At the New York Auto Show last week, Genesis Magma Racing, the motorsports division of the renowned South Korean luxury automaker, revealed its highly anticipated GMR-001 hypercar. This LMDh endurance prototype is set to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and IMSA SportsCar Championship, with the ultimate goal of taking on the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans. However, before this striking, fiery-orange racing machine can dominate the racetrack, it needs a high-performance powertrain – a task that engineers are currently focused on.
Hyundai Motorsport in Frankfurt, Germany, is spearheading the development of an exciting new twin-turbocharged V8 engine for the GMR-001. Despite the car’s advanced design and racing aspirations, the V8 is not a completely new creation. Instead, it’s a fusion of two Hyundai Motorsport WRC four-cylinder engines, coupled at the crankshaft. This new V8 shares about 60% of its components with the previous four-cylinder engine, a factor that engineers view as an advantage rather than a limitation.
The approach of using proven production-based engines in motorsports is not without precedent. For example, Ford famously utilized mass-produced overhead-valve V8 engines to secure multiple victories at Le Mans during the 1960s.
“It’s a proper race engine, so it’s a very good base for developing an engine for WEC. Rallying is a form of endurance racing, so an engine designed for this type of competition provides a solid foundation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans,” said François-Xavier Demaison, technical director at Hyundai Motorsport. “The inline-four engine is very sophisticated and highly efficient,” he added.
In a key development milestone, the new V8 engine was successfully fired up for the first time in late February, marking a significant step toward bringing the Genesis GMR-001 to life. The engine’s first ignition went smoothly, much to the relief of engineers, as any issues at this stage—such as a mechanical failure—could be catastrophic.
The V8 engine has been in development since June of the previous year, with design work completed in just four months. The quick turnaround was facilitated by the use of existing, off-the-shelf components. “The assembly of the first engine always takes more time as we pay extra attention to detail since it’s a new design,” explained Julien Moncet, Hyundai Motorsport’s head of powertrain. “It took about three to four weeks, but we successfully completed the first fire-up exactly as planned.”
With the engine now running and the GMR-001 taking shape, Genesis Magma Racing is one step closer to making its mark on the world’s most demanding motorsport arenas.