Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Hurry into St. Cloud Hyundai and get your Oil Change for only $18.95!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Hyundai introduces 600-hp Elantra GT for SEMA
The Bisimoto is one of the highest-output concepts ever created by Hyundai, dwarfing even the V8 Genesis RMR500 Coupe from 2011. It does this through an entire overhaul of the 1.8-liter, four-cylinder engine.
Bisimoto installed steel rods, a turbo kit, new camshafts and forged pistons. AEM provided smart ignition coils while MSD contributed coil wires. Bisimoto and Turbonetics joined to install the turbocharger, blow-off and wastegate. A full list of power modifications is below.
Underneath, the Elantra GT gets Progress coilovers and springs, 18-inch Challenge wheels and a Bisimoto-spec clutch. The roll cage is provided by JNF.
Graphics and body kits are attached, as well as a Burns stainless steel muffler. Inside, Bisimoto takes care of the racing seats and harness, Odyssey does the dry cell battery and Rueda takes care of the interior paint.
The Bisimoto Elantra GT will join the Hyundai Velocity, Cosworth Veloster and Ark Veloster on the company’s stand in Las Vegas.
Powertrain Modifications:
-- Bisimoto-built 1.8L “NU” family Hyundai engine
-- Bisimoto steel rods, turbo kit, intake gasket, injectors, and web level 2.4 camshafts
-- Arias forged pistons
-- AEM Series 2 EMS, and smart IGBT coils
-- MSD coil wires
-- NGK Iridium spark plugs
-- PurOl Oils
-- Bisimoto/Turbonetics BTX6462 turbocharger, blow-off, wastegate
-- Spearco intercooler
-- Golden Eagle sleeved block, intake manifold
-- Griffin radiator
-- Supertech valvetrain
-- Vibrant Vanjen clamps and stainless hardware
-- AEM water-methanol kit
-- AEM 320lph fuel pump
-- ARP head, main and wheel studs
-- Portflow custom headwork
-- VP Streetblaze 100 fuel
-- Kinsler fuel filters
Monday, October 22, 2012
How to Share the Road with Truckers
Personally, we've seen rude truckers hog the road, and we've seen dimwitted drivers set themselves up for what could be a very painful, if not deadly, lesson. Furthermore, not all trucks traveling the nation's highways are properly maintained, due to a lack of finances or pure laziness. But for most truck drivers, who are paid by the mile and are held responsible for damaged goods, their lives and livelihoods depend on driving a well-maintained truck carefully, and getting freight to its destination on time.
Tractor trailer trucks are responsible for carrying nearly 30 percent of all the cargo shipped in the United States. Technology and improved roadways have allowed the use of trucks for shipping to increase steadily since the 1920s, resulting in larger vehicles and heavier loads. Yet, traffic fatalities involving trucks have steadily declined during the past 50 years, except for a small spike upward in the early 1980s right after the trucking industry was deregulated. Fatalities due to accidents involving semi trucks total 5,000 annually on average, with the vast majority of those fatalities suffered by occupants of passenger vehicles that collided with a truck. As motorists who must share the road with semi trucks, we can do our part to help reduce this number even further if we simply take the time to follow a few simple driving rules and try to understand how difficult it is to maneuver a tractor-trailer in traffic.
We asked Michael Taylor, transportation special programs developer for the Tractor Trailer Training Program at Triton College in River Grove, Ill., what the top five pet peeves truckers had with fellow motorists were. Here is his list:
1) Riding in a trucker's blind spots. Trucks have large blind spots to the right and rear of the vehicle. Smaller blind spots exist on the right front corner and mid-left side of the truck. The worst thing a driver can do is chug along in the trucker's blind spot, where he cannot be seen. If you're going to pass a truck, do it and get it over with. Don't sit alongside with the cruise control set 1 mph faster than the truck is traveling.
2) Cut-offs. Don't try to sneak into a small gap in traffic ahead of a truck. Don't get in front of a truck and then brake to make a turn. Trucks take as much as three times the distance to stop as the average passenger car, and you're only risking your own life by cutting a truck off and then slowing down in front of it.
