2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6 Prototype Drive: Worthy of a "Watch Out, Tesla Model 3"
To look at, sit in, and drive the 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6, you'd think Hyundai was trying to push upmarket into the "premium" space between mainstream and luxury brands. Executives at the Korean automaker insist that's not what they're up to, they just want to bring a premium experience to the masses. Our quick jaunt in an Ioniq 6 prototype shows they've succeeded.
To make the case, Hyundai turned us loose on a short closed course at its Namyang, South Korea, proving ground, before we went on a slightly longer drive around town. We were behind the wheel of a well-equipped dual-motor all-wheel-drive model riding on optional 20-inch wheels. Although it wasn't enough time for a full evaluation, the early returns are very promising.
Getting Deep With the 6
The first thing you notice behind the wheel of any EV is that seamless, delightfully linear acceleration. Tesla has made a good chunk of its reputation on its cars being ludicrously quick in a straight line, and although the Ioniq 6 isn't trying to take that crown—the upcoming Ioniq 6 N might—it's certainly quicker than most sedans in this size and price range.
Officially, Hyundai quotes an estimated 0-60-mph time of 5.0 seconds, but we know that's wildly underrated. The equally powerful and considerably less aerodynamic dual-motor Ioniq 5 crossover does it in 4.4 seconds, and the slippery Ioniq 6 feels quicker. In fact, 4.0 seconds to 60 seems plausible. We jumped in a base, rear-drive Ioniq 6 for a quick acceleration run, and it felt comparable to the dual-motor Ioniq 5 and noticeably slower than the dual-motor Ioniq 6.
Even more impressive is the way the 6 drives. Hyundai has successfully translated EVs' inherently large mass into the carved-from-granite heft and solidity the best Mercedes-Benz sport sedans are known for. Forget screwed together; the Ioniq 6 feels welded together. It translates to a confidence and unflappability driving down the road.
Helping to achieve this is frankly remarkable wheel control. We deliberately aimed for every pothole, storm drain, and manhole cover we could find to test the Ioniq 6's ride quality and came away deeply impressed. Big impacts were heard more than they were felt, and they weren't loud. Critically, the 6 handled each bump in one fell swoop. The targeted wheel simply went up and over, no pitching or bouncing or engaging in other secondary motions. The suspension's ability to keep the body flat and undisturbed over nasty bumps is simply unparalleled in a mainstream brand.
As a result, the car is planted and stable at all times. Unfortunately, the local roads weren't twisty enough for us to get serious handling impressions, but what few corners we could take moderately quickly bode well. The car's reactions are deliberate and measured, leaning into a corner and then straightening up—no wobbling around on its springs.
The steering is direct and accurate, but its feel is muted. It's not an artificial feeling; rather, it's dulled in the way you might expect of a luxury car that's not trying to be sporty.
The brake pedal is similar, as if it's been deliberately overboosted a bit to make it easier to press and the stopping force easier to modulate. The response is linear, and the car has ample stopping power, but here again the control inputs aren't trying to be aggressive. Meanwhile, the handoff from regenerative to mechanical braking is undetectable.
The programming of the regenerative braking has improved in other ways, as well. Auto mode, which chooses the level of regenerative braking automatically depending on the situation, has improved on the Ioniq 5's programming and gotten good enough that even a picky EV driver will appreciate it. The Auto mode still doesn't incorporate full one-pedal driving, though, which needs to be chosen deliberately. For everything but stop-and-go driving, however, Auto is more pleasant.
At their base levels, braking and handling are a function of tire performance, and the Hyundai-spec Pirelli P Zero Elect all-seasons fitted to our prototype are fine chunks of rubber. They're very quiet while cruising, with little road noise infiltrating the cabin even at high speeds. What sharp cornering we got to do revealed strong grip and zero squeals of protest from the tires. Not bad for a tire that's also optimized for maximum driving range.
A Premium Feel
In fact, little noise makes it into the cabin, period. It's startlingly quiet inside, even for a mainstream EV. Usually, you have to pay extra for that. In the Ioniq 6, oncoming traffic one lane over is no louder than a light breeze in the forest. There's an artificial noise generator you can turn on if you miss engine sounds, but it wasn't active on our prototype. Neither was the ambient lighting that gets brighter the faster you go. The little lights on the steering wheel that change color when you change drive modes or use certain other features were working, though, and they're kind of neat.
