I had a chance to do my first test drive of a 2014 Azera today. I wanted to see if I liked the way a 2014 Azera drives, and figure out if I wanted the Base model, or if the Limited without Premium would be a better choice for me. I drove a Limited with Premium because they did not yet have one without Premium. I liked the light-to-medium feel of the steering and found it easily returned to center in low speed driving. The turning radius is great. That is about all you can check at low speed. Unfortunately, it was during heavy traffic time, so a longer test drive will have to wait until another day. The interior quietness at low speed was fine, about the same as my 1999 Diamante. There was some slight harshness to the ride. It will probably be better when I drive the Limited without Premium which has the 18" tires.
I liked the Limited model's audio system. I used Bluetooth streaming to listen to a song from my tablet and it sounded pretty good. Not outstanding, as I had hoped, but not bad. The sound from XM radio was good too. I was not able to check out the navigation system because they had not yet installed the SD card. I definitely test one that has the SD card installed on my next visit.
I then checked out the audio system on the Base model. The screen is much smaller and it is not touchscreen. All commands are done through a multi-function knob on the center stack. I could not find any way to implement audio streaming, so I had to use FM radio to check out the sound. It sounded just okay, but that is probably more due to the sound of FM radio. In fact, when listening to FM radio, both sound systems sound about the same. On my next trip, I will bring a CD so I can do a better apples-to-apples comparison of the sound systems.
I already knew I liked the seat comfort and interior amenities from my visits to the Auto Show over the past two years. I checked out the different interior and exterior colors and am now trending toward the Hyper Silver Metallic with the black interior. Strangely, I did not like the black interior at the Auto Show, but it looked better on the lot. Maybe the industrial lighting at the Auto Show had something to do with it.
The dealer is checking to see if he can get any Limiteds without Premium. When he does, I'll schedule another test drive, this time at a time of day when there is no traffic. He said there are some coming into other dealers he trades cars with, but needs to check the colors. I did some digging on the HyundaiUSA website and actually did find one Limited without Premium, so they indeed are coming in to the country. It is impossible to check the whole country on HyundaiUSA.com. You have to enter in a single zip code at a time. It's very cumbersome when you're wanting national inventory information.
I liked the Limited model's audio system. I used Bluetooth streaming to listen to a song from my tablet and it sounded pretty good. Not outstanding, as I had hoped, but not bad. The sound from XM radio was good too. I was not able to check out the navigation system because they had not yet installed the SD card. I definitely test one that has the SD card installed on my next visit.
I then checked out the audio system on the Base model. The screen is much smaller and it is not touchscreen. All commands are done through a multi-function knob on the center stack. I could not find any way to implement audio streaming, so I had to use FM radio to check out the sound. It sounded just okay, but that is probably more due to the sound of FM radio. In fact, when listening to FM radio, both sound systems sound about the same. On my next trip, I will bring a CD so I can do a better apples-to-apples comparison of the sound systems.
I already knew I liked the seat comfort and interior amenities from my visits to the Auto Show over the past two years. I checked out the different interior and exterior colors and am now trending toward the Hyper Silver Metallic with the black interior. Strangely, I did not like the black interior at the Auto Show, but it looked better on the lot. Maybe the industrial lighting at the Auto Show had something to do with it.
The dealer is checking to see if he can get any Limiteds without Premium. When he does, I'll schedule another test drive, this time at a time of day when there is no traffic. He said there are some coming into other dealers he trades cars with, but needs to check the colors. I did some digging on the HyundaiUSA website and actually did find one Limited without Premium, so they indeed are coming in to the country. It is impossible to check the whole country on HyundaiUSA.com. You have to enter in a single zip code at a time. It's very cumbersome when you're wanting national inventory information.