Q.Hyundai Elantra 2.0 AT Petrol Takes To The Track With NASA

This has got to be the funniest video yet. This is an in-car cam video of [URL="https://www.zigwheels.com/forum/profile/42"]CorsaVeloce[/URL] driving the Hyundai Elantra AT on track. But boy, was he in for a surprise when he set out. ROFL... (P.S. Turn up the volume) [youtube_video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJQ4dF2LIUU[/youtube_video]

[URL="https://www.zigwheels.com/forum/profile/20"]NikilSJ[/URL] Great pictures. Even though the evenings are not ideal for taking pictures, but you got some nice shots.

Here's a video of [URL="https://www.zigwheels.com/forum/profile/46"]Speedzilla[/URL]'s RaceJazz and Mudit Grover's Polo GT TSI set their personal best times at the BIC last Saturday.[youtube_video]https://youtube.com/watch?v=OVIF_nBjOnE[/youtube_video]

After the session came to an end, we assembled all the cars at the parking lot just outside the BIC and took a group shot of all the cars. At the end of the day, I was so glad for being a part of this track day. Not only did I get some awesome shots of the days action, I also got to know the NASA boys better this time. [USER="10021"]Kaustav_Mukerji[/USER] was kind enough to drop us back at our apartment after the event. The ride back was simply Rapid (pun intended) as we were cruising down one of my favourite roads near the Gurgaon-Faridabad road at a blistering pace. We just took a little longer than an hour to reach Gurgaon which is simply staggering. Even though getting to the BIC is a pain in the arse for someone living in Gurgaon, I will surely try my best to be part of all the NASA track days from henceforth. If you live in Delhi-NCR, I highly recommend you to come and watch the action too as these boys are simply passionate about their machines and try to go faster at every event and better their lap times (just look at the number of personal best lap times they recorded that day). As for the Elantra’s performance, I’ll leave it to [USER="42"]CorsaVeloce[/USER] to give you the lowdown on how it performed at the track. Did I just smell some freshly burnt brake pads? [ATTACH=CONFIG]n20029[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n20030[/ATTACH]

The second session started soon after and this the one to watch out for as all the fast cars were grouped together. This session consisted of @Prithwi_NASA’s Skoda Laura vRS, Eklavya’s thunderous Audi S4, Kunal’s M3, Vir Raina’s bonkers Zen, Mudit Grover’s Polo GT TSI, Speedzilla’s RaceJazz, [USER="10021"]Kaustav_Mukerji[/USER]'s Skoda Rapid TDI, @Navneet Kumar’s Hyundai i20, Achintya’s TurboKat (Swift) and Tarun Chopra’s Audi R8. The session started off to a roaring start and all the cars veered past me in a blur. But soon the session was halted as [USER="10021"]Kaustav_Mukerji[/USER] spun out after Turn 15. I was in the pit lane at the time and saw the medical car set off in that direction. [USER="6"]Roshun[/USER] and I quickly hopped in to the Black Fox and headed in that direction through the inner lane only to see the Rapid TDI stuck in the gravel trap. Thankfully, the driver and passenger were unhurt and the Rapid too lived to face another day at the track. After towing the Rapid out, the session was restarted and this time I made my way to the grassy patch between Turn 8 and 9 and Turn 14 behind me. This way I could see these cars pass by me twice within seconds. The Skoda Laura vRS and the BMW M3 were neck and neck for most part of the session and boy was it a sight to see. The Audi S4 with the new exhaust was unbelievably loud too. Even though the S4 looked a bit slow in some of the sections, it managed to set the fastest time of the day (2.29.030). I’ve been a big fan of @SpeedZilla’s RaceJazz ever since the first time I laid my eyes on it. This beautiful little white egg was super quick throughout the session. Mudit Grover’s white Polo GT TSI was tailing the RaceJazz for a long time although I think it went ahead in the later stages. The time difference between both the cars was just 1.1 seconds with the Polo GT edging ahead. Here’s a video of their best laps side by side. As the light was fading, I even managed to get some good shots of hurtling down the corners. The next car that I was interested in was @Navneet Kumar’s Hyundai i20. Even though it was a diesel, this one made a rich baritone thanks to the free flow exhaust underneath. [B]Kunal's BMW M3:[/B] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19989[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19990[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19991[/ATTACH] [I]Somehow, from a spectator's perspective, I think the new M3 (F80) doesn't tingle your senses like the older E90 with the V8. Just saying.[/I] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19992[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19993[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19994[/ATTACH] [B]@Prithwi@NASA's Skoda Laura vRS:[/B] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19995[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19996[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19997[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19998[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19999[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n20000[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n20001[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n20002[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n20003[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n20005[/ATTACH] [I]Ok, not the best picture of the Laura. To me this picture has a very psychedelic feel to it. What you can't see here is the BMW M3 making a move on the Laura vRS.[/I] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n20006[/ATTACH] [B]@Kaustav_Mukerji's Rapid TDI:[/B] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n20007[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n20008[/ATTACH] [I]Spun out after Turn 15. The Merc ML had to come and tow it out of the gravel trap.[/I] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n20009[/ATTACH] [I]Thankfully, no damage to either the driver or the car. Whew![/I] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n20010[/ATTACH] [B]Tarun's Audi R8 makes its debut at the BIC:[/B] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n20011[/ATTACH] [B]Eklavya's Audi S4: [/B]Set the fastest time of the day (2min 29sec), [ATTACH=CONFIG]n20012[/ATTACH] [B]@Navneet Kumar's Hyundai i20: [ATTACH=CONFIG]n20014[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n20015[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n20016[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n20017[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n20018[/ATTACH] @Speedzilla's RaceJazz and Mudit Grover's Polo GT TSI: [ATTACH=CONFIG]n20019[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n20020[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n20021[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n20022[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n20023[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n20024[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n20025[/ATTACH][/B] [I]This little egg deserves noise![/I] [B][ATTACH=CONFIG]n20026[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n20027[/ATTACH][/B]

