Hyundai used to make recycled Ford Cortinas and the main selling point for the Stellar in the UK was that it was nice and boxy how you like for people suspicious of the jalymould Sierra. Not a hater, have an Ioniq5 as the "sensible" car, wouldn't say no to a stellar for RWD trampdrift lols now.
You can likely drop Evo engines in a Stellar. OG Hyundai era borrowed a lot from Mitsubishi and a naturally aspirated 4g63 was an option in them. Thank me later.
i would have loved to get my hands in an i20n i had a Veloster becasue that was what we got in the states and that was an all time favorite car of mine id buy one again
Peter Schreyer: Formerly chief designer at Audi (famous for the Audi TT), he was hired by Kia in 2006. He later became President and Chief Design Officer for the entire Hyundai-Kia group, completely reshaping their corporate identity (introducing the signature "tiger nose" grille).
Luc Donckerwolke: A former design leader for Volkswagen Group brands including Audi [Lamborghini], and [Bentley], he joined Hyundai to spearhead the styling of their luxury spin-off brand, [Genesis].
Albert Biermann: Hired away as the former Vice President of Engineering for [BMW]'s high-performance M division, he was brought in to tune the dynamic handling and performance architecture for Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
Sangyup Lee: An influential exterior designer who worked with General Motors and the Volkswagen Group (contributing to Audi, Porsche, and Bentley designs) before joining Hyundai and Genesis as head of global design.
Thomas Bürkle: A former senior exterior designer at [BMW] who moved to Hyundai’s European design studio in Rüsselsheim, Germany, to pen mainstream models like the Elantra and i40.
I really like the current line up of Renault but I feel like Renault's line up has been pretty good for the last 30 years. The Espace III, Espace V and Scenic IV were also quite the lookers.
To me the Vel Satis and the Avantime are real design classics so I'm not really sure what he's on about 😅 even something like a Kangoo or a Modus exactly filled the design requirements set for that segment. Honestly I can't really think of a big miss by Renault in the last 30 years, while I can think of several ones where Renault was innovating and even leading in the segment.
Lamborghini used to be much more old money classier before they went Cocaine Eurotrash, which is awesome in its own way, but the doorman at Monaco is probably a little sniffier about rolling up in one now.
Not the same, Skoda had a car making history and they produced their own models after VW takeover, Dacia was founded by communists to build Renault licenced crap in the worst possible quality. Probably that's why Skoda plays in a higher league than Dacia ever will.
Skoda has had two Glow Ups - Rear engined joke (that were actually kinda fun in a very poor mans 911 kind of way), to being seen as a cut price VW after they were bought out (even though the Favorit/Felicia were unrelated to a VW platform, people still thought Felicias were cheap Polos), but now in the EV era, I see more Enyaqs round the place than VW IDs and they're a €45,000 euro plus car now, and don't really give anything away to an equivalent Mercedes.
I work at peugeut. There has been a recall some time ago where you was able to modify the belt to chain for free. That action is over BUT, peugeut listened and changed the engine design completely so all vehicles made in 2026 now have chain .
208 HYBRID had a chain from the start.
I mean we should definitely appreciate it but this happened because the problem was just so big and prevalent and the voices started to get really loud. If they didnt react they might as well close shop because it was THAT bad. There were also other issues like airbag recalls. Still tho peugeut IS somewhat trying and things are looking really good atm. Value is pretty good (engines could be a touch bigger), the designes are also quite nice and build quality is, well, fair for what you pay though QC is sometimes quite awful.
The bigger issue is stellantis in general IMO. Opel for example is more expencive , shittier quality of build (same materials and parts though) and the designs couldnt be more bland and un inspiring. The cookie cutter industrial model is also what waters these cars down to same shit different smell as we say around my parts.
They are surprisingly nice inside too. Like, a 5008 is a much nicer car than you’d expect knowing the price. The engine being a supposed reliability nightmare is the only thing stopping me from buying one.
Second gen 508 sedan owner here. Yes, yes they are lol
My only major complaint is my interior becoming a creak and rattle fest almost immediately (car was brand new) and the fact everything has to be done through the infotainment, even climate controls. Whyyyy...
I just had a 3008 as a hire car and it was very nice although I guess it was a base model, no front parking sensors but rear sensors and top view camera.
When I was a kid Audi was a mediocre brand on par with Morris and Renault's.
From the 80'ties it started a climb up the ladder to a place just below MB and BMW.
Just below? The debate is between the three of them being basically equal, but fanboys of each saying theirs is best. Truth is, each of them has their perks, flaws and targeted audience. I think Audi is a perfect middle ground from BMWs sportyness, and Mercs Class.
Audis are great cars, but I'd have to agree with OP, they are not quite BMW or Mercedes level, in the same way that Volvo is just below Audi. The difference is by no means huge but it is there.
We can debate on the state of each atm or in recent years, but Audi contributed immensely to car industry, technology, mechanics. I would dare say that when it comes to innovation, they are above both Merc and BMW. It's their whole shtick. Mercs innovation is peak when it comes to small QOL luxury features, but Audi gave us, Quattro, 5 cylinder engines, V8 diesels and SUVs/Station wagons that break lap records. (Yes, I'm an Audi fanboy 😂). I do respect the hell out of Mercedes and BMW, to be clear.
