Gaming-Inspired Hyundai Insteroid Concept is No April Fool’s Day Prank
Seoul, South Korea—Imagine Hyundai’s new Inster hooked on steroids. What do you get? This wild concept fittingly called Insteroid, that’s what. With oversized fenders, a gigantic rear wing and other extreme design cues, the car looks like it came straight from a racing team’s garage or a crazy tuner’s shop… in a video game.
The Car Guide attended the reveal of the Insteroid during a special event for media and content creators at the Peaches D8NE(Dowon) cultural and retail space in Seoul’s Seongsu neighborhood last night. It will then be showcased at the Seoul Mobility Show from April 3-13.
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Wicked Looks
The all-electric Inster is a rather boxy-looking city car, and the Insteroid is somewhat reminiscent of the old Renault Turbo from the 1980s—even more so the recently unveiled Renault 5 Turbo 3 E.
The 21-inch alloys, large wheel arches, gaping air intakes, sporty roof spoiler and prominent rear diffuser are further elements setting it apart from regular Inster. The striking exterior, finished in a soft white shade, is punctuated by a single bold orange highlight, not to mention the Parametric Pixels defining the lighting signature.
“This project allowed us to fully embrace unrestrained creativity, drawing inspiration from video games to create an emotional and engaging vision of Hyundai’s brand,” said Eduardo Ramírez, Chief Designer at Hyundai Design Europe.
Racing Cockpit
The Insteroid's cabin is a cross between a race car and a video game console. A roll cage, adjustable bucket seats and minimalist controls inspired from the world of racing are combined with elements derived from the world of gaming, such as the round digital gauges displaying images and graphics that seemingly come out of a video game.
Hyundai’s design team also chose to add a Beat House audio system and a device called Message Grid that enables personalized interactions with the driver.
Mystery Specs
At this point, it’s unclear what powertrain drives the Insteroid, but we think it could be similar to the RN24 Concept that made its debut last fall during the Hyundai N Days, based on the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. That means a dual-motor setup generating as much as 641 horsepower and drawing energy from an 84kWh battery. In fact, the Insteroid features the same Drift Mode as these two cars.
While no production model is planned, Hyundai might be laying the foundation for a high-performance Inster N. That would be awfully cool—although, again, not intended for sales in North America.
The Hyundai Inster was initially launched in South Korea and Europe in the second half of 2024. It will expand to select markets across the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Central and South America regions in the coming months.
