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The AutoGuide News Blog is your source for breaking stories from the auto industry. Delivering news immediately, the AutoGuide Blog is constantly updated with the latest information, photos and video from manufacturers, auto shows, the aftermarket and professional racing.

27/01/2012 | By: Jason Siu

Hyundai and Rhys Millen Racing deserve a round of applause for their recent video antics that spread through the Internet like a leaked photo from a celebrity cell phone.

This time around, the team took their Veloster Rally Car out to the golf course where it replaced the traditional golf cart. Almost everything you can imagine that shouldn’t be combined into a video, is. We’re talking golf clubs, golf balls, a 500-hp Veloster with 600 lb-ft of torque, and cows. Yes, we said cows.

Really there’s no reason behind this video, other than the fact that millions of people will watch it which means millions of eye balls on Hyundai’s little Veloster.

Check out the video after the break.

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02/11/2011 | By: Colum Wood

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Hyundai may be promoting its new Veloster model at the 2011 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, but it’s the brand’s modified Genesis Coupes that are generating the most buzz. With a supercharged V6 built in-house at the company’s technical center and a 5.0-liter V8 version using the donated engine from the Genesis R-Spec sedan it’s hard not to imagine a more fun-filled future for this Korean sports car.

Find out more in the video after the jump:

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26/10/2011 | By: Jason Siu

We really have to give a hand to Rhys Millen Racing and Hyundai this year. In an age where everything somehow finds a way to leak onto the Internet, this is the first we’re hearing of the project that RMR is currently working on for this year’s SEMA Show.

Hyundai has released a teaser video revealing that Rhys is planning something extra special for this year’s show. Over the past four years, RMR and Hyundai have partnered up to create one-of-a-kind show-stopping vehicles, and it looks like this year they want it to be the biggest and best yet.

Make sure to check out the video after the jump and stay tuned for SEMA Show coverage starting here, Tuesday, Nov. 1st.

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08/06/2011 | By: Jason Siu

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Rhys Millen is looking to obtain the Holy Grail of Pikes Peak racers by finally pulling off a 9-minute run up the infamous hillclimb course. When he first debuted the Hyundai-powered RMR PM580, jaws dropped and many knew if anyone was to pull off the feat, it would be someone with the last name of Millen.

Since it’s debut, the PM580 has undergone a few changes. The Hyundai Lambda V6 powerplant has been bored out to 4.1L while the race car still retains the stock block, heads and valvetrain. And while he still hasn’t been able to work out all the kinks with the transmission, Millen does have a back up plan of incorporating the sequential setup that he uses in his Genesis drift car.

Changes for this year’s race includes swapping out to a clutch-plate differential from a Torsen-type differential. This will aid in giving Millen more constant acceleration as he seeks out the 9-minute pass. Also from Hyundai is a power steering unit from a Sonata. For suspension, Millen has opted for new spring rates while the PM580 gets a stylish set of HRE wheels wrapped with softer Hankook rubber. Arguably most important though are the changes to the aerodynamics of the car with includes a new front splitter, intercooler scoop and a huge rear spoiler.

With 700-hp and 700 ft-lbs of torque coming out of the lightweight PM580, Millen looks to further the family legacy at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb by being the first to record a 9-minute pass.

Check out a video of the RMR PM580 after the break.

[Source: Autoblog]

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26/05/2011 | By: Jason Siu

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Before there was Rhys Millen tearing up Pikes Peak, there was Rod Millen claiming records capturing the Unlimited crown fives times in 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999. But now that he has successfully handed the motorsports torch to his son Rhys Millen, Rod has taken more of a backseat approach since 2000 from Pikes Peak. Sure he followed in his son’s footsteps trying his hand at drifting a Mazda RX-8 briefly, but it’s been over a decade since we’ve seen Rod Millen at the infamous Hill Climb.

The elder Millen once held the record at Pikes Peak with a time of 10:04.06 which wasn’t broken until 2007 by Nobuhiro Tajima with a 10:01.408. And now it looks like the itch to go racing has overcome Rod Millen and he’ll be making a return to Pikes Peak on June 26th to compete in the Time Attack 2WD class while his son, Rhys Millen, will try to reclaim the record with a 9-minute run in the Unlimited division with his Hyundai RMR PM580.

Rod Millen will be competing in the RMR Hyundai Genesis coupe and this will be his first appearance since 2000. Both Millens are looking to set records in their respective divisions, with Rhys hoping to fulfill his 10-plus year old dream of breaking into the 9 minute category.

