Did you Say that is a Hyundai?
Hyundai has taken a very progressive step towards pulling further away from from being an eco-class manufacturer and taking on the luxury car market head on. Can you say a reminder of what Acura was able to do back in the late eighties and early nineties?
The debut of the Hyundai Genesis for 2009 has created quite a buzz in the market and for good reason. Keeping with its usual affordable status, the new Genesis is looking to be sold for around $30,000 base price. The best part is, most of its competition will weigh in closer to $60,000, giving it a real chance to make a hit debut and create a whole new image for itself.
Anyone who has been around since the eighties can undoubtedly remember the Hyundai’s of the old, such as the Hyundai Pony, with its 70 horsepower of box proportioned non-luxury.
I can actually remember renting one of these to go over a mountain pass in Colorado and had the thing floored the whole way and maybe saw 40 mph…
Well, the jokes of the little Hyundai that wished it could stop here. The 1.2 liter lawnmower engine of yesterday has grown into a 4.6 liter V-8 with an estimated 368 horsepower and a 0-60 time of about 6 seconds.
The Hyundai Genesis will also have a little brother V-6, with plenty of performance. The 3.3 liter version is believed to hold about 268 horsepower and 233 lbs torque, while the big 3.8 V-6 will have 290 horsepower and 264 torque.
But the Hyundai is a whole lot more than grunt and performance. In fact, the word is that with its stiff body chassis and 53/47 front to rear weight distribution, the 2009 Hyundai Genesis is looking to be a series competitor to the BMW 5-series. You just might find yourself going on a whole lot more canyon carving road trips with your new Hyundai Genesis.
With all the above mentioned amenities, it would be plenty to call this $30,000 luxury car a grand deal. But Hyundai did not stop there. With the addition of electronic stability control (intervenes at the limits of traction), adaptive headlights (automatically swivel in the direction of the road ahead), adaptive cruise control (adjusts throttle to traffic conditions), and adaptive head restraints (reduce the gap between the head and pad in the event of a rear-end collision).
On the interior side you will be able to enjoy a 500 watt stereo, heated and cooled seating, push button starter, roof mounted airbags, and eight bumper sensors that act as an active radar when parking in those tight spots.
