Rumor: Hyundai to ‘warm up’ the Mk8 Sonata with a brand-new engine

Ever since the eighth generation of the Hyundai Sonata sedan/saloon debuted at the New York International Motor Show this spring, people have been spreading rumors about an alleged performance version. Today, a particularly convincing bit of conjecture cropped up that we’d like to discuss.

An anonymous source claiming to be a Hyundai employee said the new Sonata N-Line would ship with a 2.5-liter turbocharged engine rated at 275 hp (205 kW), a brand-new design not yet available for the smaller-sized i30 N and Veloster N. He did not say anything about the transmission, but eight-speed DCT seems by far the likeliest option, anyway.

The souped-up Sonata will join the rapidly growing N-Line family next year, the source claims. Overall, nine new N-Line vehicles will emerge in the nearest future, as well as three N Performance ones. The latter will allegedly include a sedan (likely the Elantra), an SUV (possibly the Kona), and an even superior version of the Sonata.