2014 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Limited on 2040-cars

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Hyundai gullwing door patent blends VW camper, Tesla Model X

Hyundai wants to open your RV to the outdoors with a patented design that combines a gullwing and a sliding door. It could make a camping trip a lot of fun. From an engineering standpoint, the idea is fascinating. The gullwing (above) in Hyundai's patent application drawings runs from the front doors all the way to the rear, and it opens wide enough to expose the second and third rows, plus the cargo area. However, such a huge opening would never work if another vehicle were sitting too close because the gullwing needs so much room. In that case, occupants can use the sliding door (right) like a traditional minivan, which needs a much smaller area to deploy. This is the best of both worlds. According to the Korean automaker's patent application, the camping market is growing, and it believes this idea would appeal to customers. "Camping has evolved from a level of just sleeping outdoors to include a step of taking a rest outdoors, and therefore, camping equipment has also continuously evolved," Hyundai states in the application. In addition to the novel door design, it's interesting that Hyundai specifically imagines this on an RV. In the UK, a company converts Hyundai's i800 van into a camper. Perhaps the Korean automaker sees space to do something new in the segment with this patent. We hope the company shows a vehicle in North America with this door because we want to see the contraption at work in the real world. Related Video:

Hyundai brings in John Pangilinan for SEMA-bound Genesis Coupe

There's little question that Hyundai has emerged as a tuner's favorite, and few have pushed the limits quite like John Pangilinan. The SEMA stalwart is known for turning out candy-colored Korean tuning jobs, and has now teamed up with Hyundai for this bright blue Genesis coupe.
Set to debut next month in Vegas, the JP Edition Genesis Coupe features flared fenders designed by Jon Sibal, a carbon aero kit and custom headlights, topped off by by an Atlantic Blue metallic paint job with custom graphics. But that's just what you can see. Under the hood, the JP Genesis packs an AEM cold air intake, ARK Performance exhaust, turbo downpipe, KW coilover suspension, Whiteline sway bars, ARK strut, 19-inch forged alloys, Toyo rubber and Brembo brakes.
Inside it's got Recaro buckets, a racing harnesses, GoPro camera, Alpine sound system and Katzkin suede and leather upholstery. The finished package will be on display at SEMA, but in the meantime you can scope out the full details in the press release below.

Second-generation Hyundai Veloster spied with same asymmetric doors

Until we saw these photos, the future of the Veloster didn't look especially bright. It's entering its fifth year on sale with no major updates, and no announcements for a replacement. It also was killed in the UK three years ago when it wasn't selling well. However, these photos show that Hyundai hasn't given up on it. At first glance, it looks very much like the current model, but closer inspection reveals some differences. Up front, the hood looks lower, and it tapers down to what seems to be an exaggerated version of the "cascade grille" Hyundai has implemented on the Elantra GT, and new Sonata. The headlights look slimmer, and there seem to be fewer busy, "quirky" lines. Moving backward, we find the same asymmetric door layout consisting of one door on the left, and two on the right. On the right side, the rear door handle is still tucked in the corner of the window. The glass area on the right also appears a bit larger thanks to a lower edge that stays lower for longer. At the rear, the camouflage is at its heaviest, but interesting details still show through. The rearmost glass seems to be more steeply raked. We can't tell if there's still glass on the top of the hatch, but considering the evolutionary nature of this car's design, we would expect the same amount of hatch glass. The taillights have adopted the slim and wide look of other recent Hyundai's. The center-exit exhaust remains, too, but it looks a bit smaller, and no longer has an obvious split in the middle. On either side of the bumper are auxiliary vents, likely fake. Besides the low sales and limited updates, another reason we questioned the future of the Veloster was its unremarkable driving dynamics. While forgivable in the base model, it was an issue on the Turbo, which simply wasn't fun enough to recommend over competitors. We're glad to see Hyundai will give it another shot, though, since the world can always use more quirky and interesting automobiles. Hopefully this next one will drive better. And who knows, it might even spawn a crazy mid-engine, rear-drive version. Related Video: