Hyundai adds Veloster Turbo, Elantra Coupe and GT
GT version of Elantra is shorter, with longer wheelbase than popular sedan.
By John Gilbert
SAN DIEGO, CA. — Hyundai has introduced so many impressive new vehicles in the last two years, you’d think the Korean auto-maker deserves to sit back and enjoy the rewards for a while. Instead, Hyundai is adding to its impressive array.
Since the 2011 Sonata, which thrust the company into the spotlight, two of the more interesting vehicles from Hyundai are the compact Elantra, which resembles a downsized Sonata and is such a coordinated and polished car it won the 2012 North American Car of the Year award, plus the unique and sporty Veloster, a three-door hatchback with sporty coupe flair and an accessible rear seat through a second passenger-side door.
Both the Elantra and Veloster were introduced as 2012 models. The Elantra as a remake of a car that was never an ugly duckling but was transformed into the automotive version of a stylish swan, while the Veloster is an all-new model. The Elantra more than delivered on its promise while rewriting the style and feature rules for compacts and also getting 40 miles per gallon. The Veloster was fun, but it promised performance that its high-tech and rev-able 1.6-liter engine had trouble delivering.
Veloster Turbo adds 36 horsepower to a GTI or Si-like 201.
With both cars in their introductory year, Hyundai gathered the North American auto media at Torrey Pines, the plush resort in La Jolla, Calif., right near Hyundai’s U.S. corporate offices and design center, to unveil three new versions of the two cars — a turbocharged Veloster, and both a coupe and a five-door, wagon-like model of the Elantra.
The Veloster, Hyundai admitted, was a little shy on power. The 1.6 from the new Accent is a high-tech little jewel, with gas-direct-injection and variable valve-timing, and it is more than adequate for most consumers and most circumstances. But in the Veloster, if it is going to challenge such sporty icons as the GTI, Civic Si, Mini Cooper S, and Beetle Turbo, all of which slap a permanent smile onto the face of anyone driving them, more punch was needed. Hyundai responds promptly when it decides public reaction warrants it, and a twin-scroll turbocharger was the remedy.
A normal, single-scroll turbo picks off some of the exhaust flow headed out the tailpipe and redirects it to spin a turbine-wheel that sends a greater charge of air-fuel mixture back into the engine for improved burning and power. The system works, although there are some minor problems with varying exhaust pulses from different cylinders, which can increase back-pressure and heat and produce uneven airflow back into the cylinders. A twin-scroll turbo has two inlets in the turbine housing, separating the variant exhaust flow and minimizing back-pressure and creating a more pure and dense consistency to the forced-air feed going back into the cylinders. Read more
Lexus adds luxury, and hybrid, to 2013 ES
New "spindle" grille sets off totally restyled 2013 Lexus ES sedans, consisting of the 350 and the 300h hybrid.
By John Gilbert
A couple of definitive terms come to mind after first examining the 2013 Lexus ES 350 — Low-key luxury, and quiet competence.
Therein lies the main asset of all things Lexus, and simultaneously what some critics might call the main liability. The beauty of almost all Lexus sedans or SUVs is that they fulfill all expectations rather than trying to set themselves apart with quirky design tricks. In an era when many companies are trying to find uniqueness in their styling, Lexus, and its parent Toyota, have stayed with the formula that has allowed them to strike it rich beyond reasonable bounds — building cars that satisfy, more than surprise.
When Lexus first brought out its luxury LS flagship, the company realized it needed something more of an entry-level attraction as well. The ES was born in 1989, and as one of the originators of what later became the “entry luxury” segment, the front-wheel-drive ES was pretty much a gussied-up Toyota Camry. Lexus officials, however, pointed out over 100 modifications that separated the ES above the garden-variety Camry, and collectively, they justified a larger price tag. The ES 250 was from 1989-91; the ES 300 was 1992-96; the ES 300 was joined by the ES 330 for the 2002-06 run; and the fifth generation was the ES 350 from 2007-12.
