The Equus is the Hyundai’s best selling luxury sedan and is as important for the brand as S-Class for Mercedes Benz, 7-Series for BMW and LS for Lexus. For the 2014, Hyundai refreshes the Equus to make it a bit more competent and to deliver a compelling value to valued customers. The new features added to Hyundai Equus include redesigned front and rear end, indepth interior features, new safety features and the suspension is also slightly modified. Usually, the purchase of a luxury sedan needs to have lots of money but the Hyundai made Equus an affordable vehicle for those who are conservative about spending money on a luxury car.
Exterior, Interior Specifications and Trim Levels
The Hyundai Equus 2014 is offered in two trims, Signature and Ultimate, both are four door five passengers full size luxury sedans.
The outside of the Equus, the designers of Hyundai add lots of styling elements to make the appearance of the Equus compelling. The exterior features of the Signature trim include adaptive bi-xenon headlights, LED daytime running lights, LED fog lights, adjustable air suspension, front and rear parking sensors, power folding and auto dimming side-view mirrors, a rear-view camera and the model rolls over 19 inch wheels. The Ultimate trim adds power trunk lid, power actuated soft close doors and forward facing and surround view cameras.
Inside the Equus Signature trim gets Tri zone automatic climate control, 12 way power heated and ventilated power front seats and 10 way passenger seat heated and ventilated, heated power reclining rear seats, leather upholstery with extended leather trim, auto dimming rearview mirror, power and heated tilt and telescoping steering wheel and power rear sunshade. Standard electronic features include a 9.2 inch display with navigation system and real time traffic information, Bluetooth phone connectivity, 17-speaker Lexicon sound system with discreet surround sound capability, six CD/DVD changer, HD radio, satellite radio and USB/iPod interface.
The Ultimate trim adds a full LCD instrument panel, power operated rear seat sunshade, dual-screen DVD entertainment, ventilated rear seats, rear vanity mirrors, rear seat head restraint adjustment and power lumbar adjustment for the outboard rear seats. The Equus sedan has 16.7 cubic ft of cargo area.
Safety
Standard safety features on 2014 Equus include front and rear side airbags, driver knee airbags, side curtain airbags, antilock brakes, rear cross traffic warning, lane departure alert, blind spot monitoring, stability control and traction control.
Powertrains and Performance
The 2014 Hyundai Equus gets power from a 5.0 liter V8 engine that puts out 429 horsepower and 376 lb ft of torque. Power sent to the rear wheels via a standard eight speed automatic transmission. The EPA estimated fuel economy is 15 mpg city and 23 mpg highway and accelerates from 0-60 mph is 5.7 seconds at an estimated top speed up to 155 mph, an average acceleration time for V8 powered full size luxury sedans.
Pricing and Availability
The 2014 Hyundai Equus Signature trim comes at a starting price of $61,000 whereas the Ultimate trim gets a price tag of $68,000. In this regard, the price increases for this luxury sedan about $1,750 compared to the previous year. The Equus 2014 sedan is available for sale now.
Competitors
The key rivals include Mercedes Benz S-Class, BMW 7-Series, Lexus LS, Cadillac XTS and Hyundai’s Genesis.
Pros
- Lots of standard features
- Royal back seats
- Impressive sound system
- Superbly quiet
- Tons of luxury and features for the price
Cons
- Single engine option
- No AWD
The Verdict
Though, the 2014 Hyundai Equus gets a slight change in the price compared to the previous year but Hyundai offered enormous standard features that make it affordable. Being a sensible buyer, try to consider this sedan whenever you plan for luxury sedan shopping.