Best Korean Car (Final Voting for Best Japanese Car)

[1X83Z]

I thought that would have been the 3 door Shogun or the Rav4.

We didn't get the 3-door Shogun (actually we did but sales were so bad it was cancelled) and do note that the Sportage beat the RAV4 to the market by some time.

No.

No, wait. I mean yes.

Felt the point needed to be driven home...

What about the Geo Tracker?

The Tracker sold for **** and when it did sell it was only to lesbians. Plus, the Tracker came out in the late 80s and no other small SUVs debuted until the Sportage. Then in the years immediately following the Sportage, we got a challenger from Honda, Toyota, and eventually Hyundai and Ford.

As I said the Sportage kicked off the segment. Overseas some other cars may have come first, but here it was the Sportage - and since this country buys more small SUVs than all other markets combined, I think that's big news (we didn't get the Suzuki Vitara or Daihatsu 4Trak in the US - we did get the Suzuki Sidekick but it was the Geo Tracker's twin and see above for that).

 

[sidewinderl]

Bleh, I hate Korean cars (namely Hyundai). Nothing but girl cars, imo, and the Tiburon is fugly (mostly the previous body style...the lines are horrible).

And yes, Omnis, the G35 is the Skyline.

 

[GT Pro]

As said before, Hyundai are the best Korean brand (Even if they are one of the only ones) in the world. They have overcome various tough obstacles and decisions and come out with amazing cars like the Coupe and the Sonata. And with their aim to become the fifth world's largest car manufacturer by 2010, I think we are set to see even more ground-breaking vehicles from them.
As for the Honda NSX, I can't believe I missed that one cause' it definately has my vote. 👍

 

[Slicks]

We didn't get the 3-door Shogun (actually we did but sales were so bad it was cancelled) and do note that the Sportage beat the RAV4 to the market by some time.


The Tracker sold for **** and when it did sell it was only to lesbians. Plus, the Tracker came out in the late 80s and no other small SUVs debuted until the Sportage. Then in the years immediately following the Sportage, we got a challenger from Honda, Toyota, and eventually Hyundai and Ford.

As I said the Sportage kicked off the segment. Overseas some other cars may have come first, but here it was the Sportage - and since this country buys more small SUVs than all other markets combined, I think that's big news (we didn't get the Suzuki Vitara or Daihatsu 4Trak in the US - we did get the Suzuki Sidekick but it was the Geo Tracker's twin and see above for that).

Err.... I can think of not one, but two vehicles that predate the Sportage.
1. Suzuki Samurai
2. Jeep TJ/YJ/whatever it was called before the Sportage was even thought of.

The Tracker WAS debuted before the Sportage, too. You cannot deny that, despite it's poor sales.

I voted for the Miata, for very similar reasons to YSSMAN.

I will withhold any nominations for Korean cars.

 

[1X83Z]

Err.... I can think of not one, but two vehicles that predate the Sportage.
1. Suzuki Samurai
2. Jeep TJ/YJ/whatever it was called before the Sportage was even thought of.

Yeah but neither of these vehicles are even considered similar in any way to any small SUV except in size. I mean in theory you're right - they're SMALL SUVs - but the aim was different. No sane person is going to compare, say, the Ford Escape with the Jeep Wrangler. The Tracker was the first small SUV, but the Sportage started the trend, and that makes it huge.

I'll put it to you like this:

Small SUV debuts, 1989-1998
1989: Geo Tracker
1990:
1991:
1992:
1993:
1994:
1995: Kia Sportage
1996: Toyota RAV4
1997: Honda CR-V
1998: Subaru Forester

I guess you could say the Cherokee was the real first, but that was quite different too - the original Cherokee didn't really attain competitive status until the 2001 redesign when it became the Liberty.

 

[Famine]

The Tracker was the first small SUV, but the Sportage started the trend, and that makes it huge.

In the UK the Suzuki Vitara (Geo Tracker/Suzuki Sidekick/Asuna Sunrunner/Suzuki Escudo/Whatever) was a colossal seller - particularly popular amongst teenage daughters of posh/horsey parents and, as a result, often rolled into ditches. Suzuki recognised this, and even sold them in white with pink trim as far back as 1992. They even followed it up with the single gayest car ever made - the Suzuki X90 - before the Kia Sportage turned a wheel on Europe's roads.

So, while you're probably right that the Sportage was, effectively, the car that created the sector in the US, it was neither the first small SUV in the US (predated by the Vitara which you say didn't sell well except amongst lesbians) nor the car that kicked off the trend worldwide (predated by the Vitara, which sold tremendously).

 

[daan]

And all this is just for the US as Japan and Europe got the Rav4 in 1994

 

[1X83Z]

In the UK the Suzuki Vitara (Geo Tracker/Suzuki Sidekick/Asuna Sunrunner/Suzuki Escudo/Whatever) was a colossal seller - particularly popular amongst teenage daughters of posh/horsey parents and, as a result, often rolled into ditches. Suzuki recognised this, and even sold them in white with pink trim as far back as 1992. They even followed it up with the single gayest car ever made - the Suzuki X90 - before the Kia Sportage turned a wheel on Europe's roads.

