DIGITAL EDITOR ANDREW STOY: If you want an example of how
quickly the Koreans are evolving their luxury-car strategy, the Equus is
a perfect example. This car became the flagship just a few years ago,
yet the next Genesis -- a model one step down from
Equus
in the lineup -- is clearly superior in just about every way. If the
next Genesis is that good, what will the next Equus be like? Will there
even be a next Equus?
As
Hyundai
should remember, building a brand in the United States is a daunting
prospect. That's essentially what the company is trying to do with
Equus. The going has been slow: Hyundai sold only 352 Equus sedans in
December 2013 and a total of around 3,500 for the entire year.
From behind the wheel, the car has potential:
Hyundai
has a great V8 engine. The interior is solid, silent and adorned with
all sorts of leather and wood. Every techno trinket is present and
accounted for. There's even a badge -- a sort of eagle/phoenix thing
that evokes just a touch of the Spirit of Ecstasy if you squint and look
at it indirectly. Back seats have fantastic long-wheelbase levels of
legroom and a center console replete with a near-complete set of
redundant center-stack controls so rear passengers can adjust the
surroundings to suit their needs. Kids can also adjust their
surroundings -- and the stereo, climate control, navigation system and
seats -- using the controls, so if you frequently chauffeur passengers
under the age of 10, consider keeping the rear console hidden.
On
the road, the Tau V8 delivers a solid kick to this big sedan, and it
does so with a delightful, muted muscle-car exhaust note. It's damped,
to be sure, but present for those who appreciate such soundtracks. The
Equus also has a three-mode drive selector permitting normal, sport and
snow driving modes. Thus this rear-drive bruiser should be fine in the
snowbelt too, right?
No.
Whatever merits the
Equus
has elsewhere, the car falls flat on its face in the snow, at least
with stock rubber. It's quite possibly the worst snow driver I've ever
experienced, and I'm including pre-ESP cars like my '72 Buick Skylark.
After a 3-inch snowfall, the
Genesis
insisted on sliding the back-end out at even the tiniest throttle
application, which then invoked traction control, which then cut
throttle, leaving you motionless in the middle of the street. Leaving
the car in snow mode but switching off traction control helped -- a very
light touch on the throttle was essential, but at least the car didn't
give up, and the lack of ESP permitted me to continue applying throttle
to counter a spin. Eventually I just left it in normal and turned off
the electronic aids, but the car stayed in the driveway far more than
normal due to its lack of traction.
Of course, if you don't live
in the snowbelt, none of this matters. And if you don't care about
having a fancy German-car badge, the Hyundai roots don't matter. And if
you don't care about having a flashy car, the generic “big sedan”
blandness doesn't matter, either.
Makes you wonder what
does
matter when considering a $70,000 purchase, though. Guess we'll have to
find one of those 352 buyers from December and ask them.
Lincoln would do well to emulate what Hyundai has done with the 2014 Hyundai Equus Ultimate.
EXECUTIVE EDITOR RORY CARROLL: I will admit that I laughed a little at the first
Equus
I drove almost two years ago. I am no longer laughing. This 2014
Hyundai Equus Ultimate is a very good car. As far as material choices
and quality assembly, the interior might as well be from
Mercedes-Benz. The controls are intuitive, easy to use and modern looking.
It
drives heavy enough. I didn't leave the traction control on very long
when driving the snow-covered surface streets that I encounter on my
commute. This thing loves to get sideways, and although Andy is right
about it needing winter tires, it certainly is fun to oversteer around
every corner, though the too-heavy steering made me feel a little less
confident.
Of the Asian luxury cars, it's the best by a long shot.
Lincoln would do well to emulate what Hyundai has done with this car.
The interior of the 2014 Hyundai Equus Ultimate is as good as that of a Mercedes-Benz.
ASSOCIATE EDITOR JAKE LINGEMAN: The 2014 Hyundai
Equus
Ultimate is probably the closest you can get to the big German sedans,
without actually buying one. Lincoln wishes its MKS was this good. You
are, however, paying about 70 percent of the price for a Mercedes-Benz
S-class, so hopefully you get at least 70 percent of the car.
For
this question, I can say yes, this is easily 70 percent of an S-class,
maybe even 85 percent. It offers nearly all of what the Mercedes does,
including cushy leather, heated and cooled seats, front and rear,
one-knob navigation, traffic and radio access, three-zone climate and
429 horsepower from a big V8. It's only 26 hp down from the S550.
The
interior is up to snuff. It's quiet, comfortable, and not a bad way to
spend an evening out on the town. I took three friends to see a comedy
show, and they were impressed with the rear space and screens in the
seatbacks, though we couldn't figure out how to look at anything but the
navigation screen.
