Hyundai Swoops Into Supercar Action In Detroit
Published: 8th January 2004
Hyundai HCD8
The HCD8 is the first car to come from the all-new $30 million Hyundai Design and Technical Centre in Irvine, California.
The design team used marketing research from Hyundai Motor America to design a sporty vehicle that offers more flexibility, more usable space and easier access for passengers and luggage.
Joel Piaskowski, Chief Designer at the Hyundai Design and Technical Centre, said: "The Hyundai HCD8 sports tourer was designed to address the sporty car market and still meet the values and needs of today’s consumer."
He added: "The HCD8 is designed to be a high-performance car for everday use. We also stayed true to the core Hyundai asset of making it good value – the HCD8 offers more value within its market segment."
The interior is finished with two-tone Vapor Grey leather seating surfaces complemented by wood flooring and wood and aluminium trimmed steering wheel rim and shift lever knob. The aluminium trim is trimmed with a nickel finish.
Chris Zarlenga, Design Manager of the HCD8 project said: "To increase accessibility to the rear seat we lengthened the door apertures and by increasing the height of the rear profile and optimising storage space, we were also able to add interior utility."
The HCD8 with its supercharged 2.7-litre V6 engine, 6-speed manual transaxle and tuned dual exhaust provides performance to match its styling.
The driver can adjust the ride height a total of four inches through the air suspension. The vehicle can sit low for high-speed touring or can be raised to handle poor weather, avoid speed bumps or any other situation where additional ground clearance is needed.
The HCD8 also features state-of-art lighting. The LPI-supplied optics use LED technology from Osram Opto Semiconductor to illustrate how future automotive lighting systems will work. The LED lights burn brighter, and are more energy efficient than current lighting systems. In addition, they are expected to last for the life of the vehicle. Unlike incandescent bulbs, LED lighting performance does not deteriorate during its life.
Joel added: "Hyundai is about being bold and different in an automotive market that is not usually willing to take risks. Hyundai’s dramatic growth has been fuelled by the ability to offer customers greater value at a lower price point. Now we are taking that to a new design level. The HCD8 represents what a next-generation sports car from Hyundai could be."