Indeed, it would seem so. "Pontiac Sunrunner" as well, unfortunately. In the US the Suzuki X-90 was also sold but it too came out after the Sportage, which debuted near the middle of 1994. (X-90 didn't come out until 1996 here, and it was cancelled by 1998 )

So, while you're probably right that the Sportage was, effectively, the car that created the sector in the US, it was neither the first small SUV in the US (predated by the Vitara which you say didn't sell well except amongst lesbians) nor the car that kicked off the trend worldwide (predated by the Vitara, which sold tremendously).

But see as far as I'm concerned, kicking off the segment in the US is all you need, since it's so damn profitable here. I mean half the small SUVs we get aren't even sold overseas. Then again, the one that we really should have, the Nissan X-Trail, isn't sold here. Which makes me wonder, because Nissan sells four SUVs here, none of which compete in that segment. Their one mistake.

By the way, here's an unbelievable fact: back in 1986, the Suzuki Samurai's first year, the vehicle went for $6700 new (3500 GBP) and rode on an 80-inch wheelbase. I swear I'm not making this up. Then again the '80s were a strikingly different time, as the base-model '86 Lincoln Town Car went for exactly half of what the present one goes for ($21000 vs. $42000) and a brand new 7-series was under $40000 (21200 GBP).

 

[Scaff]

But see as far as I'm concerned, kicking off the segment in the US is all you need, since it's so damn profitable here.

I'd have to disagree with that, as you seem to be saying that the US market is the most important one worldwide.

I would argue that without the sucess of the Vitara (the 4Trak did exist in its own little world) in markets outside the US, Kia would never have taken the risk with the Sportage. After all Kia are not know as a risk taking company, they took a segment that was doing very well around the world and developed a product that woudl appeal to the US market (and quite tellingly does not hold massive appeal in Europe).

While I am quite happy to agree that they certainly seem to have popularised the segment in the American market, they neither invented nor pioneered it worldwide.

Regards

Scaff

 

[kikie]

mazda mx-5

 

[MarinaDiamandis]

Hyundai Coupe, just generally like it as a car, my girlfriends sister had one of the older models (ahhh, the good ol' days) and admittedly it was a bit **** and way too cramped and the dash/interior is revolting, but still, I think the new models are nice.

I remember being driven to Alton Towers (theme park) in Staffordshire in the older Hyundai coupe (the model with the 'rounded' headlights), about a 3-4 hour journey and it wasn't too pleasant.

The Coupe is the only decent model I can think of and have first hand experience with, apart from the Accent which is nothing special.

 

[niky]

Go the Miata! Sorry, Godzilla, I still love you, but the truth cannot be denied. No, wait a minute, if the truth were to prevail, the Corolla or Civic would win...

Interesting note on the Integra. But seeing as it was originally based on the Accord and shared engines with the Civic, it may have split the vote a bit too much.

-------

Koreans:

Hmm... most people agree on the Coupe, and why not? It looks halfway special, it's decently quick (at least the older, lighter ones were), and it was, and is, relatively sharp.

A particularly choice review of the old coupe mentioned it was sharp enough to snap sideways when you pushed it too hard. Any FWD car that will try to kill you is bound to be interesting.

Another vote would go to the new Hyundai Sonata V6, as it is the car that finally slapped everyone else in the face and told them that, hey, the Koreans are here. Most people didn't realize it before then, or didn't want to admit it.

I've driven the new Accent. Fun little turbodiesel commuter. Not enough car for the engine, though, but that just makes it all the more fun. Not particularly the best car or an important one.

Last nomination, though I doubt it would win or show, anyway, is the Hyundai Getz/Kia Picanto. The twin superminis may be extremely heavy (as most modern superminis are) and quite underpowered, but they're fueling a Korean sales boom, and the Picanto has the potential to be the new Beetle. Cheap, crude, economical and dependable. The Getz has won in comparisons against the Honda Fit (hard to believe, I know), because it's almost as flexible, almost as frugal, and tons cheaper.

It's hard to mark any noteworthy Korean cars besides these.

Daewoo hasn't made much worth noting, considering most of their models before the collapse were Opels, and most of the new cars are sold as Chevys and Suzukis, making the vote confusing for most people.

Ssangyong / Koranda... If anyone wants to put the Stavic in, it would be interesting to see how many votes it gets. Everything else is just a truck with a Merc engine.

Protomotors? Too new to tell, and what effect have they ever had on the industry?

Samsung, anyone? This might be the best Korean ever made, the Samsung Maxima... errh... SM5.

No, I'm not serious.

 

[YSSMAN]

Wow, things change when I'm gone...

So because this has seemed so uniaminous for the Hyundai Coupe, do we need to vote?

 

[Master_Yoda]

Yes. Protomotors Spirra>Hyundai Any day

 

[GT4_Rule]

Just that Spirra isn't known to people who don't play GT4.