2004 Hyundai Santa Fe Gls V6/3.5l 4dr Suv /remote Starter / One Owner / Leather on 2040-cars

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Hyundai cranks the Tucson to 700 hp for SEMA

The annual SEMA Show doesn't kick off in Las Vegas until Nov. 3, but Hyundai is getting an early start by teasing another collaboration with the talented tuners at Bisimoto Engineering. Following up on their high-performance takes on the Sonata, Genesis Coupe, and Elantra GT of past years, the attention turns to the Tucson. Now that the crossover packs over 700 horsepower, Bisimoto prefers to describe it as a "Brute Ute." To crank that much power out of a Tucson, the tuners perform quite a long list of modifications to Hyundai's 2.4-liter Theta-II four-cylinder. Among them, the mill gets strengthened internal parts, a new cam, high-boost turbo, and updated management system. Bisimoto then routes the grunt through a six-speed manual gearbox. The tuners match the massive power with an appropriately wild look. Up front, the normal grille is gone, and now all that's visible is a massive intercooler. The blue Tucson also hunkers low over 19-inch wheels thanks to a custom air suspension, and bigger brakes should help slow things down at high speed. The interior also gets outfitted with an upgraded stereo, and there's now a roll cage in there, too. While only being shown currently in the sketch above, we expect to get all the angles at SEMA in November. Bisimoto Engineering's First CUV is the Most-Powerful Tucson Ever FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., Sept. 21 2015 –Hyundai has revealed the most-powerful 2016 Tucson ever created, built by the powertrain gurus at Bisimoto Engineering for 2015 SEMA. Partnering for a fourth straight year, Bisimoto's "Brute Ute" will be revealed at Hyundai's SEMA press conference on November 3 at 11:30 a.m. PT, in Las Vegas. Utilizing Hyundai's 2.4-liter "Theta-II" power plant as the starting point for the build, similar to last year's 2015 Sonata, Bisimoto mated strengthened internals with fast-burning flex-fuel, a high-boost turbocharger and an upgraded engine management system to put down more than 700 horsepower to the wheels through a 6-speed manual transmission. This rendition of the 2016 Tucson was built with the ultimate vision of packing world-beating performance and technology into a brand-new, unexpected vehicle platform. "The 2016 Tucson was the perfect platform for this year's build, offering me the opportunity to captivate a wider audience by tapping into the growing popularity of the CUV market," said Bisi Ezerioha, owner and chief engineer, Bisimoto Engineering.

40+ cars that barely avoid the gas guzzler tax

The Gas Guzzler schedule, with mpg ratings and charges that haven't changed since 1991, lays out which fuel-swillers owe what to Uncle Sam.
I started thinking about the "Gas Guzzler Tax" - considerably less well known as The Energy Tax Act of 1978 - when I was driving Dodge's new Challenger SRT Hellcat last week. Unsurprisingly for a car that can burn 1.5 gallons of gas per minute at max tilt, theoretically able to empty a full tank of premium in about 13 minutes, the Hellcat will be subject to the Gas Guzzler Tax schedule when it goes on sale.

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.