3) Impatience while reversing. Motorists need to understand that it takes time and concentration to back a 48-foot trailer up without hitting anything. Sometimes a truck driver needs to make several attempts to reverse into tight quarters. Keep your cool and let the trucker do her job.
4) Don't play policeman. Don't try to make a truck driver conform to a bureaucrat's idea of what is right and wrong on the highway. As an example, Taylor cited the way truck drivers handle hilly terrain on the highway. A fully loaded truck slows way down going up a hill. On the way down the other side of the hill, a fully loaded truck gathers speed quickly. Truckers like to use that speed to help the truck up the next hill. Do not sit in the passing lane going the speed limit. Let the truck driver pass, and let the Highway Patrol worry about citing the trucker for breaking the law.
5) No assistance in lane changes or merges. It's not easy to get a 22-foot tractor and 48-foot trailer into traffic easily. If a trucker has his turn signal blinking, leave room for the truck to merge or change lanes. Indicate your willingness to allow the truck in by flashing your lights.
According to "Sharing the Road," a booklet distributed by John Deere Transportation Insurance, the three most common types of accidents involving heavy trucks involve the following:
1) Crashes caused by the truck's inability to stop in time.2) Crashes caused by a motorist trying to pass a truck on the right while the truck is making a right-hand turn. Also known as the right turn squeeze.3) Crashes caused by a motorist riding in the trucker's blind spots. Use the following rule of thumb: If you cannot see the truck driver in his mirrors, he probably cannot see you.
By taking simple common-sense steps to protect yourself and your family when driving near large trucks, traffic fatalities will continue to drop. Over the years, the trucking industry has improved the quality of truck drivers by making it more difficult to qualify for and keep a Commercial Driver's License (CDL). Mandatory drug testing has also been instituted. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published the following data in 2008. The intoxication rate for drivers involved in fatal accidents was:
27% for motorcycle riders 23% for light truck drivers (pickups and SUVs, that is) 23% for passenger car drivers 1% for truck drivers
Still, more work must be done to combat tightly scheduled deliveries, overbearing stacks of paperwork and driver fatigue caused by federal regulations that work against the human body's natural circadian rhythm.
After meeting with truck driving instructors at Triton College, with representatives from the Illinois Transportation Association and learning what it takes to pilot a tractor-trailer by taking the wheel myself, we joined Taylor for a ride in a brand-new empty tanker truck.
We covered suburban roads during a half-hour loop just to the southeastern side of O'Hare airport. During our 30-minute ride, two motorists turned left across traffic directly in front of the truck. One young woman in a Toyota Celica crossed no more than 50 feet in front of us as she zoomed onto a side street. An older couple in a Dodge Grand Caravan turned in front of our International tractor, and incredibly, slowed so they wouldn't scrape the van on a steep driveway apron to a convenience store. A dude in a Camaro RS blasted by on the left, cut in front of the truck and stopped at a red light we were approaching. When the light turned green, he turned right.
These are the kinds of driving habits that we must break for truck-related accident rates to drop even lower. After a day at truck driving school, we left Chicago for Denver in a Subaru Outback. During that evening and the next day traveling I-80 and I-76, we were keenly aware of the needs of the truckers with whom we shared the road. We behaved more courteously toward truck drivers and fellow motorists than usual, and exercised more patience. We doubt very much that by driving more defensively and less aggressively we arrived in Denver any sooner than we would have had we not let that Kenworth into our lane back in Iowa or had we tried to beat that Freightliner to the construction zone near Lincoln, Neb. We do feel, however, that our trip was a safer one, that we had done our part to make highway travel better. Now it's time to do yours.
Source: Edmunds
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Hyundai Elantra Coupe, 2013: Strong new contender in crowded segment
As North American Car of the Year in 2012, the Hyundai Elantra one year later remains largely the same vehicle. It’s value priced and while not outstanding in any single category, its very good status is so many categories vaults it to the top of the sedan segment.
The Elantra Coupe joined its much older relative (the Elantra is now in its fifth generation) for 2013. It’s largely the same as the Elantra sedan with two exceptions. It has two doors and it has some minor exterior trim tweaks.
