Hyundai Grandeur 2004 Review

This was borne out when the world's motoring press got to briefly drive the XT on Hyundai's Namyang R&D proving ground in Korea recently.

The focus was specifically on improvements made to the suspension (too soft), an aspect of the previous model that Australian motor noters took issue with.

In fact, the XG – which was last here about two years ago – had some commendable qualities, including being the first car in its segment to have a five speed auto with tiptronic.

The steering was said to be "lifeless" with noticeable kickback mid corner whenever a succession of bumps was encountered.

Mind you, this happened when pushed and pushed darn hard as test cars invariably are.

But good news for anyone thinking of buying a new Grandeur is that Hyundai has heeded criticism in coming up with its commendable XT effort.

To prove this, we got to drive both the Euro version back-to-back with the softer "dom- estic" (i.e., Asian and US) version.

Not that the latter is shoddy either, as we found out circulating the 3.2km banked test track pulling 180km/h through the turns and touching 200km/h along the straights.

You could hear and feel the rear suspension working, but the car never moved off line and no vibration was sensed through the wood trim steering wheel.

But punted hard through a slalom of witches' hats, the stiffer suspension of the Euro spec car outshone its domestic spec sibling noticeably, with an impressive absence of body roll and responsive, sure change of direction.

Expect the Aussie version to be even better – stiffer again, said HMC Australia's PR man, Richard Power who was there to drive the cars too.

And the XT will come with Hyundai's 3.3-litre V6 power plant, as opposed to 3.0-litre motivation in the XG.

The interior of the new car impressed in being a little less pretentious than the XG.

Styling, as always, is a personal taste thing, but Grandeur has an attractive shape – particularly to the rear three-quarter – without being a standout in the crowd.

No price has yet been announced for the Australian market, but it would need to be competitive with the likes of Nissan's Maxima.

Before the XT gets here in 2006, HMC Australia will have other new and revised offerings to its range.

Hot on the heels of the recently introduced and very successful 2.9-litre Common Rail Direct injection turbo charged diesel Terracan comes the new mid-range Sonata sedan in June.

This will be followed by a major upgrade to the award winning Getz in September-October.

Sonata also gets a choice of the 3.3-litre V6 along with the usual 2.4-litre four-cylinder.