Archive for Hyundai

Hyundai Motor Company Australia unveiled this specially tuned up Hyundai Getz FX called the GetzTC back in 2003 at the Brisbane Motor Show.

The base car is a pre-facelift Hyundai Getz FX 3-door, and this had some Astrel bodykits slapped on, together with nice 17 inch Lenso five spoke alloy wheels wrapped with low profile 215/35/R17 Silverstone tyres.

The GetzTC was fit with a sports suspension system using Koni Sport Yellow shock absorbers and Whiteline springs. You also have huge 330mm slotted disc brakes at the front with twin piston PBR calipers to fill up the space behind the big wheels, lest the stock brakes start to look like 50 cent coins. Rear drums were replaced with 280mm slotted and drilled discs.

The stock Hyundai Alpha III 1.5 liter DOHC 16 valve engine which makes 100hp in stock form was upped to about 160hp (estimate) with a bolt-on Garrett T25 ball bearing turbo and air-to-air intercooler running at 0.55 bar of boost. The engine had no internal modifications done to it, but the stock engine management has been swapped with a Autronic SMC standalone ECU. This is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox, but for further performance enhancement the car uses a 215mm LC2 Accent 1.6 DOHC Flywheel with Exedy 215mm Sports Organic Clutch.

The Hyundai GetzTC is no longer in existance, as the performance parts were stripped out and the Getz was converted back to a standard stock 3-door Getz FX model and sold through Hyundai dealerships as a used Hyundai Getz. However, for Getz owners who want a similiar modification, an Australian company called Performance Styling Center has developed a similiar turbokit for the Getz.

Two more photos after the jump, as well as a dyno chart from PSC.

Click here to read the rest of GetzTC - Hyundai Getz Turbo by Hyundai Australia

Inokom will be launching it’s locally assembled version of the new facelift Hyundai Getz - to be called the Inokom Getz later this month, which will come in 1 variant - the Getz 1.4 liter DOHC. They had a media preview recently but I was not invited, so I don’t really have precise details on the car - the best I can do is talk about the features of the new facelifted Getz overseas and hope they’re also echoed in the local version. Anyway, details and more photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Inokom Getz 1.4 later this month

Hyundai will be showing it’s Hyundai Arnejs Concept at the Paris Motor Show end of this month. The Hyundai Arnejs, pronounced Ar-nez, will give us a preview on how Hyundai’s new European C-segment contender will look like when it is launched in Summer 2007 for the UK market.

The Hyundai Arnejs Concept is designed at Hyundai’s European Research and Design centre in Rüsselsheim, Germany and takes certain design cues from it’s previous concept car, the Hyundai Genus Concept. The production version will likely share similiar parts or even the whole platform with the recently announced Kia cee’d, which will also make it’s debut at the 2006 Paris Motor Show.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Hyundai Arnejs Concept at Paris 2006

Sime Darby Bhd unit Inokom Corp Sdn Bhd will be investing a total sum of RM 10 million on a new assembly line for the Hyundai Mighty, Hyundai’s best selling commercial vehicle. The 5 tonne truck will be produced at Inokom’s plant in Kulim, Kedah in early 2007. A technical license agreement was signed between Inokom and Hyundai on August 29 2006. The Hyundai Mighty is a mid-sized 5 tonne truck with a 3.9 liter intercooled turbodiesel engine. Inokom’s current Lorimas model is a one and a half tonne truck.

The addition of the Hyundai Mighty will bring Inokom’s vehicle count up to 4, with current models being assembled include the Inokom Lorimas pick-up, the Inokom Atos Prima based on the Hyundai Atoz and the Inokom Matrix based on the Hyundai Matrix. There is also an Inokom Getz expected to join the line-up soon, a rebadged version of the popular supermini which even got into Jeremy Clarkson’s good books, somewhat.

Rumours through the grapevines indicated that Hyundai’s Kia unit might be the new owner of Ford’s struggling Jaguar brand, and perhaps even Land Rover. This might be bad news for Jaguar fans, you might see new Jaguar sedans based on the Kia Amanti or something. The Kia Amanti already looks very suspiciously like a Jaguar S-Type. And most of you know the Jaguar butt of the previous generation Hyundai Sonata.

Anyway, there were talks of this, but Hyundai has come out and informed media that yes there was an internal study done on the feasibility of acquiring a luxury marque like Jaguar from Ford Motor Co but it was ruled out because Hyundai decided it needed to focus on expanding production instead.

Unlike Jaguar, Ford’s other two luxury brands - Land Rover which makes luxury SUVs and Aston Martin which makes luxury sports cars - were profitable in 2005.

UPDATE: The new cars launched are the LMG Tourer 7-seater SUV and the LMG Trekker double cab pick-up truck, both of which include Hydroxene water-petrol hybrid technology.

The Star carried a newspaper report on Friday outlining our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s two day visit to Johor, and the itenary included the launch of a new national car on Tuesday. Since it’s too soon for anything up Proton, Perodua or Naza’s sleeves - we can assume this might be the new CKD Inokom Getz.

