2013 Hyundai Elantra Gls on 2040-cars

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2018 Hyundai Kona Ultimate 1.6T Review | The muscle has arrived

The 2018 Hyundai Kona sure is a breath of fresh air. To date, if you were looking for a subcompact or "B-segment" SUV, it was probably going to be a bit dreary to drive with a slow, undesirable powertrain. Mazda's CX-3 is an exception, but its tiny interior is even more Miata-inspired than its driving experience. Really, everything in the segment has at least one fundamental flaw that makes it tough to recommend, and although the new Kona certainly isn't flawless, it's the first member of the segment to provide abundant power, all-wheel drive and a transmission that isn't depressing. After driving a Kona 1.6T AWD for a week, I found it to be pleasantly well-rounded, surprisingly good to drive, and just as competitive as our on-paper comparison suggested it might be. First, though, the engine. The Kona's standard 147-horsepower naturally aspirated four-cylinder is perfectly competitive in terms of power, and isn't saddled with a CVT or the Jeep Renegade/Fiat 500X's nine-speed box of highly confused gears. That amounts to a win, but the engine to get is the 1.6-liter turbo-four good for 175 hp and 195 pound-feet of torque. That's more than a Volkswagen Golf, and although this Hyundai mill sounds too much like a growly sewing machine under light acceleration, it's an acceptable tradeoff for acceleration that blows the doors off everything in the segment except the 201-hp Kia Soul "!" trim (and that car is front-wheel drive only). Testing from various publications indicates 0-60-mph times in the mid-to-upper-6-seconds range, which would be about 3 seconds quicker than just about everything else in the segment. Some are even in the 10s. That vast difference is one you'll immediately notice on back-to-back test drives, and an advantage you'll be happy to have in the long run when you consider its estimated fuel economy of 27 mpg combined is equal to the 147-hp base engine – and better than most in the segment. It's paired to a seven-speed dual clutch automated manual that's been been smoothed over from earlier Hyundai/Kia applications, no longer herking and jerking at low speeds, and more responsive to throttle inputs. That's the case regardless of the selected driving mode. In past Hyundai/Kia efforts, Normal could be too lethargic, while Sport could feel over-caffeinated. Here, they're actually appropriate for the situations their names imply.

Sunday Drive: An automotive flavor for every taste

Last week was flush with interesting new vehicle debuts, led by the new 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe. This crossover is entering straight into the heart of one of the world's most competitive automotive segments, and it's doing so with a fresh sense of style and a brace of new technologies. Our readers are clearly intrigued – the Santa Fe was the biggest news story of the last week on these online pages. It's fitting that a crossover generated a lot more interest than a traditional wagon, though we don't really have to be happy about it. Still, the completely new, fully redesigned Volvo V60 is worth taking another look at. First of all, it's pretty, in a traditionally Scandinavian way. Second, it's quick, with a 0-60 time of as little as 4.8 seconds. And finally, it's practical, with all kinds of room for cargo without the dynamic penalties of an unnecessary lift kit. Moving on from new vehicle debuts, we took another long look at the Honda Ridgeline. It's definitely a non-conformist pickup truck, based not on a body-on-frame platform but on a more carlike unibody design. That means it can't tow as much as some other trucks, but it also means the Ridgeline drives better than any of its more truckish competitors. It's the Swiss army knife of pickup trucks. Rounding out our coverage from last week are three sets of spy photos, each showing the interior of a hotly anticipated new model. One is a truck, one is a crossover, and the last is a sportscar. All of them are worth another look. As always, stay tuned to Autoblog this week for all the most important news in the automotive world. 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe unveiled 2019 Volvo V60 | Sleek, swift new twist on the Swedish wagon 2018 Honda Ridgeline | Pocketknife pickup is up for anything 2019 GMC Sierra interior looks just like the Silverado's 2019 Cadillac XT4 interior has actual buttons, no more touch-sensitive panel 2020 Porsche 911 992 spy shots show interior and manual transmission Cadillac GMC Honda Hyundai Porsche Volvo Truck Crossover Wagon Luxury Performance Sedan hyundai santa fe

Hyundai, Buick dealer apologize in wake of Chinese baby social media incident

A very strange story out of China today, as Hyundai and a Chinese Buick dealer were forced to face allegations of using allusions to an infamous child murder on a social media site as a way of promoting the safety features of their respective vehicles.
The original sad tale goes something like this: On March 4, a man reported to police that he had left his infant child in a running Toyota RAV4 while he ran into a supermarket briefly. When he came back out, the vehicle and the child were gone. Later in the week a suspect turned himself in to the police; confessing to them that he had stolen a sport-utility vehicle, strangled the infant that was in it, and then buried the child in the snow.
As you might imagine, the gristly incident was covered massively in the Chinese media. (There was huge public outcry as well, as evidenced by the vigil scene, above.) "Changchun baby abduction" was very quickly amongst the highest ranking search teams of the China's Weibo social media site - an equivalent of Twitter in the English-speaking world.