnesses, and naturally, a hydraulic handbrake, the interior is being kept stock. He’ll likely get rid of the small radiators ahead of the front wheels for a larger unit to be mounted at an angle in the front trunk a la the new 911 GT3 RS. That’s to keep the radiator less exposed to impacts. DeNofa assumes it’ll need cooling upgrades too.

There was also the matter of electronics. With any modern car, all the systems talk to one another, and when you start messing with one, the rest go haywire. DeNofa doesn’t go into details, but it took a lot of work to essentially “unlock” the car for it to be used for this purpose.

We’re excited to see this build unfold. DeNofa dives deep on all the aspects of the car here, and there’s so much beyond cool sideways shots of the car. Though, we are happy watching drift shots over and over.

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is going racing in a dedicated series. It’s called the eN1 class and will consist of sprint races as well as one-on-one knockout races. The new racing series echoes the N1 class featuring the Elantra (Avante in South Korea) and is not limited to a single manufacturer or just one tire vendor.

The first zero-emission N model goes through multiple changes compared to the road-going vehicle. For starters, Hyundai has managed to shave off a lot of fat. While the street-legal Ioniq 5 N weighs up to 4,916 pounds, the eN1 Cup Car sheds nearly 600 lbs. It tips the scales at 4,343 lbs despite getting a full aerodynamic body kit with bulging fenders and a massive rear wing.

The diet was achieved by mounting a fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP) hood and polycarbonate windows. It also gets 18-inch forged wheels with slick tires and has a stripped-out cabin with a single bucket seat. Although the Ioniq 5 N eN1 Cup Car has been put on a diet, it comes with a lot of hardware not found on the regular model. Hyundai installs a full FIA-compliant roll cage, meaty 18-inch slick tires, an asphyxiation fire layer, and a high-voltage shutoff system.

Other changes over the road-going Ioniq 5 N include an adjustable suspension with two-way dampers, a high-voltage warning indicator, and a charging port embedded into the rear bumper. Oddly enough, the race car retains the fake engine noise trickery (N e-Shift) and teams will even be allowed to pick their favorite sounds. The function enabling artificial gear changes (N e-Shift) has also been retained. Battery pre-conditioning is still there, as is the N Grin Boost that unlocks full power for 10 seconds.

The dual motors continue to produce a combined 641 hp as with the road-going Ioniq 5 N from where it has also inherited the 84-kWh battery pack. Performance details have not been revealed but 0 to 60 mph should take around three seconds considering the standard hot electric crossover does the job in 3.25 seconds with the N Grin Boost active.

We’ll see the new Ioniq 5 N eN1 Cup Car in action for the first time on April 27 during the inaugural round of the 2024 Hyundai N Festival at the Inje Speedium where the eN1 class will have an official practice session. A total of 10 races are set for later this year.

BMW’s B58 straight-six is quickly becoming the hottest thing in import drag racing. The 3.0-liter engine has proven itself surprisingly stout and capable of handling lots of boost, making it easy for owners to extract big power and speed at the strip. This 1500-horsepower BMW 2 Series is further proof the B58 has earned its spot as the Toyota 2JZ’s successor.

From the outside this M240i xDrive coupe looks virtually stock save for a set of sticky drag radials. You’d never guess it’s hiding a highly modified version of its original B58 six-cylinder, equipped with new camshafts, ported heads, a heavy-duty fuel system, and a 74-millimeter Precision turbocharger running 49 pounds of boost. 

The all-wheel drive system is retained, fed by an upgraded version of the car’s factory eight-speed automatic transmission built by Pure Drivetrain Solutions. There are beefed up axles and a carbon driveshaft to handle the extra twist, but amazingly, the rear differential is unmodified.

Best of all, the stock ECU is retained and modified to accept all of the drivetrain changes, meaning this 2 Series still has most of its original features, including climate control, an infotainment system, cruise control, and more. Most of the interior is still there too. According to the owner, the car weighs about 3510 pounds with him in the driver’s seat.

That’s part of the reason why the car’s recent 7.9-second quarter-mile time at 175 mph during TX2K in Texas earlier this month is so surprising. The time makes this 2 Series the quickest and fastest BMW on the planet in the quarter-mile, period. And it does so without having to worry too much about weight or aero. With a few more mods, we’re certain this BMW could go even quicker. 

 

This week, on the occasion of the New York Auto Show, Genesis made its performance ambitions clear. The brand debuted its “Magma” project, a coming series of sporty models to sit at the top their respective model lines. Surprisingly, Genesis has also brought on six-time Le Mans winner Jacky Ickx as an official consultant and brand ambassador. 

