2011 Hyundai Accent Gls Sedan 4-door 1.6l on 2040-cars

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April Fools' Day brings Jeep Sedan, Hyundai N Roadster, Toyota Yaris pickup and more

There is one day out of the year when public relations professionals have permission to lie to journalists and to the public: April Fools' Day. Manufacturers release details about wild, weird and wacky new technology, concept vehicles and services. Some take it to obvious outlandish extremes (Jeep Sedan anybody?), while others plot to mislead with products that are just outside the realm of possibility. Check out all the "jokes" below. BMW Motorrad BMW doesn't want to exclude anybody from experiencing the thrill of high-level racing, so it is introducing 'iRace" autonomous programming on its S 1000 RR sport bike. It includes beginner, sportsman, advanced and unlimited driving modes, and stores GPS information for all Superbike world championship tracks. Hyundai Hyundai is wrong for this. The Hyundai N Roadster is the work of South Korean designer Yeonjoon Park and features a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine, rear-wheel drive and a hard convertible top. Hyundai says this is a "concept (for now)," but we think it'd make a seriously great Mazda Miata competitor. Honda Honda wins the award for the best interactive gimmick, as its press release for the '90s-inspired special-edition Pastport includes a live hotline number with a message from Fred Savage. Call 1-833-PASTPORT for more information. Jeep Put the Jeep Cherokee face on the Chrysler 300's body, and voila! The 2019 Jeep Sedan is born. We can't decide if the name or the rendering is better. Land Rover Accessibility to charging ports is of major concern to anybody with a plug-in vehicle. So, with the recent launch of the Range Rover P400e and Range Rover Sport P400e, Land Rover is putting forth an effort to install more stations around the globe. First up is Scotland's Isle of Skye. Adventurers need juice too! Lexus Australia Lexus expands its Encore service to include doggos. The new service, called Enpaw, will take pups to luxury boarding kennels in style. Toyota U.S. Toyota created the Yaris Adventure pickup for "those who want to tell their friends they own a truck but never veer off pavement." It's part Mazda 2, part RAV4, 100 percent ute and it looks ... great? Creating a new segment might be all fun and games to Toyota, but Ford is reportedly considering a Focus-based ute in a similar, albeit larger, style. Toyota Australia Toyota is launching a new HiAce van, and it's already getting a limited-edition variant called the PieAce.

Why Kia doesn't need a premium brand

Hyundai's creation of the Genesis luxury brand means it and fellow Korean brand Kia have finally hit the mainstream in the U.S. – as far as products are concerned – after nearly three decades of trying. Which is about as long as it took Toyota and Nissan to roll out Lexus and Infiniti, respectively. It's history repeating itself. Genesis is supposed to be the way Hyundai's premium models get the respect they deserve, without carrying the baggage of a name associated with frugality. Hyundai has, in fact, built up a reputation over the last decade or so for cars that compete head-on with class leaders, rather than aim to be 90 percent as good for 75 percent of the price. And because Kia shares a number of components with Hyundai, its vehicles have also steadily become not only better mainstream vehicles, but have continued to aim higher than their price points. Does Kia need to follow now in its parent's steps with a prestige brand to market its most expensive models? I'm aware of the Kia K900, the company's deepest foray into luxury territory notably occupied by Lexus. Kia, however, has consistently been pushing this $60,000 full-size luxury sedan along with $0 down, low monthly payment lease deals. Turns out there really aren't many people looking for a full-size Kia luxury sedan. Or maybe they're just waiting to get it for $20,000 in a couple of years. Consider the K900 and Genesis when I convince you Kia already makes upscale cars to rival those with premium badges. They just don't happen to be its most expensive model. Shortly after Hyundai's announcement it would spin its luxury models off into the Genesis brand, I spent a few days with a 2016 Kia Sorento SXL. And I'm willing to call it a more convincing attempt to get people out of luxury cars than the K900. Driving the Sorento is not an emotional experience. You feel parental driving it, thinking you might've forgotten to pick your kids up until you remember you don't actually have kids. But after settling into the nicely stitched and perforated leather seats, you respect its comfort, quiet and amenities. The headliner is soft, the stitching on the dash top is convincingly real and everyone is impressed by the sharp graphics on the touchscreen and the slick powered shade that reveals an expansive glass roof. A Kia Sorento costing more than $46,000 sounds absurd until you wonder how much better an Acura MDX or Lexus RX350 is when those cost as much as $10,000 more.

An inside look at Rhys Millen's new Pikes Peak Unlimited racer [w/video]

Wider, Lower And Decidedly More Sinister
Rhys Millen was sitting on a cooler whittling away at a piece of aluminum when I first arrived at the expansive skidpad at the California Proving Grounds, owned by Hyundai, located in a desolate part of the California desert about a dozen miles east of Mojave. By the time I had walked over to the accomplished driver for introductions, he had picked up a piece of sandpaper and begun to arduously file away at the alloy's rough edges, smoothing them masterfully.
He was focused on the job, but I politely interrupted him and asked what he was making. Ryhs looked up, smiled, and then grabbed a few zip-ties and asked me to come over to the new Hyundai RMR PM580-T, destined for the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in just two short weeks, raised on its air jacks just a few yards away.