automotive design
Genesis GV80 Showcases Luxury And Technology.
Genesis, the luxury aimed sub-branch of Hyundai, has launched its first SUV. Named the GV80, with the V standing for versatility, it features a unique headlight design, a mix of aluminium and steel in construction, plus some world first comfort features.
William Lee, the Executive Vice President and Global Head for Genesis, says: “GV80 represents the essence of the innovative spirit of Genesis. As we launch GV80, our first luxury flagship SUV, we simultaneously open a new chapter for Genesis.”
Hot-stamped steel is a main component of the body’s structure, whilst aluminium features in the doors, bonnet, and tail-gate. An immediate standout of the exterior is the “Quad Lamp” headlight design. “The Quad Lamp graphic will become the most recognisable, unique signature of Genesis design, as the simplest of lines communicate a distinct identity,” said Luc Donckerwolke, Chief Design Officer of Hyundai Motor Group. “Two lines will come to define Genesis.”
Three design studios based in the U.S., Korea, and Germany collaborated on the design. Signature cues are the “Crest Grille”, flanked by the Quad Lamps, and something Genesis call the “G-Matrix”, a pattern in the light fixtures. There is also the Parabolic Line running along each side and complemented by lines over the wheel arches.
There’s no holding back on interior features for luxury either. Slim-line air vents provide a sense of elegance and a broad 14.5 inch touchscreen with a split-screen ability dominates the centre dash console and another simple luxury touch comes from a minimal use of hard texture switches and buttons. The appeal of soft materials extends to covering the door handles and quilted kneepads on the console sides.
An electronically powered shift-by-wire dial style gear selector is housed in the elegantly designed centre console. Handwriting recognition, such as that found on smart devices, allows phone number dialling or navigation setting. There’s also a new augmented reality system that works with the navigation, with driving guidelines set over camera-fed real time driving. A front mounted camera displays an optimal driving line on the infotainment screen.
Sound deadening technology goes up a notch with the GV80 showcasing a world first. Road-Noise Active Noise Control or RANC technology uses digital signal processing and analyses road noise. By generating opposing signals within 0.002 seconds, extraneous noise is cancelled out.
Another world-first technology is an active motion driver’s seat that contains seven air cells: a feature that reduces fatigue from long hours of driving. One-touch comfort control, adjustable from the front row, allows for limousine-level relaxation in the second-row seats. Heated and ventilated seats are available in the first two rows.
In addition, the GV80 is equipped with an air purification system that automatically operates according to indoor air quality, through an in-vehicle fine dust sensor. Active air purification with dual filters monitors the in-vehicle air quality in real time, and removes 99% of fine particulate matter, which maintains a clean and fresh cabin environment.
A straight six diesel will move the GV80. Peak torque, says Genesis, is 588Nm, with a peak power output of 204kW from the 3.0L capacity engine. Configured as a five seater and rolling on 19 inch diameter wheels, economy is quoted as 8.5L/100km. The Australian market sees the GV80 available with two petrol engines at launch, expected for mid-2020.
Buyers speccing an AWD model will have Multi-Terrain Control for various types of off-roading on surfaces such as Snow or Mud. Comfort in ride and handling will come from an electronically controlled suspension that will work with the front mounted cameras to adjust on the fly for better road holding.
An Advanced Driver Assistance System, ADAS, will feature some unique tech, such as SCC-ML. This is Smart Cruise Control with Machine Learning, an AI package that adapts to individual driving characteristics. The airbag count goes up to 10, with a centre-mounted airbag between the front occupants to mitigate interior impact.
There’s some extra convenience functionality such as Genesis Pay, which will be unique to the South Korean market. This works by linking a credit card to the car’s telematics and enables cashless payments via the navigation screen. Servicing is assisted by remote diagnosis technology and smartphone connectivity allows remote vehicle checking.
The Genesis website is where to find out more and register interest.
2020 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport Ready To Roll.
Mitsubishi’s progressive update of their range continues. Late in 2019 the freshened ASX was released and now the Triton-based Pajero Sport gets a makeover.
Front and centre is the addition of the now familiar shield nose. It’s a rework of the previous version and now features a reworked grille, the inwards pointing chrome highlights, and the squared off driving light clusters. By giving the front a square look it has the effect of making the Pajero Sport appear wider and more imposing. There’s also been a subtle increase to the height of the bonnet.
There’s been some tickling under the bonnet as well. The standard 2.4L diesel remains but some of the internals have been upgraded. The combustion chamber and fuel injection spray system have been given extra work for better optimisation of fuel spray, lowering the diesel’s compression ratio to 15.5:1. Boost from the turbo has gone up slightly to 200MPa, with the engine delivering 133kW @ 3,500rpm, and maximum torque runs at 430Nm. That’s at 2,500rpm. Mitsubishi say throttle response should be more instant and smoother.
