April 28, 2006

First Drive: 2007 Hyundai Entourage

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Review and photos by Greg Wilson
Discuss this story in the forum at CarTalkCanada

Though minivans are more popular in Canada than they are in the United States (minivans represent 11% of the total vehicle market here while only 6.5% in the U.S.), a gap has emerged between 'affordable' minivans under $30,000 like the Dodge Caravan, Ford Freestar, Chevrolet Uplander and Saturn Relay - and 'premium' minivans like the Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna, Nissan Quest, Buick Terazza, Chrysler Town & Country, and uplevel models of the Dodge Grand Caravan, most of which range between $30,000 and $50,000.

Minivans starting under $30,000, particularly the Dodge Caravan, are still the most popular in Canada, but premium minivans like the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna have been growing in popularity. Premium vans have most of the comfort and safety features found in luxury cars, and top-of-the-line models even have some features not found in luxury cars, like dual DVD entertainment screens and 3-zone climate control.

Where does Hyundai's new 2007 Entourage fit into this minivan profile? Well, it's essentially a 'premium' minivan with a lower price-tag. Priced between $29,995 and $37,995, the Entourage is comparable to premium minivans like the Odyssey and Sienna, but is priced lower.

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For example, the base Entourage GL is more than $3,000 less than a Honda Odyssey LX, and has more standard equipment.

I would be remiss if I didn't also mention the new Kia Sedona ($29,495-$36,395) which is virtually identical to the new Entourage. The Sedona is certainly an alternative worth comparing.

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What exactly do you get for the Entourage's base price of just under $30,000? First, it's comparable in size to other extended wheelbase minivans. The Entourage is a seven-passenger, extended wheelbase minivan that's longer than a Toyota Sienna or Honda Odyssey and wider than the Sienna, but smaller than a Nissan Quest. With an interior volume of 4879 litres (172.3 cu. ft.), it has more room inside than a Dodge Grand Caravan, Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna.

Its standard seven-passenger seating includes two front captain's chairs with inboard folding armrests, two centre buckets with inboard and outboard folding armrests, and a split three-person rear bench seat.

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The centre buckets will slide forward and back to make more legroom for third row passengers. They also flip and fold to make it easy to access the third seat, but my guess is that young kids will just climb between the centre buckets to get to the third seat. Even I do that!

The second row seats are removeable, but they're quite heavy to remove from the van by one person. However, as an alternative, you can flip down the second row backrests flat, and combined with flipping down the third row backrests flat, you have a long loading surface. You can also tumble the second row bucket seats forward to make more room. One thing you can't do is fold the second row buckets flat into the floor: only the Dodge Grand Caravan has that feature.

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The third-row seat is a 60/40 split three-person "Hide and Dive" seat that folds flat under the floor when lowered. Since both sides fold individually, it's not as heavy as lowering a single seat. With each seat, you simply pull on a couple of straps to release the backrests and pull the seat over into the floor.

When the narrow half of the third row seat is folded flat, one or two passengers can sit in the third row seat while cargo is carried beside them. That means you can transport five or six passenger plus a fair amount of cargo. With both third row seats folded into the floor, there is a huge cargo space of 2268 litres (80 cu. ft.). With one or both of the second row seats removed from the van, there is up to 4007 litres (141.5 cu. ft.) of space behind the front seats. That's huge.

I should also mention that even with the third row seats upright, there's 912 litres (32.2 cu. ft.) of cargo area behind them, or twice what a typical mid-size sedan has. That's in part because of the deep well in the floor that's used to store the seats when folded down.

All Entourage minivans have dual sliding rear doors, power operated on all but the base model. The sliding doors have roll-down power windows, a feature not found on all minivans in this class.

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The driver's bucket seat is very comfortable, and the driver sits tall with good visibility. The soft cloth seating material on base models may not be to everyone's liking, but I liked its comfy, soft feel. The dash layout and the quality of the materials is really quite upscale for a minivan, and I'm sure many people will be surprised at how far Hyundai has come with their interiors. In particular, I liked the high-mounted shift lever that's positioned close to the driver, the two 12-volt powerpoints and storage bin near the shifter, the classy gauge cluster, the simple radio and heater controls, the variable seat heaters, and the overall rounded shape of the dash.