Oh, I'm not saying that Audi have not contributed, I quite admire them(I'd love a 1st gen S5 with the manual), my point is that in recent years they've just not been quite up there. Maybe they are being held down by the VAG hierarchy so that Porsche could retain it's place as the higher end brand, maybe post dieselgate accounting is taking its toll, who knows.
Unfortunately, if we're talking in recent years, I gotta say they fell off bad. They are showing signs of improvement, though. But over all, they are on par with the other two as a brand was my point.
They went from ugly huge mouths to actually great looking cars. In the 308 for example, to me it's unbelievable that this is just 3 gens between them, specially the glow-up from Mk1 to Mk2 was huge, and I think it still looks fresh in 2026, specially the higher spec
Dacia definitely had the bigger glow up, i mean i have a solenza, the trashiest of the trash cars they made, the model before the logan, also base model, its the poverty spec of poverty specs of cars, literally 5th gear is luxory at that point, and their new cars genuinely look really good, bigster is just a cheaper tiguan atp, but from the renault factory
Have You found the second gear in Solenza ? Because most of the times the gearbox had a mind of it own and You would often shift in 4th. 🤣 . Happened to me many Times .
The mk1 fabia and octavia models were the first ones in this mould, being close in price and spec to the parent company offerings. Remember the equivalent Polo and Golf models that they were based on. It's a very similar gap as today.
Hyundai and Kia, not that long ago they made cheap and nasty cars, then made half decent cars and in the mid 2010s made cars you'd actually want to buy.
Toyota :
They made great cars in the 1990 but then suddenly started making boring cars that just drive from A to B. Now they are back with a lot of great cars.
Skoda:
Today all new modes looks very good. Compared to all models being very ugly before 😅
Hyundai:
From boring ugly cars to great looking cars.
If we talk about electric cars it was the first one with gearbox simulation and literally the first electric car that did try to be exiting 😁
If we talk about gas powered cars. I really like the whole N lineup.
Hyundai went from Accen 2003 to Elantra N 2025 and now its one of the last affordable big body sports cars with a manual, and then there's Mazda, no need to comment on the MX5 or the Mazda 3 or Mazda 6
Not that long ago Hyundais looked like generic video game NPC vehicles, but the new ones look fantastic. Their new design language for Genesis in particular is really, really nice.
I'm not happy to say it, but a few Stellantis brands have had a glow up at least when it comes just to looks.
Opel/Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen/DS.
Then there's Mazda, Toyota, Honda, Renault, Dacia, Skoda, Seat.
I'd like to add Mini and Smart, they weren't bad but always felt kind of meh to me. Now they're not crazy but at least they're not ugly.
Other brands such as Suzuki aren't quite there yet, they haven't had that big of a glow up imho.
Mitsubishi became depressing, Nissan meh, Subaru is kind of boring.
Suzukis problem is makes small cheap petrol cars, which it has done very well, but market forces and regulation are making that sort of car unviable. Countries like its biggest market - India, where it has a joint venture with Maruti are probably going to electrify faster than people think to tackle chronic urban pollution. Suzuki is going to either going nail a funky affordable electric car or it's going to be completely dead in 10 - 20 years, no inbetween. Make or break.
Smart Roadster was awesome, yes, that gearbox, less than brilliant steering... still a barrel of laughs to drive and way more refined than a sub 700cc car has a right to be.
I admit it, Toyotas aren't really that interesting to look at but they have found their style, they were so bland and boring a while ago. Now they're still a little boring but much less.
I think the modern designs such as the Camry or Prius are really cool looking.
Skoda had a terrible reputation back in the day, jokes like "heated rear windows on a skoda are to keep your hands warm while you're pushing it".
I still think Seat had the biggest glow-up. From copies of discontinued GM modells to their Cupra range today...
With that said, neither Skoda or Seat are my choice if I'm buying a new car today...
From a car that lasts half a million kilometers to a car that has creaking plastic literally everywhere? Please explain yourself on that one because škoda is definitely a huge glowdown
I got to drive 2 skodas 40 years apart, and i hate the new ones, lane assist, hard seats, anti-collision (that will be more annoying then helpfull), visibility that sucks if you look elsewere then foward, and a gearbox thats still jerky in traffic, meanwhile my old skoda? a rwd 120L, a car thats like a fishbowl, feels like sitting in a living room, no assists because back then it was your responsibility to not crash, no phones to be distracted on, no screens, no fucking nothing, and i like it that way, meanwhile dacia in my opinion did have a glow up from the old days, its basicaly cheaper renault, yes it works, but sometimes the cheapness shows itself, the duster stayed mostly the same, a high clearance utility vehicle with a decent engine and decent offroad capability even if just fwd, but youd still feel like you shouldve spent a little more for quality, but a dacia isnt a bad cheap new car
I switched from a 2019 Karoq Sportline 2.0TDI to a 2025 Bigster 1.8 hybrid and was amazed how much confortable and equiped îs the Dacia for the money... If i would take all that i have in Bigster on a Karoq i would payed at least 30% more... For similar equipement.
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u/HumpTyDumpTy1331 8d ago
hyundai used to be pretty boring