Life with the 2011 Hyundai Equus Ultimate

2011 Hyundai Equus Ultimate
 

Long-Term 2011 Hyundai Equus Ultimate – Click above for high-res image gallery


The Hyundai Equus and I spent nearly two months together, and during that time, the big sedan began to felt like it was my personal car. The seats began to feel more lived in, technology became more intuitive and even the way the Equus handled different road surfaces became permanently mapped into my brain. But even after six weeks with it, I still never got used to the fact that the Equus was a Hyundai.

It's still a bit difficult for me to process the fact that Hyundai makes a full-blown luxury rig, and the behavior of others who encountered it tells me I'm not alone. I was continually amazed at the number of requests to sit in the vehicle by people I have never met before in my life. One elderly gentleman – who proved his love of automobiles by showing me a completely tricked-out Fiat 500 he had just purchased – went so far as to sit in the driver's seat. His wife smartly opted for the reclining rear passenger seat, where I showed her all the tricks that make the Equus a livery-ready passenger car. As a reward, I got to sit in the driver's seat of the 500. I can't say that I fit comfortably, so my new friends may have gotten the better end of the deal.


It's easy to be impressed with the dimensions of the Equus, but I didn't expect much driving excitement from over 2000 kilograms of Korean flagship. It's no canyon carver, but it's not a Lincoln Town Car, either. The 4.6-litre Tau V8 may soon be replaced with a more powerful 5.0-litre mill, but I'd add that the current powertrain has plenty of power to keep most anyone entertained. In fact, while I was waiting for kid to finish up tennis practice one evening, I headed over to the empty parking lot at the local high school. My goal was to see if I could lay down a serviceable burnout in the two-ton Hyundai. It took a couple tries, but once traction control was dismissed and the sport mode was enabled, the deed was done. It probably wasn't that pretty, but it was still entertaining. After managing only 13 litres per 100 kilometres in the first fun-filled week, I was routinely between 11.4-12 L/100 km through 4,800 kilometres of travel.

Interestingly, my three daughters and their friends seemed to be most impressed with the Equus, even going so far as to tell me that they want a Hyundai as their first vehicle. If you were wondering why Hyundai might bother with a $69,999 Cdn luxury sedan, know that it's clearly making its impact, and not just on my kids or neighbors.

With June in the books, the largest and most-lux of all Hyundai models is gone from my driveway and off to the next Autoblogger. I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss it – even if I still have trouble processing the idea of a $70K Hyundai.