Hyundai cars

Super Bowl Ad: Go on a Play Date With the 2013 Santa Fe

The Super Bowl is set to air this Sunday, but we still have time to see a few more commercials. The latest one comes from Hyundai and it reveals how much fun, or trouble, a family can have in the new seven-passenger Santa Fe.

The new "Epic PlayDate" ad stars rock band The Flaming Lips who play the song "Sun Blows Up Today" specially for this ad. If you like it, you can buy it from iTunes starting today, or you can wait until band’s new album called “Terror” arrives in April.

To our knowledge, this is the final Super Bowl ad for the Korean automaker, unless they happen to have something else up their sleeve. If the Santa Fe impressed you, it will be available for order starting this spring. It can be yours for a price of $28,350.

Super Bowl Ad: Hyundai’s Latest Commercial Invokes the Team Concept

We’ve already seen three of Hyundai’s five Super Bowl-bound commercials, and if we do say so ourselves, they’re getting a lot better with each release. Their latest ad for the Santa Fe, called "Team," is the best one yet.

Evoking a kind of Little Giants meets Bad News Bears feel to it, a little kid gets his football taken away from him by some unruly bullies who tell him that he could only get it back if he brings a team together. With the help of the kid’s rather intimidating mom, he proceeds to round up his posse, except that his posse is comprised of friends that each bring a unique skill set to the table.

All together, they go back to the field and stare down the bullies, each with the intent of inflicting as much pain as possible. Well, except for one little dude who looks like he’s about to decapitate someone.

Overall, it’s a pretty good commercial that ties up well to the actual game itself.

Super Bowl Ad: Hyundai Ad Bombing the Super Bowl with Five Commercials

Hyundai’s "Don’t Tell" commercial, one that will have prominent air time during the Super Bowl, has actually been playing in the air for a number of weeks now.

Despite being a full-blow 30-second ad (it’s actually 32 seconds), the "Don’t Tell" commercial is still being characterized as a preview commercial for Hyundai’s total Super Bowl platter, which will include four more commercials.

In addition to "Don’t Tell", which by the way left us with nothing more than a slight chuckle, the Korean automaker is also planning to play "Epic PlayDate,” "Team,” "Stuck,” and "Excited.” These all sound cool enough, but we all know that sounding cool and actually being cool are two completely different things when it comes to Super Bowl ads.

We’ll hold our final judgment once we see all five ads run during the Big Game.

Click past the jump to see two more of the four remaining Super Bowl commercials.

Hyundai CEO Outlines the Next-Generation Genesis

Everyone believed that the new HCD-14 Genesis Concept that was unveiled at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show previews the next-generation Genesis, but Hyundai America CEO, John Krafcik, announced this is not the case. Instead, the new concept might feature design elements - like its sweeping roof line - that could be used in a new four-door coupe

Krafcik also confirmed that the next- generation Hyundai Genesis will be unveiled sometime next year. It will feature a far more traditional and feel much more "German," and, for the first time, will be offered with an all-wheel drive system.

As for the Coupe version, he confirmed that it could get either a turbo V-6 or a V-8 engine. It’s true that the current Genesis coupe won’t fit a V-8 in its engine bay, but changes will be made so that the next Genesis Coupe can accommodate larger engines. Either way, it looks like we’re in for a power hike in the Genesis Coupe.

2013 Hyundai/RMR Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Unlimited Class Race Car

Back in 2012, Hyundai scored an impressive world record at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with a time of 9:46.164. This year, Hyundai and Rhys Millen Racing (RMR) want to defend their record time and have prepared a purpose-built unlimited-class rear-drive racecar.

The 2013 race car will take most of its powertrain components from Hyundai’s production-based Lambda engine family. Of course, the production version’s output will be taken out to a more race-appropriate 900 horsepower and 800 pound-feet of torque. We still have no idea how this output has been obtained, but Hyundai confirmed that the racecar keeps the standard engine block, cylinder heads, bearings and engine accessories.

Along with the powertrain borrowed from the production series model, the racecar chassis will be enveloped by a Genesis Coupe-like silhouette to compete in the unlimited class.

Details on who will be driving the car on June 30th at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will be announced at a later date.

2013 Hyundai HCD-14 Genesis Concept

Hyundai Genesis and Equus are two models that have significantly increased sales numbera for the Korean company. However, in order to keep this trend, the company needs to update them periodically on both design and powertrain. With this in mind, Hyundai has unveiled the HCD-14 Genesis - a concept car that preview’s design direction for future premium vehicles - at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show.

The most obvious updates on the new design language are the deep vertical grille, the new headlamps, the rear-hinged rear doors – a pretty sweet feature for a four-door coupe - and those large-diameter wheels.