Reader Khairil has reported sightings of a Hyundai Getz going around on road tests in Kulim with a sign that says “Kenderaan sedang diuji” hanging on the rear. However, what was different with this particular Getz is it had an Inokom badge on it.

Sime Darby has previously expressed interest in assembling the Hyundai Getz locally within the next 12 months in October last year when it unveiled it’s NAP plans. It is already assembling the Hyundai Matrix and the Hyundai Atos locally with Inokom badges.

Just a recap from Sime Darby’s NAP plans outlined last year, next up in the pipelines after the CKD Getz would be other Hyundai models like the Accent, Elantra and Sonata. There are also export plans. Click for more details on Sime Darby’s NAP plan.

Even if the car launch on Tuesday isn’t the CKD Inokom Getz, you can expect the car to be launched soon as uncamouflaged road tests are already underway. In fact, there’s something wrong with the theory that it might be the Inokom Getz. I don’t see why an Inokom car should be launched in Johor as the car is likely to be made in the Kulim plant, since road tests have been going on in Kulim. Kulim, Kedah is practically on the other end of the peninsular. So who has an assembly plant in Johor?

Oriental Assembler Sdn Bhd comes to mind. And Oriental Assembler has been generally associated with China makes of late, with reports of talks with Chery and Geely to assemble vehicles there. Could this be a locally badged China make? Information Gateway Corporation Sdn Bhd (IGC Corp) announced a CKD deal for Geely cars March this year, and said a local version of the Geely CK1 called the IGC CKX would be assembled at Oriental Assemblers Sdn Bhd.

There’s also the SUV and pick-up truck manufacturer Dadi. I’m sure many of you have seen Dadi showrooms around the city. LM Star Autoworld Sdn Bhd has assembly rights to Dadi SUVs and pick-up trucks, and a Bernama report says it plans to have an assembly plant in Kota Tinggi, Johor. LM Star Autoworld’s assembly plant will have the capacity for 60,000 vehicles a year but will start with an output of 28,480 in the first year. 10,000 will be for the Malaysian market and the rest for export. Could the new vehicle being launched be an LM Star-built Dadi SUV or pick-up?

LM Star also has an agreement with BYD Auto of China to develop right hand drive versions of BYD cars and have them assembled here both for the local market and export. Remember the BYD F3?

So many possibilities. I am as clueless as most of you are. Wait until Tuesday to find out. Thanks to Khairil and Stephen for the pointers.

If you’ve watched The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, you would remember this scene where someone said he wouldn’t want his machai to be seen going around in a Hyundai. Well, I don’t think he’d mind this particular Hyundai. This Hyundai Tiburon (known on our market as the Hyundai Coupe) has two engines, both 2.0 liter turbocharged engines. You have one at the front making 309hp, and one at the back making 317hp, resulting in a total of over 600 horses and a technically an all wheel drive system. It does the quarter mile in 10.95 seconds on street tyres.

The car uses two independently controlled automatic transmissions, giving it the ability to operate in both drive and reverse at the same time! The smoke caused by the wheelspin as both engines threathen to tear the chassis apart in opposite directions guarantees a win in burnout contests effortlessly. Video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Twin engine turbocharged Hyundai Coupe

Hyundai wants in on the growing soft-roader market. Soft-roaders are cars that adopt SUV design elements but is only meant for cruising around town. Some soft-roaders aren’t even equipped with 4WD. Examples of soft-roaders include the Volkswagen Polo Dune based on the Polo, and the Citroen C3 XTR based on the C3. The Hyundai Getz Cross is based on the Getz, and comes with a 1.5 liter CRTD turbodiesel. The car is front wheel drive. The base Getz was equipped with SUV body styling like extended wheel arches, roof rails, a higher suspension and big wheels.

Hyundai showcased it’s next generation year 2007 Hyundai Elantra at the 2007 New York Auto Show this week. The new 2007 Hyundai Elantra is wider, taller, and looks nothing like it’s butt-ugly predecessor. Hyundai says it beats the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla in terms of interior room. More details on this latest offering by the Korean company after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2007 Hyundai Elantra

Oriental Holdings Bhd has announced price cuts for Hyundai cars between 1.42 and 10.73 percent. Models affected are the Hyundai Sonata, Hyundai Elantra and the Hyundai Accent.

The Sonata’s price has dropped by 10.73 percent (RM13,555), down to RM112,780 now. The Elantra’s 1.6 and 1.8 models enjoys an overall price reduction of about RM4,400. The best-selling 1.5 liter Hyundai Accent, popular as an alternative to the Proton Wira now has been reduced by RM1000, or 1.5%.

These are CKD models assembled by Oriental Holdings. Hyundai CBU vehicles like the Hyundai Getz are distributed by Hyundai-Sime Darby, so wait for an announcement from them for the other half of Hyundai’s model offerings here in Malaysia.