Hyundai i30, besieged by primates, goes ape for 10 hours

Hyundai i30, besieged by primates, goes ape for 10 hours

You’ve met Gorilla Glass. Now, meet Baboon Car.

Yes, it was definitely a case of monkeying around when the clever folk at Hyundai UK decided to put the new i30 up to a very different type of wear and tear challenge – in the first endurance test of its kind in the UK by a car manufacturer, cheeky safari park baboons were let loose on the hatchback.

Hyundai i30, besieged by primates, goes ape for 10 hours

Baboons from Knowsley Safari Park on the outskirts of Liverpool were the volunteers, chosen for their well-known love of tearing park visitors’ cars apart – Wayne Rooney will certainly remember them well; his vehicle was subject to their scrutiny when he visited the Merseyside attraction last year.

An i30 was parked in the baboon enclosure, and was immediately besieged by dozens of the park’s primates. The monkeys simulated the punishment a typical family might subject a car to: jumping up and down on seats, pushing and prodding buttons and opening and closing storage bins.

Hyundai i30, besieged by primates, goes ape for 10 hours

They even checked the durability of cupholders with plastic drinking beakers. Meanwhile, other baboons tested the fabric of seats by eating their lunch in the car, and some played with their toys in the i30’s sizeable boot.

Outside, the paintwork was smeared and scraped, but the hard-wearing paint protected the car from significant scratches and chips.

Hyundai i30, besieged by primates, goes ape for 10 hours

Ten hours later, playtime was called to an end, and the car – specially-designed for families and their ‘little monkeys’ in the back – emerged virtually unscathed. Seems the extra strong materials used to build the interior, easy wipe plastics and tough fittings held up to the abuse.

“For a baboon, to have a car to play with for a whole day is manna from heaven,” said David Ross, the GM at Knowsley. “I’ve seen thousands of cars pass through this enclosure, get mobbed by monkeys, and none have lasted the distance as well as this Hyundai.”

“These baboons are incredibly inquisitive. If you put them on any car they will scour it for the weak points and find any faults. At one point there were 40 monkeys in the car, pushing it to its limits – that’s ten times the size of the average human family.”

Well, now that the baboon car has come about, I wonder if any other manufacturer will attempt to ape the feat. Maybe use some lions? Elephants? Have a whale of a time?

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Anthony Lim

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

 

Comments

  • This front of this car really looks like a Baboon…Maybe they got the inspiration from the baboons for the design of this car just like Mazda claimed that their new designs are based on a Leopard?

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    • pauline on May 15, 2012 at 3:58 pm

      design by baboon, for baboon. ;)

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    • =-='' on May 18, 2012 at 8:25 pm

      Wtf are u talking about ? how can a car look like a baboon ? they bare no resemblance at all……………………..

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  • MoFaz on May 15, 2012 at 3:03 pm

    so, Preve will use Orang Utan or Malayan Tiger?

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  • Dont wanna imagine how it smells like after that 10 hours…..fabric seats summore lol

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  • Michael Ammott on May 15, 2012 at 3:15 pm

    Hyundai is for Baboon…Honda is for Human….. as simple as that

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    • bro, in civilised world (UK/Europe)…hyundai sales are higher than Honda, go figure

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      • policeman on May 16, 2012 at 8:20 am

        Conclusion – There are more baboons than humans in UK/Europe

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  • yuck .

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  • drool on May 15, 2012 at 3:18 pm

    Just a marketing gimmick. Those baboons look more gentle then I thought. If another car brand put in a Tiger then this i30 will looked stupid.

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  • Hyundai De La Junk on May 15, 2012 at 3:27 pm

    Ha HA HAAA.. Korean Junk Car for Monkey ! LOL

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    • Ryan.C on May 15, 2012 at 4:13 pm

      Pls,
      if honda goona to test it.
      i don’t think the car can drives out from the park

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      • Storm on May 15, 2012 at 5:01 pm

        Well I disagreed with you. Any car can survive this test and passed easily as someone mentioned here it’s just a marketing gimmick. They should instead get a group of young rascals to do the damage. A real test suppose to be done by human and not animals.

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  • JeremyNg on May 15, 2012 at 3:29 pm

    I will like to see Proton or Perodua or any Japan manufacturer do this !!!! or just make this test a must like Euro Ncap ………. just call it Euro-Apes-Test

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    • hell no!! haters gonna say “proton for monkeys” for sure..

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    • Storm on May 15, 2012 at 5:02 pm

      Unless you want to sell the car to the apes…I don’t think Proton or any Japanese manufacturers are interested in doing that..

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  • Keyboard Warrior on May 15, 2012 at 3:30 pm

    hahaha no wonder the design sucks..
    made by ape for ape..
    hahaha..

    a lozer in the making :)

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  • how about subjecting Proton to this Test.