In a presentation at a pre-Auto Show event Monday, Icxk talked about wanting to be part of a “winning team,” and Genesis Chief Creative Officer Luc Donckerwolke told those gathered not to just fasten their seatbelts, but racing harnesses too. It’s hard not to read this not just as Genesis wanting to get into performance cars, but racing too. Combine that with the brand’s increased presence in the Gran Turismo series, and you can see where this is possibly going.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing on the horizon now. “Racing is interesting,” Donckerwolke told Motor1 on the Auto Show floor Wednesday. “We have to find the right moment as well because today, racing with the instability of the regulations, you can’t bet on that, because with electrification all the motorsport regulations are changing. So we have to wait a little bit.”

So it’s definitely on the radar, if not something we can expect in two or three years. As for Icxk, Donckerwolke said he’s “bringing another dimension to the group. It’s a support for the Magma program.”

Earlier in the week, Icxk told Motor1 he decided to start working with Genesis after an eye-opening trip to Korea on Doncerwolke’s invite. “I had the option to chose either to stay in the past, or come in the future and live with some people who are at the present and in the future,” he said. “So it’s just a fantastic option.”

But for now, he’s not like a Niki Lauda for Mercedes or Helmut Marko for Red Bull type. At least, not yet.

The new Kia K4 sedan is a sharp replacement to the outgoing Forte sedan. But one thing we didn’t expect to see during its New York Auto Show debut was a hatchback version, which Kia discontinued on the Forte (the Forte5) back in 2018.

And we’ve got good news: The K4 hatchback is coming to America. Kia confirmed to Motor1 that it will arrive in the US “at a later date.”

Much like the sedan, the hatchback looks sharp. The K4 five-door is “a practical vehicle that is aimed at a dynamic and urban lifestyle,” the company noted during its press conference. “The five-door shares the same front and rear design as well as the smooth elegance of the sedan.”

That means it probably has the same powertrain options as the sedan, too. The base engine is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 147 horsepower and 132 pound-feet. There’s also a more powerful turbocharged 1.6-liter engine making 190 hp and 195 lb-ft.

We’ll know more about the K4 closer to the sedan’s on-sale date, which should be sometime later this year. The hatchback will go on sale sometime after that.

The Genesis Neolun concept previews an electric SUV flagship, likely to be called the GV90. In typical concept-car fashion, the Neolun—meaning “New Moon”—has some crazy features. Among them is a pop-out roof rack, heated floors, rotating front seats, suicide doors, and no B-pillar. The sorts of things that generally never make production, but SangYup Lee, head designer at Genesis, says the automaker is pushing to make this a reality.

“We don’t do a show car for show business,” he tells Motor1. “Every element in design, there’s an engineering study behind it.”

Putting suicide doors in production is one thing. Rolls-Royce has used them for years, and the Ferrari Purosangue has a rear-swinging door, too. But having no B-pillar is another matter entirely. Without that element, it’s a real challenge to ensure the car is stiff enough and meets relevant crash-safety standards. 

Lee says it’s easy to do this with a small car, citing the old BMW i3 as an example. It’s a relatively small opening. “A car like this, when you roll, the roof has to be strong enough to hold the weight,” he explains. “But as I said, never say never… Without the B-pillar, look at how big this space is. Imagine when you pull up to a beautiful concert with a red carpet, staging door opens, or when you go to the beach, staging door opens and you have the whole sea in front of you.” It’s a lovely thought. 

There are other neat details. Lee is particularly proud of lights and badging that are totally flush with the body. Run your hand over them, and you can’t feel where one ends and the other begins.

Inspiration for the Neolun came from Korea’s moon jars, and river stones. Lee often keeps a highly polished river stone in his pocket, and he wants the surfaces of the Neolun to feel similar. “You should be able to define a Genesis vehicle even when your eyes are closed,” he says. “This is how you discover the Genesis character.”

That translates to a very smooth vehicle. There’s hardly any sharp lines or creases to be found, in direct contrast with large SUVs from other luxury brands. The Neolun, and the eventual production car, are consciously different. “This car is all about proportion, balance and volume,” Lee says. 

Genesis didn’t provide a timeline for Neolun production, but Lee said it will come “sooner than later.” Figure a couple years. Hopefully, all these fancy elements become a production-car reality. 

Genesis has a new SUV—or at least, the concept of what could become one. This is the Neolun, and it’s making its debut at this year’s New York Auto Show. Inspired by “Korea’s iconic moon-shaped porcelain jars,” notes Genesis Chief Creative Officer Luc Donckerwolke, the Neolun concept has a unique boxy design with Genesis’s signature “two lines” lighting motif front and rear.

