Hyundai Elantra - Just Gets Better with Time

When I first saw the concept car for Hyundai's Elantra, I almost regretted buying the Kia Forte. As much as I love my Forte to bits, I must admit, the Elantra looks better.

And the thing is, the more I look at the Elantra, the better it seems to look - like it grows on you.

Also called the Avante, the new Elantra looks good in all colours, and despite its mid-range price bracket, the car looks grand.

Just buy and drive. No need to put in bigger rims or tyres. No need to add more bling.

Just buy and drive - proudly.

Thumbs up to Hyundai for getting things right with the Elantra.

If It Ain't a Turbo, Anything Less than 2.0L Ain't Hot-Rodding

When I was driving my Waja 1.6L (M), I thought I was among the fastest on the road. Generally, I was. But each time I came up against cars with bigger engines, I found my car severely wanting.

I'd heard of port & polish and engine blue-printing as means for ramping up the engine's horsepower, but they were just too costly and time consuming.

That's when I realised, if I wanted more power, I needed a bigger engine right off. Nothing less than a 2.0L engine would do, and if I had extra money, I could always ramp up the horsepower later.

Sure enough, these days, anything less than a 2.0L car poses little challenge for my Kia Forte 2.0SX.

This is why I can't help feel a little sorry for all those racer boys who drive sporty looking hatchbacks mated to 1.6L engines that are not equipped with turbo, like Satria Neo CPS and Ford Fiesta. They spend so much and get so little.

Of course, most people spend only on what they can afford when it comes to fast cars. I know because I'm still like that - if I had more money, I'd always choose to buy a faster car.

Nonetheless, I've learnt that there's not point in sporting fast looks on a car that won't go as fast as you'd like, which is why I fail to see the point in garish looking spoilers and skirting for cars that are actually quite slow, like the Neo CPS, Ford Fiesta and Honda City.

For me, understated beauty speaks volumes when it comes to speed, like the VW Golf and Scirocco - these cars are anything but garish, and just by looking at them, you know they're fast.

If you want to go with a small engine car and you're into speed, be sure to choose something with turbo in it, like the Peugeot 308 Turbo. It may look a little weird but it really is fast. Otherwise, you'll just be dreaming of hot-rodding, instead of doing it for real.

Car manufacturers will peddle you all sorts of gizmos like gasoline direct injected (GDI), dual CVVT and even dual clutch. At the end of the day, your 1.6L car would still be slower than most 2.0L cars, unless you go down the port & polish, engine blue-printing, slap-on turbo path.

So, don’t be easily taken in by cars like the Ford Fiesta and Hyundai Veloster.

Nissan X-Trail - Putting the Rear Lights at the Front

Nissan makes good cars. Don't believe me? Check out the Nissan GTR, which is one of the best super cars in the world.

So, it really boggles the mind when Nissan comes out with funny cars that don't quite cut it like how the Nissan GTR does. One of them is the Nissan X-Trail.

Boxy and retro looking, the X-Trail is probably one of the weirdest looking sports utility vehicles (SUVs) in existence, next to the Suzuki Jimny. And it just got weirder, in that the latest variant comes with headlights that look like they should have been in the rear.

It's almost as if Nissan's designers loved how some of their tail-light designs looked so much that they just couldn't resist putting one of them on the new X-Trail. And since the design wouldn't fit in the rear, they thought, "Hey! Lets put them in the front!"

So, now, not only does the X-Trail look terribly boxy, it looks butt-ugly at the front, too.

Note that the new X-Trail being sold in Malaysia is the 2-wheel drive version. Hence, its tyres are more suited for highways and byways, and not for off-roading or for sandy/muddy terrain.

So, why the heck are the wheel wells so damn big? They look like they're meant for accommodating super-sized tyres that are used for off-roading.

Sigh!

To be fair, the new X-Trail has some extras thrown in to keep it contemporary, such as key-less entry and start-up, MP3 player, rear air-con ventilation and drinks cooler, as well as six-speed auto-transmission.

