Mini Reveals “Track” For Porsche Duel

Despite being shut down by Porsche, Mini still intends on having a race of some sort on June 21st (aka tomorrow). They have just revealed the track and, well, it isn’t so much a track as it is a autocross event. This is a bit disappointing.

Firstly, Mini said the race would be at Road Atlanta, but this isn’t Road Atlanta at all. Mini designed this course themselves and frankly that’s not exactly fair is it. Would you want to race someone who laid out the course themselves? There’s probably tons of little factors that gives the edge to Mini.

Secondly, Mini promised a race, not an autocross event. While the 911 is undoubtedly a fantastic handler, the fact of the matter is Mini can do just as well on an autocross course thanks to its small size.

Even though Mini promises “No tricks. No gimmicks. No jokes”, after seeing the track, I’m positive Porsche won’t show up. That begs the question, who will Mini be racing tomorrow then? Will they bring a 911 themselves?

I’m thinking they should take up Hyundai’s offer below.

[Mini USA via Facebook]

The Saga Continues: Hyundai Wants To Take Porsche’s Place

Well looky here. It looks like the saga between Mini and Porsche has caught the eye of some in the business. Specifically, Hyundai.

Even though Porsche won’t take on the challenge, Hyundai is happy to step in for the German giant with its Genesis coupe. I’ve driven the Genesis Coupe before, and I must say, it certainly is a credible challenger. The question is, was Hyundai thinking of running their 2.0T or their 3.8 litre GT.

In the challenge above, Hyundai almost defends Porsche by calling the 911 “legendary” and calling Mini’s challenge “bold”. They also point out that the Genesis coupe welcomes any challenge. They even point out that they had an “epic lap” at Road Atlanta, precisely where Mini wants the location of the race to be. Hyundai then relates to Mini by saying that they know all about punching well above their weight, but are so over it now that they have the Genesis coupe. Cocky, yet compassionate.

This puts the ball squarely in Mini’s court. The only exception to the challenge is the Hyundai can’t race until July (as opposed to Mini’s set date of June 21st) because their driver is “preparing to set the record at Pikes Peak”.

Do you think Mini will dignify Hyundai with a response?

[Hyundai via Youtube]

Smart Move: Hyundai Sonata Wagon Spied

All the luxury automakers have their wits about them as most are offering or are about to offer more wagon variants for us to choose from.

Unfortunately for normal folk, the non-luxury mid-size wagon market is quite dry. There used to be lots to choose from such as the Ford Taurus wagon, Mazda6 wagon, the Camry Wagon and the Dodge Magnum. But all of those have bitten the dust and as a result the mid-size wagon segment has been mostly abandoned. If you want a mid-sized wagon these days without spending north of 30 grand, you are pretty much limited to the Subaru Outback or the Volkswagen Jetta Wagon.

Hyundai is apparently seeing the huge gap in the market, and thus lots of potential. Its newly redesigned Sonata is receiving high praise of late, so they figured they could pull off a similar trick with a wagon version. I’m willing to bet that they will. People won’t be forced into buying an SUV if they need versatility, but it will also serve as a good solution for many businesses and would take up the company car role nicely.

Expect the Sonata wagon to receive a 2012 release date.

[Autoblog]

Oh Hi: 2011 Hyundai Elantra

It’s pretty much a Sonata mini-me. And that’s not a bad thing.

The new Elantra was revealed today at the Beijing Auto Show as the Avante (because that is what it’s called in China) and it is bigger than the current tired looking Elantra. It is expected to get a 138 horsepower direct injected inline four which makes 123 pound foot torque. It has a brand new 6-speed automatic which will help reduce gas consumption by 10%. We’re assuming a manual option will still be available.

There were rumours of a hybrid version being available as well to battle the Honda Civic Hybrid and, more likely, the Honda Insight. But Hyundai did not confirm this at the show.

The new Elantra will be available to buy here in either late 2010 or early 2011.

Keep up the good work, Hyundai! More pics after the jump.

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Oh Hi: 2011 Hyundai Accent

The new Accent has been caught completely naked by a sneaky photog.

So it looks like Hyundai really wants to have a recognizable look for the entire line up. This is what the new Hyundai Accent will look like and you’d be forgiven for thinking it was the new Sonata at first. The rear end is very Toyota Yaris sedan to us. A little too much. The badge says ‘Verna’ which is what it’s called in other markets, so it’s pretty sure that this is indeed the new Accent that we’re seeing. Hit the jump for the rear snap.

No mention of engines or any other specs, but as is the new trend from Hyundai lately, expect a very competitive package.

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Oh Hi: 2011 Hyundai Sonata Turbo

We weren’t really expecting to like the 2010 Genesis Coupe 2.0T all that much, but we did. A lot. So when Hyundai decided to make a turbo’d version of the all new (and very good looking) 2011 Sonata, we got pretty excited. As it turns out, we had good reason to be excited.

