Quick Spin: Hyundai Equus is a high horse looking for its Praetorian Guard
by Jonathon Ramsey on Aug 17th 2009 at 11:58AM 
Hyundai Equus – Click above for high-res image gallery
The Hyundai Equus is doing its homework on the American market before it arrives in the fourth quarter of 2010. We took a ride in the upscale sedan during the Pebble Beach weekend in Monterey, and from our brief time aboard, we guess that, if it's priced right, it will do just as well as its only-slightly-less luxurious kin, the Genesis.
Gallery: Quick Spin: Hyundai Equus
Photos copyright ©2009 Jonathon Ramsey / Weblogs, Inc.
Hyundai looks to be breaking from its American past in a way that could leave future drivers incredulous when they hear about a thing called the Excel. With the Genesis and now the Equus – and what's to come after – it's like Hyundai has risen from vaudeville actor to perform Hamlet for the queen. If you told the monarch who only knew the actor as Hamlet, "You know, that guy used to wear a clown suit and get sprayed with seltzer water?," she'd laugh, thinking it was a joke.
But it isn't. When we asked Jim Trainor, Hyundai America's head of PR, what impelled the company's turnaround, he said it was the 100,000-mile warranty. "If we didn't want to lose a fortune on repairs, we had to start making quality cars."
In the Equus is contained everything Hyundai knows about quality. Said Joel Ewanick, Hyundai America's marketing chief, "The Equus is the culmination, the pinnacle of everything Hyundai knows about engineering and building cars," and that's from the manufacturing all the way through to the touchpoints.
"Lexus" could be the word that comes up most often when discussing the Equus, and there is more than one reason for that. However, for all of the styling details that the huge horse might have taken from the Lexus playbook, the Equus actually didn't remind us of the LS 460 in person – and while we waited for the Hyundai to arrive, we sat on a bench right in front of an LS 460 parked curbside. The Equus is brawnier, with deeper sides, a more pronounced shift in height from front to rear, and elements that stress its dimensional qualities. As soon as the Lexus left our sight, we never thought of it again in the company of the Equus.
The convenient hook for the Genesis was BMW 7-Series roominess and luxury, 5-Series sportiness, and a 3-Series price. The Equus simply goes for everything 7-Series, S-Class, and LS, save for price. Ultimate-in-luxury features include butter-smooth leather all over, a suede headliner, double-pane glass all 'round sandwiching a layer of glazing material (à la Rolls-Royce), an Auto Hold feature that keeps the car still until you press the accelerator (even on flat roads), a front-view camera that comes on at or below 5 mph, a lane-departure warning system that works with white and yellow lines and tugs on your seatbelt after an audible warning, the steering wheel is heated and the front seats have three settings for backside warming and cooling.
The only two questionable features that stood out for were that the front passenger seat doesn't have memory settings, and how certain plastic surfaces are textured. As for the seats, if it's any consolation, the rear seat passenger can move the front seat, surely a concession to the car's strong limousine aspirations in its home market. On the issue of plastic, we'd rather the surfaces were smooth, as they are on all of the competitor cars at which the Equus is aiming.
We can't really comment on the suspension because the car was fitted with the South Korean setup, which is much softer than what we'll get here, even when set on Sport. But as for interior tactile sensations, the car is really there, especially when it comes to the buttons and trim. The contrast of gloss black button surfaces, metal trim and leather is superb. Again, since we were in the Korean-market Equus, we weren't able to sample a lot of the buttons, but they look fabulous.
The laminated windows and bodyshell stuffed with sound deadening material makes the Equus exceptionally quiet. You can hear the car when driving, but only just. At idle, it's damn near silent – we turned the car off, thinking it was on, when we got in.
Other details will follow, including the car's official name. So where the word "Equus" is embossed in the seats, you can expect to find something, but perhaps not the word "Equus." The hood ornament wasn't going to make it over, but initial reaction has shown that potential customers have liked it, so Hyundai is considering whether to make it an option, like the Jag's leaper. As for that suspension, Ewanick said "It will be somewhere between the LS and the S-Class. We realize we're dancing on the head of a pin there, but that's what the engineers are going for."
