NEW MATRIX Convert

[Mantaone]

It is perhaps due to the aggressive pricing of Komocco that makes ignorance ppl feel that its like lelong sale so no good product Compare Korean and japanese, Japanese better why its because of price, Gd things no cheap cheap things no good this type of mindset. But a lot of ppl forget they are using LG/Samsunh HP, LCD, etc etc. quality is now much better than japanese. FC bad cannot blame car lah it boils down to the driving skills / habits.

[Cashiertan]

I disagree. The jap are still top but the korean are catching up. I will still trust and support the Jap till the korean catch up or close up the gap.

 

Korean electronic even till now are lacking in technology and quality. The japanese electronic are still better in terms of technology and quality.

Compare LCD, LG and Samsung LCD thou improving, But the display and lifespan still Lack behind Sharp and Enzo. I wouldnt deny that Samsung is the major LCD display Manufacturer but their product are cheaper becoz their technology and

 

Compare HandPhone, There is no major Jap HP brand in SG as the Jap use their own DOcomo Technology instead of the dino age GSM technology. However, if you go Japan, their HP is leap and bounds infront from the HP in SG in terms of technology. You try selling the latest Samsung or LG HP to Jap and see if they bother with you.

 

Compare Cars,

the engine technology and QC of the cars are still lacking. One good example is the FC and engine noise. The Hyundai and kia engine are heavy drinker of petrol and they engine noise sound rough and unrefined. Even till now, the korean are not able to do a equivalent to VVTi or VTEC engine.

 

Korean Cars are cheaper becoz the dealers in SG are "smart" to strip the cars of features to push down the OMV of the cars thus they are able to sell the cars cheaper. If they would to make their cars come with standard ABS or airbag, the car price should only be slighty lesser compare to the Jap cars. Imagine, just by making the OMV of the car cheaper by $1.5k, can allow the car to become cheaper by $4.5k+.

 

Till now, the korean has done very well but the QC and car technology still lag 2 steps behind the jap and thus i will prefer the jap car till the korean catches up or closes the gap to the min. .

[Rayleigh]

Hi

 

May I comment please.

 

"Compare HandPhone, There is no major Jap HP brand in SG as the Jap use their own DOcomo Technology instead of the dino age GSM technology. However, if you go Japan, their HP is leap and bounds infront from the HP in SG in terms of technology. You try selling the latest Samsung or LG HP to Jap and see if they bother with you. "

 

-> With regards to the HP usage in Japan. Do you know what network they are using and the capabilities of their network? They are on the equivalent of 3G network. In SIngapore we only have the GSM network. When the local network cannot support the capabilities of 3G, why should anyone buy/design a handphone with 3G functions? (It does not make economic sense). Likewise, ever wonder when Japan HP maker suddenly decides to enter other market with GSM network, because their so call supered handphone cannot be use in other countries, and the market in Japan is saturated. IN other to tap a bigger pie, they have to redesign HP suitable for usage in GSM network.

 

 

"Compare Cars,

the engine technology and QC of the cars are still lacking. One good example is the FC and engine noise. The Hyundai and kia engine are heavy drinker of petrol and they engine noise sound rough and unrefined. Even till now, the korean are not able to do a equivalent to VVTi or VTEC engine.

 

Korean Cars are cheaper becoz the dealers in SG are "smart" to strip the cars of features to push down the OMV of the cars thus they are able to sell the cars cheaper. If they would to make their cars come with standard ABS or airbag, the car price should only be slighty lesser compare to the Jap cars. Imagine, just by making the OMV of the car cheaper by $1.5k, can allow the car to become cheaper by $4.5k+. "

 

A few comments

->I do not deny that Korean distributors strip their cars to make the prices of the korean cars more competitive. In fact i sometime do feel cheated because by stripping, their profit margin increases significantly. Frankly speaking, in terms of labour cost between Japan and Korean, Korean is definitly much cheaper (hope i am right). Therefore their cars initially cannot be more expensive than Japan.

But stripping of cars does not implies that Japan technology are superior. This stripping method is just part of our local distributor marketing tricks.

 

-> May I refer to the sentence where Korean cars are petrol drinker. Are Japanese better at consuming fuel more efficiently? (I leave the facts for the rest to gauge) Can someone tells me what is the fuel consumption of new sunny? The so call VVTi or whatever does not improve cars by leap and bound! Neither does it reduce the fuel consumption drastically. In terms of noise and rough, Engine output is a function of many factors. The main factor is the gross body weight. Korean make are generally much heavier than Japan make. Noise and roughness goes down to the art of tunning, packaging (includes mounting), the most important is the art of insulation. These mentioned are arts and not technology.

 

Look at bigger picture, vehicle engine has been around for so many decade, look at the rate of improvement. The technology has saturated.

 

Hihi abit long lah. No hard feeling.