Because our drive was so short, we didn't get any sense of the car's ultimate driving range or its charging capabilities. Because it shares the E-GMP architecture with the Ioniq 5, though, we know it'll be among the fastest-charging EVs in the world, able to go from 0 to 80 percent battery in 18 minutes on a properly quick public fast charger.
The car's most unusual feature, though, is its video door mirrors, which won't be coming to the U.S. because they're not legal here (yet). It's a strange feeling to look inside the cabin to see what's happening over your shoulder, but the adjustment wasn't as difficult as we expected. If and when U.S. law changes, Hyundai will offer them here, but for now, we get good old-fashioned mirrors. This also slightly alters the American-market dashboard design, with the video screens at either end deleted and leaving little stubby wingtips.
An Interior So Nice …
Elsewhere inside, the Ioniq 6 feels like a premium midsize sedan. The materials and build quality are as good as anything a "premium" automaker like Acura or Buick is doing, and in some ways better. The textured plastic on the center armrest and console feels all the world like fabric. It's both visually interesting and pleasant to touch.
The long, flat center console is both a design statement and a functional bit of furniture. It makes for a large storage space underneath and, when you're not driving, a flat work surface where you can rest a laptop or tablet. It's also where the window switches are located.
The dashboard, meanwhile, is more conventional and familiar. The twin rectangular screens are just like those in other Hyundai products, and we're happy to see real knobs and buttons for the radio and climate controls.
We're also quite fond of the front seats, which Hyundai says are 30 percent thinner than its usual chairs. Both in shape and feel, they remind us of Volvo seats in the best way—comfortable and still very supportive.
They also make for an enormous amount of rear legroom for a car this size, much more than you get in a Tesla Model 3. The Ioniq 6 also feels as though it has more rear headroom than the Tesla, though not by much, due to its sloping roofline.
That plunging roof also means that although the trunk opening is reasonably large, it's more of a large slot you slide cargo into. The cargo area is plenty deep but not all that tall, so you can fit large suitcases, but they'll have to lie flat.
Being an EV, there's also storage under the hood, but as with the Ioniq 5's, it's barely worth mentioning. The Ioniq 6's underhood space will fit maybe a bit more than a pair of shoes, or some mobile charging cables.
The Dotted Line
Ioniq 6 production begins early next year for the U.S. market, and if the customer cars are at least as good as these prototypes, Hyundai has a winner on its hands. Pricing hasn't been announced, but if it matches or comes close to the Ioniq 5's $41,000 base price it'll be an absolute steal. Even if Hyundai ends up charging a few thousand dollars more, it'll still be cheaper than a Model 3 and a better all-around car. We find ourselves saying this a lot, but in this case we can't help ourselves: The EV market had better watch out, because Hyundai is coming.
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The myth of the Cadillac coffin is one that has haunted pop culture for decades, even popularized in the song Willie the Wimp by blues legend Stevie Ray Vaughn in the mid-1980s. The idea of being buried in a luxury car might seem like a one-off tribute to the ancient Egyptian pharaohs (who were routinely interred with all of their worldly possessions), but the twist in Willie's tale is that it's based on a true story.Willie "Wimp" Stokes Jr., Chicago gangster and over-the-top gambler, was indeed laid six feet under in a bizarre coffin-sized replica of his pimp-mobile (pictured above), which combined the wheels, grille, and trunk from his personal ride with a windshield, dash, and license plate. Willie's corpse was propped up inside this creation to look as though he was driving himself through the gates of Hades.Dig a little deeper and even more exhumed urban legends acquire an unexpected factuality. It seems like car lovers have been bending the rules to be buried in their favorite rides for decades. One of the earliest recorded instances speaks of heiress Sandra Ilene West, a Texan who departed for the afterlife inside her 1964 Ferrari California. Aurora Schuck, another Cadillac fan (although without Willie's links to organized crime) and her 1976 Eldorado convertible were craned into a 24-by-12-foot plot dug specifically to accommodate the Caddy in 1989, followed by George Swanson taking his '84 Corvette to the afterlife six years later, and Lonnie Holloway in his 1976 Pontiac Catalina in 2009.Whither the extreme automotive enthusiast who desires to make a mausoleum of their favorite hunk of metal in the year 2022? As a Boomer-led tide of death pushes cemeteries to the brink of real estate availability, environmental legislation tightens regarding what you can legally put into ground, and social media lies in wait to pounce on anyone who elects to extend their flamboyance into the afterlife, we wanted to know if it was still possible to be buried in your car?Make Room!The answer to that question, it seems, varies significantly depending on where you plan to rest eternally. There's actually no single overarching framework that governs how cemeteries are managed, or how human remains must be disposed of, which means each jurisdiction is on its own to create (or not) a set of regulations regarding burials.The first daunting step in the quest for