Ford’s midsize ideas come together by Fusion
SANTA MONICA, CALIF. — Ford Motor CompanyÂ’s hunger to regain midsize car potential, its hopes to recapture the imagination of discerning United States car-buyers, its need to gain a few style points, and even its challenge to win on NASCAR race tracks for years to come – are fused together in the form of a new 2006 sedan, named, coincidentally, the Fusion.
The stylishly shaped Fusion is powered by a 221-horsepower V6, or a 160-horse 4-cylinder, in a taut package with firmly precise handling and steering. Priced right around $20,000, it has a number of high-tech features that will impress performance drivers and tree-huggers both. Not that you have to be a “tree-hugger†to appreciate 30 miles per gallon when gasoline prices are around $3 a gallon.
Coming a year after the larger Five Hundred elicited only yawns from a styling standpoint – obscuring what may well become a large sedan with slowly increasing market power – it was important for the Fusion to be an attention-getter. It is that, with a boldly chiseled front end highlighted by artistically sculpted headlight enclosures flanking three bright, horizontal bars of grillework. It is not unlike the Cadillac CTS/STS/XLR front, at a glance. The body is a forward-leaning wedge, with side contours tapering nicely to accent an active stance. All Fusions are front-wheel drive, although all-wheel drive is coming, as is a hybrid within the next couple of years.
“It’s been a while since we’ve competed in the midsize market,†said Phil Martens, vice president in charge of engineering for Ford. That statement seemed surprising, because Ford’s Taurus dominated the midsize segment for the decade following its 1985 introduction. But, sure enough, when first the Honda Accord, then the Toyota Camry came on strong and both bypassed the Taurus in sales a decade ago, Ford decided to enlarge the Taurus.
At the time, it seemed like a reasonable idea, because Ford was going to build the more-compact Contour as an Accord-Camry fighter. When the SUV craze spread to compact reaches, Ford found that global partner Mazda was well along in creating the Tribute, so Ford arranged to use that platform for its own new Escape, and by eliminating the Contour five years ago, it could build both the Escape and Tribute in that Missouri plant. So the Contour, which had sold quite well, was gone, and the Taurus had gone upstream. If Accord, Camry, Mazda6, Altima, Jetta, Legacy, and others swarmed in to sell over 2 million midsize cars, Ford had abandoned the segment by its own call.
The Fusion rose from that vacancy, fused – to use that word again – with the impressive 2003 auto show concept car called the 427, and the artistic and technical success of the Mazda6, which was introduced four years ago. Ford displayed the Fusion at the 2005 North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January, and it resembled a compact 427 concept, plunked down onto the Mazda6 platform, which is revised and stiffened by Ford. The Fusion will be built at the Hermasillo, Mexico, plant, while the Taurus, squeezed by the Five Hundred above and the Fusion below, will in fact disappear as soon as a dwindling supply for fleets and rental agencies is used up.
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The Fusion was introduced to the automotive media at the end of August, so we could drive enthusiastically through the mountain curves and switchbacks above Santa Monica, and the car showed the potential FordÂ’s fairly gushing officials are proclaiming for it.
We had only the upgraded SE (starting at $18,550) and top SEL (starting at $22,360), both with the 3.0 V6 and the impressive 6-speed automatic transmission – the only one available with the V6. The basic S, which starts at $17,795, has the 2.3-liter four, on which you can get a 5-speed stick or 5-speed automatic, was not at the introduction, although Ford anticipates it will account for about half of Fusion sales.
The interior is straightforward and attractive in a way that might best be described as “German, before iDrive†gadgetry created a stir. Three can fit on the fold-down 60/40 rear seat, and on the top SEL, the well-appointed front can be ordered in leather or cloth, with either piano-black or wood-grain accents. Steering and suspension are so well-coordinated that you can plant the front outside tire inches from the edge of the road and trace a perfect arc around every curve.
That is a tribute to Ford’s managerial cleverness. Instead of imposing its vehicles on its affiliates, Ford helps companies like Mazda and Volvo create world-class vehicles on their own, then brings back their expertise to improve Ford vehicles. The 2005 Five Hundred and Freestyle, for example, ride on Volvo platforms. Now the Fusion – and the coming Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr companion cars – will ride on Mazda6 architecture.
