[kayakangler]

I'm deciding between the Limited and SEL Premium. The differences on paper are a lot, the following are exclusive to the Limited..

• Premium Daytime Running Lights
• Dark Chrome trim on front & rear bumpers, grill & tail pipe
• Rain Sensing Wipers
• Leather
• Ventilated front seats
• 10.25” screen w/ Nav and traffic by HERE (vs 8” no nav)
• Bose Audio

-- No wireless CarPlay

• Rear Air Vents
• Heated Steering Wheel
• Smart Cruise with Stop & Go

I test drove a Limited today and did a few runs around the block and a ride on the highway.

1. Lane Keep Assist & Lane Follow Assist are unreliable in my test drive experience. Even on the highway with black road and clearly visible white lane lines the vehicle kept moving side to side and on curves even very soft ones the vehicle would drive right into the other lane. It was a cloudy day with some dark clouds but still it should not have activated if it can't see to perform, very dangerous.

2. Smart Stop & Go is not smart since it doesn't automatically Go from Stop, but it did slow down and stop when a car is in front of it stopped; does not recognize stop signs or traffic lights. This is an exclusive feature to the limited, but without a well functioning lane follow, lane keep system its worthless imo.

3. Rear Air Vents dished out enough air if I were a passenger I'd be comfortable. In the South Florida heat this is a very welcome feature for passengers, but I don't often carry passengers in the back seats. So not a deal breaker.

3. Bose stereo as many pointed out is not an audiophile system. I set the tone to 0 across the board and then tuned to my preference. I mostly listen to Pop/Billboard 100 so I found it to be comfortable and it's a huge upgrade over my Toyota Entune Harmon Karmon premium sound system.

4. Radio Tuner was slow to find channel list, but once it did it was reasonably quick. Display is Sharp and easy easy to read.

5. Navigation works, but redundant since it supports CarPlay and when I travel I fly.

6. Leather seats with ventilation were nothing to write home about.. I didn't even feel the "ventilation", but it was a rainy day maybe in full sunlight it would have felt better. Leather could have been vinyl and no one would know, its not a high grade leather. Compare to your $79 leather office chair at Office Depot.

The drive was exceptionally comfortable compared to my Toyota and felt very sporty. They didnt have any SEL Premiums to look at so I'll have to wait two weeks till they receive their shipment of SCs. I'm still leaning towards a Limited, but I could see myself buying a SEL Premium and saving some cash. It's going to boil down to whether the cloth seats feel cheaper than the leather seats and how easy the small nav screen is to read running CarPlay.

One very odd thing about the Limited, the from passenger seat adjustment is completely manual and has very little adjustment. Since I first got into the passenger seat I though it was a cheaper model LOL

Your opinions on why you choose your trim are welcome.

 

[Mike_TX]

We all have our likes and dislikes and personal preferences.

For me, a few things have become must-haves. Bird's-eye view cameras is one. Smart Cruise is another (it's one of the best safety features out there IMO). And Brake Hold ... can't do without it.

Good Nav is another - I don't want to have to hook up my phone every time I get in the car, and for me it's not just about travel. I find the real-time moving maps a kind of psychological tool for always knowing my position in my surroundings. I can glance at that big 10.25" screen and see myself on a map of the area instead of just seeing the insides of my truck.

Homelink, auto climate control, and heated and cooled seats are others. Oh, and a heated steering wheel is a nice treat.

I think you reach a point where you just want the top-of-the-line with all the luxuries. It only costs a little bit more, and you're worth it.

........

And yeah,I don't think anyone's smart cruise automatically restarts from a complete stop. And it would have been nice if the passenger seat were powered. But in their place Hyundai has added lots of other things, like a factory tonneau cover, a turbo engine, wet DCT, etc. They had to keep the price from going through the roof, so they did cut some corners. But I think they made reasonable trade-offs.

 

[dartgt64]

The ventilated seats actually work VERY well. I have them in my Charger but it only does the bottom and these do both the bottom and the backs with three speeds. Keep in mind that ventilated seats usually pull air from the cabin so if the cabin isn't cool the air won't be cool either.