a car coffin is to secure a cemetery plot of adequate size. Ms. Schuck had the luxury of scooping up roughly 16 plots to combine into one Caddy-sized pit (taking into account the need to build a full concrete foundation and then surround the vehicle with even more cement). Even Swansons' more modestly-sized Corvette required four plots in total (with a layer of concrete poured on top to prevent settling). It can be a struggle in some urban areas to find standard-size side-by-side plots so that spouses can dream together forever, let alone carve out a car-sized slice of terrain, so it definitely helps if you plan on being eternally linked to a Miata rather than an Escalade.Then there's the question of access. The kind of heavy equipment required to dig a sizable hole in the ground needs a fair amount of space to operate, not to mention a pathway to the plot(s) in question, and that's before you take into account the logistics of fitting a car-capable crane onto ground that may or may not be hard enough to accommodate its weight.Of course, you could always opt for home burial, which alleviates many of the above problems (in all but Indiana, Washington D.C., Washington State, and California, where it's not legal). There are roughly 10 states that require you to get a funeral director to move the body to its intended burial spot, but almost everywhere else it's the Wild West when it comes to its transportation and burial/cremation (as long as you take care of it within the 24-48-hour window that precludes the need for embalming, and don't try to cross state lines).Don't Confuse Your Backyard For A DumpEven if burying someone on your own land is nearly 50-state legal, you still have to consider the environmental implications of stuffing a vehicle filled with toxic fluids and forever-plastics under the ground. It turns out the federal government is a bit touchy about what you can dump a shovel of dirt on, regardless of who owns the land.The flip-side of this is that cemeteries themselves aren't exempt from environmental concerns associated with even a traditional burial. Chemicals like formaldehyde (used in embalming), and arsenic (formerly used in embalming) have been leaking into groundwater from graveyards for decades, not to mention the myriad coffin paints, finishes, and metals that are part of a traditional funeral. Even cremation takes its toll on the environment at large.The bottom line? Each state has its own regulations that either modify or complement federal guidelines about waste management, and you'll have to take those into account when deciding how best to manage your auto-tomb's afterlife emissions, regardless of whether you're twisting the arm of a local cemetery manager or simply burying your loved one's motorcade in the backyard. In Pennsylvania, George Swanson's family had the entire drivetrain drained prior to interment, but in more permissive Indiana, Aurora Schuck's Cadillac was actually driven into the grave just before the burial began.Maybe Don't Do It?A final word of advice, should you choose to pilot your precious muscle machine or low-rider on the ferry across the river Styx: try to keep it on the down-low and avoid turning the burial into a show.What are we saying—there's absolutely no way to avoid word getting out about an automotive-adjacent event like this one. Be prepared for the onslaught of social media stars trying to score points as they alternately laud and lament your choice to go all-in on an automotive afterlife, not to mention the endless parade of purists who will roast your decision to deprive the world of one more example of whatever make and model coffin you select.A vehicular funeral isn't for the attention-averse, and while you might be slumbering peacefully on the rich, Corinthian leather of your casket, your loved ones will have to deal with the digital looky-loos and snide commenters haunting their Insta profiles and email inboxes.
The double whammy of increasing fuel and vehicle prices has a lot of SUV shoppers not knowing which way to turn. A more efficient modern ride could ease the pain at the pump, but with inflation and rising borrowing costs, many are delaying big-ticket purchases like new cars. Expanding a search to include slightly used SUVs with strong fuel economy might be the way to go if you're looking for an alternative.Knowledge is power, and in our methodology below, you'll find how we came to our tally. Most of the SUVs on this list are subcompact and compact crossovers, but a single midsize offering also managed to qualify. All received an EPA combined fuel economy rating of 27 mpg or greater, and a couple of the entries can be found priced from roughly $15,000. Keep reading to find out which used SUVs under $30,000 have the best fuel economy.About MotorTrend's methodology: The Buyer's Guide recognizes how important a used car purchase can be, which is why we take this so seriously. Our methodology considers many of the same factors in our new-car rankings system, starting with value. The experts at IntelliChoiceconduct extensive research to assess long-term value on 3-5-year-old vehicles, which means our picks start at the 2018 model year. IntelliChoice considers resale value, the cost of insurance, maintenance costs, fuel costs, and more. We prioritize models receiving a Good or Excellent IntelliChoice used-car value rating. An above-average J.D. Powerquality and reliability rating is also a plus. Any vehicle we recommend must have earned anIIHSTop Safety Pick award or NHTSA overall five-star safety rating, and have some used-car inventory with under 80,000 miles (the upper limit on many automaker CPO programs).