The exterior wears a Midnight Black and Majestic Blue two-tone paint job, while the interior has gorgeous Royal Indigo leather with white piping. Two rows of luxurious chairs rotate toward each other to mimic the warmth of a living room. Speaking of warmth—the floor of the concept is heated. Not just the seats, but the entire floor.

The Neolun has a special sound system with an advanced “sound architecture” that gives passengers a fully immersive, concert hall-like audio experience. Like in the GV60, there’s a crystal sphere in the front compartment that rotates when the audio system is engaged.

The Genesis Neolun concept previews a properly large SUV. In this case, the concept only has two rows of seats, but we know that a production GV90 is on the way, and that version should at least offer a third row. Like the Mercedes-Maybach GLS, Genesis could potentially offer two variants of the GV90—one with two more luxurious rows, or a traditional version with three rows of seats.

Details like performance, powertrain, and price remain a mystery. We should know more about what the production version of this concept could look like before the end of the year.

A modified Porsche 911 from California resto-modder Gunther Werks crashed heavily at Laguna Seca during testing last week. A user in the r/Porsche Subreddit posted a picture of the damaged car, a development mule for the company’s new Turbo model, a 750-horsepower 993, on a flatbed. On Instagram, Gunther Werks confirmed the “incident” and that the driver is “okay.”

Motor1 reached out to Gunther Werks for more information, and we’ll update if and when we hear back. 

 

On Instagram, the company said “Unfortunately, the second day of testing was cut short when the GW Mule went off-track and sustained incident damage. Goals were achieved, times were set, cars are repairable, and lessons are valuable.”

“We are grateful everyone is okay and look forward to getting back to HQ to apply everything we learned this week for the next track day soon.”

 

The Reddit user claims that it was Patrick Long, a longtime Porsche factory driver and brand ambassador, driving. We asked Gunther Werks to confirm whether this is the case, but, Long did post on an Instagram story that he is enjoying “[a] much needed R+R break with the family. All is well.” Long is known to do development work with the company, driving one of its cars at a Laguna Seca Corkscrew hillclimb event.

While the Gunther Werks Turbo uses a 993 body shell, most of the panels are made from carbon fiber. A Road & Track story notes that the car costs around $1 million.

Photo: Gunther Werks

This week, BMW unwrapped the Vision Neue Klasse X concept. If last year’s Vision Neue Klasse was a glimpse at an all-electric 3 Series sports sedan of the future, the Vision Neue Klasse X is tomorrow’s battery-powered X3.

Like most concept vehicles, the Neue Klasse X has a minimalist dashboard defined by a full-width digital instrument panel and a central touchscreen, with hardly any buttons or knobs to be seen. But glimpse the front door panels, and you’ll find old-fashioned seat-adjuster buttons, almost exactly like what you’d find in a 30-year-old luxury car.

“As we know, people adjust the seat a little bit while driving,” a BMW representative told me at the media preview of the Vision Neue Klasse X in Portugal. “It’s a very intuitive way, without looking to a display, to adjust your seat. This is one of the things where it makes sense to keep these [physical] control elements.”

The Vision Neue Klasse X is not completely touch-free, of course. The X concept includes a new multi-function steering wheel, which absorbs the physical controls that would have previously been handled by an iDrive knob on the center console (RIP). BMW says the steering-wheel-mounted controls allowed designers to place the center-dashboard screen in the ideal position, making it easily visible without impinging on the driver’s view through the windshield.

And while the Vision Neue Klasse X presents a button-free dashboard, reality dictates that the eventual production version will be a bit less minimalist.

“We listened really carefully to what customers gave us during our customer clinics, and we got that feedback,” a BMW representative told Motor1 during the Vision Neue Klasse X media preview in Portugal. “We will not have the iDrive controller in the car anymore, I think this is clear. We have that wonderful multifunctional steering wheel and the panoramic vision stage, but for other functionalities we will have knobs where it is necessary. It’s not a knob- or control-element-free car, that’s not our vision.”

When the Vision Neue Klasse X goes into production, the BMW rep continued, it will feature a mix of haptic-feedback buttons in the steering wheel and physical buttons elsewhere in the interior. 

“For the most important functions, there will be the right knobs in the right place,” the BMW representative told Motor1. “This is still a Vision car, so stay tuned to see how the final version will be.”

BMW wants you to know that things are changing. In fall of 2023, the company unveiled the Vision Neue Klasse concept car, an all-electric sedan that previews the design and engineering we can expect from a new generation of BMW vehicles. Today, BMW debuts the Vision Neue Klasse X, the crossover member of the new EV family. Because while BMW insists it’s on the precipice of a paradigm shift, it’s not about to abandon its popular and profitable “sports activity vehicles.”