For 2013, it’s time for the sixth generation ES, and comes as both the ES 350 and ES 300H — its first hybrid. Chief designer was Toshio Asahi, who spent five years helping design the latest Lexus LS luxury flagship, so he applied a more luxurious look to the ES. The ES has smoothly flowing lines, with a decidedly sportier-looking front end. Lexus calls it a “spindle” grille, which is something of a modified hourglass shape, tapering from a wide upper opening to a narrower middle, then widening again below the bumper from the front fascia. It is similar to the look of the much more sporty and aggressive GS, and the LX SUV, and signals a signature look for future Lexuses (Lexi?).
The ES 350 is slightly longer and adds a luxurious appearance for 2013.
The new ES is an inch longer with a two-inch longer wheelbase, and the steeply sloped “A” pillar at the front of the doors, as well as the underside, have been reworked for optimum aerodynamics. The ES has a coefficient of drag of only 0.27, where anything under 0.35 is impressive.
Lexus models have proliferated in the 24 years since the ES first came on the scene. The LS luxury flagship remains, with the ES joined by the high-economy CT 200h, and the sportier GS and IS, with “F-Sport” versions, which lend more sportiness to three different lines. The GS and ES are nearly the same size, but with the GS and IS are rear-wheel-drive — unless you choose the all-wheel-drive GS version — while the ES remains front-wheel drive, a definite benefit to consumers where winter weather can be challenging. A couple of SUVs round out the Lexus stable — including the RX, the popular crossover which is due for revision this summer.
As it has risen in sophistication, the ES is the top-selling car in the Lexus fleet, with 38,533 sold in 2011, a year when total Lexus sales were limited to 200,000 by the earthquake and accompanying tsunami that battered Japan in March of 2011, with projections for 2012 topping 250,000.
As if getting a reward, the ES gets a unique platform for 2013, although the upcoming Toyota Avalon will share the same underpinnings, meaning both cars that spun off as fancy and elongated versions of the Camry will now have their own platform. The new ES 350 price is expected to stay close to the current model’s $37,500 base sticker, so a good estimate is $40,000, with the hybrid costing a chunk more, and some lucrative options threatening to increase the investment. Read more
Volvo C70 Polestar adds potency to flair
Volvo's 2012 C70 Inscription model offers a worthy accessory to Duluth's scenic Aerial Bridge.
John Gilbert
Convertibles always have held the majestic position at the top of the automotive food chain, as the most likely vehicle to be admired and craved. A close second would be two-door coupes, some of which are more desirable than some convertibles. Even those who find convertibles and coupes too small for their purposes still dream of owning one or the other, and greatly envy those who do.
That’s where the 2012 Volvo C70 is parked, precisely at that intersection as if to prevent anyone from having to make that choice. The C70 is not just a convertible that is ineffective in foul weather, and it’s not just a hardtop that refuses to allow all of the sunshine in. It is the best of both worlds.
Stylish new nose and special Inscription-style wheels complement to the C70's look.
If the sun is shining and the temperature sufficiently warm, flip a button on the console and things start whirring: The rear decklid rises toward the rear, the steel roof unlatches itself from the windshield and rises up, folds itself into a double-deck sandwich, which moves rearward and drops into the perfectly shaped receptacle created by the raised decklid. The lid then closes with a secure click. Just like that, the sleek coupe you had been sitting in 30 seconds ago is transformed into a stunning convertible.
Putting it back up is just as swift, because the same switch reopens the lid and starts the roof on its unfolding rise out of the stowage bin, finally refastening itself to the windshield. You can drop the top at home or in a parking lot, or really show off by lowering or raising the roof at a stoplight while waiting for the red to go green, which is pretty amazing.
True, there are other hardtop-convertibles from Germany, Japan, and the U.S., which operate approximately the same way. All of them have one thing in common — they look great with the top down. But all of the others look a little bit bulbous with the roof up, next to the Volvo C70. The C70 looks exceptional with the top down, and it also looks lean and sleek with the top up, especially when you lower all four windows for a true, pillarless hardtop.
Push-button mechanical wizardry converts the steel hardtop C70 to convertible form.
