2011 Hyundai Genesis Coupe With Supra Swap, 2jz-gte Single Turbo. on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Hyundai's Super Bowl ads score on Ad Meter

Pepsi and Anheuser-Busch have often dominated USA Today's influential Super Bowl Ad Meter, but this year Hyundai broke through as the first car company to capture the top spot. Hyundai's First Date spot shown during the first quarter earned a 6.90 rating to edge out Heinz's Weiner Stampede (6.63) and two Doritos' commercials, Utrasound (6.60) and Doritos Dogs (6.48). Two more Hyundai spots, Ryanville (6.27) and The Chase (6.19) gave the automaker three of the top six commercials during the Super Bowl. USA Today's Ad Meter has been a barometer that measures the success of ads during the Big Game since 1989. More than 19,000 panelists participated this year. They ranked each ad on a scale from zero to 10. Anheuser-Busch ads won the last three years. First Date stars comedian Kevin Hart as an overprotective dad in who uses Hyundai's Blue Link car finder feature in the Genesis to spy on his daughter during a first date. Ryanville showcases Ryan Reynolds to illustrate how the Elantra can help with the perils of distracted driving. The Chase also stars the Elantra and its Blue Link voice-activated auto start system, which are successfully used to evade bears. Related Video: Hyundai Dominates with Three of the Top Six Ads First Automaker to Take the USA TODAY Ad Meter Crown FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Feb. 8, 2016 – Hyundai became the first automotive company to win USA TODAY's coveted Ad Meter when its spot "First Date" beat out 63 other Super Bowl 50 commercials. Hyundai's impressive performance also included a fifth and sixth place finish for "Ryanville" and "The Chase" respectively, meaning Hyundai finished with three of the top six highest rated ads. Creative was developed by Hyundai's agency of record, INNOCEAN Worldwide. "On the biggest advertising day of the year, we wanted to entertain Super Bowl fans with creative storytelling and relevant, popular celebrities, while showcasing the innovative technology features of our vehicles. Our formula clearly resonated with the thousands of Ad Meter voters," said Dean Evans, chief marketing officer, Hyundai Motor America. "Kevin Hart's comedic chops coupled with a human truth people could connect with was a standout combination that put us over the top. It's an incredible conclusion to our first year as an official NFL sponsor that we won the Ad Meter for Super Bowl 50." "First Date," a 60-second spot featuring Kevin Hart, highlights one of the incredible technology features of Hyundai's premium Genesis sedan.

2020 Toyota Highlander vs other 3-row crossovers: There can only be one!

We've done quite a few spec comparison posts involving three-row family crossovers, and when included, the Toyota Highlander has always been the runt of the group. While the rest increasingly seemed to be benchmarking each other toward greater girth, the Highlander was the outlier.  That changes a bit for the 2020 Toyota Highlander, but only a bit. It's now larger and more competitive, specifically in regards to the amount of cargo space aft of the third-row seat. As you can see below, this aligns the Highlander most closely to its long-time competitor the 2020 Honda Pilot. However, let's see how it stacks up to others in the segment, which is heavily populated now, so for the sake of space, we've selected the newest entries: Kia Telluride, Hyundai Palisade, Subaru Ascent and Ford Explorer. The order in which they are presented is random.  Performance and fuel economy The 2020 Highlander is more than 200 pounds lighter than its predecessor, but has the same 295-horsepower V6 engine that was already one of the strongest in the segment. We'd say that would give it a leg up, but the Pilot and Explorer have proven to be sprinters, delivering 0-60 times in the low-6 range by some publications' stopwatches (or VBoxes, whatever). We don't expect the Highlander to beat them, but it may dip into the 6's. The heavy, less-powerful Subaru Ascent is most likely to take up the rear. It's fuel economy of 23 mpg combined also matches the Highlander and Explorer for segment-best. Remember, however, that the Explorer's turbocharged inline-four engine is likely more susceptible to differences in driving style (read: a heavy foot).  Of course, if you're really interested in fuel economy, the Highlander and Explorer are the only vehicles in the segment to offer hybrid versions. The Ford Explorer Hybrid puts a greater emphasis on performance, however, resulting in lower estimates of 25 mpg combined (AWD) and 28 mpg combined (FWD). By contrast, the new 2020 Toyota Highlander Hybrid is estimated to return 36 mpg combined.  Passenger and cargo space According to Highlander chief engineer Yoshikazu Saeki, he had a choice of two directions with the new Highlander. He could have indeed made it bigger, matching these very competitors, especially in terms of third-row and cargo space. Or, he could have maintained a smaller-than-average size. He obviously chose the latter. First, it was the size customers had come to expect. Would they be put off by something bigger?

Lexus tops JD Power Vehicle Dependability Study again, Buick bests Toyota

It shouldn't surprise anyone, but Lexus has once again taken the top spot in JD Power's Vehicle Dependability Study. That'd be the Japanese luxury brand's fourth straight year at the top of table. The big news, though, is the rise of Buick. General Motor's near-premium brand beat out Toyota to take second place, with 110 problems per 100 vehicles compared to Toyota's 111 problems. Lexus owners only reported 89 problems per 100 vehicles. Besides Buick's three-position jump, Scion enjoyed a major improvement, jumping 13 positions from 2014. Ram and Mitsubishi made big gains, as well, moving up 11 and 10 positions, respectively. In terms of individual segments, GM and Toyota both excelled, taking home seven segment awards each. The study wasn't good news for all involved, though. A number of popular automakers finished below the industry average of 147 problems per 100 vehicles, including Subaru, (157PP100), Volkswagen (165PP100), Ford/Hyundai (188PP100 each) and Mini (193PP100). The biggest losers (by a tremendous margin, we might add) were Land Rover and Fiat, recording 258 and 273 problems per 100 vehicles. The next closest brand was Jeep, with 197PP100. While the Vehicle Dependability Study uses the same measurement system as the Initial Quality Survey, the two metrics analyze very different things. The VDS looks at problems experienced by original owners of model year 2012 vehicles over the past 12 months, while the oft-quoted IQS focuses on problems in the first 90 days of new-vehicle ownership. Like the IQS, though, the VDS has a rather broad definition of what a problem is. Because of that, a low score from JD Power is no guarantee of extreme unreliability, so much as just poor design. In this most recent study, the two most reported problems focused on Bluetooth connectivity and the voice-command systems. The former leaves plenty of room for user error due to poor design (particularly true of the Bluetooth systems on the low-scoring Fords, Volkswagens and Subarus), while the second is something JD Power has already confirmed as being universally terrible. That makes means that while these studies are important, they shouldn't be taken as gospel when it comes to automotive reliability. News Source: JD PowerImage Credit: Copyright 2015 Jeremy Korzeniewski / AOL Buick Fiat Ford GM Hyundai Jeep Land Rover Lexus MINI Mitsubishi RAM Scion Subaru Toyota Volkswagen Auto Repair Ownership study