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Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors Sdn Bhd (HSDM) recently launched the new look Grand Starex MPV after having undergone the Royale full bodykit treatment, in Malaysia.
The Grand Starex Royale sports a more in-your-face grille at the front as well as added skirting throughout the MPV�s 5.1-metre body. The side wing mirrors now have integrated L.E.D indicators. Apart from that, the remarkable crystal headlamps also lights up automatically in dim surroundings.
Reversing the Grand Starex Royale has never been easier with its rearview camera that shows you precisely how much space you have to reverse. Parking problems will be solved with the camera and existing 4 reverse sensors neatly tucked into the rear bumper. A rear windshield wiper is also added onto the rear windscreen for better visibility when it rains.
The in-car entertainment is also upgraded with a brand new Pioneer LCD touch screen DVD player linked to a 7� LCD screen located in the middle top of the MPV for rear passengers. This DVD Player streams wide and crisp clear movies with one touch for maximum enjoyment. The 2.5 litre CRDi diesel engine that comes with a Variable Geometry Turbocharger (VGT) and a turbo intercooler remains unchanged. This power plant unleashes a maximum power output of 125 kW (170 ps) at 3,800 rpm and maximum torque of 392 Nm (40 kg-m) at 2,000 to 2,500 rpm for high-speed performance. This second generation CRDi diesel engine system from BOSCH is an improved engine with computerized system to adjust to the condition appropriately when necessary.
Mated to a 5-speed shiftronic transmission, the Grand Starex Royale delivers sports-mode exhilaration for dynamic driving, while improved front and rear suspension supported by MacPherson strut type and multi-link layout respectively, affirms long distance comfort. Despite having a length of more than five meters, the turning radius of the Grand Starex Royale is no more than 5.6 metres, making tight spaces in any setting easily negotiable.
The Grand Starex Royale is the winner of the large MPV Category at the Autocar ASEAN Awards 2008. It has also won the BOSCH 1st Asian Auto Fuel Efficiency Award 2008 for luxury MPV.
Available in 4 varying colours � Crystal White, Stone Black, Sleek Silver and Carbon Grey, this full-size MPV is available for viewing and test drive at all Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors Showrooms nationwide. The Grand Starex Royale 2.5GLS Diesel (A) VGT is priced at RM 148,888 (OTR) in West Malaysia and RM 153,997.50 (OTR) in East Malaysia.
Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors offers its customers a 5 years or 300,000km extended warranty that assures all customers of any unexpected repair or cost due to manufacturing defect. This is the longest warranty offered by any automaker in Malaysia.
Malaysian motorists can place their bookings at the nearest sales outlet or call its Customer Careline at 1-300-13-2000 for more information.
2009 seems to be a season of bang-for-bucks MPVs. Notwithstanding the economic recession looming ahead for us, multi-purpose vehicles are hoping to rough through the downturn, especially with budget models like the much-hyped, soon-to-be-launched Proton Exora and Perodua�s new MPV (Toyota Passo Sette) in the making.
Coming to present tense, and moving a couple of rungs up this people mover segment, we have this �Starship Enterprise� of a minivan (as the American folks call it), minibus or full-size MPV. Whatever you might want to call it, there�s no denying that this Starex is simply huge. Ditto its front and rear tracks, with even the bulge of all 4 wheels showing its wide jutting stance. Measuring over 5metres in length, think Mercedes R-Class and S-Class in extended �L� guises, and perhaps even taller than the trendy and popular deep-freezer-on-wheels Toyota Alphard. This is another repeat of maximum bang-for-bucks from the Koreans. Splendid, I thought to myself since most guys, if not all, love bigger things generally (stop your wandering minds people). A preference applicable even to handsets now, unlike in the early 2000�s when Nokia�s most �iconic� and smallest handphone, the 8210 were so ubiquitous.
