Archive for Koreans

The Hyundai Coupe may finally receive a replacement worthy of being called a sports car. The spyshot above shows the new Hyundai Coupe on tests, however what’s interesting is the new Hyundai Coupe will be based on Hyundai’s new BH platform, which will also underpine the Hyundai Genesis. And like the Genesis, it will be rear wheel drive! Yes, the Hyundai Coupe will finally be able to do doughnuts and swing around the corner in the typical RWD style, shoved along by a Tau-family 300 horsepower 4.6 liter V8 engine.

As a sidenote, have you seen this twin-engined all-wheel-drive Hyundai Coupe? Check out more spyshots including one of a pretty sweet-looking interior that somehow reminds me of the Subaru B9 Tribeca’s interior after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Hyundai’s new rear wheel drive V8-powered coupe

This is Kia’s entry into Taxi ‘07, in honor of the 100th anniversary of the modern-day taxi in New York City. Kia worked with a consortium of NYC-based design firms led by Smart Design to build two Rondo taxi prototypes. A more legible taxi roof light was developed, which quickly communicates the cabs availability in a variety of lighting situations.

On the interior, there is an L-shaped partition to protect the driver while creating a more open social environment for the passengers. There are also accessibility features for those with impaired mobility - a Bruno motorized front passenger seat.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Kia Rondo Taxi Concept

The Hyundai i30 Wagon will be arriving on US shores soon as the Hyundai Elantra wagon, and will be equipped with a sportier suspension setup. The Hyundai i30 Wagon / Hyundai Elantra Wagon will come with a 138 horsepower 2.0 liter inline-4 engine, mated with a 5-speed manual as standard but with the option of a 4-speed auto.

“We want people who are looking for something sporty with good space but don’t want a small SUV. They still want the car look. This car is important in the entry-level segment,” said Wayne Killen, director of product planning for Hyundai Motor America.

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Hyundai i30 CW Station Wagon

As you’ve known, Hyundai has changed it’s naming scheme. Rather than using pretentious un-Korean names like Velacruz and Santa Fe, it has decided to adopt an alphanumeric naming scheme, ala BMW and Mercedes. All Hyundai cars will have an i prefix, a numeric segment identifier, and an alphabetical suffix to denote it’s body type. Hyundai chose i because of it’s association with technology products, as well as the association with the word inspire. As for the numbers:

i10 = A segment
i20 = B segment
i30 = C segment
i40 = D segment
i50 = E segment

If the car is a station wagon, it will receive suffixes like CW, which Hyundai says stands for Cross-Wagon. A Cross-Wagon is of course nothing more than a fancy name for a stationwagon. An example would be the Hyundai i30 CW stationwagon. A Hyundai i40 or i50 is also coming up soon, to be based on the Hyundai Concept Genesis V8 rear wheel driven sedan.

This is Hyundai’s new generation European car, the Hyundai i30. It is also the first in a new model naming scheme which will name models using a numeric series, with the i30 being the C-segment model. It was styled in the Hyundai’s Russelsheim Design and Technical Center in Europe.

Although it looks like it was inspired by a few other designs, like a Honda grille, a Mazda 3 side profile, 1-series rear, and etc the overall combination seems to look pleasing to the eye. On the interior, there is generous use of blue and white as these colours are easy on the eyes. Hyundai has also taken great care to ensure the ergonomics are good, with everything like gear shifters and steering column stalks within natural reach.

Engine options include a 1.4 liter DOHC CVVT engine making 108PS, a very commendable figure for a 1.4 liter engine indeed. The 1.6 liter engine makes 121PS, while the largest petrol engine is a 2.0 liter making 140PS. Turbodiesel options include a 1.6 CRDi with two outputs - a 90PS version and a 115PS version, and the top of the line oil burner is a 2.0 CRDi with a Variable Geometry Turbocharger, putting out 140PS, equal to the petrol version of similiar displacement.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Hyundai i30 5-Door Hatch

The second variant of Hyundai’s new i30 series of cars for the European market has been revealed. This is the Hyundai i30 Wagon. It doesn’t look bad at all, though the side profile reminds me a little of the Mazda3 - but what’s wrong with copying a nice design element right, as long as the results are nice!

Hyundai’s i30 series is the twin brother of Kia’s new cee’d series of cars, and the model range will end up mirroring each other with 5-door hatch, 3-door hatch, and stationwagon variants.

The first of the few Naza models previous mentioned that are to be unveiled this year is now known. A visit to a Naza Kia showroom has revealed that dealers now have the price lists for a locally assembled Kia Sportage, and it remains badged as a Kia, not a Naza. Here are specs, which I think are very decent:

• Gasoline 2.0 liter inline-4 DOHC CVVT (Continuously Variable Valve Timing)
• 136hp @ 6,000rpm, 184Nm @ 4,000rpm
• Selectable part-time 4WD with auto locking hubs
• 4-speed Auto with Shiftronic
• 16 inch wheels
• MP3/CD/Tuner 2-DIN Head Unit with USB and AUX Input
• 6-speaker sound system
• Reverse Sensors
• Fuel Computer
• Saturn Black Interior with Metal Grain Trim (Limited Beige Interior with Wood Trim)
• Real Aluminium Trim Assist Grip
• Chrome Inner Door Handles
• Dual SRS Airbags
• Anti-lock Brakes
• Traction Control

Prices have dropped from the fully imported Sportage’s RM159,500 for private registration down to RM112,000 for the locally assembled version, a massive drop! The Sportage’s price now makes much more sense, positioned cheaper than it’s rivals like the Honda CR-V. It has also gained commendable crash test results - 5 stars for all seating positions in the U.S. Department of Transportations National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) crash test.

Naza Kia dealers are taking bookings already, so if you’re interested you can head on to the showroom to check it out. The Sportage is not too bad looking, though seems to be inspired from the Swedish as it looks like a smaller Volvo XC90.

While Kia have been making some amazing progress with their vehicle design thanks to it’s new European-based design team, not much can be said about big brother Hyundai’s new designs. This Hyundai HND-3 Veloster Concept seems to be inspired from design cues with many of the cars already out there on the market, with the most obvious being Honda’s REMIX Concept.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Hyundai HND-3 Veloster Concept

Other than Thailand, everyone knows Americans have a healthy appetite for pick-up trucks, which is why anyone who wants to do a pick-up truck must think of whether it can do well in the American market. Because only if it sells in America you can get the economies of scale you need.

Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia have no pick-up truck. This is because there was previously a 25% tariff on trucks entering the American market, but now with a new free trade agreement between US and South Korea, Kia is now considering developing a pick-up truck for the Korean market.

Unfortunately for us, whatever Kia makes is not likely to ever reach our shores. Americans love huge oversized trucks, not the 2.5 liter to 3.0 liter turbodiesels that we have running around our country. Kia’s truck offering will most likely be monsters like the Kia KCV4 Mojave concept pick-up truck shown above. It’s a pity, because Theophilus Chin’s photoshop of a Sorento-based pick-up looked quite good.

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Kia Sorento Pickup Truck Photoshop

In Malaysia, we get the Kia Rio5 5-door hatchback as the Kia Rio, offered as a CBU unit from Korea. Powered by a 1.4 liter engine, the proposition that the car offers you seems to be a small get-around designed to be small enough to be easy to park, as well as having a frugal engine that won’t hurt your wallet.

Read my test drive report after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Kia Rio 1.4 Test Drive Report