2014 Hyundai Sonata Gls 4dr Sedan on 2040-cars

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Hyundai and Rhys Millen reunite, will return to Pikes Peak with new RWD racer, Genesis Coupe

Last September, Hyundai confirmed that it was exiting all of its motorsports programs in North America. That left Rhys Millen Racing without a title sponsor for its Formula Drift and Global RallyCross Championship series challengers. It also looked to have meant the end of a partnership that last year resulted in a record-setting run at Pikes Peak when Rhys Millen established the new benchmark for a run up the Colorado mountain in a production-based race car.
Hyundai clarified that September report by saying it was "reconsidering our continued involvement in Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, having achieved the world record in a Hyundai Genesis Coupe this year." The return is official, with Hyundai saying it is going back to the peak with Millen and two cars, one of them a "purpose-built unlimited class rear-drive," the other being the Hyundai Genesis Coupe-based racer that set last year's record in the time attack two-wheel-drive class.
Hyundai wants to show off the strength of its engineering, so the unlimited car will have something like 900 horsepower and 800 pound-feet of torque while using the production block, cylinder heads, bearings and accessories of its Lambda V6 engine. You can read more about the effort in the press release below, and click the image above for an enlarged view of what's coming.

Hyundai app lets you build your own zombie apocalypse car

Walking Dead fans, rejoice! Thanks to Hyundai, you can build your very own virtual zombie survival machine. We've all seen the light-green Hyundai Tucson transporting the likes of Rick Grimes and his motley crew of survivors in AMC's hit series, and now you can get in on the action with Hyundai's Walking Dead Chop Shop.
Available both as a mobile app and desktop version, this quirky configurator presents you with a choice of three Hyundai vehicles: the Veloster Turbo, Santa Fe and Elantra. Each one has its strengths, though we particularly like the Santa Fe's utility. After all, according to Hyundai, "There's room for seven survivors inside" and you won't have to worry about "getting zombie all over your seats. They're easy to wipe clean." But for those who prefer not to invite zombies along for the journey, the speedy Veloster Turbo and its 201-horsepower engine may be the way to go.
Once you select your post-apocalyptic ride, you have a choice of colors (including Apocalypse Black, of course), decals ("Alive Inside" is a useful one) and nearly 300 other zombie-fighting features. We're partial to the automatic shotguns on the hood, although the flamethrower is also quite tempting. You can even add titanium or aluminum armor and a dizzying array of other defensive and offensive weapons: spinning saw blades on the wheels, a horde plow on the front bumper and barbed wire on the side windows, just to name a few.

Hyundai/Kia's Prius rival to arrive by 2017

The Toyota Prius is the undisputed king of the hybrid market, but Hyundai and Kia are hoping to challenge its reign in the coming years with their own dedicated model. However, in all likelihood this is the same technology being shared between them. "We will take the lead in the future by raising the competitiveness of our environment-friendly cars like hybrid-only cars, plug-in hybrid cars and fuel cell hydrogen cars," Hyundai Motor CEO Kim Choong-ho said to Reuters, during the launch of another vehicle in South Korea.
While Kim didn't say when the model would be ready, Autocar in Europe spoke to people at Kia, who said that the company's own hybrid was two years away and codenamed the DE. The initial vehicle is reportedly a five-door hatchback that's about 169-inches long, with more conventional styling than the Prius. Its powertrain is reportedly based around a 1.6-liter engine with electric assist. A plug-in version might follow later, and other bodystyles on the platform are possible. A recently spotted test mule might show the current state of development on the project (pictured above).
According to Reuters, the decision for the new vehicle comes in order to meet tighter emissions in some markets. However, it seems like a challenging move for the US market. Hyundai already sells its Tucson fuel cell in limited quantities and the Sonata hybrid, and Kia has the Optima hybrid and Soul EV. Industry analysts are also predicting that hybrids might have a hard time versus internal combustion engines in the coming years. In addition, Toyota is rumored to get fuel economy close to 60 miles per gallon for some versions of the next Prius. All of these factors make selling the models here a potentially difficult undertaking.