Auto News & New car review

On the road price: £6,495 - £7,595
For : Entertaining to drive, peppy 1.1-litre, generous equipment and space
Against : Engine coarse when revved, ride a little firm
Driving
Light controls ensure the Hyundai is extremely straightforward to drive. With a tight turning circle and excellent visibility, it has all the key attributes a great city car requires. The 1.1-litre engine delivers keen throttle response, making sure the i10 is nippy through traffic. Combine this with responsive steering, progressive brakes and a tidy gearshift, and the Hyundai is fun and easy to drive. Read the rest of this entry »

The Hyundai Tucson is the Korean automaker’s smallest, entry-level SUV. Its most obvious competitor is the Honda CR-V. Like the CR-V, the Hyundai Tucson is strictly a five-seater, with no third-row-seating option. Both come standard with a four-cylinder engine, although the Tucson offers a V6, and the Honda does not.

We found the Tucson to be comfortable around town and on the highway, with light steering, adequate power from the V6, and a smooth four-speed automatic transmission. Read the rest of this entry »

Look in Hyundai’s high school yearbook and you’ll see “most improved.” Almost every model the Korean automaker has sent stateside has been a quantum leap forward from its predecessor. The Elantra’s roots stretch back to the Excel, which excelled at falling apart. The Elantra name survived; the model went from crap, to cheap, to “say that’s not bad.” Now we’ve got the fourth generation Elantra. Does the all-new iteration follow the Sonata and Santa Fe in Hyundai’s relentless march from cars you buy because they’re dirt cheap to cars you buy because why the Hell should I pay more? Read the rest of this entry »

The Hyundai Santa Fe is a practical-size vehicle for prowling the suburban savanna. It’s the larger of Hyundai’s two compact SUV’s, large enough for three-row seating, which the smaller Tucson is not.

Technically, both vehicles are crossovers, meaning they are built like cars, using unibody construction, instead of the body-on-frame technique of a traditional truck. That could prove to be a disadvantage in, say, the Paris-to-Dakar rally; or while outmaneuvering an unwanted military incursion. But in most ways it’s better for everyday driving. Read the rest of this entry »

A few weeks back we posted a video of a South Korean automotive journalist performing one of the first road tests of the new Hyundai Genesis sedan, albeit the South Korean market model. Without getting into too much detail, he didn’t like it and complained of body roll, mushy brakes, tires not up to the task, etc. It was as if someone gave this guy a Buick when he was expecting a BMW. Read the rest of this entry »