Need for speed? Get in line for HMG's new driving center.
This is just one of many activities you can experience at a driving center in Taean, South Chungcheong, operated by Hyundai Motor Group (HMG).
The 1.26 million-square-meter proving ground allows visitors to test Hyundai Motor and Kia vehicles on eight courses including braking, drift, slalom and off-road. The size is equivalent to 125 football fields, or about 1.5 times larger than Yeouido, western Seoul. It is the largest of its kind in Asia and the third largest in the world.
The Korea JoongAng Daily experienced five of the courses at the center on Sept. 15, a day before it opened its doors to the public.
Taking the wheel of Hyundai’s high-performance Veloster N, the first course allowed this reporter to experience cornering dynamics on a slalom course by repeating acceleration and deceleration on a track set out with rubber cones.
The course follows a 4.7-kilometer oval track, which was the most enjoyable course throughout the one-day program. This reporter could accelerate a G70 to a maximum of 250 kilometers per hour.
“A G70 can accelerate to 280 kilometers per hour, but we only do up to 80 percent when general customers drive it,” an instructor said.
The instructor then took the driver's seat to make banked turns that are sloped at 38.87 degrees. This reporter was in the passenger seat wearing a helmet, but when the car made the turn, it felt like it was close to skidding off the track. This was the moment when this reporter realized the reason the company made reporters write down their blood types before participating in the program.
The Driving Experience program has three levels, and the banked turn course is only available for people who pass the Level 2 course.
The next course this reporter tried was an off-road course. An instructor took the wheel this time.
A Hyundai’s Palisade SUV slowly traveled at a 35-degree angle uphill, and all this reporter could see at the time was the sky.
When the car reached the highest point of the track, the instructor revealed it was the equivalent of being on the fourth floor of a building.
The off-road course continued to various extreme conditions such as roads full of gravel, mud and sand. The SUV also went through a watercourse that had around 45 centimeters (18 inches) of water that covered about half of the wheels.
The last two courses were dry and wet circuits that were experienced with Kia's K5 and Hyundai's electric Ioniq 5. The dry circuit had 16 corners which allowed this reporter to feel the speed and dynamics of the vehicle. But on the wet circuit, the speed was limited to around 60 kilometers per hour due to safety.
The HMG driving experience center is open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Visitors can make reservations online based on their driving skills. Hyundai believes it will attract some 15,000 visitors annually.
Hyundai began accepting reservations for September’s programs on Aug. 16, and all places were booked within three minutes of becoming available.
"Reservations for October are already all booked now," said a spokesperson for Hyundai Motor.
BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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