The i30 and Veloster Ns aren't Hyundai's first crack at performance

Hyundai's N brand is set to give the Euros a shake up, but it's been some journey to get here.

The Koreans have come along way, especially Hyundai, having shaken off its reputation for building small and often rubbish cars. (Excel anyone?)

Now with the N version of the i30 and Veloster, Hyundai looks to becoming a serious player in the world of performance cars.

However, this hasn’t happened overnight, there have been a handful of sports-flavour cars that have helped kick off Hyundai’s performance image.

S Coupe

When was the last you saw an S coupe on the road?

The S Coupe first appeared in 1990 and was simply a coupe version of the Elantra, powered by a not-so-sporty Mitsubishi-derived 1.5-litre four-cylinder.

In 1992, a turbo model was introduced which increased power from 68kW/132Nm to 84kW/168Nm.

Coupe

The Coupe was trying so hard to be a Celica.

The next generation of Coupe had the S dropped from the name and new styling that wasn’t exactly attractive.

Two four-cylinder engines were offered, a 1.8-litre producing 94kW/161Nm and a 2.0-litre with 102kW/180Nm of power.

Tiburon

Styling was brought foward to the 21st century, but sadly not much else was.

By 2002, the Coupe was renamed Tiburon and received a new design which was far better-looking than the previous model.

However, neither engines was partcuilar grunty, with the top spec 2.7-litre V6 only managing to make 127kW. The euqivalent Celica made 141kW from a much smaller 1.8-litre, four banger.

Genesis Coupe

I speak on behalf of all Australians, we want this car. (image credit: Road and Track)

Easily the coolest Hyundai not to be sold in Australia, the left-hand drive only Genesis Coupe was the company's answer to Nissan's 370Z.

There was both a four-cylinder turbo and a 3.8-litre V6 available and unlike the previous engines of the Coupe, the units delivered suitable power.

Veloster Turbo

The Veloster Turbo is more of a warm hatch than a hot hatch.

Hyundai’s first attempt at a hot hatch, the first-generation Veloster has quirky styling that makes it stand out from a crowd.

The 1.6-litre, turbocharged engine isn't  what you'd call a powerhouse, but produces a respectable 150kW/265Nm and was eventually fitted to the i30 and Elantra to create the SR models.

Are you excited for Hyundai's N cars? Let us know in the comments.