[GreekboyD]

Hyundai has come quite a long way since appearing in the US years ago as a masochistic alternative to walking. Since their debut here, we’ve gotten some rougher pieces of work, but over the past five years, the company has produced cars that still wear the stigma of the Hyundai name, but offer performance, luxury, and reliability. Their sales have picked up too, which means that they can afford to become a little more adventuresome in their offerings and to offer bolder styling choices, but the big news is no longer that of a $38,000 Hyundai, but of a Genesis that may come with a diesel engine.

In waters that even American automakers rarely tread until recently, Hyundai hinted to Auto Nation that they will be offering a diesel Genesis. This is a pretty small market, occupied by the Audi A6 TDI, BMW 535d, and Mercedes E250 BlueTec. Senior Group Manager for Product Planning at Hyundai, Brandon Ramirez, is quoted as saying “While we can’t specify plans for future models, we are studying the possibility of diesel engines.”

What is on the table? Hyundai uses a 2.2 liter diesel cranking out 197 bhp and 322 ft-lbs over in Europe and South Korea, so it would not be entirely shocking to see this engine mated up to Hyundai’s 8-speed auto with power heading to the rear wheels with Hyundai’s optional HTRAC all wheel drive. This seems like a solid offer given Hyundai’s direct competition of cars like the ‘Merc, which offers 195 bhp and 395 ft-lbs.

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[joe_planet]

4 cylinder diesel will have good fuel economy but dull performance. To each their own.

[DieselRacer]

I bet its going to be awesome, a Asian diesel, how can it be bad...

[Mark M]

Call me doubting Thomas! Mazda can't seem to get their oil burner to function right and meet US EPA numbers so I have a hard time believing Hyundai will make it.

Most makers use diesel cars (in the US) to help their overall fleet CAFE score. However the Asian companies typically already have a good CAFE score due to their abundance of small economical 4 cylinder gasser offerings. That said, I don't see the financial motivation for Hyundai or even Mazda to drop the significant coin needed on R&D / Testing / EPA certification, etc for a vehicle that likely won't meet their average sales volume thresholds when they likely are already in the upper levels of CAFE ratings.

[Puerto Rican 335d]

Mark M I believe Mazda's issue are that their system is pumping a different compression ratio and EPA's guideleins hinder it badly. I have seen the Hyundai diesels overseas and they seem to run good, but who knows with our standrads of EPA will ruin ANY diesel car outhere

[DieselRacer]

My mom has a Sonata with 50k, yesterday at the dealership they said the CBU was so bad the throttle body blade completely stuck, it is a gasser with DIRECT INJECTION, that is the main culprit right their, and we also have to deal with or emission crap...CBU is here to stay in the modern engine, they told me at the Stealership that she doesn't drive it hard enough, so drive it like you stole it...

[Hoooper]

you have to literally drive it like you stole it from day 1, because the "drive it hard" myth is such nonsense on modern carbon buildup that the only way driving it like you stole it will prevent build up is that you total the car before it becomes severe.

this actually makes some sense to me. Hyundai seems to be moving more toward the luxury segment as much as they can and pushing cars like the genesis R-spec 5.0L sedan they might think they will need mileage cars in their future. What better way than to take a car that a handful of people might cross shop with a 3 series and demolish the specs of the 3 series diesel by 17 HP and 53 lb ft. If they could get their driving feel a little bit more sporty, in my opinion a loaded up genesis would be a good competitor to the 3 series.

[DieselRacer]

Originally Posted by Hoooper

you have to literally drive it like you stole it from day 1, because the "drive it hard" myth is such nonsense on modern carbon buildup that the only way driving it like you stole it will prevent build up is that you total the car before it becomes severe.

this actually makes some sense to me. Hyundai seems to be moving more toward the luxury segment as much as they can and pushing cars like the genesis R-spec 5.0L sedan they might think they will need mileage cars in their future. What better way than to take a car that a handful of people might cross shop with a 3 series and demolish the specs of the 3 series diesel by 17 HP and 53 lb ft. If they could get their driving feel a little bit more sporty, in my opinion a loaded up genesis would be a good competitor to the 3 series.

Agreed, they just don't have the heritage of bmw which is why bmw does it soooo well...