The 2011 Sonata turbo will get same turbocharged direct injection engine found in the 2008 Kia Koup concept which will produce 274 horsepower and 269 pound feet of torque. Impressive numbers, but the real story is that it’s able to acheive 6.9 l/100 kms highway. Given the amount of power, that’s superb.

Hyundai is going to use a broad torque curve which will see peak power between 1800 and 4500 rpms. Again, quite good – low end and higher end torque would likely be readily available. Hyundai is also going to take a page from BMW’s book by using a twin-scroll turbocharger like the one found in the 2011 BMW 535i.

While we will reserve final impressions for a Car Driven Review, it’s safe to say that the 2011 Sonata turbo will be very competitive in the busy mid-size sedan segment.

Hyundai Wants to Target Lesbians

According to gaywheels.com, Hyundai is one of only four brands that is not considered to be gay friendly. The other three are Kia, Porsche, and Suzuki. In order to be on the gay-friendly list with the rest of the automakers, Hyundai needs to offer benefits to domestic-partner workers.  For the record, gaywheels.com lists Subaru as being the friendliest brand for gays. Apparently 45% of lesbians and gay men prefer Subaru to any other brand

Obviously this is a rather large market that Hyundai is missing out on, so as a result, they have released this commercial for the Elantra that is meant to lure some gay customers to the brand.

Either that or they’re hoping to get more heterosexual male customers with this add.

Hyundai Going After Cheap Hot Hatch Segment

Car & Driver have spotted a new hatchback from Hyundai that is supposed to take aim at cheap pocket rockets such as the Volkwagen GTI, Mazdaspeed3, and Mini Cooper S.

It is going to be called the Veloster, and considering how much we liked the Genesis Coupe, we’re going to bet that the Veloster will have a lot of good things going for it (except its name).

The new hatch will be front-wheel drive and is expected to feature the same 2.0T engine found in the Genesis coupe, making 210 horsepower.

Expect the Veloster to show its face for 2012.

Test Drive: 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T 6-Speed Manual

By Kevin Harrison

Korea is an interesting place. On the one hand you have the North, which from all indications, tends to be like the fillet-o-fish at McDonalds. No one ever buys it, you don’t know what’s in it, and as a result you are sketched out by it. North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-Il is like Grimace. No one knows anything about him either, and he was originally created to be evil. He even used to carry the name “Evil Grimace”. The creativeness obviously knows no bounds in the marketing department at McDonalds. Anyway, when was the last time you actually saw Grimace? Exactly. Like Kim Jong-Il, no one really knows where Grimace is or what he’s up to. This creates the same creepiness that you feel on the odd occasion that Kim Jong-Il actually shows his face to the world.

Then there’s the South which I’ve learned, thanks to a good friend moving there, has lots of ridiculously cheap alcohol, incredibly spicy food (also cheap), amazing architecture and apparently a talent for speed skating. Therefore, South Korea is kind of like a McFlurry. It’s pretty good, comes in a variety of agreeable flavours and is cheap.

Then there’s Korea’s place in the car world. As little as ten years ago, Hyundai was pretty much like North Korea. You never considered one when buying, you didn’t know anything about it and the mere thought of owning one gave you the creeps. You knew it was going to be trouble. So, you stayed away.

But then something happened at Hyundai. They started to realize that being like North Korea is about as appealing as going on a date with Miley Cyrus, so they quickly tried to change their image and product. The revolution began, and suddenly Hyundai became more like South Korea. Their products started to rival the heavyweights from Toyota and Honda and now their image is also taking a positive turn.

Case in point, the Genesis Coupe.

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Audi A1 Caught Oot and Aboot

Check out the new Hyundai Accent Audi A1 caught with virtually no camouflage (except for for those dizzying swirls meant to throw off the pics of sneaky photogs). Doesn’t this side profile give off a Hyundai Accent 3-door vibe?

No matter, Audi’s signature LED headlights are expected on the new A1 to help distinguish itself along with that gaping grille that Audi is so fond of.

Justin Timberlake has reportedly been nabbed to promote this new A1, so when the big reveal finally comes at the Geneva Auto Show, except to see a lot more of the former boy band heart throb. Unfortunately. Check out more pics of the new A1.

Oh, Hi: The 2011 Kia Sportage Shows Its Face

Well this is quite an improvement.

The Kia that unfortunately started the whole “AAAYYYEEEEE!!!!” campaign looks way more mature and grown up.The previous generations were, um, less than inspiring in terms of design and performance. But at least it costed less than it’s competition.

The Sportage at least fixes the styling problem and now resembles the rest of its family with a front facia similar to the Sorrento and even the Forte.

This new Sportage is expected to get the same 2.4 litre engine found in the new Hyundai Tucson, but should undercut its DNA brother in the price category, without sacrificing too much style.

In fact, we’re going to go on record as saying it looks even better than the redesigned Tucson.

More pics at Autoblog.