What Hyundai is sure of is that they want to provide more car for less money. Depending on the price and that final suspension calibrations, as of now all signs are looking good for delivery on that.
Gallery: Quick Spin: Hyundai Equus
Photos copyright ©2009 Jonathon Ramsey / Weblogs, Inc.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
CAPSGOD 12:02PM (8/17/2009)
UGLY
Reply
ronEbear 12:15PM (8/17/2009)
Don`t you talk to me like I`m your mother!
Stu L Tissimus 12:19PM (8/17/2009)
Agreed, there's just way too much going on in the front fascia. Genesis looks way more luxurious than this.
Quantumphysics 12:36PM (8/17/2009)
equus is nothing more than a rip off of better cars. It looks like a damn LS460 - and even has "460" on the back. Thats a goddamned shame.
Its got "the spirit of Ecstacy" on the hood for godssake's.
Yaroukh 12:48PM (8/17/2009)
+1
the front is too much... it looks like something designed in CCCP
AndrewNoNumbers 2:02PM (8/17/2009)
Most half-star comments in a row ever!
jsjs 2:28PM (8/17/2009)
Geeze, not Quantumphysics w/ this asinine posts again.
First off, the Equus hardly looks anything like the LS460 (otoh, the new 7 Series looks very similar from the side).
Second - the whole 460 "argument" is even beyond stupid - it's just a no. that signifies the engine displacement. Hyundai is working on a 5.0L version of the Tau so that will have a 500 numbering (oooh!).
Third, if anyone wants to discuss "copying" - let's not forget the LS430 which was a virtual clone of the S Class of that time.
Sal Collaziano 2:44PM (8/17/2009)
To each his/her own. I think it looks hot.. This is going to be a very large, comfortable, powerful, luxurious head-turner* with the best warranty in the business and a price that's not nearly as arrogant as others in it's class..
* A good bunch of people find the BMW 7-Series ugly as well - but that doesn't seem to hurt it's sales...
Sal Collaziano
http://www.equusforums.com
Andy 3:54PM (8/17/2009)
Why is the car parked like it is falling down a hill? Oh nevermind, the photographer was trying to be artsy by holding a crooked camera.
jv2k 4:12PM (8/17/2009)
I'm not gunna go as far as to say it's ugly but it isn't good looking either. It's kinda bland. Of course that tends to be par for the segment and the car does have some features that make it look not totally boring.
I don't like the interior. The wood paneling has a fake wood look it and there is just way too much of it.
Cary 11:16PM (8/17/2009)
There is a lot going on. However, I will have to give credit where it's due for the execution of emulation. My only complaint is that the interior materials appear to be a bit cheap and not as luxurious as I'd expect.
If I were no longer a Mercedes man and were compelled to purchase a Non-European build large luxury saloon, I'd opt for a 18-24 month old Lexus over this.
merlot066 3:58AM (8/18/2009)
That is the ugliest rip-off of a MKS grille, totally botched up side, and Lexus LS rear end (with Yaris looking tail lights) I have ever seen!!!
merlot066 1:05PM (8/19/2009)
Sure rate me down for my opinion. Somebody tell me that they don't see major amounts of copying in this car.
Tell me the Grille doesn't look similar to an MKS http://www.autoblog.com/gallery/review-2009-lincoln-mks-ecoboost/#2
Tell me the Rear end doesn't look like a Lexus LS with Yaris Taillights.
http://p.webwombat.com.au/motoring/images/lexus-ls460-8.jpg
http://images.automotive.com/cob/factory_automotive/images/Features/auto_shows/2006_LAAS/2007_Toyota_Yaris_S%20sedan_rear.jpg
There are a lot of luxury brands out there and they've all managed to be creative and have unique designs, Hyundai has no excuse not to. Audi, Lexus, Infiniti, Mercedes, Lincoln, Cadillac, they all have very different designs. Get with the program Hyundai. How much work does it take to photoshop the ass of one car to the hood of another? People complained that Lexus copied Mercedes with the GS, well Hyundai copied a bunch of people and put it all together with the Equis, and I see no reason why they should get special treatment.
Rar 1:14AM (8/20/2009)
http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=58&vf=1
When Toyota launched its Lexus luxury car brand a decade ago it made no secret that it had Mercedes in it sights.