“We tapped into our global partnership,†said Martens, giving at least oblique credit to Mazda’s engineers for the excellent platform and the high-tech suspension, which has short and long arms with coil-over-shocks in the front, multi-link independent rear, and stabilizer bars at both ends. Ford also stiffened the chassis by increasing torsional rigidity by 12.7 percent, and revised and strengthened the suspension components. That justified Ford’s plan to lengthen the wheelbase by more than 2 inches and widen the body by more than an inch.
In the real world, the Mazda6 is a worthy contender for the Accord or Camry, and is more sporty-fun to drive than either of them, although its interior room is tighter. By making the Fusion a bit bigger for occupants front and rear, and in the 15.8-cubic-foot trunk, the Mazda6Â’s assets are retained and expanded upon, and its few criticisms overcome.
Mazda created the 2.3-liter four as the Mazda6 base engine, and as an upgrade it uses Ford’s 3.0-liter V6, but not before adding variable-valve timing to make the Mazda6 peppier than any Ford product using that 3.0. Until now. The Fusion gets 160 horsepower at 6,500 RPMs and 150 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000 revs from the same 2.3, which is so well-engineered it qualifies as a “PZEV†– partial zero emission vehicle. Ford went to school on Mazda’s engineers for its own 3.0, as well, with variable valve-timing extracting 221 horsepower at 6,250 RPMs and 205 foot-pounds of torque at 4,800.
About my only disappointment was that with the V6 you not only canÂ’t get a stick, you canÂ’t get any gate for manual control of the automatic. On mountain switchbacks, driving aggressively prompts a slight hesitation while it seeks the proper downshift, something an auto-manual could eliminate.
FordÂ’s market research had a hand in the Fusion too. Some interesting tidbits were that women either decide or influence the decision on 80 percent of all new vehicle purchases; that includes 55 percent of midsize car purchases; there are 75 million auto racing fans, and 71 percent of NASCAR fans surveyed said they make car purchases based on the impression of the car in NASCAR racing.
I find the production Fusion far better looking than the stock car racer. NASCAR race cars nowadays only hint at the exterior resemblance of production vehicles. The race cars are all front-engine/rear-drive with specially built pushrod racing V8s. You could interchange bodies and engines in a blind draw and it would no more describe a real-world advantage for Ford, Chevy or Dodge. The Fusion you drive to the race, with its overhead-cam, variably timed multi-valve engine, is more high-tech than the old-tech race engines. But if market research says racing will help sell cars, the Fusion will be there. With a number on the side.
German roadways can outshine Frankfurt Auto Show
FRANKFURT, GERMANY — The biggest news coming out of the Frankfurt Auto Show centered around a flock of new vehicles being introduced to the world, including the Porsche Cayman, the BMW Z4 Coupe, the Volkswagen Golf, the Mercedes S Class, the VW Eos with its hideaway hardtop, the Volkswagen Passat, and the Mini Cooper Traveller.
Fitting, it seemed, because all those cars have German heritage, and all are German except for the British Mini, which is now owned by Germany’s BMW. While the Germans were the stars of their own parade, a number of other vehicles made debuts – including the Volvo C70, a flashy new Peugeot from France, Toyota’s new RAV-4, and a U.S. foursome of the Jeep Compass and Patriot, and the Dodge Nitro and Caliber. There was even a Cadillac built for Europe, that looked like a classy upgrade on a top model from GM affiliate Opel.
What a way to kick off the yearÂ’s first auto show, which alternates in that role with the Paris showÂ’s display on even-numbered years. Along with everybodyÂ’s newest vehicles, there was a clearcut trend.
European companies, which have scorned hybrid (gas-electric) cars because their own dependence on small turbo-diesel engines allows tremendous fuel economy and great durability, are now taking a sudden and catch-up stance. BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche are all looking at joint ventures to hurry out with some form of gas-electric powerplants. Diesels keep improving, and about 50 percent of all vehicles on German roads are diesels, but particulate emissions require improved technology for them to stay at the head of the class. And hybrids are a worthy, and perhaps superior, alternative to alternative-energy.