I had only driven an SEL so I was a bit concerned that the Limited might ride harsher with bigger wheels, but it rides well.

Lane keeping can be an irritation, but it's not nearly as aggressive as the system in my Wife's 2021 XC40. In the Volvo its very noticeable that you are not steering the car and that Jesus has got the wheel. It's disconcerting to me. The Hyundai system is much more palatable.

I haven't tried the self driving option. Apparently it will take the week for a minute or more before it nags you to pay attention.

I haven't tried the cruise control yet. I have had it in most cars for the last 35 years and barely used it.

In traffic Friday it nagged me if the car in front moved and I didn't follow within say 5 seconds. I can see where this might prevent some knucklehead from rear ending you.

The birds eye view camera is quite handy. The reverse lights could be brighter. Someone changed to LED and that may be worth considering.

I found the steering wheel leather to be slippery until it got some use. It is better now after 500 miles.

I really like the interior, with one exception being the console plastic, which feels thin and cheaply made. A real slip up there by Hyundai.

I find that the key fob is pretty touchy, I am looking for some sort of sleeve for it. I got to the gym today and went to back up and realized the tailgate had opened...probably from when I sat down in the truck. Others have reported similar events.

I really like the headlights and the grill lights. The headlights are very bright and the auto dimming feature works pretty well. At least one elderly driver has flashed his highs at me when mine were off, so expect some confusion with the LED running lights in the grill. I had a cataract once, and there is a real impact on night vision that vanished once I had it fixed. The glare of oncoming headlights was truly a problem.

The sunroof deserves some mention. This is the first vehicle I have had where I can open the roof...not just vent it...comfortably without buffeting...wind noise...etc... But the sliding rear window has little impact on cabin ventilation as it is small and sheltered. I will miss my old Tundra limited (whole rear window goes down) for sure in the summer.

 

[Mike86merc]

Lane Keep Assist & Lane Follow Assist is just that, an assist. It is not meant to even be a stage 2 autonomous driving system. It does well and can help reduce fatigue on longer trips. But it can have it's issues with bad lighting situations, where turn lanes split, where lanes widen to become two-lane or a turn lane, and so on. It is meant to assist you in driving, not be a true hands-off system.

Smart Stop & Go works as advertised. It allows like 3 seconds from the car stopping to the car ahead of you moving. If that happens, the SC will accelerate and continue with the set speed and distance. The acceleration can be slow as the car ahead of you must increase distance to the set distance in the system. Even then, unless you are in slow-moving city traffic, the acceleration from a stop is usually less than the vehicle ahead of you.

 

[JMII]

There are some videos showing the lane keeping and stop & go in action... its seems to do really well, but as mentioned its not a self driving system.

And yes the lack of a power passenger seat along with no memory seats regardless of trim strike me as some stupid cost saving moves on the otherwise loaded, top-of-the-line Limited.

 

[Mike86merc]

I have seen some people saying they come out to see the tailgate down or the Bluelink notifying them. I have see the same in other vehicles. I have another vehicle that I pop the frunk by accident all the time.

I ended up buying a shielded faraday pouch for my key. When I get out of the SC I lock the doors and put the fob in my pouch. It kind of is a pain. But it stops any buttons that might be accidentally pressed from being sent to the vehicle. In the Chicagoland area, we have a big issue with car theft. The thief uses (NFC?) readers to steal your fob info and allows them to replicate it. Making the vehicle easy to steal. So the shielded pouch serves two uses.

 

[Sparkland]

How is the lack of a fold down armrest, with cupholders in the second row, working out for families with children or adults? A bit of an annoyance on trips.

 

[monogodo]

The reverse lights could be brighter

Yes.

I keep thinking that they aren't working at all when I back into my garage at night.

 

[Walking Black Bear]

I could not BELIEVE that lane keep/lane centering kept a green lock on the other night. I was driving over fresh pavement in the dark, (not city dark, but middle of the forest in a horror movie dark) all it had were the little yellow/white tape dots that they lay down ... both systems remained functional even when I could barely make out the lanes with my own eyes. I was some kind of impressed with that. I fully expected the symbols on the dash to turn white as soon as I got into it.