My opinion of the hardtop coupe’s look was reinforced during my week-long road test of a new C70 Inscription model. I was enjoying the car both top up and down while driving around the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, then I drove my usual 165 miles north to Duluth, Minnesota, where Interstate-35 has its annual summertime dose of single-lane construction. Cruising along with the top down in 82-degree warmth, I approached some dark clouds and a few drops of drizzle appeared on the windshield. You always get the feeling you could go fast enough to let the raindrops hit the windshield or else go harmlessly over the passenger compartment, but being more reasonable than that, I took the next exit. In seconds I had raised the top and returned to the freeway, just as the rain intensified.
About 20 miles later, I had passed through the rain and the sun reappeared. I didn’t want to pull off the freeway again, but I also much prefer fresh-air driving to enclosed air-conditioning, so I continued on cruise-control in the right lane at 70 mph, and lowered all four windows. Another car was moving up to pass me in the left lane, and I was unaware that somebody was in the back seat of that car until a hand appeared in the right rear window with its thumb upraised. Whomever it belonged tow had observed my window-lowering and felt compelled to signal a thumbs-up for how slick the metallic black C70 was as two-door hardtop. If he was impressed at the dropping of the windows, it would have been fun to see his reaction at a roof-lowering demonstration. But not at 70 mph. Read more
Altima features fill 2013 generation gap
Upscale grille and sleek lines set apart Altima's 2013 new-generation appearance.
By John Gilbert
Nissan’s Altima, is attaining unprecedented success in the sixth and final year of its current styling generation. Model year 2013 signals time for the fifth generation Altima, however, offering a simple challenge: make the best-ever Altima better.
First drives of the 2013 Altima, from Nashville, which is near Nissan’s U.S. base in Smyrna, Tennessee, indicate Nissan connected on its objectives. Not that the current car is outdated. Nissan carved out an 8.2 percent market share in 2011, its best ever, and in the process became the No. 2 Asian brand in the U.S., behind only Toyota, but ahead of Honda, Mazda, Hyundai and the rest. With 75 percent of its U.S. sales coming from U.S. plants, Nissan became the top non-domestic manufacturer in the U.S.
The Altima was the standard-bearer for the company, and still is. Nissan proclaimed that this is the 20th anniversary of the first Altima, which came out in its first generation as a 1992 model, and with new generations in 1998, 2001, and 2007, over 3.8 million Altimas have been sold. After finishing second to the Camry among midsize U.S. sales in 2011, Altima recorded its best month ever in March of this year. When the new Altima reaches showrooms in July, it will start Nissan’s biggest launch ever.
In what promises to be a pivotal year for Nissan, and the auto industry’s burgeoning midsize class, Nissan has the benefit of having invested so much refinement in its primary corporate engines — the 2.5-liter 4-cylinder and the 3.5-liter V6 — that it is standing pat with those two offerings in the new car.
The company’s confidence in its two strong engines allows it to focus on high-tech features, aimed at giving Altima buyers the feeling the comfortable and stylish midsize sedan they’ve bought is a higher-class and more luxurious car than the sticker price indicates.
Those stickers cover the base car with the 2.5, and the base 3.5 V6-powered Altima, where both versions have easily discerned models. The 4 starts with the base model at $21,500, the 2.5S at $22,500, the 2.5 SV at $24,100, while the V6 models are the 3.5S at $25,360, 3.5SV at $27,780, or the 3.5SL, at $30,080.
The base 2.5 comes with a lot of standard equipment, including dynamic stability control and active understeer control — which imperceptibly brakes the inside front wheel in understeering situations, helping guide the car around the curve — plus keyless entry and start, Bluetooth with streaming audio, fine vision instrumentation, and six airbags. Move up to S and you add cruise control, 5-way power seats, auto-on and off headlights, and six speakers for the audio. The SV adds 17-inch alloy wheels, remote start, rearview monitor, dual zone air-heat with rear vents, and NissanConnect with XM satellite radio, hands-free texting, Pandora and iPod connectivity.
A Convenience package features 8-way power heated leather seats and Bose audio; Navigation package has heated steering wheel, navigation touchscreen, moonroof, and premium interior; and the Technology package has Google, blind-spot alert, and moving object detection. Those three packages are available with lesser models, and are part of the V6’s SL model upgrade.
