The Koreans managed to avoid excessive "Asianness" both in the exterior and in the cabin — everything looks strict and solid. The restyling only added to this effect. A fresh front bumper with sharper edges, headlights with a stern look and LED filling, redesigned taillights (which have even more LED "garland") and trapezoidal exhaust tips — all this makes the sedan visually more expensive. And thanks to an increase in length by 15 mm (now 4910 mm), it looks more solid too. Other dimensions — width 1850 mm, height 1490 mm and wheelbase 2780 mm — have not changed.
The technical content has also been partially revised. It seems that the V-shaped "six" with a volume of 3.8 liters and a power of 266 hp has disappeared from the engine range. Indirect confirmation is that the V6 3.3 engine has gained 26 hp (now 259) and 12 N·m of torque (316). This senior "six" works with the previous, slightly modified six-speed automatic transmission. The same gearbox is now also available for versions with the previous units — a 179-horsepower four-cylinder 2.4 VVT engine (230 N·m) and a 195-horsepower V6 2.7 (251 N·m). Before the restyling, both of these engines were combined exclusively with a five-speed automatic transmission.
The refreshed Grandeur has already gone on sale in South Korea, with prices starting from 26,430,000 to 35,920,000 Korean won (which is 22,465–30,532 US dollars). However, there is no official information yet about when the updated sedan will reach the North American market (where it is sold under the name Azera) and Europe. Presumably, this will happen in the first quarter of 2010.
