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Hyundai's bizarre pooping robot baby pitches new Sonata

There are certainly some very weird auto ads out there, but a new challenger is entering the ring with Hyundai's absolutely bizarre Exobaby commercial for the latest Sonata. Blending inspiration from the video game Mega Man, the classic 1970s TV show The Six Million Dollar Man and a waking nightmare, Exobaby falls very deeply into the uncanny valley. Its proportions and movement come off as just slightly distorted, and the result is a baby that's more creepy than cute for this ad. Things get even odder just a few seconds in when the robo-toddler poops. Ostensibly, the Exobaby ad is supposed to show off all of the high-tech features on the Sonata, but many viewers are just going to be left trying to figure out what they're watching. If you need just over a minute of weird advertising to lift your day, then this Hyundai commercial must be seen. Related Gallery 2015 Hyundai Sonata News Source: HyundaiWorldwide via YouTubeImage Credit: Related images copyright Hyundai Marketing/Advertising Weird Car News Hyundai Videos Sedan car ads

Salvage firm asks judge to halt rival's removal of capsized ship and its 4,200 cars

SAVANNAH, Ga. — A maritime salvage company is asking a federal judge to stop the Coast Guard and a rival firm from carrying out their plans to remove a cargo ship that overturned five months ago on the Georgia coast. The multiagency team overseeing removal of the South Korean freighter Golden Ray recently announced plans to carve the 656-foot-long ship into eight giant pieces that would be loaded onto barges using a towering crane in the waters of St. Simons Sound near tony St. Simons Island. Removal is to start soon after crews surround the wreck with a large mesh barrier to trap stray debris, expected to take about a month. The Golden Ray heeled over minutes after undocking in the Port of Brunswick on Sept. 8, 2019, and its crew of 23 was rescued. It has been shorted up with thousands of tons of rocks to prevent it from listing further, and its nearly full fuel tanks have been pumped out. A key part of the dispute involves the fate of its cargo of 4,200 cars. The salvage company Donjon-SMIT filed a complaint Thursday in U.S. District Court seeking a judge's injunction to stop any removal efforts. The company said the Coast Guard violated a 1990 federal law intended to improve oil spill responses by allowing the ship's owner to drop Donjon-SMIT as its pre-designated salvage responder. Donjon-SMIT said the ship's owner, identified in the court filing as GL NV24 Shipping Inc., had rejected its plan to remove the ship “in small sections weighing approximately 600 tons (544 metric tonnes)” so crews could systematically remove the thousands of cars still inside the ship's cargo decks. The ship is filled with new Kias and Hyundais built in Mexico, and some cars from other companies, that were bound for the Middle East. The company said the owner instead hired another firm, T&T Salvage, willing to remove the vessel in larger chunks of up to 4,100 tons (3,720 metric tonnes). The multiagency command team released some details of the plan Feb. 5, but has not said what it intends to do about the cars inside. “In short, the cars need to be safely removed to avoid environmental disaster,” Donjon-SMIT said in its legal filing. Campbell Houston, a spokesman for the multiagency command overseeing the salvage operation, had no immediate comment when reached by phone Friday. T&T Salvage did not immediately reply to an email message seeking comment.

Hyundai's Santa Fe for SEMA has 1,040 hp and rear-wheel drive

Bisimoto, working with Hyundai, will not disappoint at SEMA this year. Continuing its tradition of absurdly powerful versions of ordinary cars, the company will show off a Santa Fe with 1,040 horsepower. Not only that, but this crossover, named "Santa-Fast," also sends that power through a six-speed manual to the rear. To create this monstrous machine, Bisimoto started with a normal 3.8-liter Hyundai V6. The company then completely rebuilt the engine with forged pistons, stronger connecting rods and more aggressive cams. After that came a pair of Turbonetics turbochargers that can reach a peak pressure of 39 psi. That's a lot of boost, and in turn a lot of power, so the computer limits boost in certain gears to help with traction and, you know, not totally destroying the tires. Connected to this engine is a mix of other Hyundai parts, starting with a six-speed manual transmission from a Genesis Coupe R-Spec. The power then goes back to a differential from a Hyundai Equus. This differential resides in a completely new, custom rear subframe built by Rothfab. The rest of the crossover is fairly standard SEMA fare. It gets a flashy livery, big Buddy Club brakes, Fifteen52 wheels, KW coil-over suspension, a roll cage and Momo racing seats. It's a solid looking package, and we can't wait to see more photos of this nutso build. That being said, Bisimoto's other project, a Hyundai-powered 911, could give this Santa Fe a run for its money. Related Video: Featured Gallery Bisimoto Hyundai Sante Fe: SEMA 2016 Image Credit: Live photos copyright 2016 Drew Phillips / Autoblog Aftermarket SEMA Show Hyundai Crossover hyundai santa fe bisimoto santa fe