On two previous occasions, IÂ’d attended media days at the Frankfurt Auto Show, and while the show is instantly recognizable for its enormity, I learned just how enormous it is this past week, when I attended the regular, post-media-days show and hand-fought tens of thousands of German civilians eager to see what the automotive world has to offer in the coming year.
This time I went along with Charlie Boone, the WCCO AM830 radio legend, on whose Saturday morning radio show I do a 7 a.m. segment discussing new cars. Through the miracle workings of Holiday Travel in Eau Claire, Charlie and I were hosts of a tour of Germany that included a couple of days at the Frankfurt show, which is encased in 12 halls of 10 buildings, in an automotive extravaganza that is so immense it is only conducted in odd-numbered years.
Media days can be exhausting, with a new-car introduction going on somewhere, every half hour, for two days, while the worldÂ’s auto writers scramble as if on a treasure hunt from display area to display area. But those press days are virtually a walk in the automotive park, compared to the task our group of 26 friendly and compatible folks found in facing the multitudes that clamored for a closer look at every vehicle on every stand.
The Porsche Cayman is the long-awaited coupe version of the Boxster roadster, and while the name doesn’t do anything for me, the carÂ’s looks stopped me in my tracks. The latest version of the Boxster S is close to the heralded 911 Carrera in appearance, and in fun-to-drive character, and I think the Cayman looks like a pleasing exercise on a previous Porsche model, maybe a 959, with its lines gracefully falling toward the rear, and its slightly hunched up rear fender lines.
Over at the BMW stand, meanwhile, the Z4, which duels the Boxster roadster for under-$50,000 sports car bragging rights, also gains a sloping roofline, and I must say the lid looks just as good gracing the Z4 as it does on the Boxster, and the Z4 Coupe is every bit as stunning as the roadster. Germans, it turns out, don’t go for sunroofs as much as American drivers do; it’s either a convertible or a sedan/coupe hardtop. But the latest compromise is there, too.
Volkswagen, which later in the week revealed that Porsche is about to become the largest stockholder in VW by acquiring a 20-percent share of VW ownership, unveiled its 2006 Golf. Golfs are seen everywhere on German roadways, and the new one was not a big surprise, because it really resembles a two-door hatchback version of the recently introduced 2006 Jetta. Volkswagen adds the new GTI upgrade, and the RS32 higher-upgrade models, and captured maximum attention by putting the Eos model on a pedestal to display how its hardtop retracts into the upper edge of the trunk to turn into a flashy convertible.
The Mini Traveller is going to be an interesting vehicle whenever it vaults from concept car to reality. When Mini unveiled the Mini Cooper convertible in Minneapolis a year ago, several Mini people and a few journalists were sitting around a table talking about the future, and the difficulty a company that has so successfully brought out a retro car like the Mini might face to follow it up. When asked what we thought might be a suggested new Mini, the only thing I could think of was an extended-back wagon model of the Mini. Years ago, there was a Mini of that style that sold moderately well. Unknown to me, the Traveller, which must have already been finished in its design phase back then, as precisely the vehicle I had in mind.
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Peugeot is the French company that had vastly improved its styling, poer and dependability just about the time it stopped bringing its cars into the U.S. Shortly thereafter, Peugeot had considerable success in Formula 1 racing, and started building a fleet of the best-looking production cars. From its little Golf-like hatchback, to a series of longer coupes, sedans and wagons, if you line up the neatest of each level, Peugeot might have the most stylish gathering of models of any of the worldÂ’s manufacturers. And we canÂ’t get them in the U.S.
What we can get are Volvos, and the Swedish purveyor of all vehicles safe, comfortable and secure has expanded on its compact S40 line, with an all new C70. What it is, is an S40 sedan in two-door form, with a solid and secure looking hardtop that hides away under a rear-folding lid to make it the newest in a long line of superbly styled Volvo convertibles. This one is a particular winner, because even if the safety and heating system place it among cars that donÂ’t flinch in MinnesotaÂ’s all-weather climate, the hardtop, up and sealed, makes it a fool-proof all-season coupe.
