View Full Version : New American car...
W3MIV
03-20-2011, 07:35 AM
Got rid of the big, ol' cop car. Served me well for the past nine or so years, but it's spring and everyman's fancy turns to things automotive.
The new car is all-American, built in Huntsville, AL. Hyundai Sonata 2.0T Limited. The Ford Crown Victoria was built in Canada -- go figure.
Square, two-litre engine (88mm x 88mm). 9.5:1 compression, so is comfy on 87 octane. Dual o'head cams with continuously variable valve timing and fuel injection directly into the combustion chamber.
Add a twin-scroll turbo that produces 17.4 psi boost and you get 274 hp (269 ft lbs torque) and a highway EPA estimate of 35 mpg.
Six-speed, close-ratio auto tranny and every option from soup to nuts, including the 'roof and GPS, HD/XM/CD and full bluetooth phone support. Also voice recognition -- say "CD track one" and the CD player turns on and plays track one.
Haven't been so damned confused by geekery in years. It'll take me some time to figger all this stuff out, but it's fun to do.
Total less than $30k (incl tax and tags) and it has 10yr/100k miles powertrain, 5yr/60k miles everything else and a 5yr/unlimited miles roadside assistance.
Also saw Hyundai's all new Equus V8. Extraordinary car. Was tempted to take it for a spin, but chickened out. Priced at $64,000.
WØTKX
03-20-2011, 09:02 AM
Sounds like a great car! :agree:
I just got my settlement from the motorcycle accident. I'm shopping too, the 'lil Integra has almost 190k on it. Won't buy new, but low miles. And the Sonata is on the "hit list", everybody I know who has one loves it.
But I'm very much into "drivers cars", so i need to test 'em. I'm leaning twords a VW or Audi TDI. Diesel power. Could get smug, and drive a Prius, but if I go that route, I'd rather find a first generation Honda Insight.
Since I may not ride motorcycles anymore for commuting (not safe), I want to get great gas mileage without being bored. Otherwise, I'd probably pick up a Toyota Echo.
If I don't blow too much on a vehicle (tempting) I'll have 20-30% down for a house... :dance:
The new car is all-American, built in Huntsville, AL. Hyundai Sonata 2.0T Limited. The Ford Crown Victoria was built in Canada -- go figure.
My brother has been driving a Hyundai Santa Fe for years and it's been a great car. Hard to beat the 10 year warranty, too. You can hardly go wrong.
I'm leaning twords a VW or Audi TDI. Diesel power.
Not that I have the money for a car right now (and my 16-year-old Ford Ranger still has no major issues) but that little TDI Sports Wagon has really caught my eye. Good car for a ham, I think, because it's got the room to hold gear for field day or whatever.
W3MIV
03-20-2011, 01:27 PM
Early take: This thing has plenty of zoom. So much zoom, in fact, that it will be difficult to realize its full potential in terms of economy. For me, anyway. I like the zoom too much. Suspension is taut, but quite up to refined sports-car quality; the rubber-band tires are a bit choppy, but they grip like a pissed-off tomcat. Paddle shifters on the steering wheel are something new to me entirely. Interesting concept, and it really works well except you can't skip gears and are limited to staying in the straight-line sequence.
Off the line, it's strong for a four-banger, but the torque really makes itself felt at about 2200 to 2500 rpm or so. Passing and merging are quick. So far, making no effort to win an award from Algore, I have been averaging 26mpg plus a tad.
Got the phone to work OK -- it will even dial numbers dredged up in the POI entries in the GPS system -- but the voice control and the garage-door opener buttons in the mirror still elude me. Infinity sound system is superb, for all that it's worth (I'm not a big car-audio fan).
It is sobering to think of all the programming that will have to be redone if anything goes south with the batt'ry.
WØTKX
03-20-2011, 02:34 PM
Neato. Not being able to skip gears kind of sucks, that would be handy sometimes with the close ratios.
kc7jty
03-20-2011, 02:37 PM
You'd be wise to baby it until the break in period is over, and the "modern cars don't require a break in period" is total BS. I'm surprised 87 octane isn't pinging and 275 horse is kick ass for a car that size.
