2013 Hyundai Elantra 4dr Sdn on 2040-cars

Auto blog

The Ceiling Is the Roof: Hyundai Santa Fe Cabriolet opens a sky of possibilities

The Nissan CrossCabriolet might be a relic of the past, but its spirit continues to live on each and every time another manufacture builds a convertible SUV. It's a memory that just won't go away, no matter how much everybody tries. This time, it's Hyundai Australia that sent an out-of-the-blue reminder, showing off a chopped version of its new Santa Fe three-row utility vehicle. The totally revamped Santa Fe debuted earlier this year and is starting to hit public roads with a much more aggressive and stylized exterior. One feature not on the order sheets, however, is a convertible top. That's because this is a one-off project car that is not legal to drive on normal streets. This specific Santa Fe started its life as a pre-production ride used only for promotional purposes. The roof was removed for better access to take top-down photos of the interior, and this particular Santa Fe was set to be crushed at a later time. However, auto publication CarAdvice found out about the peculiarity and finessed Hyundai into offering a test drive on a private closed circuit. Any impressions are for naught, however, considering the vehicle is not headed for production, and this Santa Fe was not set up to be driven. That means the Land Rover Evoque remains the only drop-top high-top vehicle that is currently available for purchase. As a manufacturer that strictly makes utility vehicles, Land Rover is okay with creating SUVs with less practicality, like the convertible Evoque and the coupe-like Velar, to offer some variety. Or, for those feeling frisky, CrossCabriolets can easily be found for less than $20,000. The choice is yours. Related Video:

Hyundai Genesis says in the future, even car stunts will be autonomous

We talk a lot about new technologies in the auto industry. Things that will make you more comfortable or faster or more fuel efficient are, generally, easy for us to explain. Things that make us safer, though, are often a bit tougher to get a bead on. We can report on how it's supposed to function, but few of us are brave, reckless or stupid enough to purposefully put ourselves in a situation where we'd need something like Hyundai's Auto Emergency Braking.
That's why this video is so interesting. It shows off a vehicle's active safety features in the most ridiculous, easy-to-understand way possible. We won't spoil the lengths that Hyundai goes to with this squadron of cars, but you'll want to make sure you watch the whole three-minute video to see just how extreme the safety systems are on the 2015 Genesis.
Scroll down and have a look.

Toyota tops Consumer Reports best, worst used car values

We often mock Toyota for building boring, soulless cars, but a new study by Consumer Reports suggests that regardless of whether that's true, the company has some of the best used cars on the market. In its report on used cars from 2004-2013, the Japanese automaker had 11 vehicles among its brands on the list - more than any other automaker.
CR breaks the list down by cost and vehicle size, and Toyota has at least one entry at every price point and in nearly every segment. To score a recommendation, a vehicle had to perform well in the magazine's initial tests and score above-average reliability results. It also tried to only suggest cars with electronic stability control. Of the 28 recommended vehicles, Honda/Acura had the second most mentions at six, and Ford, Hyundai and Subaru managed two each.
The Detroit brands also made it to the list, but not in a positive way. Consumer Reports compiled a list of 22 vehicles it wouldn't recommend because "they have multiple years of much-worse-than-average overall reliability." General Motors had the most unrecommended models on the list at six, but Chrysler and Ford weren't far behind, with five cars each from their brands not making the grade. The full list of recommendations is available on CR's website.