Frankfurt seemed an odd place for Chrysler Group to unveil its new Jeeps and Dodges, because Detroit is just three months away, but the squarish Patriot and stylishly swoopy Jeep Compass were unveiled at the show. Same with the Dodge Nitro, a squarish but compact SUV, and the sleek Caliber, which may help Dodge make a breakthrough in Europe. The plan is to give Dodge more of a presence in Europe, where even its showcase sports car, the Viper, has been known as a Chrysler Viper instead of a Dodge Viper.
Without a closer look, or a test-drive, a fool might suggest that all four of those vehicles — the Patriot, Compass, Nitro and Caliber – might share the same underpinnings. But it was difficult to tell from behind a railing. The Caliber, incidentally, will replace the Neon, which gets phased out as the model year changes.
While the Frankfurt Auto Show is the most impressive in the world, perhaps the most satisfying “car show†in Germany is out on the streets and highways. Cruise through a city, such as Frankfurt, or Munich, or pay attention as you sail down an autobahn. From our vantage point in a coach bus, everywhere you look, the cars zipping past at something over 120 miles per hour, or sidling up to a parking space on a cobblestone street, created a car show of their own.
Among the most eye-catching, to me, was the Audi A3, which we get for the first time in the U.S. as a four-door (five-door, if you count the hatchback), whereas the car is available as a neatly styled two-door (all right, three-door) as well. Between the two of them, they seemed to be everywhere.
Gasoline is expensive, costing enough per liter to approximate $7 per gallon of regular unleaded, and about $4 per gallon of diesel fuel. So cars are built to last, and to be durable and economical – as well as to run fast. You could get a glimpse of the newest ones at the Frankfurt Auto Show, and a longer look at some of them in action as the fly up the left lane on the autobahns.
Audi adds sporty, compact flair with A3 five-door
How appropriate that the first car I got for a weekÂ’s test-drive after returning from a trip to Germany was a 2006 Audi A3. Not only did our tour of Germany include two days at the Frankfurt Auto Show, but we also stopped in Ingolstadt and went on a tour of the Audi factory, where we watched both the A4 and the A3 being built in one of the most high-tech plants in the business.
The A3 is a car that seems to be everywhere we went in Germany, whether in Frankfurt, on the autobahn to Heidelberg, or in and around Munich, on down into the Alps at Garmisch. Smaller than the A4, but larger than the European A2 commuter car, the A3 now seems destined to proliferate on U.S. roadways.
There is a difference between the A3 we get and the Germany variety, and that difference was the subject of some good-natured heckling with my Saturday morning WCCO radio program host Charlie Boone every time we saw one. Charlie thought the five-door was perfectly proportioned, while I thought the three-door was sportier. He countered that the doors on the three-door were so wide that theyÂ’d smack cars in parking lots; I suggested the extra width would make it easier to get in and out of the driverÂ’s seat.
We both liked both versions, but we made it a point to single out our preferred version every time we saw one – which was often. The whole debate ends now that we’re back home., however, because the five-door is the only A3 coming to the U.S. this year.
A compact-wagon-style four-door with a hatchback, the A3 is available on both sides of the Atlantic with AudiÂ’s superb new 2.0-liter four-cylinder, a direct-injection jewel with dual overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, and a turbocharger to perfectly inject the proper amount of air-fuel for the driverÂ’s needs. In Germany, the A3 also comes with a smaller 1.6 four-cylinder, and either a 1.9 or 2.0 turbo-diesel. Not that weÂ’re suffering. The 2.0 is an exceptional engine.
Back home, the test-fleet A3 was in light silver metallic, with the option-package black leather interior. It also came with Audi’s direct-shift gearbox (DSG), which allows you to drive normally in “D†or to switch it to manual and hand-shift the car from first through sixth gear.
As a unit, that works. If you floor the gas pedal at a stop, there is a slight hesitation – almost as if in its own Germanic way it is asking if you really want to launch that hard – and then it takes off swiftly. If you’re a little more careful, you can ease onto the gas pedal just a bit, and as soon as the A3 moves, hammer it. Do that, and you get instant launch, complete with tire-screeching from the FrontTrak front-wheel-drive system.