The drive is 2WD and 4WD via Mitsubishi’s SuperSelect-11 system. 4WDLLC locks the centre diff for a more precise spread of torque to each corner, and engages the low range for off-road excursions. Inside the auto is a nifty bit of work too. It’s called Idle Neutral Control and it reduces internal energy losses caused by torque converter drag when the vehicle is stationary in Drive.
There are some subtle changes inside too. A powered tailgate will be standard and likely across all models bar GLX. It’s kick activated too, for those with full hands from shopping. Adaptive Cruise Control will be fitted to all except GLX. The floor console AC Power Outlet on the outgoing model has been moved to the rear end of the floor console to enhance user-convenience. Up front the centre console has been modified in shape and the console forward of the shifter has been changed in profile.
In the Exceed the driver gets a new 8.0 inch full colour driver’s display. On the 8.0 inch screen in the console the all around monitor has been upgraded to show obstacles detected by the ultrasonic sensors. Smartphone connectivity has been upgraded with a “misplaced” vehicle in a carpark now able to activate the headlights remotely via smartphone. It can also show fuel consumption, remaining driving range, Eco score, and consumption history. Apple Watch wearers can also activate the power tailgate remotely, and receive vehicle operation notifications.
Safety goes up a notch with driver’s knee airbags now standard across the range, as is Forward Collision Mitigation or FCM. Lane Change Assist, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, and a modified Blind Spot Alert are now standard. The Exceed gains Ultrasonic Misacceleration Mitigation, a system that uses sensors to read around the car and stop automatically if sensors pick up an obstacle.
Outside, White Diamond and Graphite Grey metallic paint have been added.
Pricing starts at $45,900 for the entry level GLX 5 seater, with the GLS 5 seater starting from $52,490. Move up to the 7 seater GLS and there’s $53,990. Exceed starts from $59,990. The 2020 Pajero Sport range is available now.
Toyota Yaris GR: Potency Is The Middle Name.
Toyota’s city car, the Yaris, has been a solid performer for the Japanese company for some time. For 2020, Toyota has shrugged off the cardigan and given the petite little thing a heart and soul transplant. Called the Yaris GR (Gazoo Racing), it’s due mid 2020 for Australia. The basis for the Yaris GR comes from Toyota’s extensive rallying history, and there’s been substantial input from Gazoo Racing and Tommi Mäkinen Racing, meaning the GR Yaris is to be the homologation model of its next WRC racer.
Power is from a three cylinder engine, complete with single scroll turbo. 192kW and 360Nm are the figures quoted, with capacity a huge (for a three potter) 1.6L. Power goes to all four corners via a six speed manual, making it the first Toyota non SUV/4WD to feature all paws being driven since the Celica GT-40 of twenty years ago. A zero to one hundred time is around 5.5 seconds, and top speed is a very decent 230kph.The engine will feature piston cooling via oil jets and the exhaust valves are larger than normal to provide better breathing. 
A restyled body not only provides better aero but a lighter structure, meaning a power to weight ratio of 6.7kg/kilowatt from the 1,280kg (dry) weight. That restyling features larger wheel arches to cope with the 18 inch diameter alloys that will be standard. They’ll wrap 356mm vented brake discs. Dimensions are 3,995mm for length, 1,805mm in width, and 1,465mm in height. The wheelbase is a massive, for the overall size, 2,558mm. The front track is slightly narrower than the rear, at 1,530mm v 1,560mm.
A 91mm lower roofline helps the Yaris GR slice through the air more effectively, whilst the engine has been moved rearwards for a better weight distribution. Compression moulded carbon-fibre polymer and aluminuim paneling (bonnet, doors, tailgate) for the three door shape are the main contributors to the lower mass. Frameless doors help too, and add a more aggressive look to the profile. Underneath there is a new platform (Toyota’s melded the GA-8 front and GA-C rear) which allows for a wider rear track and new double-wishbone rear suspension system. The development team responsible for the Yaris GR also devised reinforcements beneath the side members to ensure the suspension’s performance potential can be realised.
Performance for the drive hasn’t been overlooked. Being an all wheel drive hatch, the driveline needs something to help the front and rear work together. Toyota have a “high response coupling” that joins the two but there’s a twist in the twist. This ingenious system uses slightly different gear ratios for the front and rear axles, which are mounted on double wishbone, not torsion beam, suspension components, which allows for a theoretical range of front/rear torque balance from 100:0 (full front-wheel drive) to 0:100 (full rear-wheel drive). This flexibility gives a performance advantage over AWD on-demand systems that use twin-coupling or permanent AWD systems with a centre differential. The GR FOUR system is also considerably lighter in weight.
The driver has full control over the way the drive system works. An AWD mode dial switch allows: normal mode with the base front/rear torque distribution is at 60:40; in Sport mode the balance shifts more to the rear with a 30:70 distribution to achieve a “fun-to-drive” quality on winding roads and circuits; and in Track mode the base setting is 50:50 for fast, competitive driving on circuits or special stages. In each mode, the torque balance will automatically adjust in response to the driver’s inputs, vehicle behaviour and road or track conditions.