My Versa averages 35 mpg in the summer as long as I don't go over 60 mph.
W1GUH
03-20-2011, 02:42 PM
Drove a bunch of rental Sonatas and they became my car of choice when traveling. My impression is yes, they are great cars. But yours has a flaw -- it's got an automatic!!!! Nasty things...don't let your left leg atrophy from nothing to do. Besides, a stick earns you the privilege of buying a new one periodically! (Just kiddin, of course. Enjoy!)
What kind of HF mobile you going to put in it?
Re: Audis. Be very, very wary of their reliability or lack thereof AND the quality of service you're going to find. My info is old, and maybe they've improved (My Audi ownership days were 1973 - 1986.) They kept me in the poorhouse fixing things that never should have broken in the first play...and fixing them again...and again. Sometimes not even getting fixed; the quality of Audi services shops was abominable. Sure the cars are insidiously, seductively sexy as hell when they're in good shape. But they'll send you to the poorhouse keeping 'em that way.
Back to the positive. Enjoy that Sonata, Albi, and don't let the voice recognition bully you.
KG4CGC
03-20-2011, 02:54 PM
Audi service is excellent now but the cost is more prohibitive than than drilling in ANWR. Is $500 a reasonable cost for a scheduled transmission flush?
WØTKX
03-20-2011, 03:35 PM
Only to an elite. :mrgreen:
W3MIV
03-20-2011, 04:01 PM
I had a Ford dealer charge me something over $350 for a tranny flush and new fluid.
As for the standard gear box, it is one of those weird catch-22s that plague us in many areas. Dealers won't stock the 6-speed manny tranny (which is only available in the base model GLS) because they insist nobody buys them. Of course, nobody can buy them because the dealers don't stock them. I guess you could do the old-timey thing and order one. I would love to have it in the car I am driving, but it is not offered by Hyundai.
The auto is smooth, seems almost seamless, but I haven't yet really leaned on the go pedal. That will come, of course. :evil:
Today's brief jaunt to the gun club and back was intentionally devious, using as many back roads as I could justify (and I have an easy mind for justifying damn near anything that is fun). :snicker:
May not put a raddio in this one. Have a surplus FT-1802 that came out of the CV and a 261A Kenwood that is lolling around doing naught, but I haven't made up my mind. Tiny quarter-panel winnders on each side of the spacious deck in front of the steeply sloping rear window would be ideal for a thru-de-glass mount, but where to mount the xcvr is a conundrum. No hurry to fkuc up a new car.
W4RLR
03-20-2011, 04:40 PM
Not to be a stickler for accuracy, Albi, but your car was not built in Huntsville. It was built in the cradle of the Confederacy, Montgomery, Alabama. No doubt built by right wing neo-con rednecks in a non-union auto plant.:snicker:
Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyundai_Motor_Manufacturing_Alabama)
KA9MOT
03-20-2011, 04:51 PM
Actually, It was assembled in Alabama with all foreign parts...all profit of course went to a foreign company. Certainly not an American Car.
W4RLR
03-20-2011, 05:18 PM
Actually, It was assembled in Alabama with all foreign parts...all profit of course went to a foreign company. Certainly not an American Car.The sheet metal was made here. There is a stamping plant at the Hyundai facility. Lots of small companies that supply the small bits of the car are made in Alabama, too. There's quite a industry supplying the Hyundai plant and its sister Kia plant just up Interstate 85.
kc7jty
03-20-2011, 06:48 PM
Here was the horse's reaction when we told him a Hyundai is an American car:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/images/horse.jpg
W1GUH
03-20-2011, 07:52 PM
Audi service is excellent now but the cost is more prohibitive than than drilling in ANWR. Is $500 a reasonable cost for a scheduled transmission flush?
That's reasonably now, and allowing for inflation, it's about what it was then. But cost is not the biggest problem. Some Audi dealers provided absolutely incompetent service -- and it was impossible to know a priori who was good and who wasn't. It was impossible to see past the asshole attitudes of the service managers. Maybe they're better...or not...I don't know. But the way they treated me was SO BAD (even the factory, not just the dealers that shouldn't have been) I wouldn't EVER consider an Audi. ESPECIALLY since every Toyota I ever owned served me MUCH BETTER than ANY AUDI, AND, Toyota (the company AND any dealer) has provided impeccable service. To me, it's a no-brainer.