 

[Mike_TX]

I'm probably by myself here, but I consider this lane-keeping assist stuff to be a safety hazard. Even if people don't think of it as true "self-driving", it can lull them into a false sense of security, assuming it will take care of them.

I can see people maybe driving at night after a long day at work, or on a long road trip, and maybe getting a little drowsy or inattentive. They rely on these systems to keep them in their lane and out of the ditch, and suddenly Boom! the lane markers go away or go wonky because of construction or wear, and they're in trouble before they know it.

I don't want any computer driving for me - even for 2 minutes at a whack. At 70mph, you're covering over 2-1/3 miles in those 2 minutes of computer-assisted driving! A lot can happen in those 12,150 feet of roadway before the car reminds you to wake up and touch the steering wheel for a second.

I always disable them.

 

[Mike_TX]

Oh, and about the ventilated seats. They aren't really intended to freeze your butt, just keep you from sticking to the seats in hot weather. So they're gentle, but effective IMO.

I had them in a couple of Infinitis a few years ago, and boy, after just a minute you'd think someone dumped a glass of ice water in your lap. That was a bit much. But my other cars with them have been like the SC.

 

[Walking Black Bear]

I like the lane centering on the Cruz. I actually turn it on on the highway. I don't find it too intrusive, and it isn't a terrible fail like the lane keep on our Chevy that does next to nothing but blare alarms at me when I hug the inside of a sharp corner. LOL

The cooled seats aren't going to freeze you. I used them this weekend on a 4 hour road trip. About 3 hours on, my back felt warm. Turned on the cooler and almost immediately felt the difference. Made a much more comfortable ride after several hours without a stop. So I'm a fan for that reason.

 

[hlacoss]

I drove the SEL Premium and Limited both before I bought the Limited.

I remember feeling that I wasn’t super thrilled with the cloth seats in the Premium. My 4Runner had cloth seats, and maybe that comparison made the difference.

The Premium also had a noticeably non-cool air conditioner which I can’t explain. We were driving in Houston, and our backs were sweaty after a drive on an only 93 degree day. So the ventilated seats ticked up to “mandatory” equipment essentially for me and tipped the scales in the end. That said, in the Limited I bought, the AC is more than sufficient (and I use the “diffuse” setting a lot more than I thought would be comfortable) — so I wonder if that Premium’s AC situation was a fluke.

Chiming in on the Limited’s built-in nav — I’m surprised at how good it is. I wrote another post somewhere where I mentioned that it has become my preferred system over any of the map providers on CarPlay. And, since the display is 10.2”, it’s a very nice-to-have that you can split screen and put your map on one side and CarPlay on the other.

Hope that helps a little, be sure to let us know what you decide!

 

[Walking Black Bear]

I tried using the built in nav a couple of times this weekend and gave up or of frustration. I couldn't get it to accept an address at all. It would search points of interest, categories, etc just fine, but an address? Nope.

I also couldn't find a way to mute the world's most chill guidance voice. Seriously, she sounds like she just downed a handful of valium. LOL

I like my Google maps just fine. Voice controls work great, even with an address instead of a business name. Nice to have a backup though.

I do appreciate that the nav asks if you want to find a had station when the low fuel warning is on.

 

[hlacoss]

I also couldn't find a way to mute the world's most chill guidance voice. Seriously, she sounds like she just downed a handful of valium. LOL

LOL she's definitely chill.

For the volume, maybe one or both of the following settings will help you. The first is in Setup->Sound->Guidance->Guidance Volumes. I think the one that adjusts the voice is "Navigation Guidance."

To temporarily mute, there is another setting under Setup->Sound->Guidance that you can select called "Mute Navigation Guidance" that might be helpful if you decide to use the built-in guidance nav sometime.

Good luck!

 

[Walking Black Bear]

Yeah, you can certainly dig into settings to do that - but how hard would it be to, like Google Maps, just add a little volume/mute toggle to the nav screen? There's plenty of space for one there. I was quickly annoyed with it and just turned it off. That's on me. LOL