Aerodynamic taper to rear houses interior room increase.
Those are just some of the features available, and one of the most impressive is the inclusion of NASA-type bucket seats, which are designed to offer optimum support that is similar to what NASA has developed to eliminate fatigue and distribute muscular load more evenly for weightless travel.
The Altima isn’t weightless, of course, but it is 79 pounds lighter than the current model it replaces, thanks to liberal use of ultra high-strength steel and aluminum for strength and structural rigidity without extra weight. As for stylish travel, the Altima definitely looks the part. Lower and wider than its predecessor, the new Altima incorporates more of a curvaceous body, with its primary character line rising over the front wheel-well then tapering down before gradually sweeping back up toward the rear wheel-well, and topped by a passenger compartment set off by a steeply sloped windshield “A” pillar and a gently arching roofline that connects symmetrically with the body’s curves, ending with a semi-fastback roofline over the trunk. Read more
The “I” in ILX Does NOT Stand for Integra
Acura ILX in sporty trim went searching outside Scottsdale for Arizona's Lost Dutchman mine.
By John Gilbert
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA — Acura is introducing a new, entry-level ILX sedan for the 2013 model year, a good-looking sedan that will fit in below the luxury RL , the smaller entry-luxury TL, and the midsize TSX in Acura’s stable.
To me, it was a cause for celebration, because I thought Acura had made a mistake when it discontinued the Integra, a sporty, entry-level sedan, back in the mid-1990s, and the new ILX might be a worthy replacement. At the introductory press conference, I raised my hand and asked if it would be logical to consider the ILX as being what the previous Integra might now be. Acura officials were emphatic to say there was no connection or resemblance to the long-gone Integra, as if they thought my question was an insult.
The new generation of Acura engineers needn’t be so sensitive; I meant the resemblance as a compliment. To humor those corporate officials, let’s just say the replacement of a Civic-based, sporty, high-mileage, entry-level sedan from a decade ago with an all-new Civic-based, sporty, high-mileage, entry-level sedan is merely a coincidence. When a coupe is added in a year or two, that will be coincidence, too.
There is nothing aged about the ILX. I like the design, particularly the pinched center of the lower fascia that comes up to meet the bumper. Models will be simple to differentiate, with really only one car, separated by option packages.
The base “Standard” is powered by a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder with 150 horsepower and 140 foot-pounds of torque and a 5-speed automatic, and Acura’s first-ever Hybrid, with basically the same 1.5-liter with Lithium Ion battery pack from the Honda Civic Hybrid is an available option. Moving up is the Premium package, with either the 2.0 or the TSX’s hot 2.4-liter twin-cam engine with 201 horsepower and 170 foot-pounds of torque. Top of the line is the Technology package, which has either the 2.0 or the Hybrid — which combines 91 horsepower from a 1.5-liter 4 and 23 electrical horsepower from the Lithium-Ion battery pack for a combined 114 horsepower and 127 foot-pounds of torque, and adds all sorts of premium features.
Modern look of Acura ILX stood out at Apache Junction Mining Camp during Arizona introduction.
The base car starts at $25,900, and includes keyless access and ignition, power moonroof, Bluetooth wireless telephone interface, dual-zone climate control, USB with iPod and iPhone compatibility with text-message capability, and Pandora internet radio. The Premium package boosts the price to $29,200, and with the 2.4-liter engine is the hot-rod of the group, with a 6-speed manual transmission; it has all the base car’s standard features plus the Premium package’s leather interior, heated front seats, 8-way power driver’s seat, high-intensity headlights, and foglights. The Technology model adds Acura navigation with voice recognition and real-time traffic and weather, the Panasonic ELS 365-watt, 10-speaker surround audio, a GPS, and a solar-sensing climate-control system.
There is no separate Technology model, but the car with everything would be the Hybrid version, starting at $28,900, including all the Premium package features, plus the high-mileage gas-engine/battery-pack system. Fuel economy estimates from the EPA show 24 city/35 highway for the 2.0, 22/31 for the 2.4, and 39/38 for the Hybrid. Read more
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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