Popular name - the Hyundai Matrix

[GMJAP]

I was in Singapore the past week; saw all kinds of interesting vehicles. One of note, mostly because of the name, was the Hyundai Matrix. It's about the same size as the Vibe and Toyota Matrix, though it looks like it has much less cargo room with the rear seats up, a'la xA.Speaking of which, I saw an xA, but it had a Toyota plate, not Scion. These kinds of "Crossover" utility vehicles seem to be quite popular over there and there were all kinds.Toyotas seemed to be the most popular vehicles, followed closely by Nissans. Other popular makes were Honda, Mercedes, BMW, and Hyundai. Less popular but present were Renault, Puegot, Proton, Ford, Chevy, Subaru, Suzuki, Opel (GM, I think), Mitsubishi...The Taxi's were about 80% Toyota Crowns, with older Toyota Coronas making up another 10%.Nissan won for dumbest names: The Nissan "Sunny" and Nissan "Cedric" - both sedans.Unfortunately, I never saw a Voltz. I'd hoped to.Some pics of the Hyundai Matrix:

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[bud_one]

Looks like an old Mitsubishi Expo....pretty cool anyways...

[Raven]

Hey what's wrong with the name Nissan Sunny. I resemble that remark.

[soldierguy]

I see those on the road here in Korea...locally they're called the Hyundai Lavita. They come with choice of a 1.6L or 1.8L 4 cylinder gas engine.They're not very popular over here just judging by how few I see on the streets. My guess is that it's a combination of two things: awkward styling inside and out (Korean models come with a center-mounted gauge cluster), and the fact that it's only offered with gas engines. Stepping up one size class to the new Hyundai Tucson or the Hyundai Trajet (another tall wagon) means availability of a small 4-cylinder turbo-diesel. Fuel economy is comparable or slightly better than a smaller vehicle with a gas engine, but diesel runs about $2 less per US gallon than gas here ($5.30 per gallon of gas, $3.30 per gallon of diesel).The market here is about to undergo some changes though. Until now, Korean-market passenger cars had emissions standards that were tougher than even California standards. But that has just changed...emissions standards just switched to European-market standards, meaning diesels can now be sold in passenger cars. Minivans and SUVs have been available with diesels here for quite a while, so the vast majority (more than 75% based on what I see on the streets) of SUVs and minivans come equipped with diesels to take advantage of cheaper fuel. Hyundai is introducing passenger car diesels here in Korea beginning in the fall for the 06 models...they're just using the diesels that have been available in their European-market cars for several years already.

[bud_one]

$5.30 per gallon!!!!!!! Yikes... guess we should stop complaining aboutour $2 a gallon.... How much does it take to fill up your tank in the Jeep?

[soldierguy]

Quote, originally posted by bud_one »$5.30 per gallon!!!!!!! Yikes... guess we should stop complaining aboutour $2 a gallon.... How much does it take to fill up your tank in the Jeep? Thankfully I fill up on post, where prices are tied to the average price in the US. So right now I pay $2.07 per gallon for regular unleaded; premium is $2.26. Prices change on the 1st of every month, and they're based on the average price of gas in the US for the previous month. So it's about $40 to fill a nearly empty gas tank for me.Funny thing though...regular unleaded here is 92 octane, premium is 98. The formula to determine the octane is the same as in the states (R+M/2). The gas that I buy on post is the same as what's available off post, but the prices are tied to the US market.

[bud_one]

For a second there I was thinking you had to give up a kidney or something to fill up.... Well then it ain't as bad as it could be huh...It's pretty cool that your regular is our supreme...too cool...

[GMJAP]

Quote, originally posted by soldierguy »I see those on the road here in Korea...locally they're called the Hyundai Lavita. They come with choice of a 1.6L or 1.8L 4 cylinder gas engine.They're not very popular over here just judging by how few I see on the streets.They seemed to be popular enough in Singapore - I saw them rather frequently. Never did notice the price of gas there, though. Pretty scary, I'd guess.The Toyota Crown was interesting - looked sort of like an old Volvo; very boxy. Don't remember seeing any thay weren't taxis, however.PS- Nothing's wrong with the name Sunny, per se - just struck me as a weird name for a car! I mean, I'm proud of my name but can you imagine: the Toyota Walter. ::shudders::

[soldierguy]

I've seen the Toyota Crowns before, but not here in Korea...between the 40% import tax (it's either 40% or 50%...something like that) and the fact that many Koreans harbor ill will towards the Japanese because of the Japanese occupation of Korea for about the first half of the 20th Century, there's not many Japanese cars around. The only one that sells over here is Lexus, and there's not many of them given the price.

[esjones]

Quote, originally posted by Sunny »Hey what's wrong with the name Nissan Sunny. I resemble that remark. The Nissan Sunny has been around forever in the UK, Caribbean and other markets... just never in the US. Other Nissan model names that never made the US market are the Bluebird and the Super Saloon. I think Nissan had a model in the UK called Cherry, too.

[Mr. Poopypants]

(removed) is that thing ugly. It looks like the Hyudai engineers looked at an old Dodge Colt and said "How can we make this thing, but uglier."

[bud_one]

Quote, originally posted by Mr. Poopypants »(removed) is that thing ugly. It looks like the Hyundai engineers looked at an old Dodge Colt and said "How can we make this thing, but uglier."And I think they accomplished their task very well...