The Entourage comes with six standard airbags: front driver and passenger, front side airbags, and curtain airbags for all three rows of passengers, plus anti-whiplash active front head restraints. In recent crash tests, the Entourage received the Gold "Top Safety Pick" award from the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

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This is a significant award because it includes front, side and rear crash test performance. The Entourage received a "Good" rating in all three areas. The vehicle tested was actually a Kia Sedona, but since it is almost identical to the Entourage, the IIHS awarded both vans the top rating.

Under the hood is a 3.8-litre V6 that makes 242 horsepower @ 6000 rpm and 251 lb-ft of torque @ 3500 rpm. The 3.8-litre engine features twin overhead cams, four valves per cylinder and continuously variable valve timing. In terms of horsepower and torque, it's comparable with the Honda Odyssey which offers 255 hp @ 5750 and 250 lb-ft @ 4500 rpm; and the Toyota Sienna with 215 hp @ 5600 rpm and 222 lb-ft @ 3600 rpm. The Entourage has more torque at lower rpms, and around town, there is more satisfying throttle response off the line and in the 30 to 50 km/h range. However, the Entourage is a bit heavier and I felt it was slower when pulling out to pass on the freeway. The Entourage isn't quite as fuel-efficient either. Energuide fuel consumption figures (City/Hwy L/100 km) for the Entourage are: 13.2/8.8 vs Odyssey 12.0/7.7 and Sienna 12.4/8.2. Fortunately, all three vans use Regular Unleaded.

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The Entourage has a smooth-shifting five-speed automatic with the bonus of a manual shift mode, which can be handy when you're transporting a full load of kids and cargo on a long drive through the mountains.

Four-wheel disc brakes with ABS, electronic brake force distribution, and a tire pressure monitoring system are standard, and base GL models have 225/70R16-inch tires while uplevel GLS models have 235/60R-17-inch tires. GLS models also benefit from stability and traction control.

The engine rpm sensing power rack and pinion steering offers easy effort in tight corners and its turning diameter of 12.1 metres (39.6 ft.) is okay for such a long van. With a fully independent suspension (front MacPherson struts and rear multi-link), the Entourage actually handles quite well, and the ride is very good. Highway cruising is relaxed and comfortable, and the cabin is surprisingly quiet. Minivans have the inherent problem of five large body openings (doors and hatch) and a huge interior that acts as an echo chamber for rattles.

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So, I was quite impressed at how solid and quiet the Entourage was during my day-long First-Drive.

2007 Hyundai Entourage minivans come in four trim levels: GL ($29,995), GL Comfort ($31,995), GLS ($35,695) and GLS Leather ($37,195).

Standard on the GL is the 3.8-litre V6 engine, five-speed automatic transmission with Shiftronic, 16-inch tires and wheels, and four wheel disc brakes with ABS, EBD and tire pressure monitoring system. Interior features include standard power windows, power door locks and remote keyless entry, premium cloth seats, tilt steering wheel, cruise control, AM/FM/CD audio system, tri-zone climate control system, a front wiper de-icer, the "Hide and Dive" third-row seat, and six standard airbags.

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The GL Comfort model adds alloy wheels, roof rack, power sliding side doors, and power rear quarter windows.

The Entourage GLS adds 17-inch tires and alloy wheels, stability and traction control, fog lamps, a rear-seat entertainment system with a 10.2-inch LCD monitor, an AM/FM/CD-changer/MP3 audio system, premium cloth seating surfaces, heated front seats, steering wheel-mounted audio controls, dual zone automatic climate control, and a back-up warning system,

Lastly, the Entourage GLS Premium adds leather seats, an AM/FM/CD/Cassette/MP3 audio system, a trip computer, and a power-operated tailgate.

All Entourages have Hyundai's 5-year/100,000 km bumper-to-bumper warranty. Built in Sohari, South Korea, the 2007 Hyundai Entourage is already on sale.

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