I don't find the sheetmetal bland. In fact, I
was always impressed by its visual weight as I walked up to it in
parking lots. Sure, the front looks cribbed from Mercedes and the back
end looks like it, too. Other than that it's an original design!
Seriously, there's no shame in stealing from the best -- that's how
everyone does it.
As far as snow driving goes, Andy is right. The
Equus kills power too early and for too long. I turned the traction control off, which kept me going.
I'm
not sure if there are any comparisons to make, at least at this price
range. The Americans are less expensive and not as large, the Germans
eclipse this price at a size lower. I haven't personally driven the Kia
K900 yet, but I'm interested in what that will feel like.
The 2014 Hyundai Equus Ultimate is a wonderful car for the money.
EDITOR WES RAYNAL: This is a good car for the money. I got to wonder how many people need a deal on their luxury car wheels. In other words, can
Hyundai
make U.S. buyers forget the name stands for value? It might be able to,
and this might be the car to do it. The less-than-German sticker and
monster warranty might be enough to sway some folks. If that isn't
enough maybe Hyundai's Your Time, Your Place valet test drive program
does the trick, where an all-things-Equus-trained Hyundai rep will
deliver one to your home or office for personalized shopping. All
maintenance is free for three years or 36,000 miles. If the car needs
repair, you can have it picked up at home or office and swap it for a
free loaner…you get the picture. It's a good program.
Not a bad
driver, either, but I wouldn't confuse it for German. There's good,
even, smooth power from the V8. It even sounds a little hot-rod-like
above 3,500 rpm. The ride is soft -- especially noticeable on the
freeway -- but one would expect such. Thus it's nice in a straight line,
soaking up road nasties like a sponge, but the steering feels light,
unconnected and a bit floppy in corners. Owners won't care, though. I
joked with someone that this would be just an awesome Buick flagship.
The
car does look like quality, the interior has what appear to be nice
materials that are well screwed together and Hyundai's version of iDrive
works well and is fairly intuitive.
The seats feel a bit flat and
there's not a lot of bottom support. But they're heated and cooled!
There's a bunch of other stuff on the car, including a rockin' stereo,
leather everywhere, power window shade... Like I said, this is good
value for the money.
Overall, the car resembles a
Lexus LS more than a
Mercedes-Benz
S-class or an Audi A8. I'm not sure the car is cutting into the
Germans' pie. I can sure see it making Toyota/Lexus nervous, though, and
maybe Infiniti, too, and maybe Cadillac, especially with that level of
service. Here's something I'll wager: Hyundai gets the Equus right
eventually, and will end up neck-and-neck with the Germans one day.
The 2014 Hyundai Equus Ultimate comes in at a base price of $61,920 with our tester topping off at $68,920.
SENIOR MOTORSPORTS EDITOR MAC MORRISON: Equus
sales of late might indicate Hyundai insists on replicating
Volkswagen's ill-conceived Phaeton scheme, but I'm not sure I'd take
Raynal up on and accept the other side of his bet that Hyundai sticks
with it and evolves this nameplate into a legitimate full-sized
luxury-class contender. As Stoy points out, you need look only to the
Genesis as Exhibit A to see how the company tends to make whole, not
quantum, leaps forward with each of its cars', er, genesis.
Other
than the consistently cited lack of suitableness for driving over any
significant snow accumulation, I enjoyed every drive I took in the
Equus. Unfortunately, those drives were all short and slow after another
reasonable snow storm affected the area. I never felt as though the car
was going to leave me stranded roadside, but it's odd traction-control
calibration even when set to snow mode is useless, and more than once
did leave me effectively “stranded” when the system killed power
entirely in the middle of a turn onto a snow-covered road. As did
everyone else, I simply killed TC altogether and managed everything
myself -- which is what I prefer, anyway. But it's a shortcoming in need
of addressing, though winter tires would be the simplest and most
obvious solution to these 19-inch, all-season Continental
ContiProContacts.
Otherwise, it's hard to complain much about this
Hyundai.
Excellent interior trimmings, comfort and features, if sluggish
steering and handling. I know a lot of people who would drive this Equus
and never issue a peep about what an enthusiast would describe as a
somewhat mundane driving experience. A close friend, whenever I've
driven her in a Hyundai -- and pointed out its merits, value and
quality, even in the top-notch Genesis -- always nods, and I know she
objectively sees what I'm demonstrating to her … and then says, “But
it's a Hyundai.” Every. Time. It's a sobering real-life illustration of
just how difficult it is for product makers to overcome the legacy cost
of historic perception. Had it not been zero degrees and snowing hard, I
was going to mask tape over all the badges inside and out, and tell her
it was a new Mercedes we had agreed to drive on the condition its
official identity not be exposed on the car proper. I'm certain she
would have been rather impressed with the Equus had I followed through
with this plan. It's hard not to admire many of the materials, the
controls' logical and clean layout, and the nap-inducing ride quality.