[USER="6"]Roshun[/USER] and I took the Black Fox through the inner lane looking for vantage points to capture all the action. We found a couple of good spots and settled down to take tracking shots of the Elantra and the other mean machines that took part in the first session. Among the cars that participated in the first session were @Speedzilla’s dad’s BMW 330i, Pratik Jain’s Toyota Camry 2.4, Abhishek Bhandari’s Ausi A3, Ishaan Gupta’s Polo GT TSI, Tanmay’s Honda Jazz 1.2, Parikshit’s Audi A6, Gaurav Ladwal’s Honda City and Rohan Bhasin’s 320d other than the Elantra 2.0 petrol automatic that was driven by @CorsaVeloce. With the light shone brightly across the track, I could not have asked for a better condition to take some good shots of these machines. I managed to take a couple of shots at the back straight after Turn 3, Turn 4 and Turn 5. Seeing the cars hurtle down the back straight and hit the easy bump was good fun. Here are some of the pictures from the first session. [B]Abhishek Bhandari's Audi A3:[/B] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19954[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19955[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19956[/ATTACH] [B]Parikshit's Audi A6:[/B] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19957[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19958[/ATTACH] [B]Gaurav Ladwal's Honda City i-VTEC:[/B] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19959[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19960[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19961[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19962[/ATTACH] [B]VW Polo GT TSI's on the track:[/B] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19963[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19964[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19965[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19966[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19967[/ATTACH] [B]Pratik Jain's Toyota Camry 2.4:[/B] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19968[/ATTACH] [B]Rohan Bhain's BMW 320d:[/B] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19969[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19970[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19971[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19972[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19973[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19974[/ATTACH] [B]Tanmay's Jazz 1.2:[/B] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19975[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19976[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19977[/ATTACH] [B]Sumain Malik's BMW 330i:[/B] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19978[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19979[/ATTACH] The 330i was undoubtedly one of my favourite cars that took to the track last Saturday. Somehow giving these pictures the monochrome look brings out all the "Flame Surfaces" that former BMW designer Chris Bangle was ridiculed for. In my opinion, this lot of Bimmers designed by Bangle are some of the best looking cars (The E65 7-Series being the sole exception). [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19980[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19981[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19982[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19983[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19984[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19985[/ATTACH] Unfortunately, the brake pads wore off and the 330i had to retire after a couple of laps. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19986[/ATTACH]

