Hyundai rocks on with roadster

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

This is the muscular mid-engined roadster Hyundai says will give the best-selling Mazda MX-5 a run for its money.

It's a minimalist concept called the HCD6 and it is expected to form the basis of the Korean carmaker's first open-top sportscar.

The HCD6 was unveiled at the Chicago Motor Show the other day. Industry watchers said Hyundai's usually conservative executives were buoyant about the two-seater.

It was designed at the company's California studio by the team which styled the Santa Fe, the four-wheel-drive which went on sale in New Zealand before Christmas.

Features include a see-through engine cover, single roll bar integrated into the centre console and prominent side intakes sculpted into the doors and channelling cooling air to the engine.

Stylists said the design of the intakes improved the car's aerodynamics by directing turbulent air from around the front wheels to the engine.

The HCD6 rides on 18-inch wheels and is powered by a 2.7-litre V6 driving the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox.

The all-alloy engine is borrowed from the people-mover Trajet, in which it produces around 120kW at 6000 rpm and about 230Nm of pulling power at 4000 rpm.

But it would almost certainly be reworked for more oomph to provide the roadster with an impressive power-to-weight ratio. A top speed of 230 km/h and a zero to 100 km/h sprint time of about 7 seconds has been mentioned.

Hyundai has kept details of the car's platform under wraps as it seeks to cut down on the number of platforms it uses in its model lineup from 24 to seven. The HCD6 is different from the next-generation Hyundai Coupe, which is due early next year.

The Coupe has been undergoing hot-weather testing in Australia and is said to be bigger than the car it replaces.

It is not a revamp of the revamped original but rather a new vehicle with new bodywork. Hyundai will offer a new range of engines for the Coupe, including the 2.7-litre V6. The standard 2.0-litre four-cylinder has been reworked to provide more useable power.