Next Generation Hyundai Genesis Coupe Spied

Well, I guess the next generation Genesis Coupe will get the corporate look, in my humble opinion, this look is a step backwards, I really liked the look of the current Genesis coupe below....



For more shots of the car, follow the link to Mr. Thompsons excellent site;

http://www.woodyscarsite.com/2011/08/genesis-reveals-itself-in-dark.html

Why Do Subcompacts and Compacts Get Such Similar Mileage?

No longer is 40 mpg only the province of the hybrid.

With four new members from the New York International Auto Show — the Honda Civic, Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio and Mazda3 — the crop of 40-plus mpg, non-hybrid gasoline cars available will creep into the double digits by the end of the year. You don’t necessarily have to downsize to get the best mileage: The 2012 Ford Focus SFE will be rated 28/40 mpg city/highway, while the pint-sized Ford Fiesta SFE gets 29/40 mpg. The entry-level Accent gets 30/40 mpg; the Elantra, its larger sibling, is rated 29/40 mpg. The stick-shift Chevy Cruze Eco gets 28/42 mpg, and GM expects the forthcoming Sonic to secure a 40 mpg highway rating.

In most cases, the compact cars are significantly larger, heavier and more powerful than their subcompact siblings. Why then is their gas mileage so similar? At the auto show, I posed the question to automakers and analysts. The simple answer: aerodynamics.

“Keep in mind that technology will help both [highway and city mileage], but not at the same rates,” said Mike O’Brien, Hyundai’s vice president of product planning. “The city number is going to be the bigger difference when you go a class up in car size.”

Conversely, the fight for better highway mileage goes against what O’Brien calls “road load,” a combination of the vehicle’s frontal size, tire friction and drag.

In some cases, it’s actually harder to eke out better highway mileage in a subcompact car, said IHS Global Insight analyst Aaron Bragman.

“When you have a B-segment [subcompact] car, it’s very hard to make it aerodynamic, given how short it is and how many of them end abruptly,” Bragman said.

That’s not to say carmakers aren’t trying. Cars like the Accent and Fiesta use technologies commonly reserved for luxury models — a direct-injection engine in the Accent’s case and a dual-clutch six-speed automatic in the Fiesta’s.

At Ford’s auto-show stand, marketing manager Robert Parker noted the incremental nature of this technology.

“Our engineers like to say fuel economy is about hundreds of little things,” Parker said. “All of those hundreds of little things add up to a tenth [of a mpg] here and a tenth there.”

Put another way, major increases in mileage — 30-mpg pickup trucks or 50-mpg commuter cars — will take more than slipstream aerodynamics or six-speed automatics.

“A lot of these countermeasures are low-hanging fruit,” Bragman said. “Long-term, you’re looking at a different powertrain, a different type of propulsion method, to get to the next level of fuel economy.”

The real question isn’t technology, Hyundai’s O’Brien said. “There’s always more technology,” he said. The real question is who will pay for it.

“You can have the cleanest car in the world, but unless someone buys it, you can’t be clean,” he said. “It’s really a tipping-point discussion.”

Source;
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2011/04/why-do-subcompacts-and-compacts-get-such-similar-mileage.html

2011 Consumer Reports Reliability Chart

This is just to piggyback an earlier post....
According to Consumer Reports Annual Automakers Report Card for 2011, Honda and Subaru still make the best vehicles overall, however, Ford posted the largest gain.

Consumer Reports said that Ford outpaced its Detroit rivals in reliability in recent years and that this year its average test score for all tested models increased from 60 to 70. The publication currently recommends 71 percent of the Ford vehicles it has tested.

Honda, Subaru and Toyota are at the top three for the third consecutive year with vehicles doing very well in Consumer Reports tests, remaining relatively trouble-free. Honda, including its luxury Acura brand, has had the best reliability record of any car maker and has made mostly good to outstanding vehicles. In fact, no Honda vehicle scored less than average in reliability.

Subaru, which has the highest average road-test score of 81, makes only half-a-dozen models but all do well in Consumer Reports road tests. Toyota, Lexus and Scion remain solid choices as well with reliability remaining better than average with an average test score of 74 for all tested models. Consumer Reports currently recommends 74 percent of the Toyota vehicles it has tested.

GM also improved its average road-test and reliability scores. Chrysler had the lowest average test score by far of 50.

Volvo is the only European make with an above-average reliability score. Volkswagen’s reliability has improved of late, but Audi’s reliability brings the combined automaker’s score down.

Luxury automakers Mercedes-Benz and BMW are near the bottom of Consumer Reports Automakers Report Card Ranking with both getting below-average reliability.

- By: Omar Rana

Source;
http://www.egmcartech.com/2011/02/28/consumer-reports-report-card-2011-honda-subaru-make-best-vehicles-ford-improves/#more-75591

Hyundai Veloster Will Have Four Doors, Not Three

Potential Honda CR-Z rival switches things up a bit, not too sure what to think.... is it now just a hatchback?!? Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing what Hyundai has planned.... Looking at the pic, it looks like they did just add a 2nd door on the passenger side....
Hyundai will be debuting its all-new Veloster at the Detroit Auto Show next Monday. Long expected to be a three-door hatch in the vein of the Honda CR-Z, the Veloster has a trick up its sleeve: an extra door. Hyundai released a new teaser photo of the hatch today, and as you can clearly see there are two passenger-side doors instead of one. Look across the rear seats and you’ll notice there’s no rear door on the other side. So the Veloster will feature an unconventional three door + hatch configuration.

