Peter Lyon
April 2, 2025
April Fool’s jokes are nothing new to automakers. Remember the Toyota Hiace convertible with an integrated oven? Since we’ve learned from history to never believe anything that is announced on April 1st, we were taken aback when Hyundai revealed that the Insteroid, a totally over-the-top looking track car concept isn’t a hoax.
To justify that fact that everything is turned up to eleven here, the term “Insteroid” is a combination of “Inster,” the name of the electric compact crossover on which the design is based, plus “steroid.”
Hyundai claims that the Insteroid is “gaming-inspired,” which means that it has a ton of ridiculous styling elements that you would only find in a video game, but that appeal to car nuts, or dare we say, nerds. These include the ridiculously large fenders, the enormous rear wing, the front splitter and rear diffuser that rival those of Formula One, and the enormous air vents on the wheel arches that we’re positive actually improve aerodynamics and downforce.
As one might anticipate from a spartan fitted “race car,” the interior has also been painted a new color scheme that highlights the concept’s game-inspired bent. This includes a distinctive retro-styled instrument cluster, a large boost button on the steering wheel, and even a “integrated Beat House sound system” that resembles a Fortnite DJ deck.
In order to provide drivers with a “multi-sensory experience,” the Korean automaker claims that the Insteroid will also have a distinctive sound signature.
Normally, concert cars hint at what powertrain they will employ but with the Insteroid concept, we still have no indication of exactly what power source it will employ, simply because the car will never materialize in the real world according to one source. We’re quite certain though it will generate much more than the 115 horsepower the production car can generate from its 49 kWh battery pack because Hyundai does state that it will include Drift Mode. And of course to drift a car needs a certain amount of power.
According to Hyundai, the Insteroid was developed to “captivate a new generation of drivers.” Easily said guys but how are you going to realize that?
In order to achieve this, the company plans to appeal to gamers and a younger clientele by releasing a “time attack-style” game utilizing the Inster and Insteroid later this month. Furthermore, the Kartrider Rush+ game will also have the Insteroid Kart.
In addition to “major auto events” in Korea and Europe, two important markets for the production Inster, the Insteroid will be on show from April 3 to April 13 at the Seoul Mobility Show.
According to Hyundai, the Inster will also be introduced in additional countries in 2025, including markets in the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Central America, and South America.
CARLIST THOUGHTS
A concept like the Insteroid really tests the bounds of reality, especially when it debuts on or around April Fool’s Day. But apparently the car really exists, but without a reportable powertrain. But more than anything, it just looks like something that materialized directly from a comic book given its over-emphasised design traits like the lights, grille, wheels and rear wing. If Hyundai can pinch some of these extreme design traits and feed then back into production models, then the brand would have done something quite special.