Still, with all of the new X-Trail's design oversights and a whopping price of RM149,000+ on the road, it would be one of the last things I would consider buying if ever I were in the market for a new SUV, especially when there are newer and far more interesting alternatives around like the contemporary looking Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage.

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Addendum: Not many car manufacturers can carry through boxy designs with real style. Rover is one and Kia is another (see the Kia Soul). Looking at the X-Trail, Nissan in not among those that can.

Also, with great looking competition around to trump the X-Trail in terms of design, you really would do better to consider such alternatives.

A good example is the new Hyundai Tucson. Check out the chic curves and slanted lines. At about RM140,000 for its high-spec version, it looks to be a much better buy than the boxy-ass, butt-face X-Trail.

Monkey See, Monkey Do, the New Sonata a Camry, Too

The new Hyundai Sonata is here in Malaysia. At first glance, its flowing lines make it look cool and contemporary.

Then, after a while, I started seeing the Toyota Camry underneath the new Sonata. All of a sudden, the new Sonata resembled a Camry-made-ugly.

Maybe it's just me. I tend to prefer cars that are curvaceous but more slanted with angular lines.Maybe it's because I've seen the precursor to the new Sonata, code-named the YF, and I prefer the YF.

Maybe it's a combination of both.

Whatever it is, Hyundai is not shy to compare the new Sonata to the Camry. Obviously, it's the executive saloon market that Hyundai is targeting with its new Sonata, a market segment in which Toyota's Camry is the current leader.

So, monkey see, monkey do. What works for the Camry should also work for the new Sonata with a few extra bells and whistles thrown in, like moon roof, larger-than-Camry interior and bold (and somewhat over-the-top) styling.

I suppose the deliberate intent to make the new Sonata like the Camry has tampered the bold "flow" styling, such that it looks a little too much. Also, the need to retain aspects of other Hyundai cars, like those of the X20, also limits the "flow" styling.

Bottom line, people like me would not be too impressed with the new Sonata. But if the new Sonata is at least as good as the Camry, I suspect many among those who like the Camry and are looking for a little more "boldness" would probably like the new Sonata enough to buy one for themselves.

For more details, see http://www.hyundaiusa.com/sonata/exterior.aspx

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Addendum: The following are pics of the Sonata YF, which I think is so much better looking than the new Sonata (2011).

Look! A Focus with a Hyundai Badge

I was at Jusco Bukit Tinggi, Klang last weekend when I spotted an oddity being exhibited at one of the centre courts - a Focus 2.0 with a Hyundai badge. Named the i30, the Focus lookalike mimics many of the Ford Focus S2.0's styling features,

For a Ford enthusiast like me, the i30 is not the real thing but, dang, it's close. And in some respects, it looks even better.

Check out the similarities at the front of the i30, especially the way the headlights slant backwards and the way the engine hood tapers on the sides, giving the car the distinctive Ford Focus look.

At the same time, some features appear better thought out. Compared the real Focus, the i30's rear is a lot more stylish and better thought out.

For one thing, the i30's hatchback is less slanted, allowing for bigger passenger space, especially headroom, in the back.

For another, the i30's rear lights are far more interesting to look at than the Focus' less imaginative and dull tail lights.

Also, the 2.0L version of the i30 comes with 17-inch rims and the wheel arches are designed for those rims as well. So, there's no need to compensate by getting larger size rims or over-sized tyres (a problem that's inherent in Ford Focuses sold in Malaysia).

Still, I doubt that the i30 performs as well as the Focus S2.0. Although I didn't get the chance to test drive the car, from what I could tell, the i30 doesn't have an engine compartment chassis stabiliser bar.

This could result in significant body roll, which would compromise handling at corners and bends.

Nevertheless, the i30 is being sold at about the same price as the Focus S2.0 but comes with a 5-year warranty instead of the Focus' 3-year warranty. Considering how pricey Focus spare parts are, getting the i30 may be the better deal.