Gasoline So Clean It’s Like Swapping to 11 Million EVs!

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hyundai ioniq-6 Full OverviewTo 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 6The 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 FeelIn 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 LineIoniq 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.Looks good! More details?

With Acura's NSX supercar being sunsetted this year after the final run of Type S variants is built, the Performance Manufacturing Center (PMC) where it is assembled by hand is going to need purpose. Well, a different purpose, at least—and Acura's been trying to give it some over the past few years with its normal-looking-on-the-outside, secretly hand-built batches of PMC Editions of its mainstream models. These mostly ordinary Acura models are usually gifted some special paint—a lustrous red on the 2020 TLX PMC Edition, a blazing orange on the 2021 RDX PMC Edition, etc.—and carry the distinction of being hand-built in the same factory as the NSX supercar, by the same technicians, even. The newest addition to this PMC family? The latest-generation TLX sedan.As mentioned, there has been a TLX PMC Edition previously, but that was based on the previous-generation TLX. This 2023 Acura TLX PMC Edition blends not only the newest TLX with the PMC treatment, but also the TLX in its spicier 355-hp Type S form, which also gets Acura's torque-vectoring Super Handling All-Wheel Drive. This sport sedan with a name of many characters will, ironically, be limited in number, though Acura hasn't outlined yet what that number will be. (Past PMCs were built in numbered runs, with each model wearing a plaque inside with its unique figure; there is a similar plaque pictured on the new '23 TLX, but it only shows "001," not how many that number is out of.) It is, of course, built by hand at Acura's PMC in Ohio, and for an added dash of fancy, each car will be delivered in a covered, single-car transporter to its delivery dealership in order to keep the paint free from blemishes.In no small part because this TLX PMC Edition is based on the already saucy looking Type S version of Acura's midsize sedan, it is an altogether more serious-looking machine than the old one. Acura steps up the visuals with copper-colored 21-inch wheels, carbon-fiber rear spoiler and diffuser pieces, and Berlina Black (a classic Honda color) roof and door mirrors. Three colors will be available, and (go, America!), they're Curva Red (with a black interior), 130R White (red interior), and Long Beach Blue (with a white interior)—perfectly timed for a certain celebratory weekend in the U.S.A. All three colors are borrowed from the NSX, too.Other enhancements on the PMC include Pirelli P-Zero summer tires, carbon fiber interior trim, backlit "Type S" door sill plates, and blacked-out badges. The result is a TLX Type S that is subtly different, but in a hard-to-place way if you just saw one on the street.Of course, the delicious, even subtler aspect of these PMC cars has long been their hand assembly, which is just plain unusual for cars not priced in the stratosphere. Like with past PMC Editions, we anticipate the TLX Type S version won't break the bank, costing a few thousand bucks more than a regular one. Again, imagine someone paying just a little more for, say, a hand-built Ford F-150 or Honda Civic. It's both weird and kind of, secretly, maybe cool. We'll know final pricing and, likely, how limited production will be when the order books open for the TLX Type S PMC Edition later this year.