The direct-injection engine lifts Audi to the upper edge of German engine technology. IÂ’ve written about its excellence on the 3.2-liter V6 in the Audi 6, and on both the 3.2 and the 2.0-liter four in the Audi A4. In both cases, the smaller engine, benefiting by direct injection, feels like it must be at least twice its size. IÂ’ve always been appreciative of smaller engines that overachieve, and the new 2.0 moves to the head of the class with a full 200 horsepower.
The beauty of the 2.0 is not only that it goes fast, but that it keeps on going, right past those gas stations with their $3 per gallon signs hanging there. I was guilty of driving the A3 too hard, too often, perhaps, but I still got 30 miles per gallon. I recently drove a larger A4 with the same engine and the same FrontTrak front-wheel-drive scheme, but with AudiÂ’s continuously variable transmission (CVT) and got an honest 34.7 miles per gallon on a tankful. So a bit less enthusiastic driving with the lighter A3 obviously could have risen to that level.
From the outside, the A3 resembles the A4 Avant wagon, but if you park them side by side you realize how much smaller the A3 is. You also realize it when you approach it to climb aboard, but then youÂ’re in for a surprise, because once in the front bucket seats, you are pleasantly surprised at the roominess. Naturally, the squared rear roofline does the same thing for rear seat headroom.
Where technology is concerned, German rivals like BMW, Mercedes and Porsche have been in the spotlight, but the new engines push Audi to the equal or beyond any of those rivals for efficiency. And the A3 doesnÂ’t stop there. Consider other prime features:
Electronic stabilization program (ESP) is standard, as is antilock braking with brake assist to put full force into emergency braking; dual zone climate control with dust and pollen filter ( the better to not sneeze, during ragweed season); 60/40 split rear seat that folds down to turn luggage capacity from impressive to enormous; state-of-the-art airbag systems front, rear and side, with added sideguard air curtains; and 17-inch wheels with 225-45 all-season tires.
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The base price for the A3 so equipped is $26,140. That is a bargain, considering the complete package it purchases. It also slides in nicely under the A4, which has climbed closer to $30,000 in base form for 2006.
Naturally, you can load up the A3 with more goodies from the option list. The test car’s high-metallic silver was a $450 item from the option list. The premium package cost $2,025, and includes the alloy wheels, trip computer, auto-dimming rearview mirror, light sensor and rain sensor – both of which activate their devices at the onset of darkness or rain – leather seats and interior trim, foglights, and power driver’s seat adjustments. Another $700 buys the cold weather package, with heated front seats, a through-the seat ski sack, and heated exterior mirrors and windshield washer nozzles.
Adding it all up, plus destination, and the test car came out $30,085.
Proof of the carÂ’s value is in driving, and the smooth precision that is typical of the larger Audis is present every mile of the way in the A3, with the addition of a sporty lightness that brings out the best in the potent 2.0. The six-speed automatic shifter is also noteworthy, in a world where some companies are still just getting up to four-speeds automatics. Obviously, having more gears allows you to be in a better ratio at all times, and also gives a car the ability to cruise with effortless revs for better highway mileage.
If, that is, you can keep your foot out of it.
The A3 has been available for several years in Europe, but the 2006 is entirely redesigned, so while we didnÂ’t get the impressive old one, we are getting the more impressive new A3. Next objective: How can we get the three-door, too?
Magnum SRT8 takes quantum leap with 425 horsepower
You know those little inscriptions they put on outside convex mirrors, the ones that say: “Caution, objects might be closer than they appear?†Well, maybe Dodge should consider paraphrasing those on the new Magnum SRT8. On the driverÂ’s side of the windshield, an inscription should read: “Caution, stepping on the gas can cause objects ahead to get closer sooner than seems possible.Ââ€
When the Dodge Magnum was introduced, its captivating shape – letÂ’s call it a “custom-chopped wagon” look – was impressive in a startling sort of a way. The long, low wagon had the three-barreled power approach, too, with a small 2.7-liter V6, a larger 3.5-liter V6, and a Hemi V8, and if rear-wheel drive bothered you in wintertime, you could even get all-wheel drive on the 3.5 version.
