Today and other times when I needed the car to perform it responded as expected- Outstanding! I must admit I never had a performance vehicle before. I enjoy have the ability to avoid an accident or just move out when I have to-What a pleasure. I know that there are better performing cars, but the Azera is very well suited for my needs.

Grayknight

I hate to be a buzz kill.....but (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blush.gif)

Yeah, it'll perform well when the d**n tranny finds the right gear. There have been times when my car scared the crap out of me when the downshift was sluggish. Like when making a hurried left turn across traffic from a roll and you punch it only to find the tranny is still in too high a gear while oncoming traffic is bearing down on you and the car is not hustling out of the way because it's still in fourth gear when it should have already downshifted to 3rd or 2nd.

There are a few small inclines that I encounter on the way to work. Going into the incline at around 40 (ish) mph, the car stays in 5th gear too long up the incline before it realizes it's loosing power. I often have to put it into manual and downshift it myself. I know the people behind my must be thinking "d**n senior citizen drivers" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif) .

Recently, my car has started to do this weird torquing thing when coasting. It if feels like it is constantly downshifting and up-shifting and I can see the rpms going up and down (by about 500 rpm) but it isn't really shifting. Totally annoying!

I need to put it in the shop but I'm afraid that they'll say what they always say; "problem could not be duplicated" and "it is within specs" and then I'll go postal and be arrested and loose my job and family and end up living in a cardboard box because my Azera and the dealership drove me to madness. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

I also have a Mitsubishi Eclipse (great cheap fun (IMG:style_emoticons/default/3gears.gif) ) which has the same HP rating as the Azera (263hp). Comparing the two, it's like night and day. The 263hp of eclipse is positively exhilerating from blast off all the way to 6th gear. After getting out of that car and into the Azera, it's like riding a cow and trying to make it go like a horse.

The Azera does "ok" (in a straight line) if you get on the gas and stay on it through the gears . But it is a pity that the tranny and the suspension is such a drag on the performance of the Azera. Hyundai could have easily made the Azera a better performer..... But alas, it is too sloppy in handling and too sluggish (because of the tranny not keeping up with the 263hp that the engine can produce) to be anywhere near a performance sedan. And besides, Hyundai never intended for the Azera to be a "performance" car and if they did, they fell far short.


You should try renting a real performance sedan for a day and drive the he!! out of it just for the fun of it and to compare performance aspects to the Azera. If you've never had a "performance" vehicle, it would be very eye opening.

As I have repeatedly said, in the past, this is not meant to be a performance car. I have 23,000 extremely pleasant, trouble free miles on my 06 Azzy. I have never experienced any problems with the tranny and yes the suspension is not tight and firm. It is what it is, a comfortable, dependable "boulevard car" which performs well within its' parameters. I am a senior citizen, and well past my performance car days. This car is just the ticket for me. It is a best buy for the money.

What's more, that same 263 horsepower in a Harley-Davidson makes the Azera look even more anemic.

Of course, Harley never intended their choppers to carry five adults, their golf clubs and their luggage. But if they did, they fell way, way short.

Quite fair analogy... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grin.gif)

The Az DOES have some serious get-up-and-go. I mean, maybe it's not a performance sedan relative to something like a BMW 550i or a GS460. It is comparable to many mid-large sedans these days, Accord V6, Camry V6, Maxima. But if you're coming from a 5-10 yr old Accord, Camry, Maxima, Taurus, what have you, the Azera is nothing short of a rocket sled. When I go from my Vanden Plas (245 hp / 289 ft-lbs) to my Azera I do indeed notice that the Azera is considerably quicker. Somewhere around 1 to 1.5s faster 0-60, depending on what number you use - there seems to be no single reliable 0-60 test on the Azera. It's CERTAINLY not a high-performance sedan, nor is it meant to be - but it IS fast. It does manage its way to 60mph about as fast as a V8 Jag XJ (mine is an I6). No slouching there.

'Round and 'round we go. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/banana.gif)

This post has been edited by andyman32: Jun 23 2009, 04:55 PM

The biggest short-coming of the Azera is the suspension and if that was considerably improved as well as having better performance tires, then the Azera would be ahead of its league. The power is there and I have no problems with the Azera's downshifting. It could be your driving style and how the transmission ECU reacts and modifies its behavior accordingly. I am a more spirited driver and so the transmission is always on "high alert" so to speak.

Or, as in my case, a 16-year-old Accord... zoom-zoom-zoom... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/banana.gif)

In the 2008 Brochure they state that the Azera has more horsepower than the BMW 528i- pretty impressive i think.
Grayknight

Well it BETTER be! The current generation 528 is a 3.0L I6, where the Az is a 3.8L V6. If you had an extra 27% displacement and no extra power, you'd have some serious explaining to do. Besides, the displacement is 27% greater but the horsepower is only 10% greater. So... that's kind of a lackluster comparison.

They're actually all very nice cars, very enjoyable. I would guess that the 528i is equally quick to 60 and has far better handling characteristics. Kind of like the Genesis 4.6... it's easy to get wowed by that whopping-big 375hp figure, but it all depends on what the car can DO with it. 5.9s 0-60 for that kinda power is seriously underwhelming. Azera does alright with what it has. You should go take a spin in an '04-or-later XJR sometime though. It'll rock your world. Totally different animal than an Azera or even a Genesis 4.6.

Huh? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

This post has been edited by campoly: Jul 10 2009, 09:34 AM