The Weekly Driver Test Drive
The Elantra Coupe is comfortable, which can’t be said for many coupes that showcase performance and treat other areas as after thoughts. My two-door test Elantra featured a 1.8-liter, 145-horsepower, four-cylinder engine with a six-speed automatic transmission (It’s also available with a six-speed manual.)
The drive was smooth, but sometimes sluggish in mountain driving conditions, particularly on steep inclines or when quick acceleration was needed on freeway ramps.Hyundai in recent years has gained considerable attention as a value carmaker, and in some instances offering surprising luxury for the surprising price. The Elantra Coupe, like the sedan, offers a lot of the former, and some of the latter — but only if the buyer purchases options.
As a value vehicle, there’s a lot of standard equipment. Even the base model comes with foglights, alloy wheels, heated front seats, Bluetooth and an iPod interface.
The suggested retail price of the Elantra Coupe SE (PZEV) is just under $21,000, but my test vehicle included a Technology Package ($2,350.00). I recommend it for buyers who want the niceties of a vehicle in a price range higher than the Elantra but offered as a fair price.
The Technology Package featured: a navigation system (7-inch) screen, rearview camera, a 360 watt, premium audio system, automatic headland, proximity key entry and with electronic push button start and a dual automatic temperature control.
The navigation system and rearview camera worked particularly well. Setting the directions on navigation system was intuitive and the clarity of the rearview camera was clear.
Additionally, via other standard assessments, the Elantra Coupe held its own. The steering was precise, braking solid and overall quality impressive for the price.
Likes:
Exterior styling . . . European sports car look.
Spacious and well-built interior.
Exterior color: Atlantic Blue. It’s arguably to most distinctive metallic blue in the auto industry.
Very large trunk space for a coupe.
Dislikes:
Middle-of-the-pack performance. The Coupe’s sporty appearance doesn’t transfer to sporty acceleration.
Facts & Figures: 2013 Hyundai Elantra Coupe
Acceleration: 0-60 mph (not available).
Airbags (6).
Fuel economy: 32 mpg (city), 39 mpg (highway), 32 (combined) with automatic transmission.
Government Safety Ratings: NTHSA, Not rated.
Horsepower: 145.
Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price: $20,745.00.
Manufacturer’s Web site: www.hyundaiusa.com.
Price as tested: $23,965.00.
Warranty: Bumper to bumper, 5 years/60,000 miles; Power train, 10 years/100,000; Corrosion: 7 years/unlimited miles; Roadside Assistance, 5 years/unlimited miles.
What Others Say:
“Hyundai’s Elantra sedan follows the lead of the larger Sonata with attractive styling and good fuel economy. While it might not stand out in any one area, this compact car does most everything well. That makes for a compelling package in this highly competitive class.” — Consumer Guide.
“Thanks to head-turning styling, a fuel-efficient engine, a long list of standard safety features and upscale options, the 2013 Hyundai Elantra stands as a top pick for a compact sedan.” — Edmunds.
“You won’t mistake the Elantra for a Volkswagen GTI or a BMW 3-series from behind the wheel, but as a practical commuter, there’s not much to complain about. And that’s what this type of car is about – comfortable, economical, and practical.” — Automobile Magazine.
The Weekly Driver’s Final Words:
“Like its sibling, the Elantra hatchback, the Elantra Coupe could use a little more power. But with its stylish exterior, well-appointed interior, driving comfort, good overall visibility, superior gas mileage and indusrtry-best warranty, it would be difficult to find a better value in a coupe.”
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Relying on Glam Style in a Crowd of Athletes
“It looks a lot faster than it probably is,” he concluded.
Indeed, the Hyundai Veloster, which began sales in 2011, suggests a predacious Looney Toons castoff. But in the 130-mile drive from my block in Brooklyn to the Berkshires, taking in choppy outer-borough highways and wending two-lane state roads, the hatchback evoked not a bombastic cartoon, but the Tiburon. That coupe, produced by Hyundai in the 1990s and 2000s, had the lines of a kit-car Ferrari and the dynamism of an ox cart.