Toyota Australia’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Sean Hanley, said the GR Yaris is the latest in Toyota’s rich heritage of sports cars that include the Toyota 800, 2000GT, Celica, Supra, Corolla AE86, MR2 and 86. “The GR Yaris is an exciting well-rounded vehicle that exemplifies Toyota’s commitment to producing ever-better cars, offering compelling performance that will appeal to a broad range of enthusiasts. It is a rally car for the road that pushes vehicle performance to the limit and will enhance the image of the Toyota and Yaris brands.” he said.
Pricing for Australia is yet to be finalised.
(Pictures courtesy of Toyota Australia and Motor Magazine.)
Designers, Please Explain This Feature
Over the Christmas and New Year holiday season, we went on a good old-fashioned road trip – well away from where all those horrible fires have been happening. In keeping with old-fashioned road trips, we decided that this was a good time to give our 2000 Ford Falcon AU a chance to show its paces. It’s been my husband’s doer-upper and mancave tinkering project for a while now, so why not? It certainly behaved itself nicely on the road and was comfy for long journeys. However, it had one little design feature that puzzled me and certainly gave us something to talk about during the more tedious stretches of the road once we’d exhausted the topic of how appalling the fires are, what caused them, the smoke haze, etc. etc.
The feature in question in the boot. The boot doesn’t have one of those old-school buttons that unlatches the boot on the boot door itself. Instead, you have to unlock the body of the car and put the key in the ignition and turn it on one click then press a button on the dashboard – which is rather faded on this 20-year-old vehicle. Slightly fiddly, yes, but no worse than what you have to do with my mother-in-law’s Suzuki Kizashi that uses an auto-unlock key fob. The automatic key fob might seem like a brilliant idea when you’re approaching the back of the Kizashi with your hands full – and my mother-in-law loves this feature – but it’s a bit of a nuisance when you want to send one of the kids to go and get Gran her cardy out of the boot please, dear. This means that the keys have to come out of wherever Gran’s put them and it takes a less experienced person to hold the fob in exactly the right way before the boot’s opened and Gran has to go and show the kiddies how to do it properly.
Anyway, back to the boot of the Falcon. Despite the need to have the keys in the ignition to open the boot from the outside, the boot itself has a mechanical boot hatch release lever. On the inside of the boot. In a sedan. A sedan where you can’t open the boot mechanically from the outside and where the body of the car has to be unlocked before you can open the boot. When on earth will you use this lever?
The lever is no good in the all too common scenario of accidentally shutting your keys in the boot. In fact, if you unlocked the Falcon’s boot, took the keys out of the ignition, locked the doors and then accidentally dropped the keys in the boot before slamming it shut, you would be in the poop, as you would have access to neither boot nor cabin. So the mechanical lever was no good for that situation.
If you couldn’t get out of the car doors for some reason but you were inside the cabin of the sedan, you could possibly exit via the boot. In the unlikely scenario that you opened the boot, took the keys out of the ignition again, then shut them in the boot, you could do the same. This would require you do fold the rear seats of the sedan flat and move the luggage out of the way first. Fortunately, the seats do fold flat, allowing access into the boot, although I haven’t tried this myself. The load-through slot that appears when you fold down the arm rest and the cupholders is far too small for anybody over the age of three to squeeze through. You could, in theory, reach the mechanical lever by reaching through the load-through slot but only if (a) you had arms like an orangutan and (b) the suitcases and the picnic basket aren’t in the way, as the boot release lever is nearer the front of the boot.
The only time that you would be able to use that release lever is if you were riding inside the boot of this sedan and the hatch door was closed. Again, when would this happen? In the rather dangerous and illegal case where you’ve got a sixth person needing to ride in the car and you’re out of seatbelts, you could smuggle that person in the boot. This is NOT RECOMMENDED (although I’ll admit to having taken a passenger this way once over 20 years ago – and it wasn’t in Australia, either). However, even then, the passenger riding in the boot wouldn’t want to open the hatch and get out while the car is moving. He or she would have to push open the load-through slot and ask the driver to stop. Then the driver could also push the button to open the boot as well, so the lever wouldn’t be used anyway. However, if everybody else had left the car and someone was still inside the boot, they could let themselves out – and the only times we could see this happening was if someone was trying to stow away on a ferry or sneak into, say, a music festival or military base without the gatekeepers noticing.
After much discussion, we figured that the only time you’d really want to use the inside boot release lever is if you had been kidnapped and shoved in the boot, and you wanted to alert other road users to the fact so that you can be rescued – or so you can jump out of the boot.
I am somewhat aghast that the designers built in a feature that is only useful in the case of being abducted or when doing something illegal. Did they really think that cases of kidnapping are that common? Did they design a car that’s useful for sneaking in unofficially or for people smuggling? WHAT WERE THEY THINKING????
If anyone can throw any light on this feature, I would love to know. Please give us your best speculations in the comments!
Level 2, 9 Help Street