The Magnum finished runner-up to the Chrysler 300, its formal-sedan sibling, for a 1-2 finish in North American Car of the Year voting. After driving all three versions of the first Magnum, and being impressed by the capabilities of all of them, the question remained, what could Dodge do to bolster the Magnum for 2006? It seemed that nothing was necessary, because the new model would work for several years, but Dodge turned the Magnum over to its Street and Racing Technology (SRT) team.
The answer is the Magnum SRT8, and when I got a chance to road-test what might have been the first one to hit Minnesota, I have to admit I was startled all over again.
True, it has the same long, low, sloping roof, as if a California custom shop had knocked out part of the side pillars to lower the roofline. But sitting there, glistening metallic silver, it looked considerably more imposing. For one, the signature Dodge nose, rounded off aerodynamically around the bold crosshairs grille, is rounded off no more, but has sharply chiseled grooves defining the headlights and the grille, with the lower front fascia housing projector foglights in a ground-hugging posture that is impressive to look at, although it might be less impressive if you pulled too close to a curb in front of you.
But mostly, it’s the wheels. Bright, chrome wheels, with five glossy spokes, and they are enormous – 20 inch monsters, shod with low-profile, high-performance tires. They fill up the wheelwells, but in a good way.
I really like the headlights, too. Obviously influenced by Mercedes stylists, the Magnum has a slim crescent around the upper edge of the main headlight housing for the parking light and directional signal in amber. They look great when just the parking lights are on, and they add a sinister eyebrow to the headlights shining through those clear lenses with all the lights on.
None of the appearance tricks can match what’s inside the SRT8 Magnum, however. The venerable pushrod Hemi, with which DaimlerChrysler proves General Motors isn’t the only corporation that knows how to wrench inexpensive power out of a large-block engine, was very impressive in its initial form – 5.7 liters and 340 horsepower. That’s a significant increase over the 250 horses of the 3.5 V6, or the 190 horsepower from the high-tech but small 2.7.
But the SRT gang had a little fun with the 5.7, boosting the displacement to 6.1 liters with a whopping 425 horsepower, and 420 foot-pounds of torque.
Believe me, when you hammered the gas pedal on last year’s Hemi, the Magnum jumped up and took off. But in the SRT8, when you hit the gas there is a momentary stirring audibly as your ears fill with the building rumble, and instantly you are launched – fast and hard. It makes you careful, very careful, about stepping on it too hard or too often, because the response is sudden and forceful. That’s why the suggested windshield disclaimer might be useful. A casual or mind-wandering driver could find quick trouble without devoted focus on driving fundamentals.
The SRT guys are sharp, and they not only tweak maximum power out of that Hemi, but they also install high-performance suspension, and what they call “performance-tuned†suspension. Aided by the big tires on those huge wheels, the Magnum SRT8 whips around corners flat as you please, belying the fact that it’s a big and hefty wagon. The five-speed automatic transmission also is beefed up for what SRT engineers assume – and intend – to be foot-heavy driving.
The charcoal/slate leather bucket seats, with a neat suede-like insert, clutches your body to also help stabilize things. Other special touches for the SRT8 include white-faced gauges, and set apart further the SRT driving experience.
Dodge lucks out on one thing. The craze for power that dominated the industry three or four years ago, and led to such power-monsters as the SRT8, could find showroom disaster when it crosses paths with real-world gasoline prices of $3 a gallon, and threatening more. But DaimlerChrysler came out with the first cylinder-deactivation system – General Motors is following suit – on a domestic car. Honda already has it out on V6 engines.
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What that does is allow the engines to cut out power to four of the eight cylinders when cruising, because it doesn’t take any more than moderate power to hold, say, 70 miles per hour – even if you attained it in 5 seconds. So you cut out half the cylinders and get decent gas mileage. The EPA highway estimate is 20 miles per gallon, and I got 21 on the highway and just under 20 if you combine city and highway.