W1GUH
03-20-2011, 07:56 PM
...but where to mount the xcvr is a conundrum.
Nope. Get one with a removable front panel. Go to Radio Shack or wherever to get a thingie that'll let you hang the control panel either on the windshield (suction cup), or from an AC vent. Then, get a remote mic that lets you control the radio with the mic in your hand and the front panel becomes mostly a display and voila! A radio that takes up virtually no space.
Actually, It was assembled in Alabama with all foreign parts...all profit of course went to a foreign company. Certainly not an American Car.
And yet another NOT SO.... I have made plenty of plastic bits and bobs for Hyundais assembled both here and abroad.
W3MIV
03-21-2011, 04:26 PM
Actually, It was assembled in Alabama with all foreign parts...all profit of course went to a foreign company. Certainly not an American Car.
Wrong on lots of counts. Not only is the body assembled here, but it starts out as coil stock. Most of the components are, like those any other car manufacturer, including Ford, Chrysler and GM, sourced from many other countries. Hyundai manufacturers the six-speed auto tranny in Korea, but the engine is built right here in the USA. The stainless steel intake manifold with its integral twin-scroll turbo chambers is precision cast for Hyundai by Mitsubishi of Japan. Hyundai owns a multi-thousand acre testing and research facility in CA and a major design and engineering facility in MI.
When I put up the title to this thread, my tongue was firmly in my cheek, for I expected lots of parochial pom-poms. I am surprised there weren't more knees jerking. There really is no such thing as an "American car" any more.
There really is no such thing as an "American car" any more.
Take my Ford Ranger, for instance. It was assembled in Minnesota but it's essentially a Mazda.
Hyundai owns a multi-thousand acre testing and research facility in CA
I didn't know that they'd bought I-405!
NA4BH
03-21-2011, 04:51 PM
Sonatas are built in Montgomery, AL. Excellent car. A friend in the auto body business highly praises them. He said they took other makes of cars and took them apart, studied them, and figured out how to combine everything and make it better.
WØTKX
03-21-2011, 04:55 PM
Take my Ford Ranger, for instance. It was assembled in Minnesota but it's essentially a Mazda.
Ford's St. Paul plant, on Ford Parkway, eh? I'm kinda thinking about getting a used Ranger/B2600 4x4.
I didn't know that they'd bought I-405!
That's where they do all their parking brake and long-term idling testing.
Ford's St. Paul plant, on Ford Parkway, eh? I'm kinda thinking about getting a used Ranger/B2600 4x4.
Well, if my '95 is typical of the model, I can highly recommend it. I've had it for 14 years and it's been a very reliable unit.
kc7jty
03-23-2011, 03:24 AM
delete
W3MIV
03-23-2011, 08:34 AM
delete
Is that like "DeSoto?" Or, perhaps, "DeSalle?" Or, perhaps, like "DeLorean?" Or maybe "DeVille?"
WØTKX
03-23-2011, 08:51 AM
De Homer?
http://onscreencars.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/TheHomer.jpg
W1GUH
03-23-2011, 09:07 AM
"It's delightful
It's delicious
It's DeSoto!"
"It's delightful
It's delicious
It's DeSoto!"
And who ever imagined that a car could discover a major river?
WØTKX
03-23-2011, 10:20 AM
If I got weird, I'd love to have a Studebaker Golden Hawk. Hell I like the old Lancer styling too.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/wheels/posts/goldenhawk533.jpg
If I got weird, I'd love to have a Studebaker Golden Hawk. Hell I like the old Lancer styling too.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/wheels/posts/goldenhawk533.jpg
When I was in high school, a buddy of mine bought one of those for around $500. Neat car-- V-8, three-speed floor shift and those Studebaker looks. Bet it would be worth a lot more than $500 now.
suddenseer
03-23-2011, 03:55 PM
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/10/12/automobiles/600-edsel.jpg
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/10/12/automobiles/600-edsel.jpg
A neighbor has one that is his restoration project...... her registration plate is 'EDIE'. Ummmm, she has a long way to go, 'cause she sure ain't goin' far like she is.
