Hyundai Motor Co. on Tuesday showed it has raised the bar in the comfort-oriented sedan segment with its all-new Aslan front-wheel drive (FWD) flagship set to reach showrooms across South Korea this month.
   
The car was benchmarked on the Lexus ES 350, and to a lesser extent the Audi A6 TDI. It was designed from the outset to wrestle consumers away from sports-tuned German cars with stiff rides, and offers what the carmaker refers to as "premium comfort" that places the greatest emphasis on a soft, refined ride that pampers those inside.
 
  Hyundai aims to sell some 6,000 Aslans this year and more than 22,000 for 2015, with the initial response from prospective customers being very upbeat, especially in ride quality and smooth handling of the car in both city driving and highway speed.
   
The company said it may consider exporting the car that has been developed mainly for the home market, depending on demand.

Chinese dealers in particular have shown interest in the car, it said.
   
With the "toned-downed" Fluidic Sculpture 2.0 architecture of the Genesis and Sonata sedans, the Aslan, which means lion in Turkish, has a quiet cabin and a finely tuned and composed ride that can absorb road imperfections with ease using its electronically controlled suspension.
    
The car that shares the same platform of Hyundai's Grandeur full-size sedan has made considerable strides in the area of noise, vibration and harshness reduction through the latest sound insulation technologies. 
   
The carmaker, the flagship Hyundai Motor Group, the world's fifth-largest automotive conglomerate, said it used double glass not only on the windshield but on the front and rear door windows, and checked all structural designs to prevent unwanted outside noise from seeping in.
  
"Every effort has been made to ensure the quietest ride possible on the frame," Hyundai said.
   
This effort was shown to good effect with wind and road noise being well contained, even at considerable speeds. 
  
In regard to steering, the motor driven system was precise in regular driving conditions and required little in the way of corrections, although it still suffered from the artificial "numbness" that plagues most similar systems.   
  
The top of the line G330 tester car, with 19-inch tires and a sticker price of 45.9 million won (US$42,600), had a bright and easy to read color head-up display (HUD). The HUD showed vehicle speed, navigation information, speed limits and whether or not the car stayed in its lane. This feature allowed drivers to always look out the windshield and not gaze down at the instrument panel, making driving easier and less distracted.
   
Other safety features on the car, that slots above the FWD Grandeur and below the rear-wheel drive (RWD) Genesis, are the advanced smart cruise control, forward collision warning system, lane departure warning with steering wheel vibration, tire pressure monitoring system and blind-spot detection.
   
On the interior, the controls are reminiscent of the Genesis with improved human-machine interface, plus a host of amenities, such as quilt-like Nappa leather seats that can be cooled and heated, automatic rear window shades and soft plastic materials throughout the interior.
  
The Aslan, in addition, comes with fast Internet search features and a touchscreen display, built-in navigation, rear parking cameras, 12 high-performance Lexicon speakers and even a built-in carbon dioxide sensor. The electronic steering permits the car to self-park.
  
Kim Sang-dae, director of Hyundai's marketing division, said in a media test drive event outside of Seoul that the Aslan was developed to meet the demands of people getting tired of the "stiff" rides of many German diesel cars that tend to get noisy with time and have smaller back seat space due to the transmission tunnel needed in RWD vehicles. 
  
"The car has been built from the outset to attract people who have driven midsize Sonatas or the Grandeur entry-level luxury sedan, who in the past had no choice but to jump to either the premium Genesis sedan or import cars," he said. 
  
According to the executive, the car's merit can be found in the fact that most high-tech features can be had for under 40 million won. This, he claimed, is a great value and can increase the competitiveness of the car. 

The base Aslan starts at 39.9 million won.
 
Regarding safety, the car comes with nine airbags, and Hyundai said it aims to make it the top-rated car in terms of occupant safety.
   
On the other hand, the car's choice of 3.0-liter and 3.3L GDI engines seems tuned towards boosting the car's fuel economy rather than performance. 

The 3.0L engine is good for 270 ponies and has 31.6 kilogram meters of torque, while the 3.3L is rated at 294 horsepower and 35.3 kgm of twist. The latter engine also has a wider torque band.
  
The lack of steering-column mounted paddle shifters, which have become staples on many other cars, shows the Aslan's focus on comfort.
   
When driven, the car's acceleration is linear, and because of the sound insulation, speeds in excess of over 170 kilometers per hour can be reached with little effort for a large sedan with an empty weight of just under 1,700 kilograms. The car, however, is in no way a sports car and does feel heavy, even though it did handle turns relatively well, with acceptable levels of body row during hard cornering.
   
Another area where the car could lose points is its fuel economy of 9.5 kilometers on a liter of gasoline.
   
This is roughly the same as the mileage posted on the much larger RWD Genesis, but inferior to the 10.4 kmpl for the 3.0L Grandeur that has the exact same length, width, height and wheelbase as the Aslan. 
   
On the road, the fuel economy dropped to a dismal 4 kmpl in aggressive driving with sudden accelerations and stops in the 88 kilometer long test drive. It, however, rose to 11.5 kmpl on the expressway, with the car being driven within the speed limit.
   
To correct the fuel economy issue, Hyundai already said it plans to introduce a diesel engine version of the Aslan that may get the R2.2L mill. This engine could resolve the mileage issue since the R2.2 on the Grandeur diesel has been rated at a respectable 13.8 kmpl.
   
The carmaker said it has opened Aslan Space showrooms in several locations across the country so people can experience the car firsthand. It, moreover, said it will offer test drives for those that make reservations in advance. (Yonhap)