That’s not great, against high gas prices. But it sure beats the 11 or so of the big SUVs, and the anticipated 15 you might peak at without cylinder deactivation in a 425-horse ground-thumper. Still, I was driving from Duluth to Minneapolis, and with a quarter of a tank, I thought I’d try to get closer to the Twin Cities in hopes of better gas prices, so I put in “only†$10-worth. I had to stop and put in another $10-worth before making it. While that says more about the price of gas than the SRT8’s sketchy mileage, it’s still a major factor in real-world decision making.
Electronic stability control and all-speed traction control help keep the SRT8 going in a straight line, or at least where you aim it, and huge four-wheel disc brakes help haul it down when you go fast.
A navigation system, Sirius satellite radio, heated seats, and air filtration on the dual climate control system are among options. They carried the base price of a stripped SRT8 from $37,320 to a sticker of $42,150 for the test car.
For that, we can be pretty certain weÂ’re seeing the ultimate, optimum Dodge Magnum high-performance wagon. At least until the SRT gang spends another year coming up with new ideas. Come to think of it, a second warning to the driver could flash onto the windshield whenever the gas pedal is stepped on firmly, reading: “Caution, stepping too hard, too often, on gas pedal could cause fuel gauge to reach ‘E’ faster than seems possible.”
Azera lifts Hyundai to its own bargain-luxury niche
LA JOLLA, CALIF. — Hyundai doesnÂ’t need the Azera to to establish the companyÂ’s prominence in the United States auto market. It already has statistical evidence of that. Instead, Hyundai needs the Azera to lift its image into the uncharted reaches of luxury cars.
The Azera, which was introduced this past week to the nation’s automotive media for initial drives in and around the coastal hills near San Diego, is Hyundai’s first attempt at a true luxury-level car. And the preliminary reaction is that the car will be a certain success – especially since it offers over-$40,000 stature for an under-$30,000 sticker price.
At a glance, the Azera doesn’t look exactly like any other car, although if it weren’t for that stylized “H†on the grille, my first impression would have been that it must be a new offering from Lexus or Acura. That’s good company. From the side, the Azera silhouette is nice, if not particularly noteworthy. The front and rear make up for that. The front has a low, strong look, flanked by precise projector headlights, and the rear is not only well-designed but it gets its start from stylish contoured outlines of the rear fenders, tapering back to where 132 light-emitting diodes comprise the taillight/brakelight array.
Japanese automakers Toyota, Honda and Nissan have been the “big three†in United States sales by import companies for as long as anyone can remember. South Korea’s Hyundai ranked 13th in 1998, and shot up to No. 9 – ahead of BMW – by 1999’s records.
At first, its reputation was staked out on a 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty, to support its first offerings, which were faithfully built, and then copied, versions of Japanese Mitsubishi cars. The warranty attracted skeptical buyers, and the upward trend continued. In 2000, Hyundai cars passed Mercedes and Lexus in total U.S. sales to reach seventh, and in 2001 it passed Mitsubishi, its old benefactor, and Mazda to reach fifth. In 2002, Hyundai surpassed Volkswagen to become fourth-best in U.S. sales by import companies.
Hyundai is still fourth, trailing the traditional big three of Toyota, Honda and Nissan, but it is threatening to change that to a traditional big four, having enlarged itself by 364 percent from 1998. By now, Hyundai has a technical and design center in Irvine, Calif., a new $117 million research and development center in Detroit, and a new manufacturing plant in Alabama, and its vehicles have expanded from those first Excel subcompacts to include the Accent, Elantra, Sonata, Tiburon, XG350, and the Tucson and Santa Fe compact SUVs.
The Azera is the newly rechristened replacement for the XG350 – a car that had attained a corps of supporters who liked the classy features without the exorbitant price. The Azera’s impact is expected to be sufficient to help Hyundai go over 500,000 total vehicles sold for the 2006 model year.
While Azera is the largest car Hyundai has made, it also is deceptive. It looks agile and sporty, and while it is not as long as the elongated new Toyota Avalon, it has more interior volume (123.5 square feet) than Avalon, Mercedes S-Class, or BMW 7-Series.