kia sorento Full OverviewConsider this the torture test for our long-term Kia Sorento. Over the course of 17 days and 4,059 miles across seven states and seven national parks, I nearly doubled the miles of our golden go-getter, all while facing the elements nightly in a rooftop tent. Even though it wasn't as extreme as our 7,000-mile off-road trip with Rivian across the Trans-America Trail, you get to know a car pretty well when averaging nearly 240 miles a day.1. I'd Rather Sleep on the GroundI'll admit, a rooftop tent has its advantages. The built-in mattress is larger and more comfortable than any traditional sleeping pad, there's little chance of waking up to a bear outside your door, and it looks ultra rad. It kept me safe and dry in a heavy storm, too. I still wouldn't buy one.They're tricky to install in the first place (ours weighs about 100 pounds), and even once it's up there and I had erected the thing 10 times, it still took at least 20 minutes of climbing around on the roof to set up. The added wind noise is a drag (get it?), especially with long hours on the highway. Not to mention, you have to find a perfectly flat parking spot, and you can't drive anywhere until it's folded up.Our Thule Tepui Explorer Kukenam 3 didn't hold up all that well, either; after a couple weeks of hard use, plastic pieces cracked and fell off, some metal tent supports became permanently bent, and one window fastener fell off altogether. For the near $2,000 asking price, we'd much rather have an easy-setup conventional tent and an air mattress, plus probably a wad of cash left over.2. The Infotainment's Hidden GemOur long-term Sorento SX rocks a 10.3-inch touchscreen in place of the base model's 8.0-inch system. The display is large, bright, and positioned high on the dash, but my favorite feature is easy to miss.Throughout the majority of my trip, the screen was displaying Apple CarPlay. Thing is, CarPlay doesn't occupy the entire screen—there's a 2-inch-wide strip of real estate on the far right of the screen. It displays the outside temperature by default, but swipe up or down, and it has other functions, including a compass and altimeter.An altimeter would not have excited me a few years back. I lived in Rhode Island, a state entirely devoid of mountains where the highest elevation is a paltry 812 feet at Jerimoth Hill. Yes, hill. But watching the altitude reading climb higher as I ascended to the 12,183-foot tundra along the historic Trail Ridge Road running through Rocky Mountain National Park was a novelty I won't soon forget.3. Off-Road SurpriseFor a mainstream three-row crossover, I was pleasantly surprised with the Sorento's performance away from pavement. Our long-termer is fitted with AWD and a factory lift that affords 8.2 inches of ground clearance; we put them to work.Nightly trips to national forests for free camping meant driving down rutted, occasionally muddy dirt roads for at least a few miles, and the Sorento handled them like a champ. One slick trail up the side of a dam in southern Idaho required selecting AWD lock and Snow mode, but with a bit of wheelspin, the 'Toe and I were rewarded with a tranquil sunset over the lake.The family hauler proved fun, too. Kia allows the driver to disable both traction and stability control. The nannies still limit power with the tiller angled more than a few degrees off-center, but they'll allow for little four-wheel drifts on the slippery stuff if you want to play rally driver. Another impressive note: After hours driving lumpy washboard trials, the Sorento didn't develop a single squeak or rattle.4. Driver Assist Features Aren't PerfectWe've already spilled digital ink on how useful the Sorento's Highway Drive Assist active safety features can be. I'd estimate I had the lane centering and adaptive cruise system active for at least 75 percent of my miles, and the trip was better for it. The HDA suite even managed to keep itself centered on a road without any lane lines. Until it didn't.One major flaw in the system is that it doesn't issue any audio or sensory alert when it can no longer read the road—only a tiny green light turning off in the dash. Had I not been actively watching the road, hands and feet at the ready to take control, I might have found myself upside down in a ditch in central Wyoming.No matter how much you trust these systems, they do not assume your responsibility as a driver. Rather, your responsibility shifts from controlling your inputs to monitoring the road and the system.Looks good! More details?
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