It is likely that Hyundai knew this about the Veloster. Introducing it at the 2011 , John Krafcik, chief executive of Hyundai Motor America, said the car could be driven “at nine-tenths without losing your license.” Downshifting to maintain 45 miles per hour up a rise in western Massachusetts, as traffic tightened behind me, I merely lost my patience.
What Mr. Krafcik withheld was that those nine-tenths would be difficult to wring from the car’s 138-horsepower 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engine. So when Hyundai unveiled the 201-horsepower Veloster Turbo at the 2012 Detroit auto show, a reconciliation between the car’s extroverted exterior and rather gutless on-road demeanor seemed plausible.
The packaging of the Turbo suggested as much. Aside from raising the engine’s output by 46 percent, Hyundai treated the Veloster to cosmetic upgrades that, pleasingly, rendered the vehicle more carlike than cartoonish.
The Turbo I drove wore side skirts, LEDs beneath its headlights, deepened sculpturing around the fog lamps, 18-inch alloy wheels with polished chrome accents and chrome-tipped twin exhaust pipes recessed above a matte-finish diffuser. There was also a matte-gray paint job, a $1,000 option over the car’s $22,725 base price.
Not long ago, such finery was the primary province of supercars. Three cheers for economies of scale.
The nonturbo car is offered with a 6-speed dual-clutch semiautomatic transmission, a $1,250 option over its suggested starting price of $18,225, but that gearbox is not available in the Turbo. It gets a conventional 6-speed automatic, a $1,000 option, which is calibrated for more aggressive driving than the dual-clutch unit.The transmission fitted to both of my test models was the standard 6-speed manual. Derek Joyce, a Hyundai spokesman, said roughly 30 percent of Veloster buyers were opting for the stick shift, outstripping the industry average in the United States of about 7 percent, according to Edmunds.
The sixth gear of the manual unit acts essentially as an overdrive, reducing engine speed to preserve fuel economy on the highway. Beyond horsepower figures or paint jobs, that sixth gear also illuminates a fundamental difference between the two Velosters.
The nonturbo car labors to build speed for overtaking, which might dissuade a driver from probing the car’s limits — all the better to preserve its billboard-worthy highway fuel economy rating of 40 miles per gallon. On the 87 octane gasoline that carried us from Brooklyn to Great Barrington and on to southern Maine, the Veloster returned 37 m.p.g., remarkable considering the mix of roads and our abuse of the air-conditioner.
Under no circumstances, however, should a Turbo equipped with the stick shift be expected to replicate its highway fuel economy rating of 38 m.p.g. (though the around-town estimate of 26 m.p.g. is reasonable enough). For one, a driver regularly drops down a gear or two to muster passing power, causing the engine to spin more furiously and burn more fuel. For another, the Turbo in such moments feels most like a vehicle worth driving.
Peak torque of 195 pound-feet is produced in the Turbo from 1,750 r.p.m. to 4,500 r.p.m., but in the manner of competitors like the 201-horsepower and the 180-horsepower , the car is most alive at the rowdy end of the tachometer. The base car builds speed adequately enough; Motor Trend observed a run from zero to 60 m.p.h. in 8.8 seconds. Though the Turbo accomplished the feat in a respectable if not blistering 6.9 seconds, it goads the driver to keep pushing, with much of its power band left to be exploited above 60 m.p.h.
The license loss to which Mr. Krafcik alluded in Detroit is infinitely more plausible in the Turbo.
Were the thrills more readily accessible, the Turbo would make a raucous alternative to the Civic Si, which is benchmarked by automakers and beloved by aftermarket tuners for its exploitable power band, poise and relative stealth. The Veloster buyer cares not for stealth, but it is fair to expect a like the Turbo, which can cost $26,000 when fully optioned, to nail the fundamentals that cheaper cars like the tC and manage without much fuss.
For example, fitted with all-season tires, both the Turbo and nonturbo did not carve New England curves so much as skitter around them, and the cars’ noses tended to dive into corners.
•
Where the Veloster outpaces its competitors, offering glimpses of the Korean automaker that so spectacularly improved its products worldwide over the last five years, is in the cabin. Standard on both cars are a seven-inch multimedia screen, Bluetooth, audio controls on the tilt-telescoping steering wheel and nicely contrasting dash materials.