I woke up on Saturday thinking that it would be just like any other weekend - rather slow and lazy. Just as I was preparing my breakfast, [USER="42"]CorsaVeloce[/USER] called me and asked if I was ready for the track day that evening. I had completely forgotten about it and wasn't really up for it either. Then [USER="18"]MotuSid[/USER] came up to my apartment and said we had to go to take some pictures of the Elantra that we were planning to test at the track. I belted down my breakfast and got ready quickly. [USER="6"]Roshun[/USER] picked the two of us from our apartment in Gurgaon and soon we were on our way to the track. There was heavy traffic on the route we chose (possibly the only route to get to BIC from my apartment) and for a moment the three of us thought that we wouldn’t make it in time. Thankfully, [USER="42"]CorsaVeloce[/USER] called and said the track day was delayed as the bikers’s session was still going on. We hit the expressway and quickly made up for lost time in the Black Fox (which incidentally nudged the 160kmph mark on the speedo on the Noida-Agra Expressway. When we reached the track, the NASA boys were just lining up the cars and finishing the registration process. After waiting for another 30 minutes, the boys lined up their toys for the first session. Our own boy racer [USER="42"]CorsaVeloce[/USER] too took the Elantra to the pit lane and started preparing for the first session. [I]The Elantra poses with Eklavya's Audi S4.[/I][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19942[/ATTACH][I]Eklavya's S4, [USER="46"]Speedzilla[/USER]'s RaceJazz and Mudit Grover's VW Polo GT TSI.[/I][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19943[/ATTACH][I]The BMW M3 a match for the Audi S4? You'd think so, but the lap times say otherwise.[/I][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19944[/ATTACH][I]Stickers on the RaceJazz.[/I][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19945[/ATTACH][I]The whole track visible from Race Control.[/I][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19946[/ATTACH][I]CorsaVeloce has a word with Mudit Grover.[/I][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19947[/ATTACH][I]The transponder being attached to [USER="46"]Speedzilla[/USER]'s dad's BMW 330i.[/I][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19948[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19949[/ATTACH][I]Gaurav Ladwal's Honda City.[/I][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19950[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]n19951[/ATTACH][USER="42"]CorsaVeloce[/USER] deflated the tyres a bit and with that he was ready to hit the track. I even managed to sneak into Race Control to listen to the driver’s briefing. The Race Control, it must be said, is quite brilliant. You get the who whole view of the track from one spot on multiple screens.

Here are the timings from the track. Now [USER="42"]CorsaVeloce[/USER] would definitely be able to get the Elantra in below 2m50s if he was driving the manual variant. It's a seriously capable car. Good job Hyundai. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n20903[/ATTACH]

I'm Glued to this thread :) . Getting the same time as the beamer by a Hyundai car that too an automatic is genuinely staggering. Credit really goes to our Zig-Stig ;) a manual remapped Elantra would transform the comfortable daily driver to a really fun track day car(of course with a brake and a suspension upgrade). I also loved the Elite i20's exhaust note albeit being an oil burner. Hyundai cars have made a radical leap in terms of every aspect. 10 years ago, people would have laughed if they heard the terms Hyundai and handling in the same sentence...

Here's a report from the trackside that we shot LIVE on Facebook on Saturday. Keep your speakers turned up for when that Audi S4 passes by. Serious aural experience. [facebook_video]https://www.facebook.com/zigwheels/videos/1161070187291894[/facebook_video]

