If someone were to ask you, “do you want to drift a bus,” there’s only one answer. Hell yeah I wanna drift a bus! Hyundai obviously knows what’s up here, because it’s developed a one-of-a-kind bus made specially for drifting. And it is glorious.
The Hyundai iMax N is, arguably, more van than bus—but that doesn’t make it any less great. Perfect for packing three rows of your favorite friends into the thing and just sending it.
The description in the Hyundai Australia video mentions that the iMax N is developed in honor of the company’s N Line, which is designed to infuse your everyday driving with a little bit more race car than usual. Here’s more:
A standard iMax was sent to N boot camp where it bulked up with more muscle. The regular 2.5-litre CRDi engine was instantly discarded and replaced by a monster 3.5-litre twin-turbocharged V6 engine, pumping out over 300kW of power and 555Nm of torque - more than enough to turn rubber into smoke, even on a bus.
The potent engine is paired to a Hyundai-developed eight-speed automatic gearbox that connects to a corner carving differential, helping to transfer the grunt to the rear wheels.
According to Hyundai, you’ll achieve perfect 50-50 balance if you cram eight people onboard, so if you want the best possible drifting experience, you’re gonna have to fill this bad boy to the brim. Which, honestly, sounds like it would be obscenely fun—as long as you’re confident in your drifting skills. Otherwise you’re just packing a chorus of criticism along with you everywhere you go.
I’m absolutely heartbroken that this thing isn’t available everywhere because, honestly, I don’t think I’ll be capable of dying happy until I’ve set foot in the iMax N.
The iMax N Drift Bus is heading to Sydney Motorsport Park in Australia this weekend to compete in the World Time Attack Challenge, which I pray will bring us more wonderful, delightful videos of this beast so we can live vicariously through professional drivers.