The Hyundai Equus which in Latin means a "horse" is also known as the Hyundai Centennial in the Middle East countries. The Equus is a classy full-size extravagance sedan that serves as the flagship model of Hyundai Motor Company worldwide. In the Hyundai Motor Company’s model lineup the Hyundai Equus is currently the most expensive and the biggest sedan. To contend with the BMW 7 Series, Mercedes S-Class, Audi A8 and Lexus LS the company released a new version on a rear-wheel drive platform in 2009. It has two generations. Now the Hyundai Equus is available in South Korea, China, the Middle East, and most of the North American countries. Check out Mcloughlin Hyundai for more details.
Hyundai Equus over the years
The first generation of the Hyundai Equus was in production from 1999 till 2008. The Equus was designed in collaboration with Mitsubishi Motors and was introduced in the year 1999 as a front wheel drive car measuring over 5 metres in length and almost 2 metres wide. At first, the engines used are 3.5 Sigma V6 and 4.5 8A80. After a few months it added the 3.0 Sigma V6 engine. Over 2,000 cars were sold in Japan, under the name of Mitsubishi Dignity,which was the limousine version, and Mitsubishi Proudia, which was the sedan version. The limousine version are 3.5 and 4.5 and the sedan version are 3.0, 3.5 and 4.5. The 4.5 8A80 V8 engine was optimized with premium unleaded gasoline fuel which is not so easily available in Korea. So, Hyundai Motors customized this engine from a Gasoline Direct Injection type to a Multi Point Injection type to solve the matter.
In 2003, 'New Equus' was presented by Hyundai which has some changes in its interior and hood design. The features added in the 'New Equus' are a 7 inch screen for the rear seat, Xenon headlamps, front parking sensors, etc. The 3.0 and 3.5 Sigma V6 engine types were transformed to 3.3 and 3.8 Lambda V6 engine types which were intended and urbanized by Hyundai Motors. Click here to know more about used Equus
The second generation Hyundai Equus was introduced in the year 2009 and it is still in production. This model was presented in Grand Hyatt Seoul. The features in VI are:a rear-wheel drive architecture, a longer wheelbase, and a different engine. The VI model is totally different from previous Equus but it has taken from the old Equus because of its prestige in Korea. The engine options available for the normal model are 3.8 L Lambda V6 and the 4.6 L Tau V8. The 5.0 L Tau V8 is for the Sedan and the limo while a 5.5 L Tau V8 is also available. It has an automatic gear-box of 6-speed. But in the year 2012 the model was updated and included 8-speed automatic transmission, with GDI engines. The engine used are 5.0L V8 with 429 hp (320 kW) and 376 lb.ft (510 N•m).
So it might be in your best interest to look a Hyundai Equus, if you’re planning on buying a used luxury sedan. After all, if you look at the maintenance and other factors, its way miniscule compared to the big players in the market like Mercedes, BMW or Audi.