W3MIV
03-23-2011, 04:43 PM
I don't imagine, given the limited production, that there is a vast pool of Edsel parts out there. I liked the styling of the car, which was typical of much of its time. Mid-fifties produced an amazing array of autos and gave chromium futures a good boost. I believe the name killed it more than anything else.
Prolly right Albi, doesn't quite inspire any positives does it? I will try to get a picture or two of EDIE and post em here somewhere...... She does have potential.
Except for body pieces, I think most of the car is standard Fairlane stuff.
kc7jty
03-24-2011, 03:31 AM
http://www.seriouswheels.com/1950-1959/1959-DeSoto-Firedome-Sportsman-Hardtop-Cream.htm
Firedome was the Chrysler Hemi engine.
W3MIV
03-24-2011, 06:00 AM
I think '59 was DeSoto's last year. I was in high school at the time and I remember a neighbor bought one in bright red and cream tutone.
kc7jty
03-24-2011, 02:24 PM
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3188/2582196249_3e7432ff4a.jpg
the spark plugs are under the strip with fire dome written on it.
When we were kids we'd hold onto the rear bumper of moving cars in the snow in the squatted down position.
This one kid would stand up on the side with one of those big mopar fins under his armpit they were so plentiful.
Rarely a problem with women drivers who would sometimes stop until you got off. The young men drivers would either stop and get out or try to go fast as hell.
W1GUH
03-24-2011, 02:44 PM
Except for body pieces, I think most of the car is standard Fairlane stuff.
Except it had a push-button shifter for the automatic, in the center of the steering wheel.
http://www.dreamstime.com/1958-ford-edsel-steering-wheel-thumb6041534.jpg
Was that the only non Mopar with push-button shifting? One of the "cool cars" when I was growing up was a Mopar called "Pushbutton Engineering."
One of my uncles loved Edsals. Rode a few times with him. He seemed to love to play with the shifter buttons.
Dunnon if he also liked to play with knobs! :twisted:
http://www.seriouswheels.com/1950-1959/1959-DeSoto-Firedome-Sportsman-Hardtop-Cream.htm
Firedome was the Chrysler Hemi engine.
That is some serious eye candy!
W3MIV
03-24-2011, 05:39 PM
More: Road & Track test (http://www.roadandtrack.com/tests/impressions/2011-hyundai-sonata-2.0t-and-sonata-hybrid).
Car and Driver test (http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/10q4/2011_hyundai_sonata_se_2.0t-short_take_road_test).
W1GUH
03-25-2011, 08:42 AM
Let us know how it handles at that "Top speed (governor limited): 153 mph ", OK?
W3MIV
03-25-2011, 08:55 AM
OK, Paul. As soon as I get out of jail.
(May be a while.)
I think '59 was DeSoto's last year. I was in high school at the time and I remember a neighbor bought one in bright red and cream tutone.You got me curious Alb, so I went and looked.
The last true model year for DeSoto was 1960, although Chrysler did have a single model available in 1961 (called simply the DeSoto).
Then in 1962, Chrysler started a joint venture to build cars in Turkey, with local investors, and one of the brand names they used at the start over there was DeSoto. They actually started building them in 1964. I can't find if they ever stopped using the name, it would appear that the venture continued to build DeSoto brand trucks as late as 2002, possibly even to this day. Go figure.
W1GUH
03-25-2011, 09:41 AM
OK, Paul. As soon as I get out of jail.
(May be a while.)
Irb once did a phone patch to 75m while in jail. I'd expect you to do no less!
Let us know how it handles at that "Top speed (governor limited): 153 mph ", OK?
Things start looking really different just about the time you hit 140 or so. The dashed lines on the road start blurring into a solid line, among other things.
Or so I've heard. Not that I would know from personal experience, you understand.
WØTKX
03-25-2011, 12:35 PM
:omg:
:lies:
:snicker:
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