Hyundai

By this point in the year I normally would have racked up 10s of thousands of miles in the air and have wrapped up at least a few different road trips. This year, is different. While we've been doing a lot of auto reviews recently, the focus has been distinctly different and focused more on local driving. However, I'm glad that I got a chance to let the Hyundai Palisade stretch it's legs a bit because it was one of the best all-around SUVs that I've driven in a long time.

A short time ago, the concept of a "luxury sedan" from a Korean manufacturer would have been something to scoff at but Hyundai has clearly worked hard to set new standards for quality, comfort, design, technology, and elements of luxury in it's mainstream products over the past several years. As a fan of their entire product line, the one piece I hadn't touched was the Hyundai Genesis sedan... until now!

Yeah, I'm weird - I like to pair my travels with just the right car. So, when I set off on a road trip to Electric Daisy Carnival, I had to get something electric. Unfortunately, reality set in and the drive from San Diego to Vegas is about 330 miles, far to long to use for an EV without stopping for an hour or two for a recharge. Hyundai had a solution though and offered me their plug-in hybrid Sonata to test out. As I was about to discover, this was the perfect vehicle for our trip as it was comfortable, stylish, has amazing gas mileage, and while it has an incredible range (up to 600 miles with both gas and electric fully charged) it can do nearly 30 miles on pure EV too!

If you're looking for a rocket for a great price then you really can't beat the 2015 Genesis Coupe. It's an interesting beast since it shares it's name with a phenomenal luxury sedan that we're going to be checking out in a few weeks, but it is all about sports performance.

Every so often a car launch event happens that surprises you and this was one of them. Honestly, the Hyundai Tucson is was not at the top of my list when it comes to cars I dreamed of driving. Sure, I LOVE it's big brothers - the Santa Fe and Santa Fe Sport - but the idea of a smaller version initially made me think of less power, less space, and less fun. However, the trip was to Minneapolis, I love Hyundai, and all my friends were going... so why not! What I discovered was that while it's true that this car has less power, less space, and less cost - it's big on fun, style, and completely capable of doing everything you need.

With the exception of twisty turny roads, driving to Las Vegas from San Diego is a great way to test out what a car is made of. There is a great combo of stop and go traffic, high speed roads that are long and flat to test mileage, and it's just long enough at about 4.5 hours to tell if the car will be comfortable on a long road trip... without finding out and being stuck with it. The Hyundai Azera is an interesting beast - somewhat stuck between two incredible cars, the Sonata and the Genesis and it blends the two extremely well to create a fantastic option for someone that still needs a "family car" but wants many of the features and comforts found a luxury car like the Genesis.

Last month the folks at Hyundai invited me out to Montgomery, Alabama to tour their amazing factory as well as put the brand new 2015 Hyundai Sonata through its paces. While honestly the family sedan market is traditionally boring with cars that end up being more similar than they are different as they compete for the heart of the American consumer, Hyundai typically has some special tactics to help make ownership fun. 

From 8,000 feet in the air to sea-level, the Hyundai Santa Fe can take you pretty much wherever you need to go and does so in comfort and near luxury style.

A few months ago we had the opportunity to be among the first to drive the 5 passenger Santa Fe Sport, and now this month we had the chance to review the all new 6/7 passenger Santa Fe.

For this Road Trip Review, the folks at Hyundai invited us out to the mountains of Utah to test drive the all-new Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. As someone who looked at the Santa Fe years ago and settled on a Chevy Equinox instead, this was a chance for redemption of their brand in my eyes.  

They succeeded fantastically by delivering a car that wasn't just a "great value" but was truly a great car... and one that stands up against any competition in its class.