Under the hood, the new 3.8-liter V6 is all aluminum, with 263 horsepower and 255 foot-pounds of torque. No longer is it a Mitsubishi derivative, but Hyundai has learned its craft well. Under H.S. Lee, the engineer who was trained in the U.S. but is now known as the overseer of all Hyundai engine-building, the 3.8 is derived from the 3.3-liter V6 in the Sonata, with both the bore and stroke enlarged for more power.
Still, it qualifies as an ultra-low-emission vehicle (ULEV), and should easily reach the mid-20s in fuel economy. The engine’s sophistication is shown by its dual-overhead camshafts and continuously variably valve timing, with electronic stability control and antilock four-wheel disc brakes with emergency brake distribution – all standard on all Azeras. The stability control system is a proprietary system designed by Bosch and built specifically by a Hyundai subsidiary. Foul-weather drivers will appreciate that the Azera retains front-wheel drive, without any hint of torque-steer.
I got a computer-measured 21.9 on a 70-mile stretch curving down from the mountains and along the freeway, where, I admit, I ran at about 80 miles per hour to avoid being a roadblock for the impatient California natives. Zero-to-60 acceleration is claimed at 6.5 seconds.
Handling is precise, thanks to a platform that starts with 68 percent improvement in stiffness over the 2005 XG350, and that helps easethe task for the suspension, which features double-wishbone front and independent multi-link rear, plus coil springs, gas-charged shock absorbers and stabilizer bars front and rear.
A five-speed automatic transmission worked very well in the California hills and highways, and I appreciated the ability to shift the console lever over to the right for manual downshifts when we descended or drove into residential areas. That console was covered in brushed silver metal, which is part of an extensive focus on upgrading the look and feel of the interiors.
Available in base LE or Limited models, we drove a couple of different Limited models, with their larger10-spoke, 17-inch alloy wheels. Not as long as the Ford Five Hundred, Avalon, or Nissan Maxima, the Azera is wider and taller than all but the Five Hundred.
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The luxury feel of the Azera is bolstered by features such as fold-down rear seats, cupholders placed in eight different spots, a power-operated rear window sunscreen, concealed struts for the trunk props, a hydraulic hood prop, power front seats with memory, power adjustable foot pedals, and rain-sensing wipers. Hyundai also gives it eight front and side airbags and anticipates a five-star safety rating.
The interior of the XG350 was black, black or black – take your pick. John Krafcik, vice president of product development and strategic planning – and a man who could easily impersonate television’s Dana Carvey – said the company had heeded media criticism. The Azera can be had in a light grey or tan interior, as well as black, with the leather seats and dash material contrasting with a two shades of woodgrain trim. They were impressive, but I preferred the black interior, even though the dash is needlessly massive with only a thin strip of woodgrain along the top and on the steering wheel.
That leads to my only nitpick. You can get tastefully light or dark woodgrain trim, but it is NOT real wood. ItÂ’s a personal thing, but when it comes to leather and wood interior stuff, I prefer real wood and real leather. IÂ’d prefer to have no wood trim if itÂ’s going to be phony, just as IÂ’d prefer some other fabric if the leather was fake leather. The AzeraÂ’s leather seats are real, and I think theyÂ’re great; the woodgrain trim is fake, so IÂ’d choose to exclude it, but that canÂ’t be done.
The 2006 Azera comes out amid a flurry of new products from Hyundai, which includes the all-new Sonata that made its debut earlier in 2005. The Azera was accompanied by a newly redone Accent, while promptly following will be an all-new Santa Fe in the second quarter of 2006, a new Elantra and a revised Tiburon later in 2006, and a new and larger SUV to be introduced early in 2007.
The impressive warranty is still there, for any remaining skeptics, but itÂ’s difficult to imagine any skeptics after exposure to the Azera. Exposure, in fact, is the only remaining challenge, it would seem. Hyundai anticipates selling 30,000-40,000 Azeras in its first year, although it may have to upgrade that estimate. While it wonÂ’t reach U.S. showrooms until November, the Azera made its debut in South Korea in August and has been outselling the hot new Sonata since then.
Hyundai may have been hoping to push its way into the entry-luxury segment, but instead the Azera may have created a unique new niche exclusively for Hyundai — call it bargain luxury.
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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