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  • Rulered on May 15, 2012 at 3:38 pm

    Should have given to a ‘typical’ Malaysian family for a couple of hours instead ;-b

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  • Hyundai should also test the car during the B*rs*h rally at Dataran Merdeka… xD

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    • hehe, actually proton can save money from sending cars to IDIADA. coz those monkeys will make an equivalent damage to euro crash standard. next time v4.0, v5.0, v6.0, … proton can prepare to make a prototypes to test one. hahaha…

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  • In Malaysia, no need for such test. Just enough by putting the cars on road-show at shopping malls. Those on-lookers slam close the doors or bonnet like nobody business…

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  • What a joke ! Crap marketing ….. any baboons or monkeys out there (when launched in Malaysia by Sime or Inokom) going to be attracted to this car ?

    Haha …. so you pay peanuts you get monkey …you buy i30 you are the monkey

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    • Typical Msian mentality….this i30 was recently awarded by carbuyer uk as 2012 car of the year…

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
      • Awards are plenty out there and many other cars also won many awards. Mazda 6 won more than 50 awards in just 1 year but the mother of all awards should be the World Car of the Year.

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    • One of the Baboon detected.

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  • I like KFC on May 15, 2012 at 3:57 pm

    well, if given to a vios or a city, i think the only thing left is the skeleton of the cars.

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  • My heart bleeds for the car…

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  • Peter on May 15, 2012 at 4:44 pm

    Poor monkeys, you should charge them at the rate of a show girl, per hour. You’ve shown your professionalism for not shitting in the car. You deserve the salary (per hr) as your showgirl counterpart :)

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  • PLS UNDERSTAND THE OBJECTIVE OF THE TEST !!!
    It’s Unique & Out of the box..

    Typical bashers….atas keyboard je pandai….sekolah pun x abis, komen mcm orang bijak pandai..

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    • Out of the box my ass..this is thinking out of brain. It should be subjected to human test and not monkeying around..What do they achieved at the end? All those smells and stains.

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  • Just goes to show how Korean car quality has improved so substantially over the last 10 years!!!

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    • What did those baboon did to the car? Only playing and monkeying around and you said how much the quality has improved so substantially? Well anyway it just show Korean improved substantially…on their marketing. At least this guy bought their idea.

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  • I only want to say Toyota is the best even can go thru tiger or lion or hypo test, those junk honda, junk hyundai, junk euro car also rubbish preve can dump into rubbish bin after the test

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  • Weird Test. buy car buy Toyota, its the best, all other junk honda, junk nissan, junk hyundai, junk kia, junk euro car and junk preve sure go recycle bin after the test

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    • dont bother to like/dislike this post or to comment. This guy just want an attention which he never gets.

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  • tokmoh on May 15, 2012 at 6:36 pm

    Must be their response after watching this:

    http://youtu.be/NLfO-nWZJo4

    #challengeaccepted

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    • Lol, good one. But as this Hyundai personnel says their car is strong enough to support the weight. Yes the weight of the monkey only but not a fat guy like this in the video.

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  • awg1031 on May 15, 2012 at 6:46 pm

    wahaha..this a first I personally see test like this..

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  • Maybe Hyundai trying to indicate potential i30 buyer behave like Monkey :-P

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  • Retards here bashing non stop.

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  • It shows that some car buyers are actually behave like monkeys..

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  • Unforgiven on May 15, 2012 at 9:37 pm

    Excellent quality, very nice ad. Looks like Nappa leather seats.

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  • Lots of monkey in Paultan forum…sickening..

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  • /ngeTaRD on May 15, 2012 at 11:48 pm

    to be honest, kids from 2-6 years old are very destructive + the nature of a hot tempered parents, ayam pretty sure the results is equivalent to primates in the test subjects!!

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    • 4g63tdsm on May 16, 2012 at 7:16 am

      Haha..those that have kids will know.

      My 2 year old and her 3 yr old cousin wreaked havoc with my car. In a matter of half an hour they have broken the wiper stalk and an air vent… Granted… My satria is not the epitome of good build quality but still…..imagine what those little monsters could do in 10 hours.

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  • RejimKejamGanas on May 16, 2012 at 2:23 am

    Even the monkeys get chance with a CRDi model.

    Bilelah Msia nak dapat peluang?

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  • Tagline maybe …..i30…baboon tested…lol

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    • rapidshifter on May 17, 2012 at 10:51 am

      nope… even a baboon wanna play with it…. won’t you???????

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  • albag on May 16, 2012 at 8:20 am

    i wonder the baboons shit inside the car lolzzz…

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  • laputan on May 16, 2012 at 8:28 am

    i see so many baboons keyboard warior
    why so serious?
    haters gonna hate!
    baboons gonna bab!

