Hyundai XG Test drive 1999 - 2003 sedan

The blow above the belt

Koreans know how to prove their case not only with the help of a taekwondo. Another lifetime and technical type of market martial arts is the updated Hyundai XG.
To three eternal Russian issues what to do?, Who is to blame? And do they eat chicken with their hands? Another one added: what to ride? The insignificant growth of the well -being of the whole country and its rapid growth among individual individuals is provoked to the acquisition of a cottage, a non -standard bath and a silk tie produced in the Shanghai branch of the famous couturier. To each his own. But any of our people who have borne other money, first of all, seeks to invest them in a car. The difficult heritage of the old regime is also affected, when the car - a symbol of prestige and wealth - was available to party apparatus, elderly Stakhanovites and directors of the collective farm market. This is, of course, about a prestigious car, and not about a penny purchased immediately after leaving a long -term hungry fainting.
They meet on clothes. The algorithm for acquiring a car for private use is simple as a Pythagoras theorem. The brand, as a rule, is determined in advance. Technical condition - based on the amount in solid currency. Preferences are given - according to the descending and with small variations - Mercedes, BMW, a prestigious Japanese, to everything else. But everyone strives to ensure that his car is the most. At least in his circle. And what are we, the heart of the heart, pay the most attention?
So he drove up. Big, solid. The design is original, but modest. Chrome on the cladding of the radiator and door handles is complemented by thin strips on bumers and lateral moldings. On the Hyundai XG there is no corporate emblem on the front of the car - only on the hood cover and branded wheeled disks. A sort of touch, a whim of a designer, emphasizing the individuality of style. The style is quite cosmopolitan, since the Korean beginning in the XG is practically not traced - except in the elusively slanting front headlights closed by a transparent fairing. And the back of the car generally leads to memories of the good old England-a little from Rolls Royce, a little from Rover and a little from Jaguar S-Type.
Korean block. This is not yet customary in our country to boast. This is practically not interested in the purchase - but in vain. We are talking about active and passive security systems, without which a modern European car simply does not have the right to exist.
Hyundai XG is equipped with an energy -absorbing engine compartment. Weak, so to speak, on the front. In the case of a frontal blow, it folds along special guides, and the shock wave is practically not reached to the driver and front passenger. The exception is clashes with concrete barriers at a speed of 100 km/h and above, but this is another story.
In addition to the Side Impact Bars (metal beams that strengthen the front and rear doors and take the blow of a drunken garbage truck), Hyundai XG carries four airbags for front passengers - one in front and additional seats in the backs that protect the shoulders and head. This is in the liability. And we have an electronic shut-off Traction Control System (TCS), which holds the car on a given path in steep turns, and the ABS-EBD combination, which competently disposes of the distribution of brake force on the wheels depending on the adhesion with the road.
The traffic police are verified. If you tuned in a test drive, you will have to disappoint-there will be no drive in the article. In XG, everything is sedentary and predictable. Maximum comfort and a minimum of inconvenience. Acceleration and maximum speed, befitting a V-shaped six volume of 3 liters. The low level of foster noise in the cabin, despite the burdock -shaped rear -view mirrors. Quite comfortable sensations in steep turns. True, we did not lay turns, like Tommy Myakinen on the Acropolis rally, but tried to seduce along the highway, as it should be for a car of this class and size. I agree with that inspector of the traffic police at the intersection of Marshal Zhukov Avenue and the streets of the people's militia - once they pressed the pedal to the stop, trying to slip into the blinking green. And they would have time, he did not show a keen interest in the new machine and in its dynamic qualities. The main thing-for just a hundred rubles, we received live confirmation that a 3-liter engine is tearing off the place with dignity.
A certain variety of controls is introduced by the transmission indication system located on devices combinations exactly between the tachometer and the speedometer. She not only highlights the automatic checkpoint - parking, drive, etc., winking light bulbs constantly keep you aware of what kind of program you are currently going. When translating a sequential box into manual mode, this is useful. When moving in fully automatic mode - amusing.
Barshmalls. When our photographer bought a BMW 735i for himself, the first question of enlightened colleagues was not about power or controllability in steep turns at maximum speed - everyone was interested in whether there was air conditioning or not and whether they would be covered with a bus salon. Here they are, real criteria for assessing the quality of the car. And the choice of power at the peak of torque is a mud and fuss.
Therefore, I tested the Hyundai XG not at the Dmitrovsky training ground, but on our photographer. Which, being inside, began to press all the buttons and open all the boxes. The benefit of them in Hyundai is a great many. First of all, it is a control unit of a very decent audio system. In our case, it was a monoblock not only with a CD changer, but also with the ability to download one CD through the front panel.
The Hyundai XG generally has a lot of electronic lotions-a climate control system with a filter for air, cruise control, a trip-computer, a fashionable active steering wheel with a cruise control unit. The special delight of our test photographer was caused by folding mirrors and a sensor of the nearby light, which diligently blinked by headlights under each overpass.
The skin on wide seats and wood decoration also caused approving grunts in him. Only red stickers that signal the locking of the door handles caused a separate explosion of indignation. Indeed, against the background of general luxury, Koreans could fork out for something more solid.
Seeing over the mind. In principle, Korean experts did not create anything revolutionary. They carefully studied all the achievements of the modern automotive industry and made them, as from the designer of LEGO, a modern representative car. In which some ultra -modern bells are not enough, like more venerable colleagues. But not all classmates are cheaper, and therefore their owners can boast of such a level of technical equipment. And the owner of the XG can easily bend his fingers in front of their owners. And this is already half the life of life in our world.
Text Nikolay Kachurin, photo Alexey Ilyin

 

Source: "Autopilot"