In all honesty, almost all the folks that spotted me piloting the Starex � a parallel imported MPVs dealer included - were more impressed with its exterior styling than the other slab-sided metal chunk wearing that coveted �T� badge. Some even commended that the Starex� rear profile traces the current Mercedes-Benz Vito/Viano to a certain extent. Now that must be quite flattering for Hyundai�s Starex going into its third generation. Personally, I quite fancy the Starex� frontal visage and I guessed it could pass off as the next generation Mercedes V-Class (Vito), more so with the Starex in metallic silver. All you need is a change of the big emblem sitting in the centre of the large slab of a grille!
It�s also very heartening and appetising to digest figures like 170 hp and 392 Nm of torque at 2000 to 2500rpm coming from Hyundai�s 2.5L turbodiesel, equipped with Variable Geometry Turbo (VGT). Definitely class-leading figures for an oil-burner at RM138,888 or for any 12-seater for that matter. Much like a double-digit load capacity Korean-made washing machine I still cherish a lot until now; seating the Starex up to the max didn�t seem to bog it down, with cruising at legal speed (and beyond) and also passing slower pickup trucks and SUVs a breeze. The 2.2 tonne Starex also passed my self-coined uphill-sprint-test with flying colour, lugging the same full load of passengers. That�s the beauty of near-400Nm of turbodiesel torque working with you, for you, via the 5-speed auto �box. Interestingly, I have managed to clock about 580km to the tankful of 75litres of diesel, for what is mostly highway blasts at �high� speed, with some urban driving thrown in.
This behemoth from Hyundai is best left cruising down highway since its sheer bulk and high centre-of-gravity don�t usually translate to fun tackling the twisties. That�s to be expected but it�s not to say that it pitches and rolls badly around corners, far from it. In fact, I found the Starex mostly as planted as the SsangYong Stavic tested years ago, if not for what is recalled as slightly better tracking composure of the latter�s front axle into corners. Needless to say, both makes are best driven sedately around bends since they are after all massive vehicular masses in motion. The brakes of the Starex is very adequate though, and for those who like to split hairs about having drum brakes at the back (e.g. Naza Ria, Toyota Innova and the Grand Livina), the rear axle items on the Starex are not only discs but huge, ventilated rotors. The turning radius of the Starex is simply superb, enabling unusually small semi-circle for making U-turns, even better than some front-wheel driven sedans with lengthy frontal overhang! In addition, this also makes parallel parking easier than you imagine.
One of the few gripes I have with the Starex is the absence of a rear screen wiper when even a reverse camera is standard. You know how an expansive rear windscreen on a near-vertical tailgate gets easily sprayed with smudges after a rainy day drive. In an already tall van, the taller bee-sting radio antenna only serves to scrape ceilings, an occasional overhead fire sprinkler�s piping and sometimes metal frame scaffolding of basement car parks. In the meantime, I found the vague release of the parking brake lever deep in between the driver and front middle seat mostly inconvenient. More often than not, the parking brake does not disengage fully unless and until I extend my elbow and wrist, each time having to consciously push the lever deep down to the carpet trim level. Also, what�s with the old school instrument dials with plain green backlight at night and ever-so-boring fonts, looking bargain basement and much like a commercial goods carrier�s? Come to think of it, I have spotted a white panel-van version of the H1 - as the Starex is known as - in the U.K. last year, but c�mon Hyundai, surely there�s room for differentiation at the meter panel!
Interior wise, the ceiling is lined bilaterally with A/C vents which kept all three back rows� passengers cool, near freezing-cold even in scorching mid-day sun. Though the seats sizes are just adequate, trimming them in soft beige leather did help in increasing their comfiness and even adds a tinge of class to things. In fact, the overall cabin ambience is far more inviting and luxurious versus the likes of Toyota HIACE and the Kia Pregio. Heck, there is even a touch screen double-DIN DVD player up front along with a ceiling mounted LCD screen to keep my kids and their cousins quiet during an outing to Kuantan, and back!
After returning the tester unit, this writer was actually contemplating getting one for his ever expanding, at times extended family. If only the economic uncertainty that looms with the doom of global financial crisis isn�t so murky and threatening. Nonetheless, at sub-RM140k there is nothing like this out there in CBU form (or even CKD!) and as a brand-new vehicle for you to pick. So it does make sense � more so in these testing and trying times - as say, a third �car� for mass transportation or utility purposes for a large family. That�s provided you can get past the usual badge snobbery that may afflict most of us. For the record, this Hyundai is already well received by the decision makers in the hospitality, travel and tourism industry. That's some positive testament, isn't it?