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  • ong chin aun on May 16, 2012 at 10:33 am

    Out of the box ? kesian , such a nice car to be test like that. r the car to be used by human ? i ponder ? when the car be in M`SIA

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  • haha why u all so serious.. so darn cute the way the monkey open the car door and toucn and feel what we humans drive everyday..

    im just amazed the leather wasn’t torn by those sharp baboon teeth!

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    • drool on May 16, 2012 at 3:48 pm

      Look at the video, leather were torn and chunk of steering was gone also. They are smart to turned the steering away in the picture to hide the damage,

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      • slobber on May 16, 2012 at 6:22 pm

        Look before you leap. :) The steering wheel was already offset to the left in the video, same position as in the picture.

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        • drool on May 16, 2012 at 7:09 pm

          Time for you to get your eye thoroughly checked by your Ophthalmologist….

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  • Unforgiven on May 16, 2012 at 11:04 am

    Imagine if we are able to remove the advantage group in M’sia, and sell this for Satria price… The car looks lowered too…

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  • Faizul on May 16, 2012 at 1:40 pm

    Proton should put preve in this rigorous test.. if pass unharmed like this i30.its the day malaysian will apreciate proton existence…otherwise be prepared to be subjected to more bashers.

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    • Leonardo on May 17, 2012 at 10:26 am

      @Faizul, why single out Proton and not all Malaysian assembled cars? It is well known in the motoring industry that the ‘imported cars’, with the exception of premium cars, are ‘General Export’ grade. What it means is that these cars here are not exactly the same grade or quality as that sold in Europe, Japan or US markets, even though physically they looked the same. More so on safety, as we don’t have any rules or agencies to verify or test the declared safety standards from the manufacturers. Hopefully MIROS or some other independent agencies will be given the clout to enforce the automotive standards for Malaysia, equivalent to our European or American counterparts.

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  • Yea, but can the car survive being chased by bad guys driving Corvette through a shopping mall, or drive from a troop transporter landing on a beach through bonnet high salt water, carrying 4 fully packed and armed commandos ? :-D

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    • drool on May 16, 2012 at 3:45 pm

      That is a bit too much already…Don’t be so immersed with this Jeremy Clarkson Top Gear la,.. They are all dramatized and a lot of it are well planned many modifications are done on the car. Try driving that Fiesta the way he did in the mall or driving on bonnet high salt water yourself and we will see first case of people drown driving a car in the beach.

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  • GT Driver on May 16, 2012 at 2:06 pm

    Give them the key, and they ‘ll drive around the park.

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  • haha Korean afraid their car to be condemn and critics by human..
    so eventually they used “MONKEY/APE” as sample…
    wow..
    what a waste of R&D…

    such a lozer indead…

    now i know why their car dont have 2nd value..
    only dumb ape would buy..
    hahaha..

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  • auto car check on May 16, 2012 at 3:10 pm

    I think this is another way of examining and proving the durability of the car product. But I would also say that it can be or must be tested by humans rather than animals.

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  • Annecy on May 16, 2012 at 10:54 pm

    So much butthurt all over this thread. Seriously, it’s a marketing campaign! Get over it. Don’t like Hyundai/the i30, then don’t get one! Simple. I for one love the styling and the apparent durability of the materials used on it. Certainly something different to baboon-test a car.

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  • Yup guys, i agree this test is unnecessary and serves as a marketing tool to improve the Hyundai brand perception. I kinda feel the Koreans are desperate and wanting to close the gap with the Japanese in a hurry. However, Hyundai and Kia are now building great cars, best value in each segment.

    They definitely realize the main obstacle of their product is not the products itself, rather the perception of people towards the Korean marque. :)

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  • Leonardo on May 17, 2012 at 8:09 am

    We don’t need to use real monkeys….you can see them is showrooms when a new car is launched.

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  • Dennis on May 17, 2012 at 12:04 pm

    Fuuyoo friend…..no see ‘Rise of the planet of the apes’? Apes & baboon
    mode of transportation is…….3 2 3 minus the Mazda..

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  • S.Neo on May 17, 2012 at 12:53 pm

    i dont think the baboon get any worse , they are like just checking out the car. if only the car were spray banana or food smell. i think the car will worse than a car crash. LOL (base on this video i comment)

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  • i think gorilla deserve for this test

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  • Sam Loo on May 22, 2012 at 5:56 am

    Why on earth would Malaysians wanna buy cold door cars like these?

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  • hairi on Jul 18, 2012 at 2:41 am

    Just wanna share wit all,destruction done by primates are greater than human.monkey’s barehand can ripe off human face easily.muscles of primates around 3 to 4 times greater than human.so,i think dis test is reasonable.

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