Stubbornly, however, Hyundai does not allow the $2,000 Tech package, consisting of automatically adjusting headlights, backup warning sensors and special wheels, to be ordered independently of the $2,000 Style package, with its panoramic glass roof and various interior and exterior enhancements. The Turbo includes many of those options, but you have to buy the $2,500 Ultimate package to get the panoramic roof, navigation, rear camera and automatic headlights.
Had the Veloster reached showrooms two years ago, it might have been welcomed as a belligerent Ziggy Stardust sent to kick glitter in the eyes of the tC, Forte and, in the Turbo’s case, the Civic Si and . A 24-year-old might have regarded it as a PlayStation avatar rendered real. In 2012 came a bumper crop of excellent new sport compacts. Glam design cannot compensate for middling performance or value.
At the Turbo’s end of the market, a 252-horsepower 2013 ST, priced from $24,495, may be the most entertaining new front-drive car in America. The “front” qualifier is important, because within $1,000 are respectably equipped versions of the rear-drive 2013 Scion FR-S and its stepsibling, the Subaru BRZ, and Hyundai’s own Genesis 2.0T. These are carving tools that require higher-octane gas, have lower fuel-economy ratings and negligible rear seats, but could humble a Turbo with their chassis balance alone.
Irrespective of age or psychographics, consumers value a product that meets or exceeds their perception of it. By that standard, the Veloster is simply not as fast, frugal or fun as it looks.
•
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Hyundai CEO Tells Where He'll Take His Hot Brand Next
[[posterous-content:pid___0]]John Krafcik, CEO of Hyundai Motor America since 2008, has overseen fantastic growth, and now he has a different challenge: Keep the pot boiling at a time when he can't count on the spotlight and dealer enthusiasm that come with monthly sales records.
That's because Hyundai's rocket ride up the U.S. sales chart is over -- because it can't make cars any faster.
Hyundai is hitting full production capacity in South Korea, where most models sold in the U.S are made, and is adding a third shift this month at its Montgomery, Ala., plant that builds its two highest-volume U.S. models, Sonata and Elantra.
Much of the momentum Krafcik inherited was his own doing. Before he became CEO, Krafcik was vice president of product development and strategic planning. When he took that job in 2004, Hyundai's share of U.S. new vehicle sales was 2.5%, according to Autodata.
Now, it's 5% and Hyundai is the seventh-biggest car company in the U.S., ranked by sales, behind the Detroit Three and Japan's top trio, Toyota, Honda and Nissan.
Krafcik is sure the production limits will give his rivals advantages, especially in the midsize sedan segment, where seemingly every brand has a new model or soon will.
"Competitors will take some demand away" from the Hyundai Sonata, but he professes himself "comfortable" with the sales he expects to get. And like all successful sales folk, he sees an opportunity in a limited supply: "I'd rather be a little bit short on production and long on quality," he says.
Rushing to crank out ever more vehicles can cause quality shortcuts, Toyota Motor CEO Akio Toyoda explained in 2010 to a U.S. congressional committee probing the company's sudden acceleration complaints, "I fear the pace at which we have grown may have been too quick," he testified, and it may have "confused" the company about its priorities.
In a session with USA TODAY reporters and editors, Krafcik offered a peek at Hyundai's future beyond the explosive sales gains. He has some contrary notions that'll keep Hyundai a very interesting company to watch.
What's in Krafcik's crystal ball, on big issues and some not so big:
Gasoline engines. Hyundai will field some alternative-power models -- already it is selling a gasoline-electric hybrid version of the Sonata, and a hydrogen-fueled car is due in 2015, he says -- but the future belongs to the venerable gasoline engine. It "will still be the majority (powerplant) in 30 years," he says.
Refined, evolved, downsized, engineered to a fare-thee-well, for sure, but still the recognizable internal combustion engine traceable to the first practical car, built by Karl Benz in 1886.
Even Hyundai's hydrogen car won't be exclusively an alternative fuel model. "It would be a platform where we could also put in internal-combustion" engines.
Nowadays the politically correct view is that non-petroleum power is the future. Nonetheless, others agree with Krafcik.