No, we are not talking about sending the Hyundai Elantra 2.0 automatic petrol to space just yet. NASA here stands for Northern Auto Sport Association, a group of high octane-driven petrolheads with a need for speed. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19901[/ATTACH] The cars that typically take part at a NASA track day include the likes of the Audi R8, BMW M3, Audi S4, Skoda Laura, Honda Jazz, Volkswagen Polo, Honda City, Maruti Swift, Hyundai i20, Maruti Zen among others. And yes, most, if not all these cars have been modified to varying degrees – some of them to such an extent that they can put a few supercars to shame. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19908[/ATTACH] Big shout out to [USER="20"]NikilSJ[/USER] for the brilliant photographs you see here. Video to follow. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19902[/ATTACH] The Hyundai Elantra 2.0 petrol automatic puts out 152PS of power and 192Nm of torque mated to a six-speed automatic transmission driving the front wheels. This is a conventional torque converter automatic transmission. This engine and transmission combination is better suited for cruising at a relaxed pace. Why then were we taking this sedan out to the track? Well [USER="42"]CorsaVeloce[/USER] , our tame racing driver, who otherwise drives a juiced up Skoda Laura TSI like his pants are on fire around the Buddh International Circuit, thinks the Hyundai Elantra petrol motor has good modding potential. He wanted to try out how a stock car would feel on the track, to jot down notes for future upgrades that him and his gang of friends at NASA are forever dreaming up. So there it was – the humble, bone stock, Hyundai Elantra 2.0 automatic petrol (just for reference – a manual transmission is any day much better suited to track driving) – lining up with hugely modified cars (listed above) for a day at the Buddh International Circuit. Let’s cut to the chase, literally. Driving a stock car on the Buddh International Circuit, really pushes the limits of the car. I leave it to [USER="42"]CorsaVeloce[/USER] to give you a “seat of the pants” account of the drive at the BIC, where he managed a time of 2 minutes 51 seconds as his best lap. That, for a stock car, is simply brilliant. Now let the photos do the story-telling below: Sumain Malik was driving a BMW 330i. He put in a time of 2 minutes and 51 seconds as well, before pulling out with overheated brakes. For the uninitiated, the BIC is a 5.127 Km long track, with a few tight corners preceded by super-fast straights which really take the life out of your brakes. It happened with the Elantra too, which we shall tell you about in a bit. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19903[/ATTACH] This is a shot of the Hyundai Elantra 2.0 petrol AT doing about 200 kmph at the end of the back straight before turn 4. Braking hard here is what took the life out of the brakes in about five odd laps. Being an automatic it does not have much engine braking capability, but that motor has serious potential, matching the car above in lap time. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19904[/ATTACH] Seeing the camera, [USER="42"]CorsaVeloce[/USER] swings closer to the fence with a smile on his face, overtaking a Polo in the background. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19905[/ATTACH] For a stock car, the Elantra did pretty well on the track. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19906[/ATTACH] That smile says it all. [INDENT] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19907[/ATTACH] The BMW M3 was a treat to watch on the track. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19909[/ATTACH]This modified Honda Jazz belongs to [USER="46"]Speedzilla[/USER]. It's running lowered springs giving a ground clearance of just 110 mm and is powered by a 1.5 litre Honda City derived engine, which has been tuned further. It's a treat to watch it corner on the track. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19910[/ATTACH] Look at that road-hugging Jazz! [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19913[/ATTACH] This modified Skoda Laura TSI puts out a whopping 360 bhp. It belongs to @Prithwi@NASA. See this thread for more on it: [url]https://www.zigwheels.com/forum/posts/2290-skoda-laura-tsi-6mt-the-most-mod-friendly-car-in-india[/url] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19911[/ATTACH] Another one of the Laura pushing its limits. This car does 2 minutes 30 something on the track - really, really fast. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19912[/ATTACH] That modified Audi S4 has one of the loudest exhausts on this planet. So seriously loud when opened up, that the BMW M3 was completely drowned out behind it on track. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19914[/ATTACH] The Volkswagen Polo GT TSI is one of the best cars on a budget you can get to the track. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19915[/ATTACH] On turn 15, Kaustav Mukerji, driving a Skoda Rapid diesel spun out into the gravel and had to be rescued. No damage done. The rescue vehicle is the Mercedes ML at the BIC. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19916[/ATTACH] Another Hyundai on the track - a diesel Hyundai i20 driven by [USER="1317"]Navneet Kumar[/USER] . Notice the Den of the Driver and ZigWheels stickers on it. It has a straight pipe exhaust, and sounds quite unique. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n19917[/ATTACH] More photos to follow, along with an account from the driver's seat of the Hyundai Elantra 2.0 petrol. [/INDENT]