Ten years later, the Japanese are sending in the clones with increasing frequency.
It's not just the expensive models which European makers accuse Japan of copying. Consider, for example, the headlights on the latest Toyota Tarago. Now picture those of the Peugeot 206. Look familiar? Looks as if they should share the same part number.
When Audi's TT coupe and convertible were unveiled, diminutive Japanese maker Daihatsu had a car with an amazing likeness displayed at the very next Tokyo Motor Show called the Kopen. The latest Lexus coupe, due here before the end of the year, looks like a larger interpretation of Audi's Bauhaus design.
Daihatsu has also built a miniature Hummer and, bizzarely, called it the Naked. And in 1999 at the same show, Mitsubishi took the wraps off a car that, if you squinted, you would swear blind was a new Mini.
What about the "teardrops" on the headlights on latest batch of Hondas, such as the HR-V, Odyssey and the new Integra? A hint of BMW 3 Series perhaps? The tailights on the HR-V have a remarkable resemblance to the Volvo 850 wagon's.
From a distance, Toyota's square-shaped MR2 looks like a Porsche Boxster.
The original Toyota Celica was so inspired by the Ford Mustang of the era that today's enthusiasts call it the "Mustang Celica".
Now, even after 10 years, Lexus still hasn't broken its clone-like mould. The latest Lexus LS430 has the sillouette of the superseded Mercedes S Class and a headlight theme borrowed from the new S Class.
When the covers came off the fourth generation Lexus at the Detroit Motor Show two years ago, Mercedes-Benz broke its corporate silence over what it called "Japanese copycat cars" but stopped short of calling it plagiarism.
"People explain to us it is really an honour to have someone copy our cars, but I don't think we see it that way any more," said Harald Leschke, the head of design at Mercedes-Benz. "I think it is quite obvious that they admire the design, then try to do it their way. I'm sure in some industries this sort of thing is not legal.
"What surprises us most is that [Lexus] are prepared to do it, in public, and that customers are prepared to buy their copycat cars."
"I think it's fair to say all their cars have been influenced by someone else's models," he said. "They don't have a history so they have to copy someone else's."
Industry experts argue that a flagship Lexus made sense when it was considerably cheaper than the German benchmarks. But now that it is priced the same, there's less incentive to drive an imitation. Nevertheless, Europe's car maker have now become so concerned about Japan's sincere forms of flattery that they are wary of showing concept cars of future models.
Porsche, for example, has deliberately not shown "design studies" of its Cayenne off-roader because it fears a Japanese maker will be able to release its interpretation just as Porsche unveils the real thing.
[...]
The lack of history is also an Achilles heel. "Japan had no horse-and-carriage era. True, the nobility were transported in carriages for a time, but these were import!!ed or the designs were copied.
"So the country skipped a critical phase in its maturation process as a car stylist. Too often, designers took the easy option and borrowed looks from around the world."
Rar 1:22AM (8/20/2009)
@merlot066
I see no reason why you should get racist treatment to hyundai.
1. I don't see rear design is copy from them.
2. and front grill design.
Tell me the Grille doesn't look similar to an MKS
>> Well, Equus's vertical grill design is more earlier than MKS.
MKS production date was since 2008 ? OK?
However, Equus production date was since 1999.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/archive/8/86/20081216210149!Hyundai_Centennial_front_20080302.jpg
They use this vertical grill design more earlier than MKS.
And, its 1st generation Equus exterior designed by Mitsubishi.
Your claim is nonsense to me.
Kreator 12:11PM (8/17/2009)
I can see Mercedes/Audi/BMW owners shifting to this car.
Reply
Luis 12:37PM (8/17/2009)
I can't. Hyundai dealers do not offer the dealer experience of luxury makes. A red carpet on the floor doesn't make up for actual service.
Soccer Mom 1:18PM (8/17/2009)
I don't see people shifting from Germans, but Lexus-Infinity folks should start factoring in stiffer competition in their sales forecasts.
Venom 1:40PM (8/17/2009)
I am one of these owners and I will certainly not be moving to this car.
Richard 2:59PM (8/17/2009)
Why not? I mean, you haven't even had the opportunity to see one in person, let alone drive one...