One school of thought says that bio-fuels made from waste -- cornstalks or wood chips, for instance, instead of feed corn as is done now -- eventually could be produced in such quantities that they could be sold at the pump cheaper than gasoline.
"Suddenly you have the same old engines but new environmentally acceptable fuels, and it's a whole new game," says David Cole, chairman emeritus of the Center for Auto Research and longtime observer of the auto industry.
A report this month from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says lifetime costs associated with electric cars are "generally higher than those of a conventional vehicle or traditional hybrid of similar size and performance." On average, CBO says, costs run $16,000 to $19,000 more than a comparable gas-engine vehicle.
Toyota just announced it is slashing the number of electric Scions it plans, from thousands to as few as 100. Toyota Vice Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada said in Japan, according to Reuters: "The current capabilities of electric vehicles do not meet society's needs, whether it may be the distance the cars can run, or the costs, or how it takes a long time to charge."
And Chrysler Group announced it is suspending work on plug-in hybrids because the batteries are overheating.
Four-cylinder engines. Hyundai was a pioneer of four-cylinder power when it introduced the redesigned 2011 Sonata midsize sedan only with four-cylinder engines, dropping the V-6 option. They are more sophisticated fours that use high-tech direct fuel injection for both better mileage and more power -- even though the technology is costlier and noisier. Direct injection is making its way into the mainstream, but when Sonata was launched it was mainly a premium-brand feature.
"Four-cylinders are absolutely the future," Krafcik says. Sonata's main rivals, Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Nissan Altima, all still have optional V-6s, though Ford and General Motors are following the lead with only fours in the 2013 redos of their Ford Fusion and Chevrolet Malibu.
"The Japanese have their V-6s because they don't have the turbo fours ready. They fell behind" in engine development, says Aaron Bragman, senior analyst at consultant IHS Automotive.
Hyundai still has V-6s in the long-wheelbase version of its Santa Fe SUV, as well as V-6s and V-8s in its upscale Genesis and Equus models. Don't expect that to change soon. In fact, the Genesis coupe got a more-powerful V-6 as part of its 2013 update.
Unique cars for unique markets. "We don't believe in one-car-for-the-world, as some of our competitors do," says Krafcik. "We view the American market as different from the European market. Rear-seat packaging (for example) is more important in the U.S."
That puts him head-on against his old employer, Ford Motor, which has pushed hard for uniform global designs in its One Ford strategy. That makes it possible to build any car at any of its factories around the world and requires only relatively small changes to suit various markets. Thus, it is cheaper and quicker to get models to market.
Cars as mobile 
Internet connections. This is one area where Krafcik agrees with the prevailing notions in the industry.
"Moving nodes," he calls cars of the future, and it's happening fast.
Continual weight loss. Mazda claims that as part of its Skyactiv suite of technologies, it will cut vehicle weight 7% each time it renews a model. Hyundai cut about that much from the Santa Fe SUV in the redesign for 2013, from 3,725 down to 3,459 pounds.
Lighter cars take less energy to move, so use less fuel. They also let automakers use smaller, lighter components, such as brakes and suspension parts. If the government's new fuel-economy standards remain set for 54.5 mpg in 2025, lightening will be increasingly important.
Ford is believed to be planning an aluminum-bodied F-150 pickup for launch in 2014, which would cut about 700 pounds, or 15%.
Names for vehicles, not letters or numbers. "We're not believers in alphanumerics," he says.
The industry has moved toward such designations as a mark of prestige. Lincoln MKZ, Cadillac XTS and Acura RDX, for example. Mainstream brands are sticking with names, such as Sonata, Malibu, Fusion and Altima and Optima.
Shifting Hyundai from a low-price nameplate. Hyundai is "making the transition from a value brand to a valuable brand," he says.
So the Elantra compact offers a heated steering wheel, heated front and rear seats, back-up camera and other features generally reserved for bigger, higher-priced cars. Of course, an Elantra compact so-equipped has a midsize price: $25,000.
That's bad news for bargain-hunting car shoppers, but probably inevitable -- features or not -- as a result of Hyundai's maxed-out production. Anything in short supply gets more expensive.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Check out our weekly ad for this week!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)