[Morris]

Welcome and Congrats!. But watch out for is FC. Drinks alot of petrol...

[Surfdday]

Was wondering how old is your Matrix and current mileage... thanks.

 

Will be getting my new Matrix hopefully this weekend.

[Rayleigh]

Hi Morning

 

 

My matrix is coming to 6 months old. Current mileage is about 12K. I travelled alot on weekend. Everyweek I travelled about 500+Km although I'm not in sales line.

 

 

Congrats on your new ride soon. Enjoy!

[Biccat]

Hi all, although new to this forum, I have been doing posting in other similar forums. Don't believe it when someone tells you that Korean makes are inferior. My current ride is the 1.6M Matrix which I have been driving for the last 2 yrs and before that was the Elantra cat's eye for 4 years. I have not experienced any problems for these 2 rides for the last 6 years and still another fellow bro in clubhyundai is on his 3rd Hyundai now. Ironically, I had alternator failure on one of Jap make after 3 years and a clutch pump failure on another after 4 years. I am currently doing 11.5km/litre on 92 petrol combining urban and highway driving and I don't consider myself to be a light-footed driver. I also know of another fellow kaki doing 12km/litre or more on the auto-trans. I also know of a colleague who cannot even get 10km/litre for his Suxxxx. How's that for comparison?

[Vit4wd]

No mater what, the Matrix consumption is still better than Kia Spectra 1.6A which gave me only 8.5 to 9km/l based on 70/30 highway/city driving and no revving above 3000rpm

[Biccat]

Do not be bothered by what others say. I have been driving for the last 23 yrs and had been a Korean convert for 6 yrs now and till today, I have not regretted one bit. Some bigots may claim that the trim is not up to the level of the Japs or the features are su-standard or whatever but as far as I am concern, my Matrix offers the best value for money. Come join fellow Hyundai bros at http://clubhyundai.org/ for more info about your ride.

[Dudemobile]

About the trim my 92' Elantra came with tilt adjustable headrest for front seats, variable INT wiper speed (I couldn't find this in some new popular Jap makes in 200X which had this as standard). Not to mention the fact that the car doesn't float as easily as other cars (trust me I know cos my dad's a cop and he's been driving police cars from the VW beetle to the BMW 3 series). If fact having got used to a decent ride and gadgets, I had touble find a replacement car in 2003. None of the more expensive JAP makes could offer better than my beat up 10yr old Elantra (they were always missing something or another). In my opinion they were almost the same except for a very quiet engine. In the end for a price of a Civic or Corolla, I went with a dynamite call skoda. I push my cars very hard. I've been smiling for the past 1++ yrs.

 

Another thing that a Korean will be better at, is protecting it's occupants. My mum life was saved by the solid build of a certian Pony2. Like I mentioned, my dad's documented many accidents in his career. He was shocked my mum managed to crawl out of the car without a single scratch. That's why we've had 3 generations of Hyundai cars in my family.

 

Many ppl bad-mouth korean cars cos they paid so much for other makes and cannot tahan that these cheaper Koreans cars are not too far off from what they own.

Edited August 20, 2004 by Dudemobile

[Biccat]

Hmm, never cross my mind. Maybe you are right. My previous ride was the 98'Elantra cat's eye and I can only agree with you, driving along the NS highway was a breeze. Very reluctant to let it go but with the need for additional cabin space for growing up teenage kids for the regular trips up north, changed to Matrix 2 yrs ago and have been very happy with her overall performance so far.

[Silver_blade]

Just curious. Can the matrix take 17" rim? The reason why i ask this is b'cos I almost always see one with fitted with 14" or 15" and it's look lost in the car large exterior.

[Hogster]

Yip, there are a number running on 17s, but tyres will be ex at the range lah.

[Silver_blade]

You know what is the profile? I suspect it's going to be really low eg.34 or 40.

[Biccat]

Honestly, it would be crazy for anybody to slap in 17 inch for a Matrix. The ride is going to be so uncomfortable. However, just for interest sake, based on the present 195/55 R15 combination, the rolling radius would be 11.72 inch. By using changing to 17 inch, the tires should be 205/40 R17, rolling radius 11.72 inch. But wonder whether these tires are available in the market.

[Silver_blade]

Not too difficult to get 205/40/17 tyre...but it would be cheap. Price ranges from $120/pc to $300/pc. Will look out for those 17" rim Matrix.

[Hogster]

The thing about the Matrix is that the PCD is 114.3. So there is not really much to choose from for 15 inch rims. I was looking for light 15 inch rims when I was told that most of the rims come in 100. In the end, got a set of 16s with dual PCD layout. 17s are too extreme for me . I just went with the plus 2 rule for wheels upgrade. Ride a more stiff as compared to the stock 14 inch steel rims.

[Silver_blade]

16" probably look better with the Matrix...cos it's a rather tall car.