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Posted August, 2006

Road Test: 2006 Hyundai Azera Limited

By Thomas E. Bonsall

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for compact luxury cars. Back during my first visit to London in the late-1960s, I was completely blown away when I stepped into a British Leyland showroom on Berkeley Square and laid eyes on a Vanden Plas 1100 sedan. Vanden Plas (pronounced "van-den plah") was the custom coachbuilder that Austin had acquired along the way.

By the time I crossed the Pond, Vanden Plas was only a name (and one still used on the top-of-the-line Jaguar XJ8 sedan). What BL had done was take a humble Austin Mini, trim it out like a Rolls-Royce and slap the Vanden Plas name on it. The interior was an intoxicating combination of inlaid wood, rich leathers and Wilton carpeting. Wow.

Back home in America, compact cars were considered cheap. If someone wanted leather seats and power this and that, he also wanted a larger car. In fact, the larger the car, the more gizmos and luxury goodies until you topped out with a stretched-wheelbase Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty Special, which was as close to a rolling palace as you could get.

America's first small luxury sedan was the Cadillac Seville, which debuted in 1975. Still, it was a very expensive car and it took another quarter-of-a-century for Hyundai to launch the small and affordable luxury sedan, the XG350. That was several years back and now we have the XG350's successor, the Azera.

The Azera's base price is $26,835, including destination charges. Look at what you get for that: electronic stability control, traction control, anti-lock brakes, air bags all around, active head restraints, remote keyless entry, leather seats, heated and powered front seats, air conditioning, power rear sunshade, AM/FM/CD/MP3 sound system with steering wheel controls, power windows, power door locks, power wing mirrors, cruise control, 17-inch alloy wheels and a few other things besides but I'm getting tired of typing.

Oh yes, the engine is a 3.8-liter, dual-overhead cam V6, and the transmission is a five-speed automatic fitted with Shiftronic that allows the driver to shift it manually. That's a lot for car $26,835, but, then, Hyundai has specialized in giving value for the buck ever since the first model appeared on our shores in the mid-1980s.

Because I write about the auto industry, I am often asked by friends and acquaintances to recommend vehicles. Quite often I recommend Hyundais and the response is usually a grimace. Hyundai builds a quality car these days but the brand's image hasn't caught up with reality. In truth, the quality wasn't that bad way back when. I think that Hyundai was unfairly tarnished by being lumped in with the Yugo, a truly dreadful car that was launched at about the same time. Both were from countries not known for vehicle production: South Korea and Yugoslavia. Those early Hyundais had high-quality mechanicals — engines, transmissions, etc. — supplied by Mitsubishi, and, if the fit and finish was a little ragged, you still had a reliable car that would (and did) give good service.

The fit and finish was first rate on our Azera test car, as, indeed, it has been on every Hyundai vehicle we have tested during the past decade at least. We liked the looks of the Azera, inside and out. The passenger cabin is spacious and comfortable. Ride and handling are on a par with anything in this class. The engine is responsive throughout the power range; the transmission is smooth and the gears are well chosen. The EPA fuel economy rating of 19 city/28 highway could be better, but both of us at Ride&Drive loved driving it.

Our test car had two options. One was the Premium Package ($1,500) that consisted of a power sunroof and the excellent Infinity sound system with a in-dash CD changer. The other was the $80 sunroof wind deflector. The total sticker price came to $28,415.

We recommend that anyone looking for a vehicle under $30,000 check out Hyundai, in general, and the Azera, in particular. R&D