HYUNDAI

AN UNDERDEPRECIATED ASSET The Hyundai Grandeur is not a bad car – far from it – but it is a puzzling one. Andy Enright reports

Even Hyundai UK aren’t fully behind the Grandeur, listing it as a special order only model and it would be an understatement to say that for over £27,000, this car has its work cut out. Powered by a thirsty 3.3-litre V6 petrol engine, it’s neither relevant nor hugely desirable. Hyundai has recently shown that it can do a whole lot better.

Do you remember the Hyundai XG30? It was, and I realise I am swimming against the tide of popular opinion, a fantastic car. Its shortcomings were manifold. It lurched around corners with all the elegance of Jade Goody after a Jäger binge, it had more cheap and shiny metal on the front than Idi Amin’s dress uniform and depreciated quicker than your stock options in Northern Rock. Despite - and, secretly, perhaps because of - these faults, it was one of the most charming cars on the road. The ride was so soft, driving it was like piloting your bed to work. Other drivers grinned at your manifest idiocy and let you out of side junctions. There were buttons to press, chintzy trim that wouldn’t have looked place in Liberace’s mansion and supersized, Vegas-style seats. Needless to say, it bombed, but if you can track down a good used one, I’d highly recommend it. Latterly and rather quietly, however, Hyundai has introduced another big car; the Grandeur. It has a lot to live up to. Under the bonnet is a 3.3-litre V6. This engine develops 233bhp so it would be reasonable to expect the Grandeur to be rather sprightly off the line, and so it proves, the Grandeur getting to 60mph in 7.5 seconds. It would probably be even quicker were it not deploying its power through a five-speed automatic transmission. Double wishbone suspension at the front, a neat multi link arrangement at the back also suggests that the Grandeur is no XG30-style wallowfest. A lot of work has been put into improving the Grandeur’s handling, stability and roadholding and while it would be uncharitable to say that improvements were easy to come by, it’s now at least class competitive.

"For the driver who’s not about to cover big mileages but wants something well-appointed and discreet …"

Chances are that most people won’t buy this car for its handling. Instead, they’ll be looking at getting a lot of car for their money and the Grandeur certainly offers that. The wheelbase is a lot longer than the old XG30, the wheels being teased towards the corners of the car for a more modern look and better internal packaging. As a result, rear leg room has improved enormously, as has build quality. There are still some rather odd plastic finishes on the dashboard but it’s no better or worse than a top line Saab 9-5 or Volvo S80, both of which are far more expensive and neither of which are quite so spacious inside. The Grandeur is a big car. At 4,895mm in length, it’s quite a bit longer than a BMW 5 Series or a Mercedes E-Class and is bigger in every exterior dimension than a Volvo S80. Small wonder there’s room to stretch out inside. A whopping 469 litre boot also means that you won’t need to pack light either. The design is extremely bland from the front but the down-curved rear end looks rather American (not dissimilar to a third-gen Ford Taurus), which is no surprise, as the States makes up the key target market for this vehicle. Choice is not a big plus with the Hyundai Grandeur. There’s only one engine and one trim level with one transmission available. Choices extend to optional metallic or mica paintwork and that’s about it. The Grandeur’s asking price of £27,100 might well raise a few eyebrows, but have a squint at what else is available for this money and it doesn’t seem unreasonable. A comparably equipped Volvo S80 would be over £40,000 and an equivalent Saab 9-5 well over £30,000. Equipment levels are extremely strong. The Grandeur gets 17-inch alloy wheels, climate control, reversing sensors, an eight-speaker Infinity stereo with six-disc CD changer and MP3 capability, electrically adjustable leather finished seats, ESP stability control, electric sunroof, five-stage heated seats, xenon headlights, an electric rear screen blind. I could go on. I will. It also gets Smartnav satellite navigation that guides you around traffic snarl ups, a trip computer, rain sensing wipers, cruise control, auto dimming rear view mirrors, electric headlight beam levelling, steering wheel-mounted audio controls, twin front, side and curtain airbags and anti-lock brakes with electronic brakeforce distribution. Specify something German with that level of equipment and you’d need to a whole hill of cash to fund it. So far, so impressive. The Grandeur’s got a big, punchy engine, it’s spacious and it has more buttons to press than your local Sega World but the kicker comes in terms of running costs. There’s really no way to sugar this particular pill. This Hyundai will require seriously deep pockets to run. Right up front you have the asking price which, while appearing good value for money, is still £4,000 or so on top of the very best Ford Mondeo money will buy. Then you have the fuel economy. On a good day you might get near the quoted average of 27.2mpg but that seems optimistic. Bank on closer to 20mpg day in, day out and you’ll be nearer the ticket. The carbon dioxide emissions of 245g/km won’t make this a cheap car to tax and while it’s not in the very top band for showroom tax, it’s only one step away and rules it out of contention as a company car. The real killer with this model as far as running costs go is likely to be depreciation. Those expecting to see 25 per cent of its value back after three years may well be optimistic. That means you’ll need to fund £7,000 a year in depreciation which will make the Grandeur more expensive to run on a pence per mile basis than a fairly well appointed BMW 5 Series. There are a lot of things that are very right about the Hyundai Grandeur. The massive equipment level, the sheer space inside, its punch off the line and its build quality are all laudable. Other things such as the anonymous styling and the lack of scope for choice and personalisation are slightly less impressive. What remains the overriding issue with this model, however, is cost of ownership. Depreciation is savage, a 3.3-litre V6 engine that will do well to average above 20mpg and high emissions make the Grandeur feel out of place in the UK. It’s clear that this is a vehicle targeted at US buyers who will benefit from a low sticker price, lax emission rules and cheap fuel. For the driver who’s not about to cover big mileages but wants something well-appointed and discreet – typically senior buyers – the Grandeur isn’t without merit. In fact, for a small niche of buyers who aren’t thinking too hard about resale, it’s hard to better.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Hyundai Grandeur PRICE: £27,100 - on the road INSURANCE GROUP: 16 [est] CO2 EMISSIONS: 245g/km PERFORMANCE: 0-60 7.5s Max Speed 147mph FUEL CONSUMPTION: (urban)18.7mpg / (extra urban) 38.2mpg / (combined) 27.2mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: ESP, traction control, ABS with EBD, twin front, side and curtain airbags WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: length/width/height 4895/1865/1490 mm