Hyundai hasn’t given us much information on the Veloster, but it dropped a few select details when it released the first teaser photo. We’ll get the rest beginning January 10 at 2:55 p.m. Eastern. [via CNET]

Source;
http://motorcrave.com/hyundai-veloster-will-have-four-doors-not-three/9982/

KBB reveals 20 most researched cars of 2010

Dec 22, 2010 Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com Names 2010 Most-Researched New Vehicles, Brands With Greatest Share of Market Interest This YearSales Success Story Hyundai Sonata Makes Giant Leap to No. 5 on 2010's Top 20 Most-Researched New Cars ListIRVINE, Calif., Dec. 22, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Kelley Blue Book, the leading provider of new car and used car information, today announces the most-researched new vehicles of 2010 on the company's top-rated website, www.kbb.com.

In addition, Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com reveals the top five brands with the greatest share of market interest for 2010.This year marks the fifth consecutive year that Kelley Blue Book saw increased visitation to its website, with nearly 24 million more visits to kbb.com in 2010 versus 2009.

Because kbb.com is one of the most-trafficked automotive research sites, visitation to specific vehicles has become a leading indicator of sales patterns for manufacturers.

Kbb.com's Top 20 Most-Researched New Vehicles of 2010

1. Honda Accord
2. Honda Civic
3. Toyota Camry
4. Honda CRV
5. Hyundai Sonata
6. Nissan Altima
7. Honda Pilot
8. Ford Mustang
9. Toyota Highlander
10. Toyota Rav4
11. Toyota Sienna
12. Honda Odyssey
13. Chevrolet Equinox
14. Toyota Corolla
15. Ford Fusion
16. Ford Escape
17. Toyota Prius
18. BMW 3 Series
19. Chevrolet Camaro
20. Volkswagen Jetta

The Honda Accord, Honda Civic and Toyota Camry (in varying orders each year) have been the top three most-researched new vehicles on kbb.com each year since 2004. However, a few vehicles made jumps into the top 20 most-researched new vehicles for 2010 that were not on the list in 2009, and many models have changed their standings among the top 20 when compared to last year.

The most noteworthy success story this year is the Hyundai Sonata, which made a giant leap up 24 positions, from number 29 last year to number five this year. Hyundai's popular all-new Sonata helped to re-shuffle the deck among the top 20 most-researched new cars of 2010, knocking a few vehicles further down on the list compared to where they were last year.

A number of popular new or redesigned models also increased their standing for 2010 versus 2009, including the Ford Mustang, up eight positions to number eight, the Toyota Sienna, up seven positions to number 11, and the Chevrolet Equinox, up seven positions to number 13. In addition, the BMW 3 Series was new to the list for 2010, making its debut at number 18.

Likewise, many vehicles that are staples on the annual kbb.com top 20 most-researched new vehicles list experienced a decline in standing for 2010 when compared to 2009. The Toyota Corolla fell nine positions to number 14 this year, and the Toyota Prius dropped nine positions to number 17. In addition, the Chevrolet Camaro was down seven positions to number 19 for 2010."

The site traffic on Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com clearly demonstrates which models are resonating with today's new-car shoppers, especially when we examine the most-researched new vehicles of 2010," said James Bell, executive market analyst for Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com. "Hyundai's homerun Sonata was not only the darling of the industry this year, but also made a strong impression in the minds of new-car shoppers by leaping ahead to the fifth most-researched new car of 2010. In addition, two popular Toyota models, the Corolla and Prius, experienced drops on the list this year, likely due to a combination of lower fuel prices and reduced overall interest in compact and hybrid vehicles, and also possibly due to Toyota's public perception crisis during the recall saga of 2010."

Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com 2010 Top Five Brands with Greatest Share of Market Interest Among New-Car Shoppers

Toyota with 13.4 percent
Honda with 11.4 percent
Ford with 10.2 percent
Chevrolet with 8.3 percent
Nissan with 6.2 percent

Toyota, Honda, Ford, Chevrolet and Nissan (respectively) are the top five brands with the highest share of market interest -- defined as the percent of new-car shopper activity for a particular brand -- on Kelley Blue Book's kbb.com for 2010. While these five brands remain in the same positions as last year, Toyota has experienced a decline in share of market interest for 2010 while Ford's share of market interest continues to grow. Toyota managed to hold down its top spot for 2010, even though its share of market interest declined 2.4 percentage points from last year. While Ford remains in the number three spot, its share of market interest increased 1.5 percentage points for 2010 when compared to 2009. The remaining three (Honda, Chevrolet and Nissan) brands' share of market interest numbers remained relatively flat year-over-year.

Source (via autoblog);
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/12/26/kbb-reveals-20-most-researched-cars-of-2010/#continued