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Concept Car

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  • HCD-8
  • E3

    • HCD-8

    IM_HCD-8_img
    Overview Style/Architecture Performance/Specification Gallery

    HCD-8 Sports Tourer

    Since it was established in 1990, the Hyundai California Design Center has produced seven outstanding, show-stopping concept vehicles.
    Number eight, initiating the new era of HCD vehicles, is the first vehicle designed at the new $30 million dollar Hyundai Design and Technical Center in Irvine, Calif. The HCD-8 made its world debut on January 5, 2004 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
    The stylish and functional HCD-8 sports tourer is the newest concept vehicle from the Hyundai Design and Technical Center Design studio and is the first concept vehicle to come from Hyundai's new $30 million Design and Technical Center in Irvine, Calif.
    The Hyundai HCD-8 sports tourer was designed to address the sporty car market and still meet the values and needs of today's consumer.

    The design team used marketing research from Hyundai Motor America to design a sporty vehicle that offers more flexibility, more usable space and easier access for passengers and cargo.
    The HCD-8 is designed to be a high-performance daily driver while staying true to core Hyundai asset of making it a good value - the HCD-8 offers more value within its market segment.
    The HCD-8 showcases the professional design capabilities of Hyundai's state-of-the-art, world-class design studio in Irvine, California.
    The HCD-8 represents what a next-generation sports car from Hyundai could be; it is bold and different. It crosses boundaries within its intended price point and market segment.
    It offers the consumer an alternative to the expected.

    Style

    The HCD-8 is a conceptual design model used to evaluate the design, package and proportion of the next generation sports coupe.
    The HCD-8 has graceful, flowing lines. The surfaces of the vehicle have the volume and shape to retain some classicism of a sports car.
    The design team also worked with surfaces and lines that stir the inner emotions of passion, romance and performance, and graphic components to signal strength, attitude and power. Highlighting the exciting design elements is the Ballistic Yellow tri-color paint from Nippon.
    The body color is complemented with anthracite color ground effects trim and road wheels. The exterior trim is polished nickel.
    The interior is finished with two-tone Vapor Gray leather seating surfaces accented by wood flooring and wood and aluminum accented steering wheel rim and shift lever knob.
    The aluminum trim is accented with a nickel finish contrasting the rich, luxurious interior against the Ballistic Yellow exterior.

    Architecture

    The HCD-8 pushes the architecture and package to the limit. It provides a new and exciting proportion that can accommodate the needs of the concept. To increase accessibility to the rear seat the design team lengthened the door apertures and by increasing the height of the rear profile and optimizing storage space, they were also able to add interior utility.
    The designers also stretched the Day Light Opening (DLO - a designer's term for the side glass) for increased side and rear visibility. They also increased the wheelbase by 100mm (in the dash-to-axle dimension) to achieve classic sports car proportion. Overall, the styling combines soft flowing surfaces with crisp, taut lines.

    Naturally using the exceptionally handsome Coupe as a basis has helped ensure that the CCS is attractive.
    The most noticeable styling changes are those from the doors back.
    The slightly higher overall level of the boot lid/rear decking enables it to absorb the folded roof while still offering the largest boot volume in the sector.
    The consequent modifications to the rear wings and the lights have been achieved with a minimum of disruption to the overall lines of the car, the result has a harmonious and complete look to it.
    However, certain other styling modifications have been included in the study.
    Not only are the rear light clusters new, the transparent front clusters add a higher level of visual refinement.
    New 18 inch wheels with 225/40 x 18 Michelin tyres give a lighter and more sportive outlook. A new colour, Warm Silver, was developed for the paintwork - while the paint itself is highlighted by the shimmer of glass micro-elements The Hyundai CCS is a car styled to appeal to the emotions.
    A car that looks just as good in the car park as on the autobahn, a car which expresses a distinct personality and personal assertiveness without being aggressive in any way.

    INTERIOR

    The whole concept of the CCS Convertible is designed to give a feeling of airy space. Of freedom and excitement combined with personal control over precisely how much open air or weather the occupants want.

    This is nowhere more visible than in the interior. Both the steering wheel and dashboard are covered in brown leather, adding an extra degree of sophistication to an already well appointed and sportive "office". The metallic elements, including the ventilation and a/c outlets, speaker surrounds, bezels etc., have been specially treated with a warm glow process that blends them discretely into this ambience, again adding an extra element of refinement. Naturally a premium car deserves the best sound system. Here the 280W combination of Becker hardware and Infinity speakers is very hard to beat.
    The brown leather trimmed seats are the highly acclaimed and supportive sports style items from the Coupe, developed in association with Recaro. Standard features include eight-way adjustable front seats with memory system.
    As a further concession to comfort, woven and ventilated leather has been used for the central inserts in the squabs and seat backs.
    The rear seats have been slightly modified to accommodate the new roof system, but the rear passenger space remains an object lesson in good interior planning and packaging.
    In terms of luggage capacity the study boasts and impressive 443 litres boot space with the roof closed, and 244 litres with it folded.
    Enough for most romantic holidays, the occasional family picnic, or the type of business use that does not require a mobile workshop or showroom. Further storage is available inside the car in the form of map pockets etc. In fact, taken overall, the impression is of a sportive personal car, ready to cruise the length of the Corniche or undertake the local school run with equal panache and distinction.
    A car that offers the demanding and discerning motorist the practica aspects of high-tech fresh air motoring, while tempering it with a wonderfully traditional ambience and adding a whole newdimension of practicality.