[Source: My Life at Speed]

09/02/2011 | By: Colum Wood

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To help promote the new Veloster to the Gen-Y and under crowd, Hyundai has decided to bolster the coupe’s credentials by taking it racing. And in keeping with the car’s demographic, it’s won’t be racing in the more mainstream World Challenge or Grand Am series, but in an arena where the Red Bull-drinking youth of today will actually pay attention – Rallycross.

Presented today at the Chicago Auto Show, the new Veloster rally car has been built by Hyundai motorsports partner Rhys Millen Racing and will be piloted by rally racer and Drift champ Rhys Millen himself in the 2011 U.S. Rallycross Championship and in the increasingly popular X Games.

Build by RMR, the Veloster race car makes 500-hp and 600 lb-ft of torque from a seriously reworked 2.0-liter 4-cylinder. A true rally car in every way, it includes expected items like a full roll cage and custom off-road suspension, plus all the body panels are made of light weight carbon-Kevlar.

Rhys Millen himself will race the car in the 2011 Rallycross series, while a second vehicle will be piloted by both rally champ Marcus Dodd and freestyle motorbike racer Robbie Maddison. A third car will then be built to complete in a 2WD class, more closely representing the car’s factory capabilities.

Prepped and ready to go, Rhys Millen and the Veloster Rallycross car will make their debut March 26 at Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale, Calif.

GALLERY: Hyundai RMR Veloster Rallycross Racer

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For more information, news, articles, and discussion on the Hyundai Veloster, please visit http://www.veloster.org

25/11/2010 | By: Colum Wood

After teasing us a few days ago, the complete Rhys Millen “Climb Attack” video has now been released. Showcasing Millen’s talents, the 750-hp RMR/Red Bull/ Hyundai Genesis Coupe and some impressively windy mountain roads in Brazil, “Climb Attack” is definitely worth your 4 minutes.

The exact location is a mountain road that runs up the side of Serra Do Rio Do Rastro in Santa Catarina, Brazil. The video was shot and the driving performed as part of the Red Bull Xtreme Drift.

See the video after the jump:

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12/10/2010 | By: Derek Kreindler

After a great run at last year’s SEMA show, where the Hyundai Genesis Coupe was at the forefront of most display booths, Hyundai is butressing their previously announced Sonata Turbo with a pimped out Equus, by Hyundai tuner Rhys Millen Racing.

The Equus, Hyundai’s cut-price S-Class competitor, has been fitted with a carbon fiber good, Red Bull Racing inspired paint, and HRE wheels. An RMR designed intake and exhaust kit give the car a 30 horsepower bump, while a big brake kit helps bring the land-yacht to a halt. If all of that wasn’t enough, the interior has been swathed in ostrich leather.

Check out AutoGuide’s complete SEMA Preview page here, which will be updated with live coverage from the 2010 SEMA Show starting November 2nd.

[Source: Hyundai]

28/06/2010 | By: Colum Wood

With plenty of lead up to its introduction at the 88th annual Pikes Peak Hillclimb, the Rhys Millen Racing Hyundai Genesis PM580 didn’t deliver on any of its promises and instead was overshadowed by the Suzuki of Nobuhiro ‘Monster’ Tajima. Rhys Millen had set out to break the 10 minute barrier on the treacherous mountain and reclaim the record for his family. (Rhys’ father Rod set a record of 10:04.06 in 1994, which Tajima topped in 2007 with a 10:01.41).

Tajima once again came out on top on the weekend’s race, claiming his 5th consecutive overall win at America’s second oldest race with a 10:11.490. In second was three-time hillclimb champion Paul Dallenbach with a 10:39.534 run. As for Millen, he placed a distance third with an 11:06.208 run after his purpose built 650-hp Hyundai race car suffered mechanical problems. “Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong today,” said Millen.

The Pikes Peak Hill Climb, which takes place annually on Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs, Colorado, starts at an elevation of 9,300 feet and finishes at an elevation of 14,110 feet – where the air is so think drivers’ reaction times begin to slow and their race car engines lose 30 percent of their power. Drivers drift around 146 corners in 12.42 miles of track made up of dirt and asphalt, nearly missing guard rails and trees, while avoiding cliffs with 2,000-foot drop-offs.

[Source: Associated Press]

24/06/2010 | By: Derek Kreindler

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The RMR Hyundai Genesis PM580 is about as far removed from a Hyundai Genesis as you can get, but its still pretty damn cool. With a tube frame steel chassis, an active differential and a 650-horsepower 4.1L V6 – all with a curb weight of under 1,900 lbs - the PM580 is a serious machine, and one that you will never ever see on the road. If you’re not going to Pikes Peak, check out the gallery below and take in how badass this one-off racer really is.

Gallery: RMR Hyundai Genesis PM580

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