A Multi Purpose Vehicle (MPV) can be a tricky little acquisition for most of us with a growing family - children with a maid in tow plus extended families (in-laws, out-laws and what not!). More often than not, you would probably have gotten remarks like "It's a bloody van!" when you suddenly drive up in one of those tall-ish people carrier like the Toyota Avanza, Innova and Nissan Serena, Hyundai Trajet et al. Strangely though, when you pay over hundreds of thousands of ringgit for a Toyota Estima (ACR50), Nissan Elgrand, Honda Stepwgn (via USF) and even the bulky and chunky wardrobe-on-wheels grey-import Alphard, such demeaning comments seem to have suddenly faded away into oblivion. On the flipside, try choosing a low-riding, car-like MPV like Honda Odyssey, you may get a comment like "It's much like a funeral hearse". And then there's the occassion that should you mention Naza Citra, Toyota Wish, Honda Stream, Mazda5 and Nissan Grand Livina, many will complain that their 3rd rows are useless for adults (especially the rebadged Kia). Oh dear! What a predicament.
So, how do we balance space, size, flexibility, packaging and practicality with aesthetics? (Forget enthusiast's definition of driveability) And some would even throw in the all-important badge/brand and the ever-sensitive price factors in the works! Towards this I have this to say: "Make up your mind! There is no such thing as a car-like MPV with fuel economy of a sedan, handles like a sports hatch/sedan, looks sleek like a sports wagon (think: Mercedes R-Class?), boot like a sedan even with 3rd row up and blah! blah! blah!...."
Now wait a minute...maybe there is a solution to this complex mix bag of demands after all! Enter the 'van' of a people mover in the form of the new Hyundai Starex! I must say I'm not much moved by the spate of recent launches like the confused SUV-MPV 'hybrid' Toyota Rush, 7-seater SUV Chevrolet Captiva, Inokom Santa Fe and the likes. But this is different, even at first sight and contact at its launch in One Utama shopping centre recently. Though it's Korean (you know how nasty and stubborn some old mindsets are) and it has been christened "A Van!" by my close accountant friend, I think it has some pretty nice credentials commesurating with its asking price of RM138,888 for an 11-seater Alphard-sized people mover. Take out the 4th row permanently and you'd have luggage space the size of say a Naza-Kia Sorento with 8 seating capacities still intact (9 if you wanna push your luck with 3 abreast - centre seat belt is standard - up front 1st row). Unbelievable? Believe it!
For a start it has a 2.5L diesel common-rail direct injection (CRDi) with Variable Geometry Turbo (VGT) good for numbers like 170hp and 392Nm, mated to a 5-speed auto box for that leisurely and non-commercial panel-van drive...get it? Apart from that it has a monocoque chassis, all-round disc brakes with ABS +EBD, McPherson struts up front and multilink at the back with coil springs. Internally it's A/C blowers for occupants in all 4 rows (12 vents in all if you wanna count). Bye-bye humid, stuffy and hot interiors in our scorching hot climate even when fully loaded with passengers!
Leather seats and a DVD player with LCD screen plus reverse camera is standard for the 11-seater variant (it can actually seat 12!). I have yet to see the standard 7-seater maodel asking for RM135,533 but there is a customised 7-seater (luxury) with meeting table of mahogany, a rear centre console, premium audio system, additional rear LCD screen for DVD video and luxurious Ottoman leather captain chairs. All these for 'only' RM172,888.
In all of singing praises for the new Hyundai Starex there are two things left undone: 1) After-market installation of electric powered door (minimum one side for the left rear door) should the writer get one for his ever-expanding family. 2) A road-test which NEWBIE CARS hope to be doing soon.
Maybe Michael Bay's "Transformers" has changed the writer's perception of bulky and chunky metal form presence on wheels after all ;)