Personal
anecdote: At one point I changed lanes from right to left, crossing a
couple-inch-high berm of snow at 40 mph. This hooked the rear-end out to
the left, lazily, at a relatively shallow, approximately 70-degree
angle. One hundred yards ahead in the center turn lane immediately to my
left was another car, stopped and waiting to turn. My initial slightly
sideways sliding trajectory was such that, without correcting the Equus'
path in time, I would have bounced its passenger-side rear door or rear
quarter panel off of the stopped car's right-rear bumper as I slid
slightly into the center lane.
Well, it never occurred to me that I
wasn't going to sort this lazy little slide out in plenty of time, it
wasn't a big deal whatsoever -- the combination of the already mentioned
in-snow performance and slow steering admittedly meant it took a bit
longer to do so than I would have preferred -- but then the Equus
apparently decided that I was most likely going to crash. So it took the
proactive measure of tightening the seatbelt forcibly against my torso
and lap in anticipation of a collision. While this type of active safety
system is certainly a good thing on the one hand, I was surprised by
how much it distracted and disconcerted me in real time.
I'm
travelling at 40 mph or so, I'm sliding in a 4,600-pound sedan with poor
traction on snow, I'm concentrating and getting it under control,
looking where I want the car to go as opposed to where it is going … and
unexpectedly, in the middle of this little array of hand/foot
car-control inputs, the seatbelt squeezes me hard. Not being prepared
for this or expecting it at all, I guarantee this caused me to freeze
for at least a few tenths of a second as my brain worked out what was
happening. Once I understood that, the next step was for my brain to
compute, well darn, I thought I was easily OK here but apparently the
car disagrees -- why is that? Am I not going to straighten this out in
time? Should I give up and brake here to reduce the inevitable impact?
To
make this final decision -- which I had not even pondered until the
seatbelt activated -- my natural reaction was to stop looking 100
percent where I wanted the Equus to go -- an elementary principle of Car
Control 101, whether you're on the road or a racetrack -- and shifting
part of my gaze back to the car stopped in the center lane. It was still
probably 40 or 50 yards away, and I reverted entirely in that instant
to what I had been doing, got the rear end back in line and never came
close to hitting anything. But then I experienced the increase in
adrenaline, heart rate and tense feeling that overcomes you when fear
strikes.
Before the seatbelt cinched, I felt no fear at all and
was focused fully on correcting this little slide. But as soon as it
tightened, my brain A.) instinctively devoted a portion of its capacity
to processing what I was feeling against my body; B.) then had to
process why the car was doing this; and C.) had to calculate if it knew
something I didn't.
All of this occurred in probably a second or
less. But at 40 mph, you're traveling 58.6 feet per second. That's a
good chunk of real estate when you must correct a sliding car within a
finite distance, in this case about 300 feet from the stopped car when
the entire event began. It could easily be the distance, and difference,
between not hitting something or crashing into it.
A bit ironic,
then, that an automotive safety feature distracted me, drew brain power
and caused me to freeze, however so briefly, at the worst possible time:
when I was in the middle of a slide and doing all the appropriate
things to correct it. In the end there was no problem, but it gave me
serious pause.
This isn't something unique to the
Equus,
it just happened to be the first car I've been in to experience this
exact scenario. And it really made me stop and think about what had
happened, why … and how the human being behind the wheel is still the
most important safety feature, regardless how much techno trickery
carmakers slather onto their creations.
2014 Hyundai Equus Ultimate
Base Price: $61,920
As-Tested Price: $68,920
Drivetrain: 5.0-liter V8; RWD, eight-speed automatic
Output: 429 hp @ 6,400 rpm, 376 lb-ft @ 5,000 rpm
Curb Weight: 4,616 lb
Fuel Economy (EPA City/Highway/Combined): 15/23/18 mpg
AW Observed Fuel Economy: 13.8 mpg
Options:
Ultimate package including full 12.3-inch LCD instrument cluster
display, heads-up display, multiview camera system, forward-view
cornering camera, rear seat entertainment system w/ dual 9.2-inch
monitor, 4-way power lumbar rear outboard seats, cooled rear seats, rear
seat power up/down head restraints with manual tilt, power trunk lid,
power rear side-window, power door closure, steering wheel dial control
($7,000).
Pakistan has almost achieved the revised estimated cotton production
target of 12.33 million bales set for the current season 2013-14, which
would positively affect the country's exports, especially to EU
countries under the GSP Plus, official sources told Business Recorder.