Under the hood the HCD-14 concept combines a 5.0-liter Tau V-8 direct-injection engine with an eight-speed automatic gearbox. The concept also features an "ultra-rigid" chassis with high-tensile-strength steel in strategic areas that help improve the driving experience.

Updated 01/15/2013: This review has been updated with the official details, images and specs. Hit the jump to read more about the Hyundai HCD-14 Genesis Concept.

2014 Hyundai i10

Hyundai recently released an updated version of the i10, but it looks like the company is already hard working on the next-generation i10. Our spy photographers have caught the first prototypes out for a testing session, and, as you can see, the car is heavily camouflaged so it is pretty difficult to see the changes the new i10 will bring.

Still, it is pretty easy to notice that the grille has become bigger in order to show the family face. The car’s general lines have been slightly updated, so now the i10 will feature a clearer side profile and a more sloping roof. At the rear, the lights seem to have received a horizontal position compared to the vertical lights on the current version. In the front bumper, the fog lights have an LED stripe above.

The new-generation Hyundai i10 will make its world debut in September 2013 at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe GT Race Car by Austech Motorsport

Australian racing company Austech Motorsport has spent a large part of its time developing a GT race car based on the Hyundai Genesis Coupe. The team has actually been around for quite some time now and its objective has always been to provide privateers with an affordable race car that can be homologated to take part in different racing series with minimal work.

According to Austech’s website, the Genesis Coupe racer has yet to be homologated for racing use in GTE, GT3, and Grand Am classes, but Austech made it clear that the car can be raced in a number of international racing series, as well as endurance events, like the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

Austech designed the Genesis Coupe GT Race Car with an emphasis placed on strength and serviceability of its components, allowing engineers to be able to work on the car with minimal hassle. That being said, there’s some acknowledgement due for a company that takes the time to develop a car specifically for racing use.

This Genesis Coupe carries a 5.0-liter V-8 engine and can produce anywhere between 470 to 520 horsepower, depending on the category restrictions for each racing series. Torque peaks out at 368 pound-feet. Austech also fitted the Genesis Coupe with a 100-liter (26.4-gallon) fuel tank capacity and a sequential shifting gearbox.

The Genesis Coupe race car looks the part of an affordable entry to a racing series, and according to Austech, will be available to race beginning in the 2013 season with a price of €280,000 ($370,860 at the current exchange rates).

Video: Rhys Millen’s RMR Hyundai Genesis Coupe Goes On Time Attack In Brazil

The shocking Rhys Millen-Hyundai North America divorce caught a lot of people by surprise, especially since the partnership has brought tremendous success and acclaim for both parties. But apparently, Hyundai decided to end all of its “North American motorsport programs”, including that with Rhys Millen.

All that though can be discussed for another time because we’re here to show you a pretty intense video featuring Millen and his fabulous RMR Hyundai Genesis Coupe in Brazil. Consider it a way for us to cope with the impending split because the video has been around for a while. Regardless if this happened two years ago, time can’t quantify the difficulty and subsequent awesomeness shown by Millen and his RMR Hyundai Genesis Coupe when they went on a time-attack run on the side of the Serra Do Rio Do Rastro in Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Just looking at the course already made us interested to see how one of the best drifters in the world can tackle this, especially when it’s under time duress. But as the video shows, Millen did what he always seems to do best: blow people away with some of the most insane drifts you’ll find anywhere.

So without further ado, hit play and enjoy this four-minute drifting show from one of the best to ever do it.

Spy shots: 2014 Hyundai Genesis Caught Testing for the First Time

First details on a second generation Hyundai Genesis surfaced at the beginning of the year, but since then nothing else was reported. At least not until today when our spy photographers caught the 2014 Genesis testing for the first time somewhere on the streets of Europe. The prototype caught testing is heavily camouflaged, but we can still see that things with the next Genesis are looking pretty awesome.

The model — codenamed "DH" — will be built on an updated version of the current rear-wheel-drive chassis minus a few hundred pounds. Hyundai will also add a revised suspension for a sportier drive. Under the hood, we will see updated versions of the 3.8-liter V-6 and 5.0-liter V-8 engines combined with an 8-speed transmission. Hyundai is also preparing a 10-speed transmission for a later model year.

On the exterior the next Genesis will look a little bit more dramatic than the current Genesis sedan. Up front we will see a wide, hexagonal grille opening, featuring horizontal grille bars. The headlamps will also be redesigned and they will offer full LED units.

The second generation Genesis will be unveiled sometime in 2013, with sales to begin as a 2014 model year.