The “Neue Klasse” name is freighted with meaning for BMW enthusiasts. The company first coined this moniker—which is simply German for “new class”—in the early 1960s, applying it to a brand-new lineup of sporty, modernist sedans. The Neue Klasse spawned the legendary BMW 2002, and saved the company from the brink of extinction.

Modern BMW isn’t existentially threatened the way it was in the early 1960s, but the company faces a dramatically evolving global auto industry. BMW has toyed with EVs and hybrids for years now, but the new Neue Klasse concept lineup points to a full-scale re-envisioning of how a BMW looks, works, and drives.

If the Vision Neue Klasse concept sedan is tomorrow’s 3 Series, the Vision Neue Klasse X seen here can be understood as tomorrow’s X3.

“Together with the BMW Vision Neue Klasse, the BMW Vision Neue Klasse X showcases the breadth of our future BMW model lineup,” said Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, in a statement. “In this way, we are underlining that the Neue Klasse is much more than just a car or a specific concept; it is redefining the BMW brand—and, at the same time, will be more BMW than ever.”

That means this high-riding crossover will have to perform. BMW is bringing a new, EV-specific software strategy to the task. In the typical internal-combustion vehicle, each system—engine, transmission, stability management, adaptive suspension—is controlled by its own ECU. Tweaking the vehicle’s performance in real-time involves lots of communication between these discrete computers.

BMW says the Neue Klasse platform will get rid of conventional system-specific ECUs in favor of “super-brains”—”high-performance computers working smartly together on what, up until now, was processed separately,” said Frank Weber, member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, in a press statement. Each super-brain will have up to 10 times the computing power of a conventional ECU.

This will allow one super-brain to control all facets of driving dynamics, from torque delivery to traction management to suspension behavior or drive-mode adjustments. Another super-brain will handle all aspects of automated driving, from the sensor suite to GPS route navigation to steering and braking. BMW promises that this super-brain setup will improve processing power and speed, while simplifying the electronic architecture of the vehicle and reducing the size (and weight) of required hardware.

“The result will be more dynamic performance, more precision, more efficiency and even more fun to drive,” Weber said in his statement.

BMW says the Neue Klasse EVs will use an all-new sixth-generation version of the company’s eDrive propulsion technology. New, round lithium-ion batteries promise 20 percent more energy density than the current prismatic cells, and BMW says the Neue Klasse vehicles will use 800-volt architecture for rapid charging, enabling 186 miles of battery range with a 10-minute plug-in. Power and performance figures were not given for the Vision Neue Klasse X.

The most striking aspect of the Vision Neue Klasse X is its design. Like the Vision Neue Klasse concept sedan, the X’s body contours are refreshingly simple. The kidney grille, which was squashed and widened on the Neue Klasse sedan, stands tall here, a signature that BMW says will distinguish its Sport Activity Vehicle models from its conventional sedans in the all-electric future.

The silhouette is familiar as a BMW crossover, but the greenhouse is impressively airy, in part thanks to some tricky proportioning: The A- and B-pillars are tapered on their exterior edges, thin and spindly from the outside but flaring out to conventional thickness. Of course, the Vision Neue Klasse X has a Hofmeister kink—a Neue Klasse design signature—though here it’s represented by a ghostly reflective appliqué on the rear quarter windows.

Inside, the Vision Neue Klasse X embraces newfound minimalism, despite promising a whole new level of perpetually-connected telecom integration. Rest in peace, iDrive: With the Neue Klasse, BMW wants you to control the center-dash display by touch or via controls on the steering wheel.

A second full-width display at the base of the windshield shows speed, battery status, and other information you’d normally find on a driver’s instrument panel, which BMW says will be augmented by a head-up display. Aside from a tiny collection of physical buttons on the center console, the entire cockpit is essentially button-free.

As with last year’s Neue Klasse concept sedan, the X features “Verdana” textile upholstery, which is claimed to be plant-and-mineral-based and completely petroleum free. The injection-molded interior components are said to be made from recycled maritime plastics. The coral shade of the corduroy-like upholstery, coupled with the enormous panorama roof and the generous greenhouse, give the interior of the X an invitingly airy feel.

In person, the Vision Neue Klasse X feels like a halfway step between a flight-of-fancy concept car and a ready-for-production machine. The headlights and taillights feel like show-car stuff, and a BMW representative admitted that the production interior will need to have a few more physical controls than what’s on display here. But the door handles and latches, the body stampings, and the daylight openings all seem factory-ready—which they better be, since BMW is promising that the first Neue Klasse crossover will go into production in 2025.

Whether you think of this as an entirely new class of vehicles or not, one thing is certain: The all-electric future of BMW will be defined by SUVs that, I’m betting, will look a lot like what you see here.